Ricoh SP C840DN: Setup, Drivers, Ink and Common Problems

Is the Ricoh SP C840DN right for you?

The SP C840DN is a heavy-duty A3 colour production printer with enormous toner yields and a 300,000-page monthly duty cycle, aimed at in-house print rooms and reprographics departments. Banner printing up to 1.26 m and SRA3 output make it useful for pull-up signage and pop-up displays. It is a serious piece of hardware to site — plan for 154 lb, a dedicated circuit and space for the optional finisher and high-capacity feeders.

Best for: In-house print rooms producing A3, SRA3 and banner work

Setting up the Ricoh SP C840DN

Configure the machine from the touchscreen or through Web Image Monitor, where you can also lock down protocols and enable HTTPS-only administration. Deploy the PCL6 Universal Driver or PostScript 3 driver from a print server so tray, staple and paper-type mappings stay consistent across the office. Long banner jobs must be sent from the bypass with the correct custom paper size defined in the driver, not just in the application.

1. Unbox and prepare. Remove every piece of shipping tape and packing material, install the toner cartridge and drum unit, and load paper in the tray.
2. Join your Wi-Fi. Keep the printer close to the router for setup. Most printers only connect to the 2.4GHz band, so if your router broadcasts one merged network name you may need to split the bands temporarily. See our Wi-Fi guide if it will not join.
3. Install the setup app. Use Ricoh's official app rather than a driver you found on a search result — third-party driver sites are the most common source of printer malware.
4. Add the printer. On Windows 11: Settings › Bluetooth & devices › Printers & scanners › Add device. On macOS: System Settings › Printers & Scanners › Add Printer.
5. Print a test page and run a scan if this is an all-in-one, so you find any problem now rather than when you are in a hurry.

Ink, toner and supplies

The Ricoh SP C840DN uses the following consumables. Match the number exactly when you buy: the same printer family often uses several different cartridge numbers by region.

• Ricoh SP C840 black toner (48,000 pages)
• SP C840 colour toners (34,000 pages each)
• SP C840 waste toner bottle
• Fusing unit

High-yield (XL) versions almost always cost less per page if you print regularly. On third-party ink and toner, read our honest assessment first, and note that some manufacturers push firmware that rejects non-original chips.

Full specifications