ink drips on Z3100!!!

[EvoM]

Printing on my Z3100 occasionally has ink splatters or drops that appear on prints! Just did it on 42 inch Artist matt canvas down the left hand side, two or three inches in for about 10 inches! at first i thought it was a once off but now it is happening more frequently.

The random ink drops were yellow this time but I have noticed other colours too. Not a lot but enough to be noticable and making the print worthless! makes me wonder if I haven't picked this problem up on more complex/images where it may have been hidden. This time it was easy to see as it was in a uniformly coloured area.

I've logged a service enquiry through my reseller with HP but wondered if anyone else has had this problem. I've checked the heads (still in warranty) and other than the random ink drops, the print looks good. I've only replaced a few ink cartidges so it's not from over use!

It seems to happen only in the first part of a print and on the left side (from front) like there's a bit of ink drops off as the print carriage returns...but I'm only guessing.

Any ideas? I got one of the first prints here in Australia Feb 07

worried, Evan

here's a pic of the problem!
[attachment=2652:attachment]

[neil snape]

I hadn't had any ink drips but I do know they can and do happen, and why.
In most cases you'll find the ink drips are caused by lint hair or dust sticking to either the print heads, or at the edge of the drop detector, and or just at the outside of the capping station. If you can clean up the hair, the drips should go away. Unfortunately if you remove the heads you will need to do an alignment. That's is normal as the exact position of the heads will change.

In the HP documentation there are some instructions on how to clean the Optical Drop Detector. This is not well enough documented and I have no idea if the cleaning done following the instructions is sufficient. I physically removed the ODD, but cannot figure it out, if it is clean , which axis should be free etc. HP didn't want to help in this regard either. So if any of you figure it out please post back.

[EvoM]

Thanks Neil,

I'm in a regional area so self help is always good!

I can't remember seeing the things (ODD) you mentioned but will look through the HP info. Can it be found in the HP utility help section?

cheers & thanks,
Evan.

[neil snape]

Thanks Neil,

I'm in a regional area so self help is always good!

I can't remember seeing the things (ODD) you mentioned but will look through the HP info. Can it be found in the HP utility help section?

cheers & thanks,
Evan.
[a href=\"index.php?act=findpost&pid=123461\"][{POST_SNAPBACK}][/a]

The operation is done on the front panel.
The doc is just after the cutter or there abouts.

[EvoM]

Thanks again Neil.

Had a look at the ODD area but seems pretty clean with nothing obvious but gave it a light wipe anyway.

Don't really know where to go from here but wait till HP call me.

You mentioned "just outside the capping station". Can you explain how I might inspect this and where exactly it is please? I know I can remove the print heads but don't want to if I can help it!


thanks again for any insights.

Evan

[neil snape]

Thanks again Neil.

Had a look at the ODD area but seems pretty clean with nothing obvious but gave it a light wipe anyway.

Don't really know where to go from here but wait till HP call me.

You mentioned "just outside the capping station". Can you explain how I might inspect this and where exactly it is please? I know I can remove the print heads but don't want to if I can help it!
thanks again for any insights.

Evan
[a href=\"index.php?act=findpost&pid=123468\"][{POST_SNAPBACK}][/a]

You have to move or abuse the print head carriage to the print area of the body. You'll have a clear access to the wiping/cap station/diapers. There you'll find lots of sticky stuff to play with.

[Ernst Dinkla]

I hadn't had any ink drips but I do know they can and do happen, and why.

[{POST_SNAPBACK}][/a]

Neil,

related to this, the felt inlay on the printhead path suggests that droplets could be squirted next to the borders and that will probably happen with borderless printing. But I wonder whether the Z3100 heads also squirt ink beside the paper like the Canons always do at certain points (probably to keep nozzles open of ink heads not used for the print). I know Canon users have to wipe the bed before putting on another roll or sheet width to avoid ink smudges on the back of the paper. Have you or anyone noticed dirty-inked feltstrips on the Z3100 ? I see no evidence of it here and wonder if it really is just for borderless printing (that I hardly do) and not for any other ink spilling.

Ernst Dinkla

try: [a href=\"http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Wide_Inkjet_Printers/]http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Wide_Inkjet_Printers/[/url]

[Charles Gast]

I had this problem on my z3100. I found that on the left side of the printer there was a pile-up of ink on the felt where is cleans.  I removed the little thin pile of ink with a q-tip and that fixed it.  The head would go over there and do a cleaning and ink would get left on the nozzles and fly off when printing.

[neil snape]

Ernst;
Ink is squirt on the hole where the ODD is located into the diaper below it. Borderless spills onto the overprint felt or dampers along the head path when printing borderless. No one said anything about spraying ink outside of print regions on the Z , other than what is wasted to the ODD even between print jobs. It is in any case not more than 3 droplets per nozzle for a quite  big area printed so wastage is minimal, but the verification an important part of the print maintenance routines.
I only tested a few borderless on the prototypes, but probably won't use this on my shipping version.