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Obsolete consumables
Riso Kagaku has officially discontinued supplies for all duplicator lines older than the 
—however, newer consumables can be modified to continue support for 
RPRN machines.
Both new inks and new stencils can be used in older machines—by modifying the ink tubes to be recognized by the riso and modifying the riso to accept the new stencil rolls.
Ink cartridges
While the ink itself is mostly interchangeable, there are two major differences between older and newer ink tubes:
- Older ink tubes have a larger nozzle (which facilitates the slower ink pumping that happens with the piston pumps used in older drums) whereas newer tubes have a smaller nozzle (for the rotary pumps that move ink more quickly).
- Older tubes have one or more physical tabs which push buttons inside the drum—these identify what kind of tube it is and that there is a tube inserted at all. Newer tubes use an RFID sticker and a reader inside the drum.
Getting newer ink to work in older machines is a matter of either:
- Transferring ink from a new tube to an old tube with an ink tube transfer.
- Modifying a new tube to enlarge the nozzle and add a tab (often using a 3D printed ink tab.
Stencil rolls
The stencil material used through the years has changed somewhat (especially to accommodate more even tone when printing and different ink formulations), but the newer material can be used normally in older machines. The main difference in old and new stencil rolls is the diameter of the cardboard tube the rice paper material is wrapped around.
On older machines the tube is held in with a pair of detachable plastic flanges (spools that stick into the ends of the roll). These click into holders on the riso that both support the stencil roll and provide some backwards tension as stencils are pulled off of it. The most common method to get newer rolls to fit is to 3D print new flanges (or otherwise modify existing flanges to fit the new rolls).