Replacing Z3100 Spectro - Mark?

[deanwork]

I had a local tech come out finally to replace my spectro on the Z. I bought a unit from China, which was sealed in plastic and was totally new. When I removed the one in the printer I saw it had a tiny mirror on the top. The one from Ali Baba looked 100% identical except it didn't have that mirror. Duh.

You have to take the whole thing apart to get to this spectro. When he put it back together and restarted it we got an error message preventing any use of the printer. But the error message wasn't for the spectro it was to replace the left wast tank. What. So he ordered that part with my permission and is going to come back out here and put it in tomorrow.

When he removed the old spectro unit I saw that the tiny little mirror was covered in dried black ink. I got it all off with alcohol. Other than that it looks fine.

My question is why didn't the new part have that mirror and is it the correct part or is it one for another hp printer. It fit perfectly on the head unit and the input was exactly the same as was the cable.  If it isn't the right part I'm probably going to send it back to Ali Baba and get my money back.

I might leave it in at first when we replace the waste unit to see if it works. If it doesn't we're going to put the original cleaned up one back in.

Any thoughts?

The Z looks great inside after 9 years, the belt and spitoon look fine. What a great printer.

John

[Mark Lindquist]

I had a local tech come out finally to replace my spectro on the Z. I bought a unit from China, which was sealed in plastic and was totally new. When I removed the one in the printer I saw it had a tiny mirror on the top. The one from Ali Baba looked 100% identical except it didn't have that mirror. Duh.

You have to take the whole thing apart to get to this spectro. When he put it back together and restarted it we got an error message preventing any use of the printer. But the error message wasn't for the spectro it was to replace the left wast tank. What. So he ordered that part with my permission and is going to come back out here and put it in tomorrow.

When he removed the old spectro unit I saw that the tiny little mirror was covered in dried black ink. I got it all off with alcohol. Other than that it looks fine.

My question is why didn't the new part have that mirror and is it the correct part or is it one for another hp printer. It fit perfectly on the head unit and the input was exactly the same as was the cable.  If it isn't the right part I'm probably going to send it back to Ali Baba and get my money back.

I might leave it in at first when we replace the waste unit to see if it works. If it doesn't we're going to put the original cleaned up one back in.

Any thoughts?

The Z looks great inside after 9 years, the belt and spitoon look fine. What a great printer.

John

John - Glad to hear you're getting that problem fixed.  Man, I don't know why that doesn't have the mirror on it.  Seems weird to me.
I agree with your plan to try it and see how it works.  If it doesn't, then yes, replace the cleaned up old one.
Really, it's six of one, half dozen of another. Finding dirt on the mirror of the old unit could definitely be the cause of failure of the ESP.

The only reason to replace the ESP with the new one would be to see if it works without the mirror.  There's no door that can open and reveal a mirror?

So either way, you have two chances to get it working tomorrow.  I sure hope one works.

I have ideas about why that one is what it is, but I don't want to speculate at this point.

Good luck tomorrow - it sure would be great to have a little video of this procedure - if you can spare the time.

Please let us know what happens.

Mark

[deanwork]

Thanks Mark.

The deal is you have to take the whole printer apart to get to it, and then reassemble the whole printer to run the test.

Because they are going to replace the left side spitoon I'm hoping we can do that fairly quickly and test the new spectro that is already in there, to save the whole disassembly again. If that doesn't work we'll have to tear it all down again to put the old spectro back in there and test again.

I have no idea why we got the error code that the spitoon is bad after replacing the spectro. He said everything was put back together correctly.  I hope they have already ordered that part so we can do it tomorrow. If not it will probably take another day or two. The reason I ordered the new spectro is because I couldn't see it until he took it out. There is no mirror on the new one that I saw. So it's all baffling to me, why everything else would be exactly the same but that mirror.

john

[Ernst Dinkla]

John,

Are you sure there is no mirror at all in the replacement unit, not a protection sticker on top of the mirror? As far as I know the mirror is there for the calibration of the spectrometer. And I wonder whether your old spectrometer unit failed because of the dirty mirror in it.

Met vriendelijke groet, Ernst

http://www.pigment-print.com/spectralplots/spectrumviz_1.htm
November 2016 update, 700+ inkjet media white spectral plots

[Mark Lindquist]

John,

Are you sure there is no mirror at all in the replacement unit, not a protection sticker on top of the mirror? As far as I know the mirror is there for the calibration of the spectrometer. And I wonder whether your old spectrometer unit failed because of the dirty mirror in it.

Met vriendelijke groet, Ernst

http://www.pigment-print.com/spectralplots/spectrumviz_1.htm
November 2016 update, 700+ inkjet media white spectral plots

Ernst, I'm quite certain the EPS unit failed because of the ink on it.  It should work fine now that John has cleaned it.
I have the same question about the new unit?  What could be covering the mirror - possibly a plastic coating?

-Mark

[Mark Lindquist]

Thanks Mark.

The deal is you have to take the whole printer apart to get to it, and then reassemble the whole printer to run the test.

Because they are going to replace the left side spitoon I'm hoping we can do that fairly quickly and test the new spectro that is already in there, to save the whole disassembly again. If that doesn't work we'll have to tear it all down again to put the old spectro back in there and test again.

I have no idea why we got the error code that the spitoon is bad after replacing the spectro. He said everything was put back together correctly.  I hope they have already ordered that part so we can do it tomorrow. If not it will probably take another day or two. The reason I ordered the new spectro is because I couldn't see it until he took it out. There is no mirror on the new one that I saw. So it's all baffling to me, why everything else would be exactly the same but that mirror.

john

John, it occurs to me that the mirror could have been inadvertantly omitted during assembly.  Just to be sure, check it very carefully to see if there is a plastic protective film over it, or it's under a cap, etc.  I really think you should be able to put your old ESP back in as I stated previously.  If the mirror was covered in black ink, that would certainly disable it.  Now, carefully cleaned, it should work well.
If you have issues with the new one, why not just put the old one back in.  After all, it is for sure OEM.

Mark

[deanwork]

Yea, that is what I thought. If they sent me a defective junk park I"m going to really hit them hard online if I don't get my money back. But I'll reserve judgement until we find out.

I think the old one should work fine. I just used alcohol to clean if off. It was really baked on there due to the light heat.

Let you know what I find out.

j

[deanwork]

What IS the function of that mirror?

[Mark Lindquist]

It works in conjunction with the holographic array internally.

[Mark Lindquist]

John, if I remember, the mirror is on the tiny trap door, does it open and reveal the mirror?

Remember that the ESP needs to have a service test when replaced - see Page 3-36 of repair manual:

6. Color Sensor ESP (spectrophotometer)
The Color Sensor ESP (spectrophotometer) test diagnoses Failures of the Color Sensor located on the carriage. Always run this test before replacing the Color sensor.
Diagnostic tests also need to be performed after removing or replacing certain printer components. If you have removed or replaced printer components, check the Service Calibration Guide to Removal and Installation to see which tests and calibrations you need to perform. Refer to Page 6-8.

[Mark Lindquist]

John - doing some research and I found this:

"I replaced with a brand new service station & right away sucessfully passed the color calibration &
printhead alignment. The shutter/lens cover was opened when scanning colors & closed after."

Apparently that new one is somewhat different and reveals the mirror when it is calibrating.

You might try it.  I t may be good.

Hate to go back and forth on this, but it's a bit unknown what changes have occurred - especially foreign unknown imports.

Some on eBay have the cover and some don't.

The mirror works in conjunction with the reference tile:

"...On the inside of the shutter there is a reference tile, it is a specific color and is used by the sensor to calibrate. Since every sensor has the same color tile they all calibrate the same and that's how the designjet printers get consistent color..."