Ricoh 651/751

With 310k clicks, I am still very pleased with the C751, this has been night and day compared to the C700. I have had only one service call, that was for uneven across the sheet print density on cyan and magenta. This ended up of all things being a firmware problem that was quickly corrected. The machine has been extremely reliable, and the prints look great. Thus far I have replaced the PCU cleaning unit (scheduled), the transfer roller unit (scratch lines when duplexing), and one cyan drum which didn’t need to be replaced when I was looking at the uneven print problem. I also clean the charge rollers frequently as I noticed it helps keep the print looking clean, and I clean the registration area of paper dust regularly. It’s just nice to be able to do these preventive things on the operator level and not wait for problems to develop and have to call service.
The machine has fed and duplexed all stocks without difficulty, and there have only been maybe 20 jams for 310k impressions. Register always looks good, as good as I’ve seen on a digital printer. I think the photo print quality is excellent- I have made some scanned photos print better than the original looks. If there is one complaint, there is occasional light streaking in cyan on heavy solids. Nothing detrimental to any jobs, but it’s not perfect. In all, still very happy with the C751.
 
MAJOR ISSUES WITH 651/751 UNITS See other forum for conversation.

MAJOR ISSUES WITH 651/751 UNITS See other forum for conversation.

If you haven't followed the post on the 651/751 on another forum and you own one. You may want to check it out from the beginning. There are some major issues with these machines that are happening short into the life cycle. Ricoh can't fix the issues and haven't come up with an amicable solution. If you have a solution to rectify these issues PLEASE share, because that is all we want...we don't want to be stuck with badly performing machines for the remainder of the leases/payments: Here is the link the the printing forum where most of the discussions have taken place:Ricoh 651 / 751 experience - Color Printing Forum
If you are a commercial printer we are not allowed to sell it without a 2nd fuser. You need at least 1 extra because of burn ins created when switching sheet sizes. As far as dual fusers go it is a great marketing ploy. Every company has there marketing ploys- even us. Or C901 can outwork a C7010 any day and only has one fuser. We sold Canon C7000VP's at Ikon right before Ricoh acquired us so I still experience service issues from Ricoh's and Canon's. The C7010VP is the same animal as the C7000VP. My technicians have told me this many times. One thing I could offer as proof is they both receive the same firmware updates so the have the same brains. Here are some real differences in both boxes and you can decide for yourselves which one best fits your needs. The Ricoh C901 will do 90 pages per minute no matter what substrate you run through it verses Canon's 70. True the Canon will not slow down on mixed media but you can make the Ricoh do the same as long as you choose the same weight settings for each drawer. The slow down only occurs because the machine is changing the paper path depending on the weight of the paper so as long as you make them the same- no slow down. My technician's tell me easily the Ricoh needs less maintenance. They usually do calls every 15k- 25k on the Canon whereas the Ricoh's usually got to 150k - 200k. Now they all agree that the Canon makes a better image, not a substantially better image but notable enough to them. However the Canon units are down for service a lot more and require a lot more babying. Hope this helps.
 
If you haven't followed the post on the 651/751 on another forum and you own one. You may want to check it out from the beginning. There are some major issues with these machines that are happening short into the life cycle. Ricoh can't fix the issues and haven't come up with an amicable solution. If you have a solution to rectify these issues PLEASE share, because that is all we want...we don't want to be stuck with badly performing machines for the remainder of the leases/payments: Here is the link the the printing forum where most of the discussions have taken place:Ricoh 651 / 751 experience - Color Printing Forum

I wish I could offer a solution to those with this problem. I can say for sure that after testing a 11x17 50% black halftone, the problem they are encountering is NOT normal for these machines. I see no vertical (down the 17" length) banding in my copy whatsoever. There is a VERY light horizontal band about 4" down from the top of the sheet across the 11" width, but it is hardly noticeable. So if service techs or ? are telling you that "all these machines are doing it," that is complete BS. I beleive my C751 was a machine early to the market, so if they did anything to change or update things later on in production, perhaps that is what caused the issues.

I have still only had one service call since we got the C751, and it's still printing well. The C700 we had was such a lemon that although I don't wish problems on anyone, I'm glad its not me this time around.

-Mark-
 
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I wish I could offer a solution to those with this problem. I can say for sure that after testing a 11x17 50% black halftone, the problem they are encountering is NOT normal for these machines. I see no vertical (down the 17" length) banding in my copy whatsoever. There is a VERY light horizontal band about 4" down from the top of the sheet across the 11" width, but it is hardly noticeable. So if service techs or ? are telling you that "all these machines are doing it," that is complete BS. I beleive my C751 was a machine early to the market, so if they did anything to change or update things later on in production, perhaps that is what caused the issues.

I have still only had one service call since we got the C751, and it's still printing well. The C700 we had was such a lemon that although I don't wish problems on anyone, I'm glad its not me this time around.

-Mark-

I have to agree with Mark, we have the 651, I have had a few service calls but very few and no serious problems. We have 250k ledger prints in 10 months with a lot of card and coated stock, this machine has been great so far.
 
I have a Ricoh Pro 651Ex. It came in in March. We have a printing problem which Ricoh can not fix. When we print a newlsetter or anything where you have a screen and black type on top of the screen we get a white outline around the type. Ricoh has sent tech, heads of service and taken files, they can't fix it. After 5 months of trying we told them to pick it up. They have refused and are hiding behind their "it prints within specs" If it prints within specs why did they send all of those people trying to fix the problem. Ricoh even came up with the term Halo. They did not offer us a different machine or any resolution. When we were wait for Ricoh to pick up the machine we got a Xerox 770 in which was less expensive and we have on problem. When their West Coast VP Dan Welsh came out saw the problem and we did a test print on our old Xerox 240 and showed him this is how the job should look, he too just said well it prints within specs. That is am awful broad term, they still can't explain why their 651 can't print. I also put it on a friends Konica and Konica had no problem. We are now having to hire an Attorney to defend ourselves because Ricoh is unwilling to take responsibility. We have been a customer of Ricoh for over 12 years and now I will never buy a Ricoh product again. Before you get caught in Ricoh' slow click charges please be aware Ricoh does not what it sells. We had an issue with a Xerox a few years ago and after 4 months of problems they came and picked it up and credited us what we spend on their machine. If anyone has any questions please feel free to email me.

M & M printing LAX
 
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I get that you seem to have a valid concern regarding your unit with Ricoh. but please dont spam every 651/751 thread with this issue.. Im sure you have already started your own thread about it.. isnt that enough.?
 

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