Luminous Landscape Forum

Raw & Post Processing, Printing => Printing: Printers, Papers and Inks => Topic started by: trentf on March 05, 2014, 10:05:43 am

Title: Z3200 Banding
Post by: trentf on March 05, 2014, 10:05:43 am
I was getting banding really bad on my Z3200...  replaced the print head... cleaned a few times... aligned a few times and still banding.   Has anyone experienced this,  is there a solution?  I called HP they said keep cleaning or might be air in lines...

Thanks in advance...

Trent
Title: Re: Z3200 Banding
Post by: Ernst Dinkla on March 05, 2014, 10:22:55 am
Print a calibration target and check each patch thoroughly. What looks like banding in one color of a print can be caused by another color head or a combination of two heads, the calibration target print often tells more as it separates the head print out.. Does the high quality setting (600 PPI input) in the driver reduce the banding?

--
Met vriendelijke groet, Ernst

http://www.pigment-print.com/spectralplots/spectrumviz_1.htm
January 2014, 600+ inkjet media white spectral plots.
Title: Re: Z3200 Banding
Post by: trentf on March 05, 2014, 10:32:26 am
Only the MK is banding... it is set at highest quality.  Last week the MK put down no ink...  I replaced the MK RED print head last night.  It is throwing ink,  but has banding.   
When I go into Print settings.  It is telling me software was not installed correctly,  to reinstall.  I am on a Mac with OX 10.9.2
Title: Re: Z3200 Banding
Post by: Ernst Dinkla on March 05, 2014, 11:06:18 am
Unlikely that it is software causing this. Did you seat the new head once again after you replaced it, checked the head slot contacts on dirt, cleaned the nozzle surface area again with the soft pad delivered with the head?

Has  the MK channel been used often enough in the past period or do you print gloss mainly? Cart shaken enough, MK cart not at its end, MK tube has no pigment settling?

--
Met vriendelijke groet, Ernst

http://www.pigment-print.com/spectralplots/spectrumviz_1.htm
January 2014, 600+ inkjet media white spectral plots.


Title: Re: Z3200 Banding
Post by: trentf on March 05, 2014, 08:30:40 pm
After a hour on the phone with HP tech...  they concluded the NEW print head was bad and sending out a new one..
Title: Re: Z3200 Banding
Post by: Ernst Dinkla on March 06, 2014, 03:53:44 am
I should have started the summary with: If it is not a head with a flaw ..........


--
Met vriendelijke groet, Ernst

http://www.pigment-print.com/spectralplots/spectrumviz_1.htm
January 2014, 600+ inkjet media white spectral plots.
Title: Re: Z3200 Banding
Post by: trentf on March 06, 2014, 07:47:04 am
I was a brand new print head,  I should have known better too.   I wasted time, ink and paper.....  sometimes it is the obvious.
Title: Re: Z3200 Banding
Post by: trentf on March 06, 2014, 06:45:38 pm
New print head did not resolve problem.  After talking to HP support they told me how to clean the Service Center.  What a mess....  I did it twice and MK and Red still banding.  I dont understand...  if HP comes to studio and replaces it  $1066.  Ouch.  Has anyone ever experienced this?  None of the print heads band....
Title: Re: Z3200 Banding
Post by: John Nollendorfs on March 06, 2014, 07:12:12 pm
The printer did do the a new head alignment after you replaced the print head again, didn't it? If not, maybe you need to do it manually? Is the banding visible using the "normal" print mode (bi-directional)? How about using the "high quality" mode (uni-directional)?

Title: Re: Z3200 Banding
Post by: pierre.goyette on March 06, 2014, 07:13:24 pm
I haven't experienced this particular problem but  have experienced some heads not printing fully (but I barely use my z3100).

What I do on a regular basis is pull each print head, then use a wet round cotton pad (like my wife uses to remove her makeup) and wipe the print heads: bottom and all sides. When wiping the bottom, wipe length Wise so you don't go across the print heads) Remove all ink buildup. Then re-insert heads one by one. Finally, I print the HP diagnostic image and recalibrate the paper.

I have revived dirty and blocked print heads with this very simple procedure.  Once you finish wiping, make sure there are no cotton filaments stuck to the print head.
Title: Re: Z3200 Banding
Post by: chichornio on March 06, 2014, 07:14:19 pm
It happened to me once. First at all, before doing anything else, print a new diagnostic image on a glossy or satin paper. Check that ONLY the MK-R is having banding. If all the other printhead are having banding, you probably have an "advance paper calibration" issue (it can be solved easily, or not).
Do an advanced calibration test with the same paper (it is important that the paper loaded coincides with the paper preset), check the results and see what happens. Do not clean the printheads by menu or by hand before checking out the results. If after the Advanced Calibration test you still have banding, you must do a "service calibration procedure" that it`s the service manual.
I hope this helps.
Title: Re: Z3200 Banding
Post by: trentf on March 07, 2014, 07:39:53 am
Thank you for the reply Chichornio ,  I will give it a try. 
When I print  diagnostic print,  the only thing I am seeing is banding in MK plot and at the bottom of the print,  the MK has many broken lines,  the red has two....  the thing that makes me wonder is it being just the MK.



Title: Re: Z3200 Banding
Post by: trentf on March 07, 2014, 07:42:13 am
Thank you John and Pierre....

John,  yes bands with settings.....
Title: Re: Z3200 Banding
Post by: trentf on March 11, 2014, 02:42:28 pm
Quick update...  not wanting to spend $1100 on HP repair...  I cleaned the service station over and over with coffee filters..  re calibrated everything,  paper advance and print heads.   Printing like it is brand new...

Thank you to all the helped.

Title: Re: Z3200 Banding
Post by: Justan on March 11, 2014, 04:04:24 pm
Thanks for the follow up!

This kind of thing often has an unpredictable path to solution.

I had a similar problem a few years back and did about the same as you – cleaned everything as best as possible with distilled water and lint free cloths and replaced the indicated print heads and also did I don’t remember how many test prints and cleanings. A big gain was made after the initial physical cleaning and after repeated cleanings, slooooooly the issue resolved itself until it was gone.

I think the take away lesson is that it’s a good idea to do an annual deep cleaning of the printer.