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Author Topic: Z3100 black ink drips on paper  (Read 16400 times)

SeanPuckett

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Z3100 black ink drips on paper
« Reply #20 on: January 10, 2008, 08:43:01 pm »

I today have had a 4x4 canvas ruined by black drips starting on the bottom half.  Cleaned what I could inside, ran another smaller job, got a head strike at the tail due to curl, and a big blot of black was left on the media there.  Will call HP tomorrow and start a ticket; not sure if I want to risk running the canvas job again, but customers won't wait forever.

Argh.
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Ernst Dinkla

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Z3100 black ink drips on paper
« Reply #21 on: January 11, 2008, 04:28:00 am »

Quote
I today have had a 4x4 canvas ruined by black drips starting on the bottom half.  Cleaned what I could inside, ran another smaller job, got a head strike at the tail due to curl, and a big blot of black was left on the media there.  Will call HP tomorrow and start a ticket; not sure if I want to risk running the canvas job again, but customers won't wait forever.

Argh.
[{POST_SNAPBACK}][/a]


Last week I had to clean my Z3100 too. One of the things that might have caused it was a longer idle period while the printer was on. What I would like to see changed is the possibility to park the head carriage halfway (so further than for taking out the heads) and access to the capping station area from the right side of the printer like one can access the cutter at the other end. And no need for realigning the heads as they will not be taken out. In my opinion it is mainly the ink building up at the capping side including the sponge there that causes an offset of excessive ink to the carriage and by that the big drops. Easy access to that area and by that easy regular maintenance would make a big difference. I can understand the issues HP faces like US user claims that they were electrocuted by the wiring there but for a pro this change would be a big help.


Ernst Dinkla

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

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Z3100 black ink drips on paper
« Reply #22 on: January 11, 2008, 07:00:01 am »

Ernst,

Factors I think may contribute to the drips (according to my own guesses and postings here):

1. long idle periods: the printer's been quiescent for nearly a month with studio setup
2. faster ink dispensing rate at 300dpi: large jobs don't need 600dpi or multipass, try anyway
3. excessive cartridge pumping due to low MK levels: my MK cart is indeed lowish
4. capping station buildup: visible black gunk buildup at far right edge
5. lots of black in print: this img has 40% deep shadow coverage; drips were heaviest near black regions
6. carbon(?) formulation of MK ink makes it less able to evaporate; buildup results

this is the first i've seen of the drips.  what i'd really like to be able to do is clean under the carriage somehow.  other printers have a squeegee/wiper station to clear off this buildup, not sure if the z does.
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Ernst Dinkla

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Z3100 black ink drips on paper
« Reply #23 on: January 11, 2008, 02:37:09 pm »

Quote
Ernst,

Factors I think may contribute to the drips (according to my own guesses and postings here):

1. long idle periods: the printer's been quiescent for nearly a month with studio setup
2. faster ink dispensing rate at 300dpi: large jobs don't need 600dpi or multipass, try anyway
3. excessive cartridge pumping due to low MK levels: my MK cart is indeed lowish
4. capping station buildup: visible black gunk buildup at far right edge
5. lots of black in print: this img has 40% deep shadow coverage; drips were heaviest near black regions
6. carbon(?) formulation of MK ink makes it less able to evaporate; buildup results

this is the first i've seen of the drips.  what i'd really like to be able to do is clean under the carriage somehow.  other printers have a squeegee/wiper station to clear off this buildup, not sure if the z does.
[{POST_SNAPBACK}][/a]


A long list of possible causes, if they all contribute we can forget about a solution :-)

Yes it would be nice to clean the underside of the carriage as well. With the Epson 10000 I could shift the head completely to the left and remove the side panel there to get more or less a view of the nozzle area and clean it. But that was the only model I owned where that was possible. On the Epson 9600 one could remove the capping station to get similar access I'm told. The wipers on the Epson clean the nozzle surface but are usually also the cause of failure when they get blunt or filthy, resulting in clogged nozzles or deflected firing of nozzles. How it is done on the Z3100 is a bit of mystery to me, the sponge doesn't look like an adequate tool for cleaning the nozzle surface, the capping station is more like a hinged lid where the heads stay on top embedded in their own ink waste. That's not a fair description as it works perfect, no clogging problems here at all but I really wonder how it is done. I think part of the design is not to bother too much about auto cleaning the nozzle surface in normal use and when it gets too bad you can take them out.


Ernst Dinkla

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

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Z3100 black ink drips on paper
« Reply #24 on: January 11, 2008, 09:11:59 pm »

Since HP came and replaced the carriage assembly, I have had no ink drips. Seems like a faulty controller board on the carriage assembly was the cause. Caused the MK head to either fire or drip ink, even though I was printing on glossy paper and not using MK ink. There was MK ink build-up on the outside of the head, and under the carriage assembly. See photos in post #20.
-John
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neil snape

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Z3100 black ink drips on paper
« Reply #25 on: January 12, 2008, 02:31:12 am »

I have seen both happen, print heads and dirt cause drips. If it is the print head it shows up as a more consistent drip singular in colour, more predictable with ink loads per print. If it is hair, lint, gummed up wipers, it can be any colour, and multiple random drops regardless of ink loads per image.
 Print head failure is far less present in the Z printers yet there have been some reports already here. Dirt is and has been a concern from the beginning with all inkjet printers , and the Z printer is no different. Whether or not there is more risk on a Z I don't know. Yet I did have a problem with build up that required cleaning.  As Ernst said a user control to park the heads to the left to allow full access to the cleaning station would eliminate the archaic way of unplugging the printer when the carriage is in midstream.
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Ernst Dinkla

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Z3100 black ink drips on paper
« Reply #26 on: January 12, 2008, 06:15:12 am »

Quote
As Ernst said a user control to park the heads to the left to allow full access to the cleaning station would eliminate the archaic way of unplugging the printer when the carriage is in midstream.
[{POST_SNAPBACK}][/a]

+ make the cover of the right side removable like one can remove the left side cover to replace the knife.


Ernst Dinkla

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

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Z3100 black ink drips on paper
« Reply #27 on: January 12, 2008, 07:04:31 am »

Quote
+ make the cover of the right side removable like one can remove the left side cover to replace the knife.
Ernst Dinkla

try: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Wide_Inkjet_Printers/
[a href=\"index.php?act=findpost&pid=166680\"][{POST_SNAPBACK}][/a]
Good idea, yet that would be conceding that there are user serviceable parts on the right side.
I do think it is important to allow proper cleaning of the ink wells, diapers, wipers etc, as when I did it was not easy , nor clear.
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deanwork

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Z3100 black ink drips on paper
« Reply #28 on: January 16, 2008, 12:31:07 am »

Is this all a function of thermal heads? I mean, hell these printers you guys are using are no more than one year old. I have 4 large format Epsons and the youngest of them is 3 years old and I've only just had to do my first cleaning inside the carrage and this 9600 gets used every single day with hundreds and hundreds of huge prints gone through it with massive amounts of pure MK backgrounds. Still haven't replaced the cap station.

I once had a friend who had a Colorspan with the HP thermal heads and he said it produced the best prints he ever made but was a terrible mess and required cleaning every week.

j




Quote
Good idea, yet that would be conceding that there are user serviceable parts on the right side.
I do think it is important to allow proper cleaning of the ink wells, diapers, wipers etc, as when I did it was not easy , nor clear.
[a href=\"index.php?act=findpost&pid=166686\"][{POST_SNAPBACK}][/a]
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Colorwave

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Z3100 black ink drips on paper
« Reply #29 on: January 16, 2008, 02:22:57 am »

Quote
I once had a friend who had a Colorspan with the HP thermal heads and he said it produced the best prints he ever made but was a terrible mess and required cleaning every week.
[{POST_SNAPBACK}][/a]
FWIW:  I've needed to do two wipe downs in 4 months of moderate to heavy use.  While there are occasional drip/overspray issues, I think you will have to look pretty hard to find anybody complaining about head clogs and/or excessive head cleanings.


Hey, those of you who endorse Ernst's idea for a new carriage park position, let's see if the little button at the bottom of the firmware download page on HP's site is hooked up to anything on the other end.  They solicit feedback for firmware improvements, so I suggest that we all offer this as a suggestion there.  It seems like a simple, but useful change or option, and one that should not require anything all that challenging from HP.  Be sure to mention not having to realign the printheads.

-Ron H.  

[a href=\"https://h41186.www4.hp.com/hpp/country/us/en/firmware_improvements_feedback.html?pageseq=754324]https://h41186.www4.hp.com/hpp/country/us/e...?pageseq=754324[/url]
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-Ron H.
[url=http://colorwaveimaging.com

deanwork

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Z3100 black ink drips on paper
« Reply #30 on: January 16, 2008, 10:38:58 am »

I guess you need to clean the gunk off the inside of the heads regularly. That should be easy in that you just pop them out.
« Last Edit: January 16, 2008, 05:55:35 pm by deanwork »
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Xanthor

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Z3100 black ink drips on paper
« Reply #31 on: December 09, 2008, 07:22:11 pm »

I just had this problem and figured I would add my two cents.

I cleaned the gunk everywhere I could find it - including off the spitoon sponge.  That spitoon had an awful lot of black ink at the side where there is no sponge.  Anyways - here's my deposit:


1. long idle periods: the printer's been quiescent for nearly a month with studio setup

I baught it in May, the printer has never been off - and never gone unused for more than 7 days.

2. faster ink dispensing rate at 300dpi: large jobs don't need 600dpi or multipass, try anyway

all of my prints have been at 300dpi - best quality with multipass

3. excessive cartridge pumping due to low MK levels: my MK cart is indeed lowish

When this started my mk cartridge was 80% full and it was the 2nd one in use.

4. capping station buildup: visible black gunk buildup at far right edge

Yep I had a bunch!  I think this is what the problem is.  And the buildup on the printhead.


5. lots of black in print: this img has 40% deep shadow coverage; drips were heaviest near black regions

I had black drops in the middle of my yellow sun.  There was some black on the print but less than 5%.

6. carbon(?) formulation of MK ink makes it less able to evaporate; buildup results

I have no idea
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dave mason

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Z3100 black ink drips on paper
« Reply #32 on: December 10, 2008, 09:28:28 am »

We have had this problem occur twice in the past 2 years. Each time the HP service tech has replaced the service station and resolved the situation. We have a service contract and an excellent tech. He is an HP certified engineer and I have his cell number!

That said, this is a major gripe of ours regarding user serviceability of the z3100. There is really no provision for user maintenance of the service station. We recently had an error, I don't remember the code, that indicated that the star wheel bar was not moving and thus the printer shut down. When he came out and removed the covers we found a huge amount of excess ink gumming up the bar's drive motor located on the left side of the printer. He replaced the motor and after 12 hours of downtime we were back up. Why not make that area user accessible so we can clean and maintain it.
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