Ricoh C305 Toner cartridge is almost Empty

[Jinn]

Ricoh C305 was showing error Replace toner. Black toner is empty. It was indicating Black K. Toner bottle was Full and rotating. Upon opening or closing the front door or by restarting the machine toner bottle rotation starts and after few mins it stops and shows same error. Replace Black toner.There is no toner.

Things Done : * Force toner supply K. Bottle rotating but level is not going up.
* Checked Toner level in SP mode it was Zero. 0
I opened the toner supply section. Remove all the toner motors. Vacuumed the toner pump sections. They were all clear. No toner clogging.

After finishing I pt everything back and start the machine. It took some time to supply toner. Bottle as again rotating. and Now it is showing "Toner cartridge is almost Empty". Toner level is at 10 %. Bottle rotates on every print but rotate half cycle. Print density is perfect. I have replaced another used working K PCU (Drm Unit) but still toner is at 10 percent and error indication is till there.

How to fix this problem? Everything is working fine,... but why toner level is not going up?

Thanks

[luca72]

Re: Ricoh C305 Toner cartridge is almost Empty

Ricoh C305 was showing error Replace toner. Black toner is empty. It was indicating Black K. Toner bottle was Full and rotating. Upon opening or closing the front door or by restarting the machine toner bottle rotation starts and after few mins it stops and shows same error. Replace Black toner.There is no toner.

Things Done : * Force toner supply K. Bottle rotating but level is not going up.
* Checked Toner level in SP mode it was Zero. 0
I opened the toner supply section. Remove all the toner motors. Vacuumed the toner pump sections. They were all clear. No toner clogging.

After finishing I pt everything back and start the machine. It took some time to supply toner. Bottle as again rotating. and Now it is showing "Toner cartridge is almost Empty". Toner level is at 10 %. Bottle rotates on every print but rotate half cycle. Print density is perfect. I have replaced another used working K PCU (Drm Unit) but still toner is at 10 percent and error indication is till there.

How to fix this problem? Everything is working fine,... but why toner level is not going up?



Thanks

I didn't find it in the actions you took, if you tried to simply replace the K toner bottle with another one, it could be the malfunctioning chip

[dalewb74]

Re: Ricoh C305 Toner cartridge is almost Empty

check to be 100% certain you have the correct toner for the correct model. just because the box says it, it might not be the correct one. i have had that happen to me. and this was an actual ricoh OEM toner. if that doesn't work, then you should look at the auger system for the color that you have problems with. that auger sometimes breaks and will give you issues like you are experiencing.

[slimslob]

Re: Ricoh C305 Toner cartridge is almost Empty

check to be 100% certain you have the correct toner for the correct model. just because the box says it, it might not be the correct one. i have had that happen to me. and this was an actual ricoh OEM toner. if that doesn't work, then you should look at the auger system for the color that you have problems with. that auger sometimes breaks and will give you issues like you are experiencing.

Ricoh OEM or Genuine Ricoh. There is a difference.

[RicohBoomer]

Re: Ricoh C305 Toner cartridge is almost Empty

When vacuuming out the toner hoppers that are below the motor did you make sure the parts within it were ok?
The times I've run into "Early toner end" on these machines it has been because the rubber(?) spring that travels down along the canal that connects to the Dev, is broken.

[JayPaul]

Re: Ricoh C305 Toner cartridge is almost Empty

When we got this problem and no amount of checking SP modes and replacing toner with a new bottle fixed it. Take back of machine apart, replace hopper and tube, replace the board as well with the connectors on it that touch the ends of the toner bottles. Possibly called rfid board or something. Problem went away, it takes ages the first time you do it but we had loads of that model in the field about 8 years ago and got quicker at it after doing it 5-10 times.
Hopefully you don't have to go that route but it fixed it every time for us.
(Also do firmware after)

[Bourriks]

Re: Ricoh C305 Toner cartridge is almost Empty

When we got this problem and no amount of checking SP modes and replacing toner with a new bottle fixed it. Take back of machine apart, replace hopper and tube, replace the board as well with the connectors on it that touch the ends of the toner bottles. Possibly called rfid board or something. Problem went away, it takes ages the first time you do it but we had loads of that model in the field about 8 years ago and got quicker at it after doing it 5-10 times.
Hopefully you don't have to go that route but it fixed it every time for us.
(Also do firmware after)

Same : toner Hopper to check, vacuum and to replace if needed (if the plastic screw is broken). Good luck, it's quite a long work, I've done it dozens times on MPC 305-306-307 and IM C300.

The cause case be a failure on the DEV Unit, leading to break the plastic screw in the hopper.

[dalewb74]

Re: Ricoh C305 Toner cartridge is almost Empty

Ricoh OEM or Genuine Ricoh. There is a difference.

genuine ricoh my baddddd....

[luca72]

Re: Ricoh C305 Toner cartridge is almost Empty

Its happen to me today, on a 3003, the Yellow cartidge dont show the level, i simply pass my finger on the contact, and the level now its Jump out

[dalewb74]

Re: Ricoh C305 Toner cartridge is almost Empty

genuine ricoh my baddddd....

wasn't paying attention when i did this. had both on the brain.