IMC3000 image quality

**Gift** · 02-28-2023

Coated paper? Usually that's coated just on one side - would be interesting to know if the paper spec sheet says it's suitable for duplex printing...

**slimslob** · 02-28-2023

Originally Posted by Gift

Coated paper? Usually that's coated just on one side - would be interesting to know if the paper spec sheet says it's suitable for duplex printing...

I looked up the paper and it is coated on both sides.

**Oze** · 03-01-2023

Originally Posted by Gift

Coated paper? Usually that's coated just on one side - would be interesting to know if the paper spec sheet says it's suitable for duplex printing...

Ricoh have already told the guy that the stock is outside machine spec and not to run it.
Yet here he is still asking for a workaround instead of putting the responsibility back onto the customer to find a more suitable stock to use.

**slimslob** · 03-01-2023

Originally Posted by Oze

Ricoh have already told the guy that the stock is outside machine spec and not to run it.
Yet here he is still asking for a workaround instead of putting the responsibility back onto the customer to find a more suitable stock to use.

Pretty soon it is going to jam in the duplex unit.

**Gift** · 03-01-2023

Of course there's no "success" guarantee, especially if it would work "now" but not in the "future" due to component age/wear. Still from tech technical point ofview I wander why it works OK "manual duplex" and not auto-duplex (giving he uses the same paper type for both) - at least I can't see any fusing offset and there's also no mention of jamming issues.

**tonerhead** · 03-01-2023

The paper is within spec for tray feed, but not for auto duplexing. That probably explains why you say it is good if you manually duplex it. I think the machine is smart enough to know that it will not auto duplex over 256 gsm. Customers love the imaging on that paper, but the coated paper is not really recommended for the machine. I've had similar issues even with the "Pro" series. I would get some standard bond paper of say 256 gsm or less and show the customer that it is not the machine but the coating and thickness of the paper. Either that or have the customer continue to manually duplex the jobs since you said that works fine. I hate the fact that customers think paper is paper. You get some high gloss 300gsm chromecoat that isn't copying properly and they wonder why. You might get 1 or 2 working fine, but a run of 100 looks like crap overall.

**slimslob** · 03-01-2023

Originally Posted by tonerhead

The paper is within spec for tray feed, but not for auto duplexing. That probably explains why you say it is good if you manually duplex it. I think the machine is smart enough to know that it will not auto duplex over 256 gsm. Customers love the imaging on that paper, but the coated paper is not really recommended for the machine. I've had similar issues even with the "Pro" series. I would get some standard bond paper of say 256 gsm or less and show the customer that it is not the machine but the coating and thickness of the paper. Either that or have the customer continue to manually duplex the jobs since you said that works fine. I hate the fact that customers think paper is paper. You get some high gloss 300gsm chromecoat that isn't copying properly and they wonder why. You might get 1 or 2 working fine, but a run of 100 looks like crap overall.

IMHO it is not supported for auto duplex because the MFP cannot proper adjust PTR current for the each side. As for coated paper, the biggest problems I have ever encountered are the coating melting to the fusing film or the color toner offsetting.

**tonerhead** · 03-01-2023

Originally Posted by slimslob

IMHO it is not supported for auto duplex because the MFP cannot proper adjust PTR current for the each side. As for coated paper, the biggest problems I have ever encountered are the coating melting to the fusing film or the color toner offsetting.

I'm going to disagree with you, no disrespect. In this model auto duplex weight is driven by the the ability to drive the paper through the duplex, spec is 256 gsm. Paper feed which doesn't use the duplex paths is 300gsm max. Here is a snippet from the theory of operation from the manual

Paper Transfer Mechanism
A bias is applied to the image transfer drive roller to transfer the image on the Image transfer
belt to the paper (repulsion transfer). As there is no paper between the Image transfer roller and
toner image, this method is not easily affected by paper conditioning.

This machine uses repulsion transfer so the thickness of the paper s.b. irrelavent as to toner transfer. The thickness specs I believe are for travel and movement only. Since he says manual duplex is good, I'm guessing it's something buckling when auto duplex is tried.

I think we all agree though that the glossy coated paper is not really spec'd for copiers.

**Alexarcas** · 03-02-2023

Originally Posted by Gift

Coated paper? Usually that's coated just on one side - would be interesting to know if the paper spec sheet says it's suitable for duplex printing...

the error always occurs on the second side, regardless of the position of the sheet

**Alexarcas** · 03-02-2023

Originally Posted by Oze

Ricoh have already told the guy that the stock is outside machine spec and not to run it.
Yet here he is still asking for a workaround instead of putting the responsibility back onto the customer to find a more suitable stock to use.

Curious, but I'm looking for something smarter than Ricoh's answer and yours. You take a Ricoh MPC2050 that only supports 150gr duplex, and it prints well. So where are we? catalog specifications?

I've been a technician at Ricohs for 14 years, and since it's a basic problem, I wouldn't even come here to discuss it.