Print quality problems - Ricoh MP C4503

**itassist** · 01-10-2020

Hi all, I'm not a Ricoh technician but I have worked on this machine every now and again.

The machine has started to show some issues with the Cyan (see pattern attached), is it just a matter of replacing the PCDU or could it something else? Having just printed the PM parts list, I can see that both the developer and PCU have reached 310,000 copies (target 270,000).

Thanks all

**fshead** · 01-10-2020

You might be better off doing all 4 drums,and a good cleaning.....all at once and then be ready when the fuser starts to go too

**GIUBOSS** · 01-10-2020

Also clean the glass under each drum unit, I wouldn't be surprised if there was toner spilled. The signs of faded color is also a sign of developer polluted by lumps of toner or fluff. Gently rub the charge rollers.

**itassist** · 01-10-2020

Yeah, it is really bad in there. I should have said it before, I am not an authorised dealer/technician or other (I hope this forum is not "reserved" to those, apologies if that's the case). I'm an IT guy working for a company, and I have to deal occasionally with printer problems (so my access to tool/spare parts is limited to what's available on the open market).

We used to rely on a Ricoh authorised repair centre here in London, UK but they charge A LOT for something that should cost a fraction.

So I guess my next question is: do I need any special tool for the cleaning procedure?

**davel** · 01-10-2020

If all colours are the same count you are going to need all 3 dev unit and 3 colour pcu ( expensive )

**anothertech** · 01-10-2020

They charged a lot because I think you will find, there's a lot more to maintaining these printers than one might think.

**itassist** · 01-10-2020

Originally Posted by anothertech

They charged a lot because I think you will find, there's a lot more to maintaining these printers than one might think.

I didn't question the labour costs (I work in IT so I know that often you can't objectively put a price on experience and good service), but the last quote I had from them for the 3 PCDU (no black) and cleaning unit was £3,500 plus VAT plus labour. I can buy the same parts from my toner supplier for half the cost.

**itassist** · 01-10-2020

Originally Posted by davel

If all colours are the same count you are going to need all 3 dev unit and 3 colour pcu ( expensive )

Yellow PCDU was replaced after only 160,000 copies because of some yellow stripes appearing on the sheets. The other colour (Magenta) is the same count as the Cyan.

**guitar9199** · 01-10-2020

Originally Posted by itassist

Yeah, it is really bad in there. I should have said it before, I am not an authorised dealer/technician or other (I hope this forum is not "reserved" to those, apologies if that's the case). I'm an IT guy working for a company, and I have to deal occasionally with printer problems (so my access to tool/spare parts is limited to what's available on the open market).

We used to rely on a Ricoh authorised repair centre here in London, UK but they charge A LOT for something that should cost a fraction.

So I guess my next question is: do I need any special tool for the cleaning procedure?

You DO need a "Special Tool" for cleaning the laser glass. It's the long blue wand inside the front cover. Carefully remove it from the cover, and you'll notice 4 horizontal slots inside the front of the machine right in each PCU unit cover. That will clean the laser glass.

Sometimes you get lucky and that's all it is. Downside is with the volume on that unit, most likely you're looking at replacement. As previously suggested, if you're replacing the Cyan unit, you might want to consider the Magenta one as well (Sounds like Yellow was replaced not that long ago.) 300K is also time to replace the ITB cleaning blade. You're also within about 100K of the Black PCU needing to go, and the Fuser unit needing a rebuild.

This MIGHT be the time to think about looking into a replacement machine if this many PM parts are out of the budget. The model is 7 years old, so it could be time.

**GIUBOSS** · 01-10-2020

You offer him two options; one for general cleaning with the time necessary to overhaul the drum units and developments and probably works without a heavy expense but the quality obviously will not be optimal and will not last as if it were replaced. In case you replace the most used or defective drum. In the second solution, instead, all the consumables that are exhausted as maintenance (to be strongly recommended) are inserted. The customer will decide.