Ricoh C7100 density/saturation issues

[Shawnd]

radji Did you ever track down the solution to your mottling problem? Still dealing with it especially on 70# text, tried the whole gamut of current settings and fuser temps and textured paper on and off on my one machine. The other prints it fine, the tech will come in and play with it and get it close but after a week it will go right back to mottling bad. Driving me nuts.

 

[radji]

Shawnd I found some of the density issues are solved by running the Execute Process Initial setting, Execute Developer Refresh, and Execute DEMS. That definitely helped with the spottiness and color variations that rear their ugly head in the middle of a run. I also had to play with the transfer current settings. For this DTS 130# cover, it was very particular about the current and textured voltage settings. Luckily the textured mode voltage settings for this paper from the master catalog are dialed in close enough to where I did not have to mess with them. Not to say that should occur for a 70# text. I run that all the time (Kelly 70#T Coated Gloss) and haven't seen any mottling.

 

[Shawnd]

I am running Finch 94 digital smooth text 70#, no gloss. Actually today it was weird, I was having issues again and decided to create a new paper in the catalog for kicks and giggles and using the media reader this time it gave me different values for the same paper, the mottling reduced greatly using the new paper setup. I have tried this in the past and it had not worked, will see how long this works as I think my paper settings I was using must have gotten corrupted by the tech trying so many different settings to get it to work.

 

[Shawnd]

I think the Tech has locked me out of Developer Refresh, I had tried that and every time it Fails, I used to be able to run it but he said it was messing up the machine. I am always doing DEMS and EPI.

 

[msaeger]

I think the Tech has locked me out of Developer Refresh, I had tried that and every time it Fails, I used to be able to run it but he said it was messing up the machine. I am always doing DEMS and EPI.

I don't think you can be locked out of specific things it is just you can access skilled operators or not. When I couldn't run developer refresh it was because of a toner near end or waste toner bottle.near full.

 

[Shawnd]

When I couldn't run developer refresh it was because of a toner near end or waste toner bottle.near full.

This is one to keep in the ol memory bank, I had the replace soon msg and that was tripping it out, once I swapped out a new waste toner bottle it is letting me run it.

 

[radji]

I am running Finch 94 digital smooth text 70#, no gloss. Actually today it was weird, I was having issues again and decided to create a new paper in the catalog for kicks and giggles and using the media reader this time it gave me different values for the same paper, the mottling reduced greatly using the new paper setup. I have tried this in the past and it had not worked, will see how long this works as I think my paper settings I was using must have gotten corrupted by the tech trying so many different settings to get it to work.

Hate to say it, but maybe your tech messed up the settings which caused the original error. Strange because Ricoh production techs (or mine at least) know to not radically change paper catalog settings since it usually hurts more than it helps.

 

[Shawnd]

I have two 7110's, the first one that got installed has been a problem child since day 1, always giving us weird issues like this. Our paper catalog is pretty simple since we run the same papers for everything, but for some reason it does not like 70# text, the second one will run it fine with the same settings. It is like the paper settings get corrupted over time and it reverts back to horrible print quality after a couple weeks, haven't really been able to pinpoint what causes it as the tech has changed out pretty much everything. I might just have to get used to doing a new paper profile once it starts messing up again, it fixed it this time.

 

[msaeger]

Do you move jobs from one Fiery to the other? I have seen that mess with the paper catalog

 

[Shawnd]

This is what I am encountering on 70# text that the tech will get to go away for a week or two then it will come back:

We only move a job when we encounter this, but it will print fine on the other 7110 on 70# text, I have checked all the advanced settings for the paper are the same on the two machines, but one will print it fine, got both me and the tech baffled.

Here is another twist, I ended up finishing the job on 80# Gloss text, it looked alot better and the solids while not perfect was passable on the same printer that gave me issues with 70# text.

Creating a new paper profile did not work for this job.

 

[kslight]

This is what I am encountering on 70# text that the tech will get to go away for a week or two then it will come back:

We only move a job when we encounter this, but it will print fine on the other 7110 on 70# text, I have checked all the advanced settings for the paper are the same on the two machines, but one will print it fine, got both me and the tech baffled.

Here is another twist, I ended up finishing the job on 80# Gloss text, it looked alot better and the solids while not perfect was passable on the same printer that gave me issues with 70# text.

Creating a new paper profile did not work for this job.

That looks pretty gross, but I have noticed in not smooth stock like this, that the paper itself can vary...or even one side or the other will be smoother. Example, we recently had a long run of books that were entirely color, but printed on just plain 60# stock...you could see some pages look better than others. I think a lot of that is the nature of the stock...maybe you can try a smoother sheet?

In the Xerox world I can adjust transfer settings to usually improve this, I am assuming you can do something like that in Ricoh? As the seasons change I noticed the transfer settings will not always work the same way either...if the climate varies in your shop that could be part of the problem as well.

 

[radji]

Have your tech check the charge roller(s). I had the similar issue and that was part of the problem. I also had to up the transfer bias since I was running a very heavy paper. But I don't suspect that same issue for your machine.

http://support.ricoh.com/bb_v1oi/pub_e/oi_view/0001056/0001056377/view/trouble/int/0039.htm

 

[Shawnd]

I have switched to Husky 70# text which is running better but I still have enough mottling it warrants a call to the tech, paper prints fine as well on my other machine. Some of the charge rollers are in the 80% range so I will have them swapped out.

 

[HolgerSchwob]

What i generally found is that printing problematic media´s (textured, or mottled image) could be very much improved in quality when printing in the correct grain-direction. we have much better results on ricoh 7100 and also on canon c600 when printing textured stock in the "correct" direction (with grain parallel to the rollers). maybe the paper can curl easier around the transferroller? So we sometimes cut the paper in half before printing , and pay double click but can produce better quality.

 

[ColorMonkey]

I have switched to Husky 70# text which is running better but I still have enough mottling it warrants a call to the tech, paper prints fine as well on my other machine. Some of the charge rollers are in the 80% range so I will have them swapped out.

So just to let you know, we run a lot of Husky 60# mainly in xerox dept. but to cut down on costs they try to spec it for some color jobs. If the coverage is med-full usually the result will not look so great. Accent, same result. So for light coverage or just copy and a few graphics not a big deal. Here's the thing about Husky though and I say this running it for years on 651, 900, 901, 7110, the paper is garbage. I don't know if the fillers they use have anything to do with it, but it's garbage. From lot to lot or even ream to ream the properties change and not in a subtle way. I mean you can be running and laying down a good image and then then boom, it turns to crap. Very frustrating.

I can say that I created a textured paper cat for it that I feel pretty confidant in but I still can see the image degrade from time to time in a longer run. That is the other problem on all machines listed above, the longer the run the image quality would most likely degrade overall.

So the other thing I just wanted to mention is Husky Offset is a very low grade paper and the smoothness is not great so, when I hear of operators incurring mottling I sometimes wonder if the are just seeing an image laid done fairly well, however due to it being uncoated and not very smooth, they are just seeing the texture of the paper coming through.

I just wanted to weigh in on the Husky thing though because this paper has caused me much grief on jobs and really where there are solids and photos, this paper should not be spec'd. Lynx a little better but like Accent that can also be a challenge from lot to lot.

 

[Shawnd]

ColorMonkey What paper have you found works very well? I have tried Finch 70# as well and it was worse than the Husky 70#.

 

[ColorMonkey]

I would say give Lynx a try it's a little more but depends on your vendor. If I need to lay down a nice smooth solid on text weight uncoated, I push for Mohawk CC98 or Neenah laser. These are both more expensive than Husky or Lynx but you can count on them and they will give you the quality expected. However, cost is always a consideration as well as the expectations of the operator and obviously the customer.

Others may suggest papers that have worked well for them as well that you can consider.

Know that when the humidity has been suck out of the paper those, uncoated stocks can have a really hard time taking an image and no matter what you do, it may be impossible to lay down good color eventhough K looks amazing. I'm taking when trapping especially M & C.

 

[gregbatch]

Try Navigator Platinum. Low cost. Runs great.

 

[Shawnd]

Thanks guys for the ideas. gregbatch The pricing on that Navigator Platinum is about a penny more than Husky, I will order some and give it a try, might keep some around for heavy coverage projects if it works good.

I like the description of it: "99 Brightness, Specially formulated for Color Copying, 99.99% Jam-Free Performance"

Can't find the fine print on that jam free performance

 

[PricelineNegotiator]

We run Navigator Multipurpose in all of our Xerox machines, as a general 20# white sheet. We use Lynx as the next step up, highly recommend using that as opposed to Husky or Navigator Platinum. Those sheets aren't really as smooth as they need to be for high coverage digital printing. That isn't to say that we don't use it still occasionally.

In our offset presses we run X-9 from Boise.

It is worth mentioning that we used to run X-9 in our copiers but it started jamming too frequently, thus we replaced it with Navigator Multipurpose and have had NO issues.