Z3100 yellow -> orange

[mrenters]

I have an HP Z3100 that has worked flawlessly for the last couple of years. A few days ago the printer had an error code 93:11 on the display and said to restart the printer.  I did this and it restarted fine.  Yesterday I need to print a couple of prints so I did the calibration cycle on the paper I was going to use and noticed that the yellow patches were more of an orange color.  After doing several head cleanings and diagnostic prints from the front panel not much had changed. I profiled the paper and compared it to the original profile I had created for this paper and there is a significant area of the yellows missing. The diagnostic print nozzle area looks OK so it doesn't look like a clogged nozzle.

Anyone seen anything like this before?  Bad ink in the yellow cartridge? Bad head?

Martin

[jhein]

Martin:
I had the same problem but with Red.  It was noticeably weaker.  I did all the usual tricks like head cleaning and alignment check.  I pulled all the heads and cleaned them with a coffee filter and distilled water.  The Red/Matte Black head was very dirty.  I reseated all the heads and did another alignment check and compared it to the old one.  Big improvement.  BUT the Red was still weak.  All of my heads of long since expired but I am a light user, only 250ml of ink through the head, so I figured my heads were still OK.  I decided to replace the Red/Matte Black head as a last resort.  Bottom line:  After recalibration and reprofiling, my reds are back!  It was a bad head.

hope this helps
Jim

[kers]

my service manual says: ( and i can send the service manual if you like- and see the attached PDF)

Problem Description:
93:YZ Unable to pressurize the Ink Delivery System.
Try the following:
␣ Switch the Power OFF from the back of the Printer and disconnect the Power cord. Reconnect the power cord and power On the Printer.
␣ Perform the Ink Delivery System diagnostic test to further troubleshoot the problem. ⇒ Page 4-39
␣ If the problem persists, contact HP support.

---
Service Key Combinations
␣ Diagnostic mode With the printer OFF, press and hold the UP and OK keys. While holding the Up and OK keys down, press and hold the Power key to turn on the printer. Hold all three keys until the Power key stops flashing, usually about 5 seconds.
␣ Service Menu (Service Engineers Only) From the main menu, press and hold the Up and Cancel keys.
␣ Service Menu (For users) From the main menu, press and hold the Down and Cancel keys.

[mrenters]

I've ordered a new M-Y printhead and will try that first. I do have the service manual and will try further troubleshooting if the printhead doesn't cure it.

Martin

[KevinWilliams]

Sounds like one of the printheads are not working right to me. Most likely the yellow magenta one.

[kers]

I had a similar problem with the blue-green printhead   - contaminating each other

bur never had this error 93 notification

succes

[mrenters]

Contamination - That's what I was thinking too. It would explain the orange yellows if the magenta was getting mixed in.  I should know tomorrow whether the printhead fixes it or not.

Martin

[mrenters]

Just to follow up - I replaced the Yellow/Magenta printhead and all seems to be well again.

Martin

[deanwork]

That is so strange, I had the exact same thing happen on the same machine with the same head yesterday. First the yellow weakened and then it went out altogether. My head was a year out of warranty so to be expected.

However, there has been one occasion when I printed on a lot of very dusty rag material and it clogged one of the color channels. I did a head clean on that head and it was cleared in that case, so that is the first thing to try. We so seldom do any head cleanings on the Z ( maybe once a year) so it is easy to forget that you can do them if you need to.

john

[mrenters]

I did try the head cleanings without any luck.  The diagnostic print that shows whether each of the nozzles is working looked fine, it was just the color that was off.  Interestingly, the matte black/red head also looked like it was mixing colors, but once I replaced the yellow/magenta head, it looks better. I ordered a replacement matte black/red head anyways.

Martin