Luminous Landscape Forum
Raw & Post Processing, Printing => Printing: Printers, Papers and Inks => Topic started by: hogloff on March 23, 2019, 07:35:47 pm
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I'm trying to revive a Z3100 that has been sitting idle ( not powered up ) for about a year. I'm getting a printhead problem, the printer telling me to replace a printhead. I replaced the printhead with a new one and I still get the same problem. I've cleaned the contacts with Isopropyl Alcohol with no changes. I've powered off the printer numerous times, unplugged and let sit...still same issue. There is plenty of ink in the cartridges for that printhead. I'm lost as to what my next steps are. Any suggestions?
Thanks in advance.
Harry
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No ideas out there?
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Have you read this thread thoroughly? ( https://forum.luminous-landscape.com/index.php?topic=129444.0 )
Some suggestions in there could be applicable to your situation....
Mark
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Mark, I did look at that thread. More applicable to ink cartridges, but I tried unplugging and removing the ink cartridges and then boot up and reinstall them but problem persists.
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Well maybe this time, remove all the printheads then restart the machine - see if it will take the offending printhead.
M
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Took out all the ink cartridges and all the print heads, restarted the printer and was asked to put the ink cartridges back in. Did that and they appear to be accepted OK. Then was asked to put the print heads back in. I did that and when it goes to check to print heads, comes back with the same print head needing to be changed out. I've used 3 different print heads now, one of which was brand new. Same issue, printer wants me to replace that print head.
Frustrating.
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Could this problem be caused by blocked ink lines? The printer sat idle for about a year. Is there a way to verify the ink lines are not plugged?
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You can use a large syringe with a blunt needle and insert it into the rubber gasket that seals the printhead to the ink supply tubes inside the print carriage. You are emulating the pin inside each printhead and if you push the needle into the ink line you should be able to draw a small amount of ink out of the line to confirm that it is not clogged.
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You can use a large syringe with a blunt needle and insert it into the rubber gasket that seals the printhead to the ink supply tubes inside the print carriage. You are emulating the pin inside each printhead and if you push the needle into the ink line you should be able to draw a small amount of ink out of the line to confirm that it is not clogged.
Thanks...that is what I'm planning on doing. Need to find a syringe and a blunt needle.
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My z3100 sat unused for a year before I had it restored. My tech said don’t worry the ink cart lines to print head is a sealed system which won’t dry out. I was suspicious, but he was right, I had no clogges at all when fired back up.
Now the heads should all probably be replaced, but sometimes soaking overnight in ammonia windex diluted 55/50 with distilled can bring them back.
John
Thanks...that is what I'm planning on doing. Need to find a syringe and a blunt needle.
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My z3100 sat unused for a year before I had it restored. My tech said don’t worry the ink cart lines to print head is a sealed system which won’t dry out. I was suspicious, but he was right, I had no clogges at all when fired back up.
Now the heads should all probably be replaced, but sometimes soaking overnight in ammonia windex diluted 55/50 with distilled can bring them back.
John
Thanks for the insight. I've actually replaced all the print heads with new ones and still get the same problem. Printer tells me to replace faulty print heads. I've cleaned the print head contacts a couple of times, still an issue.
Wish there were deeper diagnostics which would point you to a certain direction. Seems like most solutions are a crap shoot. Just keep trying, sooner or later things will work.
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Having been at this point several times, when it's a printhead that keeps sending the same message, it is often the print mech board that needs replacement.
Must not be a used print mech board - must be new and must be same revision number (A or B).
At this point you are in no-man's land with your printer. Once you go into it with an invasive procedure, it's pretty much a crap shoot.
However, if you buy an OEM part from HP, you can call in for support if it doesn't work.
Best,
Mark
PS, if you do call, they will probably ask you to perform a bongo test, which if you look up in the repair manual requires new carts and heads.
They will of course tell you that that printer is no longer supported. This is when you tell them you are calling for re: a repair part.
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Having been at this point several times, when it's a printhead that keeps sending the same message, it is often the print mech board that needs replacement.
Must not be a used print mech board - must be new and must be same revision number (A or B).
At this point you are in no-man's land with your printer. Once you go into it with an invasive procedure, it's pretty much a crap shoot.
However, if you buy an OEM part from HP, you can call in for support if it doesn't work.
Best,
Mark
PS, if you do call, they will probably ask you to perform a bongo test, which if you look up in the repair manual requires new carts and heads.
They will of course tell you that that printer is no longer supported. This is when you tell them you are calling for re: a repair part.
Thanks Mark.
I don't understand how a board can go bad by just sitting idle for a year.
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When you consider that the Z3100-Z3200 printers were designed to kept running 24-7, 365, that's a lot of time not running, a year, that is. During each day, the printer is exercised 4-6 times or more a day with micro drop technology that prevents printhead clogging. When a printer sits unplugged for that long. then gets plugged back in, tried, then shut down, then cleaned with solutions that are intended to unstick parts, many times things happen. Stuff can stay stuck and it becomes like trying to rock a stuck car out of the mud. Not quite an apt analogy, but you get the idea.
The print mech board is tied to the power supply and the formatter board. There's a red and black power cable that comes from the power supply to the print mech board and it can easily over-drive the scan axis motor and short out the board. This is just one example of how something can go wrong, seemingly arbitrarily. Yet this is the kind of stuff that goes wrong when you let a printer sit for a long time expecting it to just pop back into service.
Actually, you're almost there with it. I've occasionally had success restarting the printer up to a dozen times consecutively just to see if it was possible to break the "reseat or replace printhead" message. You could try that, I suppose. It worked for me once, but that was pretty flukey.
M
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When you consider that the Z3100-Z3200 printers were designed to kept running 24-7, 365, that's a lot of time not running, a year, that is. During each day, the printer is exercised 4-6 times or more a day with micro drop technology that prevents printhead clogging. When a printer sits unplugged for that long. then gets plugged back in, tried, then shut down, then cleaned with solutions that are intended to unstick parts, many times things happen. Stuff can stay stuck and it becomes like trying to rock a stuck car out of the mud. Not quite an apt analogy, but you get the idea.
The print mech board is tied to the power supply and the formatter board. There's a red and black power cable that comes from the power supply to the print mech board and it can easily over-drive the scan axis motor and short out the board. This is just one example of how something can go wrong, seemingly arbitrarily. Yet this is the kind of stuff that goes wrong when you let a printer sit for a long time expecting it to just pop back into service.
Actually, you're almost there with it. I've occasionally had success restarting the printer up to a dozen times consecutively just to see if it was possible to break the "reseat or replace printhead" message. You could try that, I suppose. It worked for me once, but that was pretty flukey.
M
Mark do you know if the print mech board from a z3100 44" printer can be used in a 24" printer? I have 44" printer parts.
Thanks.
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Mark do you know if the print mech board from a z3100 44" printer can be used in a 24" printer? I have 44" printer parts.
Thanks.
Must not be a used print mech board - must be new and must be same revision number (A or B).
The main pca/power can be swapped from unit to unit. You can’t swap hard drive, formatter and printmech from unit to unit.
BUT, I personally would not take a 24” and put in a 44” (or vise versa).