Ricoh 901; Here we go again!!!

[imageworks]

I'm having similar problems with my 901. Ricoh Canada service is quite responsive - but I'm frustrated that the machine doesn't stay fixed for very long. I don't know if I got a lemon or what's going on. I call these guys every 2-3 days.

We got a 901 in March of 2011 - and have had several problems. It ran amazing for a month, then the problems started. They changed the entire developer unit twice, drum 4 or 5 times, drum cleaning unit 2 or 3 times. Our first concern was streaking in the cyan, running vertical, across sheet travel they called it "Shock Jitter." They changed some flywheels and that problem of vertical banding reduced significantly. This is an important thing to check, if you haven't done this already.

Now our problem is streaking running the direction of sheet travel. Ricoh Canada, overall, has been very responsive - we call, they come, they change parts, it works again. My frustration is the time between a good print and garbage is getting shorter. The machine runs good for 1-2 weeks, then problems again. Change parts, 1-2 weeks, problems again. The streaking is noticed most in the cyan. I'm not talking minor streaks - major streaks - totally unsellable. The ITB (Image Transfer Belt) is creased quite badly - it was changed at 400K and we're now at 480K. It has of life of 600K clicks, but it's destroyed at only 80K. The streaking seen on paper is the same pattern seen on the ITB. always running in the direction of sheet travel. The tech's can't isolate a "cause" of the creasing in the ITB... any ideas?

Is your ITB ok?

[Corey]

Have you ruled out static on the media as the cause of this problem? Static causes similar types of printing defects but its on the media in most cases, and not on the printer or in the print head.

[Nagramos]

I'm having similar problems with my 901. Ricoh Canada service is quite responsive - but I'm frustrated that the machine doesn't stay fixed for very long. I don't know if I got a lemon or what's going on. I call these guys every 2-3 days.

We got a 901 in March of 2011 - and have had several problems. It ran amazing for a month, then the problems started. They changed the entire developer unit twice, drum 4 or 5 times, drum cleaning unit 2 or 3 times. Our first concern was streaking in the cyan, running vertical, across sheet travel they called it "Shock Jitter." They changed some flywheels and that problem of vertical banding reduced significantly. This is an important thing to check, if you haven't done this already.

Now our problem is streaking running the direction of sheet travel. Ricoh Canada, overall, has been very responsive - we call, they come, they change parts, it works again. My frustration is the time between a good print and garbage is getting shorter. The machine runs good for 1-2 weeks, then problems again. Change parts, 1-2 weeks, problems again. The streaking is noticed most in the cyan. I'm not talking minor streaks - major streaks - totally unsellable. The ITB (Image Transfer Belt) is creased quite badly - it was changed at 400K and we're now at 480K. It has of life of 600K clicks, but it's destroyed at only 80K. The streaking seen on paper is the same pattern seen on the ITB. always running in the direction of sheet travel. The tech's can't isolate a "cause" of the creasing in the ITB... any ideas?

Is your ITB ok?

Our ITB has been replaced in every 8K prints cicle, since the 901 started here, about a month ago. That happened 3 times, but now things are, I think, ok.
The printer is really complicated. Guys from Roch are still learning. Remove paper jams is a problem if you don't have the skills or training from Ricoh. Even then, something can go wrong, as we saw here.
There's a problem everyone says with the blue fills. Somewhere here in this forum, even before we receive our printer, I was aware of that. But Ricoh replce some parts of the new printer from others they delivered here. That was necessary, according to them, as a engineering update.
We had a difficult first month with the new 901. On the other hand, it's the best printer I ever seen, the closest of traditional off-set print we ever had. It's worth the problems witch should be completelly solved this month.
I recomend the 901. But be patient with Ricoh, they are trying to achieve results.
Regards.