Problems with printing quality (Part 1)

You may notice a decline in print quality if the inside of the machine is unclean or if paper is loaded incorrectly. To solve the problem, go to the table below. Light or faded print If a vertical white streak or faded area appears on the page: The toner supply is low. You may be able to temporarily extend the toner cartridge life. If this does not improve the print quality, install a new toner cartridge. The paper may not meet paper specifications; for example, the paper is too moist or too rough. If the entire page is light, the print resolution setting is too low or the toner save mode is on. Adjust the print resolution and turn the toner save mode off. A combination of faded or smeared defects may indicate that the toner cartridge needs cleaning. The surface of the LSU part inside the machine may be dirty. Clean the LSU. Toner specks The paper may not meet specifications; for example, the paper is too moist or too rough. The transfer roller may be dirty. Clean the inside of your machine. The paper path may need cleaning. Dropouts If faded areas, generally rounded, occur randomly on the page A single sheet of paper may be defective. Try printing the job. The moisture content of the paper is uneven or the paper has moist spots on its surface. Try a different brand of paper The paper lot is bad. The manufacturing processes can cause some areas to reject toner. Try a different kind or brand of paper. If these steps do not correct the problem, contact a service representative.

Troubleshooting Paper Handling Ricoh Copier

Ricoh offers a variety of single and multi-function machines to fulfil your company’s copying needs. If your Ricoh machine is not creating copies, you may be able to save money by diagnosing the problem yourself before calling a professional for a service call. Understanding the various causes of your copier’s difficulties may lead to a faster resolution. Paper Handling Replace the paper that is currently in your copier’s paper trays. Frequent paper jams usually suggest an issue with how the paper was fed into the tray. Removing the paper stack and reloading it into the tray might sometimes solve the problem. Inspect the paper tray and the area of the machine where the paper tray resides for debris and damage. Dust and debris, such as tiny shreds of paper, may prevent your copier from properly feeding the paper. If you see signs of damage, including broken or cracked components, replace the part to restore proper functionality. You can order replacement parts direct from Ricoh or from any authorized reseller Replace the paper currently loaded in the paper tray. If the paper jams continue, replacing the paper with new paper may help because old or wrinkled paper may not move through the copier properly. Verify the paper you’ve loaded meets Ricoh’s requirements. Using paper that is too thick for the machine may prevent your Ricoh copier from operating as expected, and may also result in a paper jam. Refer to your owner’s manual or Ricoh’s website for a list of acceptable paper types for your specific model.

General Troubleshooting a Ricoh Copier

Ricoh offers a variety of single and multi-function machines to fulfil your company’s copying needs. If your Ricoh machine is not creating copies, you may be able to save money by diagnosing the problem yourself before calling a professional for a service call. Understanding the various causes of your copier’s difficulties may lead to a faster resolution. General Troubleshooting Examine any error codes reported by the machine. Ricoh copiers display error codes that are particular to any common problem that the machine may encounter. For example, the code may indicate a paper jam or the need to repair a machine component. Look up the trouble codes in your copier’s service manual or on Ricoh’s help page. Power cycle the copier by turning off the machine, waiting approximately one minute and then turning the machine on again. Similar to rebooting your computer, this clears the copier’s memory and may resolve the problem. If you cannot turn off the copier using the device’s power switch, remove the power cord and wait at least one full minute before reconnecting your Ricoh copier to the power source. Clean the copier if you’re experiencing problems with overall print quality, as dirt and debris may be the cause. Clean the glass top with a soft microfiber cloth dampened with window cleaner. Do not allow the liquid to pool on the copier, as it may seep inside and damage delicate electrical components. Use a can of compressed air to remove dust and toner particles from around internal components, such as the fusing area and drum unit, as this debris can reduce copy quality and may cause your copier to overheat. Adjust the exposure or density settings on your Ricoh copier to improve print quality. When these settings are set too high or too low, your copies may appear too dark or too light. Typically, you can gain access to these settings using the control panel located on your machine. Replace the toner cartridge. Copies that appear too light after adjusting your copier settings may indicate that your toner is reaching the end of its lifespan. If you have recently replaced the toner but still experience problems, remove the toner and verify your have removed all packaging before reinstalling it into your copier.

Best DPI for Colour or Greyscale Scanning

Greyscale documents and images are composed of gradients of black. Documents scanned this way can be saved as a PDF file of 200 to 600 dpi. If you are saving the document online, you can reduce the file size by using the GIF format, but your document would lose the text editing and search format of PDF (unless the downloader does a file conversion at their end). For online use, businesses usually choose a smaller resolution of 200 dpi. Colour photographs are often scanned at higher resolutions to capture their detail – typically from 600 to 1,200 dpi, with the higher resolution used for the best archival images. However, for web use or to save hard disk space, 200 dpi is the standard choice of most businesses for most colour images and colour documents. Colour photographs on their own should be saved as .png files while colour documents are best saved as PDFs, with their text searching capabilities.

Best DPI for Scanning Black-and-White Documents

For true, high-quality scanning, or for text that is going to be reprinted, you can go up to 600 dpi. However, file sizes and download times can be prohibitive, especially when shared across the board with a vast number of documents. Usually, the best dpi for scanning documents – balancing readability and file size – is 300 dpi. It makes the document easy to read and share. Also, font size can affect the dpi you choose. Standard font sizes, 10-point and up, are fine at 300 dpi. However, smaller fonts might be harder to read at this resolution, so you might decide to bump it up to 400 dpi. Also, keep in mind that with OCR you can output to a variety of file types that can affect the file size and usability of documents. These include .pdf, .jpg, .png, .tiff, and .gif formats. PDF documents are often the preferred choice because they allow you to easily convert scanned images to text that can be edited and keyword searched.  

Ricoh Copier Error Codes

The following is a list of the most common error codes for Ricoh, Gestetner, Lanier, and Savin products.  If you have an older copier and have updated to Windows 10, there are issues with Windows 10 printing and scanning we can help you with. Use Ctrl F, or Edit > “Find On This Page”, and enter the error code you are looking.  Your error code will be highlighted in Yellow.  You can also click on Next to jump to the next occurrence of that error code.  Toward the bottom are Printer Controller Error Codes and Ricoh 3813 Copier Error Codes. Once you know what the error is relating to, you can see if there is an obvious fix for the problem part. If you have errors you can’t fix, call my cell at (858) 231-5188, call our service department at (858) 271-9188, or see our contact page.  You can also provide excellent repair service Sometimes you just need to bit the bullet and get a new, or one of our refurbished units to lease or buy. U1Right side open U2No key counter U4Sorter not latched or closed U6Developer unit not in place E11Exposure lamp problem E12Exposure lamp problem E13Zero cross, main board or power supply E-14Zero cross, main board or power supply E-21Scan home problem E-22Scan home problem E-28Lens home problem, sensor E-29Lens home problem E2A4th and 5th mirror home problem E2B4th and 5th mirror home problem, Fuse 2 on AC/DC board E40Open thermistor E42Bad transfer corona or HVT E52Low fuser temperature E53High fuser temperature E54Fuser lamp on too long E55Fuser thermistor open E96Bad main power switchAuto image density LED or manual id LED flashing. Toner density problem.

Printer Controller Error Codes

The following is a list of the most common error codes for Ricoh, Gestetner, Lanier, and Savin products.  If you have an older copier and have updated to Windows 10, there are issues with Windows 10 printing and scanning we can help you with. Use Ctrl F, or Edit > “Find On This Page”, and enter the error code you are looking.  Your error code will be highlighted in Yellow.  You can also click on Next to jump to the next occurrence of that error code.  Toward the bottom are Printer Controller Error Codes and Ricoh 3813 Copier Error Codes. Once you know what the error is relating to, you can see if there is an obvious fix for the problem part. If you have errors you can’t fix, call my cell at (858) 231-5188, call our service department at (858) 271-9188, or see our contact page.  You can also provide excellent repair service Sometimes you just need to bit the bullet and get a new, or one of our refurbished units to lease or buy. 2001Power on error 2002FGATE error 0201On board SDRAM error 0301SDRAM error 0FxxController –BICU error 1101Data transmission error 1102Data loop back 11xxCentronics cable error 1401Controller NVRAM error 1402NVRAM check sum error 1403NVRAM white error 1404NVRAM read error 1501RTC error 1601Font ROM error 1602Data in font ROM is damage 1BxxOptions bus A error

Photocopier types ( Part 2 )

A photocopier (also known as a copier or copy machine) is a machine that makes paper copies of documents and other visual images quickly and cheaply. Most current photocopiers use a technology called xerography – a dry process using heat fusion. Copiers can also use other output technologies, such as ink jet, but this is used primarily in smaller low-end devices, more suitable for home office use. Xerography is the standard for office copying. They type of photocopier you will need depends on the volume and type of copying you do each day. You may only require a small number of documents to be copied, such as accounts or bills, or you may need to copy higher volumes. Photocopiers come in a variety of sizes and copy speeds vary between models. The basic types of copiers available now on the market are: Analog copiers There are not many analog copiers being sold nowadays. An analog copier uses lights, lenses and mirrors to reflect an image of a document placed on the platen of the copier onto a photo receptor for printing. These older type of copiers are much more prone to mechanical failure, as more moving parts are involved in the copying process. Most manufacturers are phasing them out entirely and support and parts will become more difficult to find in the coming years. Digital copiers A digital copier is the modern, digital version of the old analog copier. Digital office copiers are often in fact digital multifunction copiers. Desktop copiers Some smaller copiers, or even multi-function devices, are designed to be placed on a desk or some sort of bench top and are named appropriately a ‘desktop model’. Desktop copiers are usually designed for A4 paper (or smaller) only, as the larger A3 paper size would make the actual machine too big and heavy to be placed on a desk. A3 office copiers and multifunctionals always come with an optional stand or cabinet, which can be used for paper or toner storage, or they can be configured with additional paper tray modules, which raise the machine to the required height for normal usage. Network copiers As the name says, these machines can be connected to the office network for remote printing, PC faxing and ‘scan-to’ functionality. Pretty much all digital copiers and multifunctions have either a standard network card built-in or it is available as an option.

Photocopier types ( Part 1 )

A photocopier (also known as a copier or copy machine) is a machine that makes paper copies of documents and other visual images quickly and cheaply. Most current photocopiers use a technology called xerography – a dry process using heat fusion. Copiers can also use other output technologies, such as ink jet, but this is used primarily in smaller low-end devices, more suitable for home office use. Xerography is the standard for office copying. They type of photocopier you will need depends on the volume and type of copying you do each day. You may only require a small number of documents to be copied, such as accounts or bills, or you may need to copy higher volumes. Photocopiers come in a variety of sizes and copy speeds vary between models. The basic types of copiers available now on the market are: Mono copiers Mono, or monochrome, means that a copier or multifunction device uses only one colour of toner – black. For office use, these machines come in a range of sizes, from low-end low volume copiers to high-speed, high volume machines that can copy or print 100+ pages per minute.  Colour copiers A colour copier is able to copy in colour as well as black and white. Business colour copiers and multifunction devices usually have 4 drums and 4 toner reservoirs or cartridges, sometimes more, which contain the 4 primary colours, Cyan (C), Yellow (Y), Magenta (M) and Black (K). By mixing these four colours, all other colours are created. Multifunctional copiers A copier is called multifunctional when it can do more than just copying. These days almost all office copiers sold are actually digital multifunction devices, or MFD’s, also known as MFP’s – Multifunction Products, Multifunction Printers or All in One Printers or devices. The typical functionalities of these devices are copying, printing, scanning and faxing. The newest models also have internet access, can be connected to an office network to send documents to various locations with Scan to e-mail, Scan to Folder (SMB), Scan to FTP, Scan to USB and WSD Scanning (Windows® Vista) functionality. They can print from portable devices such as laptops via a wireless or USB connection and can be loaded with customised software for document management functions such as OCR (Optical Character Recognition). They also come with document finishing options, such as stapling and booklet folding with saddle stitch. With additional software options available directly from the vendor or via third party vendors, modern multifunction devices can become a complete document print management and archiving solution for the office

Function of Toner for printer?

Toner is sometimes referred to as dry ink, but toner isn’t actually ink at all! Ink is a pigmented liquid. Toner is a fine, negatively charged, plastic-based powder. The black color in photocopier toner comes from pigments blended into the plastic particles while they are being made. In your photocopier, toner is stuck on larger, positively charged beads and stored inside a toner cartridge. When toner-coated beads are rolled over the drum, the toner particles find the positively charged ions on the unexposed areas on the drum’s surface much more attractive than the weakly charged bead. The same particles are subsequently even more drawn to the electrostatically charged paper. The plastic in the toner lets you keep it from jumping ship once you’ve finally got it on the paper; all you have to do is apply heat to the toner, and the plastic particles melt and fuse the pigment to the paper. The Fuser The fuser provides the finishing touches that make the toner image on a sheet of paper permanent. The fuser has to do two things: Melt and press the toner image into the paper Prevent the melted toner and/or the paper from sticking to the fuser All that’s required to accomplish these tasks is quartz tube lamps and Teflon-coated rollers. The sheet of paper is sent between two of the rollers. Then, the rollers gently press down on the page to embed the toner in the paper fiber. Meanwhile, inside the rollers, the lamps are on, generating enough heat to melt the toner. Why doesn’t the toner melt onto the rollers instead? Just like non-stick coating prevents your dinner from becoming glued to the bottom of your frying pan, the Teflon coating the rollers keeps the toner and paper from sticking to them.