Many companies are cutting corners and trying to lower costs when purchasing the best all- in one copier printer scanner fax office equipment. However, they fail to realize the low cost units are not saving them money or they do not fit their copier printer machine needs.  Beyond HP mid-level printer scanner copiers other brands such as  Kyocera, Sharp, Ricoh, Brother and Copystar offer lower operating costs and longer life. The MX-B201 Sharp is a great alternative.

The big performance in a compact size unit, the Sharp MX-B201D copier printer scanner fax is a great choice.  The Sharp MX-B201D is designed for small offices and work groups delivers features needed for  small office environments who needs documents processed fast.  The 20 page-per-minute copying,  printing and integrated color scanning ensure that your office equipment work needs are met.  It comes standard with a 50-sheet document feeder and duplexing which provides 2-sided scanning for extra efficiency, as well as duplex printing and copying.

The cost-effective Sharp MX-B201, consumable system utilizes a three-component system that’s easy to replace and easy on your wallet.  The toner cartridges have an estimated life of 8,000 pages.  And since business never stands still, the MX-B201D offers flexible options to add Super G3 faxing, networking and web-based management…so you’ll be ready for anything. Plus, they are durable machines when compared to HP printer copier scanners of the same level.

Other brands to consider are the Kyocera FS-1135 which comes standard with copy, printer, scanner and fax which is much more durable than comparable HP copier printer scanner equipment.

HP is trying to become more active in the higher end copier ,market. However they haev greatly fallen short in their equipment and problems.  Basically HP takes a printer and designs a MFD copier printer scanner fax unit around it.  It’s not a from scratch machine originally design as a full business class copier printer.  The cost of the machine are approximately the sames as Ricoh, Sharp, Kyocera or Copystar copier printer scanner fax machine so there is not cost advantage. Hp is trying to leverage their name as the selling point.  However, there are some inherent problems:

here are specifications fro the HP M5035mfp

HP LaserJet M5035 MFP is a copier, printer color scanner, and fax MFD office class device that comes as a desktop to a full size machine with the additional of addition drawers stand unit.

• Handles letter, legal and 11×17 size documents
• 35 ppm copy/print speed
• 50 page ADF
• Superior network connectivity and management
• Embedded LDAP and Kerberos network authentication
• Embedded send to network folder and e-mail

However,  there are problems and one is not solvable – light scanning and copying. HP M5035MFP repair of the lightness problem has not solution. The unit prints great (remember it a MFD designed around a printer) but when it starts developing lightness of scanning HP has not solutions.  Up grading the firmware does not solve the scanning repair problem. Cleaning the and doing HP maintenance on the optics does not solve the problem.  The only solution we haev not tried is replacing the WHOLE adf with the image scanner unit due to excess costs and time. If you need a true full business class copier printer scanner you may want to look elsewhere than HP at the present time. Kyocera, Copystar, sharp and Ricoh are among the best and easiest to service repair.

The Kyocera FS-1135 new MFD come is a durable machine in the sub $1000 range. It comes with all the features may small business need including printer, copying, scanning, fax and low cost of usage. The

FS-1135mfd comes standard network printing, copy and color scanning functions. It’s a highly efficient desktop letter/legal multifunctional printer that’s compact and quiet. The standard document processor feeds reliably and improves your productivity. The Copystar FS1135MFP is designed with ultra reliable ECOSYS technology the 30 ppm FS-1135MFP is a MFP that small business copier scanner printer and work groups can rely on everyday. And with its long life drum, toner and easy to replace toner container you will enjoy a low total cost of ownership compared to typical all in one models.  All in all, the Copystar FS 1135 is a business machine at a bargain price.

Kyocera has always created low operating cost equipment well made and this one is no exception.  The FS-1135mfd provides per page cost of less than $0.01 (one cent)per page including toner and the 100,000page maintenance kit.  Upon testing the unit its compatible with all operation systems tested including Mac computers.  The Kyocera Copystar FS-1135 copier printer scanner quality prints and scans and best of all it comes standard with duplex (two sided printing, scanning).

What does factory certified mean when purchasing a refurbished used recondition copier printer scanner?  Certified Factory Pre-owned equipment consists of 100% certified equipment by factory authorized service technicians. The used copier printer scanners o through a rigorous testing, inspection, part and replacement process before they are approved for on-site warranty. Only the cream of the crop used copiers printers scanners are certified.

Why should I Look at the Duty Cycle – All printers copiers have a duty cycle assigned by the manufacturer. Duty cycle is a number of pages per month the printer was designed to print (maximum number of pages). In the real world black/white copier printers with a duty cycle of fewer than 60K per month or color printers less than 50K per month are considered home or very small office devices. Many people look at the pages per minute rate to determine if the device is durable. This is a BIG mistake. The speed of the printer copier scanner office equipment and the duty cycle are two very different specifications. There are many low end printers that print 25 to 35 pages per minute, however; they are very easy to break and designed for the home use. Plus, the low end printers are very expensive to maintain (high per page supply costs.)

Simply put: Certified Pre-owned used printer copier equipment gives you more for your money, lower operating costs and longer equipment life. It’s a great alternative to cost high end equipment or cheap easy to break low end machines.

With all the models of copier printer scanners on the market is may be a bit confusing of which models or brands to consider.  This entry is based on the fasting moving brands of printer copiers from off lease machines with the export market taken out of the equation.  Major leasing companies send most of their off lease equipment to 2 to 3 major wholesale distributors of copier printer scanner equipment in the USA. Dealers then receive daily lists to bid on the used machines to refurbished for their clients.

The fastest moving brands of used reconditions copier printers scanners from these warehouses are Kyocera, Ricoh and Sharp.  Yes, Canon , Toshiba and other models do sell but not as quick as the top three.  Between the used Kyocera Ricoh and Sharp copier printer scanners equipment the Kyocera KM_3035 / 4035 / 5035 with under 300K pages and complete systems (copier, duplex,  printer scanner and fax) move within a couple hours. Sharp AR-M455 and AR-M355 are the next copiers printers.

The ones that move the slowest of the major brands are Xerox, Konica-Minolta, Canon and Toshiba brands of copier printer MFD.  When talking about Ricoh that includes all Ricoh brands: Lanier, Gestetner and Savin. Kyocera include used refurbished Copystar copiers printers.  All brands that do not have the fax and scanner feature are slow movers. The majority of the people who are in the market for copier printers new, used or refurbished what all the features included in the copier printer MFD. The up an coming models due to low availability of the most popular Kyocera and Sharp are the Kyocera of Copystar 3050, 4050 and the 5050.  when dealers select used machines to refurbish they look at the durability of the copier printer, cost to refurbished and  market feature demands.

Today economic environment is a driving force in the used refurbished printer copier scanner market. Companies are seeking ways to greatly reduce monthly expenses and they have realized replacing a used copier printer with a new one every 3 to 5 years is not sound business practice. Ricoh, a well know name in the copier business, is one of  the more popular brand due to the ease of repair and the number of Ricoh repair facilities in just about every city.

Ricoh, also know as Savin, Lanier,and  Gestetner (all same machines but different names) are reliable and low cost to operate copier printers.  Obtaining a recent model Ricoh or Lanier copier printer over buying a new one from Canon, Toshiba or other brand will greatly reduce you monthly costs.  First of all, recent model (3..4 years old) refurbished used copier printers scanners usually save you 50% to 67%  of the cot of a new one which equates to 50% to 67% off your monthly payments.

Secondly, Ricoh is one of the better manufacturers that keeps producing parts fro many many years after the equipment is discontinued.  Getting parts for Ricoh, Lanier, Saving copier printers that are 10 to 14 years old is not a problem.  Plus, many compatible copier printer parts are available in the market to keep you costs down.  As in all business class (floor units) copier printer we highly recommend service agreements if you produce over 4,000 pages per month.  Used Ricoh, Lanier, Gestetner and Savin copier printers are just like cars, they need regular maintenance to give you years of quality service.  If you plant o buy a used machine not refurbished form a copier printer service center then get a technician to check the used copier printer scanner before you buy it.  The technician can give you a detailed history on the machine including when it needs maintenance which could cost you hundreds of dollars depending upon your used refurbished Ricoh model.

With all the companies going out of busy its become a free for all in the user copier printer scanner fax markets.  We consistently get calls from companies who have purchased used copier printers machine from companies going out of business or at auctions that lasted a few days and then started to haev problems.  When purchasing a used or reconditioned copier printer scanner fax whether Canon, Ricoh, Sharp, Kyocera or other brand you need to thoroughly test the unit.   Better yet hire a certified service technician to check ti out first before parting with your hard earned money.

One of the more common problems we are starting to see lately is the system rest of the factory configured calibrations and even the serial numbers. on many brands of printer copier scanners fax MFD machines a service technician can reset the factory ONLY calibrations settings. These settings control the laser strength, density calibration and even house the serial numbers.  Once these are reset they can not be recovered or properly recalibrate because these calibration settings were done at the time of the manufacturer of the copier printer using specialized equipment not available in the field. can you tell if the settings haev been changed?  Yes and not

If you print the configuration or service log history you may notice an entry stating that the system was reset. Or if you print the used reconditioned copier printer configuration or service page and notice no serial number then you know somebody tampered with the counters, and factory only settings.  Purchasing a used copier printer fax is just like purchasing a used car. You want to know the true past history and usage. It’s better to have a service technician review the copier printer scanner used or refurbished equipment before you buy to prevent costly repair maintenance after a few days or weeks after purchase.

What can go wrong when the settings are reset? Plenty – first image quality when you replace the developer or drum unit. Second – lose of functionality of the unit that requires activation codes to use the fax, scanner or printer features.  Inability to get a maintenance agreement because the serial number and history is wiped out.  Used refurbished printer copier scanner office equipment will greatly reduce your overall cost but selecting one that was reset can be a costly mistake.

There is always a debate whether to obtain a new full size copier printer scanner fax instead of a refurbished one. When you look in the lower end of the marked (Sub $1000 machines) it usually best to obtain a new copier printer or one that has less than 1 month duty cycle of pages. The duty cycle is defined as the maximum number of pages that the manufacturer the user should stay below each month.  Many new HP printers that are in the $1000 and above range have duty cycles of 200,000 pages or more.  The general rule of thumb is not to buy a used recondition HP printer copier scanner fax or any other brand that has more than 1.5 months of duty cycle so it will still have 5..7 years of very useful life.

If a used recondition HP 5035MFP, which is HP’s highest end black/white current model copier printer scanner, has over 340,000 pages then find another one. The HP 5035mfp is useful life designed for 4,000,000 (4 million pages) or more so we are talking about less than 10% of usage. Currently, the new HP 5035mfpxs cost $5,999.99 web pricing. However, you can obtain a quality use on for as little as $1995. That’s a giant savings!  The HP 5035MFPxs comes with the works: copier, printer, scanner, fax, stapler, 4+ drawers and rolling cabinet. Its designed for a small company of 5 to 12 people or a department level machine for large corporations.

Used recondition HP printer copier scanners of this durability will give you years of useful life. You may want to considered a printer maintenance program that includes everything except paper.  Printsolv and other PMS (print management systems) frees up your time by taking care of all supplies, repairs, parts and if you choose your vendor well it doe sit automatically so you do not need to chase for repairs or the supplies. If your are located in Florida  call Advanced Business Computers Inc. in Miami Florida for complete details and how to get the equipment at no cost when you select the Printsolv program. Currently they haev used reconditioned HP 5035mfp and other bands for quick delivery.

here is the next set of copier repair codes fro Ricoh, Lanier, Savin and Gestetner printers copier fax scanners.  Remember repairing copier printers require more than just knowing the error codes. You need to determine the copier repair maintenance problem using the error code to point you in the right direction.

SC551 Pressure roller thermistor OP

SC552 Pressure roller warm-up error

SC553 Pressure roller overheat

SC554 Pressure roller ready temp low abnormal

SC555 Pressure roller ready temp abnormal

SC557 Pressure roller temp does nto increase

SC558 Zero cross signal abnormal

SC590 Exhaust/fusing motor error

SC391 Toner supply motor error

SC592 Toner black motor error

SC599 Copy exit tray motor lock

sc600 Communication error between main control and operation panel boards

SC602 Communication error between BICU & Hdd

SC603 Communication error within main control boards

SC604 Serial signal error in main control board

SC605 Communication error between main control and IPU

SC610 Communication time out

SC611 Communication break error

SC612 Communication command error

SC620 Communication command error BICU/SBCU and ADF

SC621 Communication error between BICU/SCBU and RADF

SC662 Communication error between BICU & RADF

SC623 Communication time out error

SC624 Communication time out

SC625 Communication error  between BICU & Finisher

SC627 CSs (RSS) communication error between line adapter & CSS

You will notice several of copier printer repair errors are very similar.  Many times several repair copier printer maintenance codes point to the same problem in different ways. Example are the pressure roller error codes related to the temperature which indicates that he thermal control parts of the fuser assembly of the printer copier need to be replaced. In some models this entails the actual replacement of just the thermistors. Advanced Business Computers is very experienced in the repair of copier printers scanners in the Southeast Florida areas. If you need further help in determine what an error code means please post a question here on this blog.

here is the next set o Ricoh repair maintenance error codes fro repair technicians. If you own a Ricoh, Savin, Gestetner or Lanier then these codes are all the same.  Repairing the complete line of Ricoh printer copiers is easy because all the Ricoh brands use the same error codes, parts and supplies.  If you prefer to place your copier printer under a service maintenance agreement or have questions concerning printer copier scanner repairs then contact Advanced Business Computers.

SC410 paper seperation leak

SC411 Separation bias leak error

SC420 Cleaning motor lock

SC422 PCC Leak

SC430 Quenching lamp error

SC440 Main motor lock/drum

SC441 Development motor lock

SC450 Paper transfer bias leak

SC451 Paper transfer belt motor lock

SC452 transfer belt mark detection error

SC455 Paper transfer belt discharge corona current leak

SC456 Paper transfer unit position error

SC457 Image transfer belt cleaning unti position error

SC460 Thermistor 1 temperature error

SC461 Thermnistor 2 error

SC471 Transfer Belt HP sensor error

SC490 Toner supply motor leak

SC492 Cooling an motor lock

SC493 Exhaust fan motor lock

SC495 Toner recycling unit error

SC496 Toner collection bottle error

SC497 Toner recycling motor error

Half the battle in repairing copier printers is knowing what the error codes mean.  If you are not familiar with copier printer repair terminology then you will need the complete service manual for the Ricoh, Lanier, Gestetner and Savin printer copier scanners to repair them.  Some copier printer repair maintenance codes are misleading for example motor lock does not mean you need to replace the motor. You may need to replace a gear set or during the repair of the copier printer find the paper clip or staple that is causing the motor to jam. If you need further assistance contact Advanced Business Computers in Southeast Florida.