z3100 Right Service Station mass ink build up

[daHaus]

Hi All,

  Z3100 is coming down with a few problems in the last 2 years. I have changed the Star gears on the left, and the drive belt. $150US + $150CDN.

  Now a new problem arised: started with some scratching noise on the right, number of prints later it started to leave tons of ink marks on the prints and making more noise on the right. I opened the right cover and find mass ink build up on the right Service Station. Even the fan and the white foam pads on the inside of the right cover had ink build-ups. That black spring flap is full of ink.

  Anyone had the some problem? Do I need to change the Service station or something else is wrong? Looks like the Service Station OEM part is about $400US + shipping. Is it still worth it to keep invest in fixing this 7yr printer?

  Thanks All.

[deanwork]

I've had similar situations twice in 7 years and it has always been a bad print head leaking. Some times you won't notice image degradation even though the head is bad. I use my heads way beyond their expiration date so it's going to happen sooner or later.  In my case it is usually the Mk print head.

Pull your heads out and inspect them. You should see some ink build up on the bottom of one of the heads, the bad one.


john

[daHaus]

Thanks John. Would that cause the noise when the carriage move to the right side? Sounded like the print unit is hitting/scratching something?

[deanwork]

If there is ink build up it might.

What you should do when cleaning this area is make sure you have a good strong work light and when you are cleaning up inspect the paper feed area and see if any of those star wheels have come off and lodged there. If you see any bent or loose ones just remove them.