Ricoh C901s can't print a solid blue

All my dark blues look blotchy. When looking at it with a glass, you can see that the magenta gets dropped out which changes the look of the blue and gives my a blotchy look.

The techs are all saying it's the paper. Granted, it could be. But I find that it is a hit and miss with the blues. Some days they are fine, others look like crap. Now I do have a humidifier going behind the copier as I live in ontario canada and am in the winter months right now. The paper I am trying to use is your basic Lynx Digital Text - 70lb 12x18.

Anyone else having this same issue? have you gotten it resolved? if so, how?

Thanks!

 

I have not heard good things about that machine, but I don't have one myself. However, I can give you some ideas that might be suspect. If the magenta is dropping out it is most likely 1 of 3 things: (1) a mechanical problem (poor pressure causing the magenta to not transfer properly to the transfer belt) can test this by running a magenta image and force a stop to where you can look at the belt to see if the magenta is transferring well from the drum. If it was a belt to paper pressure issue all colors would drop. (2) a static charge issue causing the magenta toner to be repelled from the drum/belt/paper - difficult to diagnose even for a tech (3) moisture issue with the paper - not likely since all other colors transfer properly. There could also be a defective toner, developer or drum issue, sometimes issues become noticeable after the machine heats up (i.e. first sheet looks fine and quality gradually goes down but quickly as the machine heats up).

Hope this helps!

 

Oh, 1 more thing, laser intensity of the magenta unit to the drum roller.

 

Thanks for the tips! I will definitely pass those along to my tech and see what he says.

Im surprised to hear that you never hear good things about this machine. My only major complaint really is this blue issue. Other than that, I find it to be a great machine. Colours are great (except for blue solids, lol) its fast, registration is amazing. Maybe because our older machine was garbage, so this seems like a Cadillac to me, haha.

 

The techs may give you resistance on #2 above (no pun intended lol) but here is an article explaining it
http://amasci.com/emotor/polarity.html

here is an exerpt that explains this theory:
"- Partly inflate a small rubber balloon and hang if from a string (perhaps attaching the top of the string to a door jamb.)
- Charge the balloon negatively by rubbing it all over some clean dry hair or fur.
- Now bring your charged object near the balloon.
- If your charged object is negative, it will repel the alike-charged balloon.
- If the charged object is positive, it will STRONGLY attract the oppositely-charged balloon.
- And if the charged object is not charged after all, but is neutral, it will WEAKLY attract the charged balloon. "

Copy machines work on this principal. Same thing can happen with toner & paper, not as likely as some of the other issues but is very possible and worth checking into if all else fails. This could be hard to diagnose if it happens only with that one specific paper.

 

Just thought i'd share that I managed to help alleviate my issue with blotchy blue solids. This time the blotchy appeared on PMS 348 (green). I went onto the printer itself and went to User Tools --> Adjustment Settings for Skilled Users (need to login) ----> adjust maximum toner density (page 2) and then set the magenta to +5 (can only go -5 to +5).

That helped me, can't say it would help anyone else as each job is special in their own way.