Ricoh aficio MP C3504ex is there a reset for the toner cartridge?

[tonerjockey]

Hello guys,
the customer had a bad developer unit a few months ago. i replaced that and was fine.
it appears that the machine counts a toner that fails to tone up after 4 times in a row from what i read in the SM as empty.

now they are getting the same thing, toner empty that they said still feels full, and with a new one it did that as well.

i am going back with a toner supply assy, now thinking i hope its not a bad toner drive auger. but besides that, i don't know if they sell aftermarket CRUM chips for this. is there a way to go into service and reset a toner that's been counted as empty? i looked all thru the 1298 pages on the contents and never saw anything about doing sim settings. is there another book??

any advice would be very helpful.

thank you very much.

[lhmy]

sp factory
3894 - 4 (all)

please note that it will reset all the chip to full bar and can only be done once for each chip

[slimslob]

SP 3045 Toner End Detection can be set to 1 to ignore the chip. Once a NEW cartridge is installed change it back to 0.

[Leoculus]

be sure to verify the chute dropping toner from the sub hopper to the dev unit is clear if there was a blockage. if the dev unit backed up the system the chute may be packed solid and not allow toner to be added causing the new hopper to back up also.

[copier tech]

Hello guys,
the customer had a bad developer unit a few months ago. i replaced that and was fine.
it appears that the machine counts a toner that fails to tone up after 4 times in a row from what i read in the SM as empty.

now they are getting the same thing, toner empty that they said still feels full, and with a new one it did that as well.

i am going back with a toner supply assy, now thinking i hope its not a bad toner drive auger. but besides that, i don't know if they sell aftermarket CRUM chips for this. is there a way to go into service and reset a toner that's been counted as empty? i looked all thru the 1298 pages on the contents and never saw anything about doing sim settings. is there another book??

any advice would be very helpful.

thank you very much.

Once the dev unit fails the hopper will still try to add toner, in time this will break the toner hopper coil.

You will need to replace the toner hopper.

After replacing the broken hopper the toner levels should go back to full / near full.

[tonerjockey]

good morning copier tech, do you know if the toner supply assembly D0BQ3310 is the part you are referring to?? i seem to remember seeing another toner conveyance spring that feeds to the toner supply assy? darn it.

thank you

[Leoculus]

good morning copier tech, do you know if the toner supply assembly D0BQ3310 is the part you are referring to?? i seem to remember seeing another toner conveyance spring that feeds to the toner supply assy? darn it.

thank you

That part number is for the yellow sub hopper. Each colour has its own unique sub hopper. there is hopper that transports the toner from the bottle to the sub hopper that sits above the sub hopper. i have never seen an issue with the upper hopper. usually the dev backs up the sub hopper and causes the transport coil to bind or break.

So to answer your question if you are having issues with the yellow then yes that is the right part number. if it is a different colour you will need the sub hopper for that specific colour

[tonerjockey]

wheww!! thank you.
waiting on FedEx, and i am thankful you are also concurring i should be equipped to resolve the issue.

with vacuum and tools in hand.

i will try resetting the sim SP 3045 if it is kicking out the good yellow toner.
i am a little confused if i set that to "1", let it come to ready, then go back and change it back to zero?? or if it needs to stay on "1" to use up that toner, and then machine needs to be changed back to zero so subsequent toners will display toner low as normal?

since i have no reason to go back once its working, not sure if that is realistic.

thank you very much.

[Tedstryker73]

You may want to check the toner sub-hopper for the color saying it's empty. If the auger in the sub-hopper breaks, you will clear the message with the PCDU, but it still isn't adding toner. I've had several hopper failures on this model

[tonerjockey]

Thanks guys. the new sub hopper was in fact broken, and it solved the problem. and as copier tech said, the toners that it didn't like, once the new hopper was in, it just cycled thru the tone up cycle and was ready to go.

i noticed the customer only had 450 color copies/ prints since the new dev. unit and they had called me one time since then saying it had the same message. so, it was likely damaged a long time?

i really appreciate all your help and expert input.

have a warm and safe holiday.

[Leoculus]

Thanks guys. the new sub hopper was in fact broken, and it solved the problem. and as copier tech said, the toners that it didn't like, once the new hopper was in, it just cycled thru the tone up cycle and was ready to go.

i noticed the customer only had 450 color copies/ prints since the new dev. unit and they had called me one time since then saying it had the same message. so, it was likely damaged a long time?

i really appreciate all your help and expert input.

have a warm and safe holiday.

even though they only have 450 colour the motors will still turn the units for process control/TD readings/Music adjustments etc. What caused the issue may be hard to determine. the dev gears could have stripped/clumped or after market toner/transporting the machine to the customers site/high humidity the list goes on. its hard to determine one specific reason when there are that many variables without inspecting the parts that were replaced

edit: at least you have the satisfaction of knowing you fixed the issue and the customer is happy!

[tonerjockey]

yes, when this customer called several months ago, the call was for a intermittent noise or grinding/ buzzing and the toner out even after they changed it.
i had gone out and found the yellow developer unit wouldn't turn, and one of the side gears was stripped.
so i replaced it. and i cant remember if i put in a new yellow then, or left the newer one.
i told them that the old one wouldn't work.
not being familiar with the newer Ricoh's, i ran some tests and left. about 2 or 3 months later than called and said its doing the same thing.
i asked if they had put the old original yellow back in and they thought maybe they did? i told them after the machine tries to tone up unsuccessfully, it locks out that CRUM memory module on the toner.

apparently i didn't lie, i was just uneducated...

in hindsight, i should have dug deeper, as the plastic worm gear in the sub hopper was broken off and sitting up hidden in the pile of toner.

but they are up and running, and i am walking so to speak.

i do appreciate you and all the advice and support. i am finding i have really lost my edge from what i was or had. almost 46 years sniffing toner.

my how toner flies. or, where has all the toner gone? sounds like a bad song. ok, ill stop now.
thank you

[aficio63]

Having same issue with yellow on same model. I've replaced the toner RFID pcb, Replaced yellow toner supply motor/swapped toner drive motors with magenta/checked auger from developer unit to supply hopper, waiting on yellow dev unit...guess we'll see??

[tonerjockey]

oh darn.
as i found out, the yellow toner leaves the cartridge by the machine spinning it. then it looked like it traveled rearward with another harder plastid auger, and at the vertical down chute, there is a metal spring clipped to and hanging down into the downspout. from there, it fills a "sub hopper" that has a plastic flapper that rotates to push the toner towards a soft plastic auger that drives toner into and thru a "U" shaped hose tube.
from there, i think it dropped strait down into another downtube and into the developer toner entrance hole where its mixed with the developer inside the developer unit.
as the other posters here said, check the sub hopper from the back. that soft plastic auger looked like it just broke off flush with the hub. in my experience over the years, the augers were either hard plastic or a long metal spring. the hard ones may have either broke or damaged the drive gear. the metal ones would wrapped themselves around and then it didn't work.

i would remove the sub hopper, and vacuum it out and inspect that auger.
your lucky as i was, the yellow is the easiest one on the end to get to.

there is an excellent you tube tube video demonstrating the removal of the sub hoppers buy a very qualified tech i found that was very helpful in getting to and removing it for that exact model..

best of luck with it.