Cross-reference: Ricoh 841816, the cyan print cartridge for this platform (18,000 pages). It fits the Ricoh MP C3003 and MP C3503 — the same machines also sold under the Savin, Lanier and Gestetner brands with the same model names.

Frequently Asked Questions

Our office prints mostly black text with the occasional color chart — how long will one cyan cartridge actually last us?

Quite a while. Cyan is rated at 18,000 pages at the standard 5% coverage measurement, and an office whose color work is limited to charts, logos and the odd presentation simply doesn't draw much of it — the cartridge can sit in the machine for many months of normal text printing before the level becomes a concern. Coverage is the honest variable: full-page color photos consume cyan many times faster than a pie chart does.

What do prints look like when cyan starts running low?

Blues are the first casualty — they wash out and drift pale, and greens lose their depth and slide toward yellow because green is built from cyan plus yellow. If your company blue suddenly looks like a photocopy of itself while reds and blacks still look right, cyan is the usual suspect.

Why does cyan empty on a completely different schedule from the black cartridge?

Because in this family the two are rated very differently and used very differently. The black cartridge is rated at 29,500 pages and feeds every text page the machine produces, while cyan is rated at 18,000 pages and is only consumed by color work. Heavy text volume with light color use means the colors can outlast the black in calendar time despite the smaller rating — the schedules simply aren't linked.

Can I swap in a fresh cyan by itself, or do the colors have to be changed together?

By itself, every time. Each color sits in its own independent slot on the MP C3003/C3503 platform, and replacing one never requires disturbing the others. Matched-age colors are a nice-to-have for critical color work, not a mechanical requirement.

The listing names one model — is this cyan cartridge tied to that machine only?

No. This cartridge belongs to the Ricoh Aficio MP C3003/C3503 platform family, and the same cyan cartridge serves every model built on that platform — the listing is titled for one model, but the cartridge itself is a platform part. It works with: Aficio MP C3003, Aficio MP C3004, Aficio MP C3503 and Aficio MP C3504

What protection do I get if the cartridge disappoints?

Every compatible cartridge we sell carries a one-year warranty, and returns are free for a full year as well — the full terms are on our shipping & returns page. If a cartridge underperforms, contact us before ordering anything else; support is available Monday–Friday, 9 AM–5 PM CST, and orders ship from our warehouses in IL, PA, GA and CA.

About This Ricoh 841816 Cyan Toner Cartridge

This compatible cyan cartridge (Ricoh 841816) is rated at 18,000 pages and costs about 0.45 cents per color page at its $81.74 price — a sensible way to keep the blues and greens on an MP C3003/C3503 honest without paying OEM prices for a color most offices use gently. See the rest of the family on our Ricoh toner page.