Luminous Landscape Forum
Raw & Post Processing, Printing => Printing: Printers, Papers and Inks => Topic started by: plasakow on November 15, 2024, 11:45:44 pm
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I just bought two, and as I write there's six left. All new in original boxes, individually palletized.
Warehouse location is Toledo, Ohio. I arranged for LTL shipping to Virginia for $410.00. Total price $1400. I'll harvest my current two Z3200s for organs so I'll likely be set for the next six years or more. This'll make my loyalty to these old beasts a bit less masochistic!
I've no vested interest in the sales; I'm just pointing out a good deal for the Z3200 fans out there.
https://ebay.to/40P3KKX (https://ebay.to/40P3KKX)
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So envious!! 😭😭😭 Can't wait to "see" them! You gotta post pics of the unboxing haha. Wow a 2024 official unboxing / review video on YouTube would be hilarious, they've never been seen in 4K! 😅
And def pls let me know what driver version it ships with 🙏
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That is sweet. I still have a couple of 44” that just keep going like new. I just hope we can keep the hp inks going a couple of more years.
quote author=Kyle D Jackson link=topic=144141.msg1262335#msg1262335 date=1731772130]
So envious!! 😭😭😭 Can't wait to "see" them! You gotta post pics of the unboxing haha. Wow a 2024 official unboxing / review video on YouTube would be hilarious, they've never been seen in 4K! 😅
And def pls let me know what driver version it ships with 🙏
[/quote]
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Ha, its a PS version no less! :)
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Sticker shows 2018 so looks like the Rev B final production stock. Probably doesn't get any newer haha
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Best printer you can buy + a rescue repair team for free at luminous landscape
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I saw that ad last week. Too bad they aren't 44".
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Any ideas how long HP70 inks will be available and any links to best prices appreciated!
Finally... Primarily use Mac OS and request best plan to run the Z3200 is ??
Thanks everyone and have a Merry Christmas!
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Any ideas how long HP70 inks will be available and any links to best prices appreciated!
Hi, it's all discontinued so you get whatever you can wherever you can find it (retail, ebay, etc)..., or start experimenting with non-hp inks and heads. I think some users here do that, but I'm still using hp stuff. I don't know how well the after-market stuff compares to hp.
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Thank you. I owned the HP 130 for a lonnnnnng time until HP no longer supported drivers for it. Sad day when I parked that at a recycle center.
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Hi, it's all discontinued so you get whatever you can wherever you can find it (retail, ebay, etc)..., or start experimenting with non-hp inks and heads. I think some users here do that, but I'm still using hp stuff. I don't know how well the after-market stuff compares to hp.
Using HP inks as well but mainly from other cartridges with HP Vivera pigment inks. 300ML and 775ML sizes. The HP772 and HP 745/6/7 are easy as they fit, only add the chip cap of an empty HP70 -73 on them. The HP772 carts with identical ink names to the HP70 carts, like the Light Grey, have the same ink-tone-hue. HP70 and HP772 were both used on the Z5200 so there is no difference in the inks themselves, the range of inks of the Z5200 is more limited (like the Z2100 range is) and you can't use the straight Cyan HP772 on a Z3200 but that one suits the Z2100. The range of HP745/6/7 300ML carts have the Chromatic Red, Blue, Green. I have used the Chromium Red so far. There is a GE cart as well in that range.
MK, PK, Yellow, Magenta, Light Magenta, Chromatic Red and to a lesser extend Light Cyan is found in more HP cart types with Vivera Pigment content or the follow up pigment ink. HP775/6/7 for example.
The tricky part is in the Light Gray and possibly Gray inks. For example the HP775 Light Gray ink is closer in tone/density to the HP70 Gray ink (if not alike) so not usable in the Z3200 Light Gray channel. I suspect that a Gray cart of a non HP70 or HP772 type may have a different tone/density as well.
In my part of the world expired HP772 Light Gray carts on Ebay and alike are more expensive than new HP772 carts. It is the most consumed ink on printers with that LG channel but also because the HP772 and HP70 Light Gray carts have no equivalent in the other HP carts.
What I fear more is the end of supply of Z3200 heads. Inks I can cope with, salvaged printer parts I have, some Chinese parts are not bad either but heads ............
Met vriendelijke groet, Ernst
www.pigment-print.com/spectralplots/spectrumviz_1.htm
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Using HP inks as well but mainly from other cartridges with HP Vivera pigment inks.
At some point I need to brush up on how to do this. I've read various descriptions over the years but the part I don't understand is how the cap chip from an empty ink cartridge can be re-used? The printer has already tagged it as empty/must-replace, and will reject it no matter what "ink bag" I reattach to it.
I've seen there are some things online claiming to "reprogram" cartridge chips or provide "new" ones but I've also read they don't always work.
The only thing I can think of is that I'm somehow supposed to stop using carts before they reach empty and the printer tags them faulty/replace, but that never happens, more often they get tagged well before they are empty.
As for heads, refurbed heads are about our only option. That's already the case for Z3100 HP 70 MK-R. Either you discover a last one for sale somewhere, or refurb your own, or try a generic refurb head online. For the latter could remove the ink they ship with and reprime with HP ink until it's delivering consistent colour..., assuming you can find the ink (also gone for HP 70 Red).
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At some point I need to brush up on how to do this. I've read various descriptions over the years but the part I don't understand is how the cap chip from an empty ink cartridge can be re-used? The printer has already tagged it as empty/must-replace, and will reject it no matter what "ink bag" I reattach to it.
I've seen there are some things online claiming to "reprogram" cartridge chips or provide "new" ones but I've also read they don't always work.
The only thing I can think of is that I'm somehow supposed to stop using carts before they reach empty and the printer tags them faulty/replace, but that never happens, more often they get tagged well before they are empty.
As for heads, refurbed heads are about our only option. That's already the case for Z3100 HP 70 MK-R. Either you discover a last one for sale somewhere, or refurb your own, or try a generic refurb head online. For the latter could remove the ink they ship with and reprime with HP ink until it's delivering consistent colour..., assuming you can find the ink (also gone for HP 70 Red).
You could be right on the description 'empty' as set by the HP firmware. I have not so much confidence in the ability of the printer sucking a 130ML cart empty during a printing task and still deliver a good print after the exchange of the cart with a new one. When I hear the printer pumping ink too often during a run, it is for me a sign to take out the cart that is most near to 'empty' in my vocabulary. Yes, I have chips that are no longer accepted by one printer, some by two printers and they go into the waste bin. After more HP772 carts with an HP70 chip the printer firmware gradually degrades from genuine HP to expired cart and then to third party ink with the usual warnings that accompany the last two messages. I can't be bothered. The inks I use are genuine HP Vivera or Vivid pigment inks but usually expired, price accordingly. The HP772 are 300ML, if I refill them (in some cases) there is about 250ML to start with. If by weight there is about 50ML left they get refilled or a new HP772 replaces the former cart. Less regular weight checks with that capacity, less heavy pumping and the chip does not loose its value to me. The carts that will not be used again are then really sucked empty and the ink goes into another refillable HP772 cart.
Maybe some kind of kidney dialysis can be performed on the old heads to make refurbished ones. More than getting their weight at 60 grams or above but pulling ink through with an extra sieve set before the ink enters and then first against the usual flow and after that the other way around, still with an extra sieve at the input side. I guess the refurbished ones are actually cleaned with a cleaning fluid and then refilled with the right ink. Possibly the heads are universal and the chip on it marks the ink hue they should have. The chip can be replaced by one from another cart, done that with a trial on a Deskjet, though without success then. On the HPZ3200 the droplet size varies per head (or even channel) between 4 and 6 picolitr. Whether that is firmware/hardware backed in on the head or something the head carriage board regulates is something I do not know. My guess is that the head carriage board translates the digital info it gets to analogue pulses to the head, little computing done in the head. The heads could be more universal than their labels says. For the Z9 etc printers there is only one head type that gets its inks when inserted. The newer Canons wide formats have that as well as I understand it. Much guessing here so I love to see better informed comments.
Met vriendelijke groet, Ernst
www.pigment-print.com/spectralplots/spectrumviz_1.htm
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Anyone know how old expired cartridges have to be before they become unusable?
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Anyone know how old expired cartridges have to be before they become unusable?
Hi, for ink cartridges there is theoretically no limit. I still have some 2010-ish carts in use lol. The hp inks are remarkably stable.
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I already have a 44" Z3200 and I work in two different locations in different times of the year. I am thinking of buying one of these 24" printers. How much ink do they come with? Will I have to come up with all new cartridges after startup?
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I already have a 44" Z3200 and I work in two different locations in different times of the year. I am thinking of buying one of these 24" printers. How much ink do they come with? Will I have to come up with all new cartridges after startup?
A new-in-box printer should have a full set of 12 "half-size" ink cartridges (~60 mL). So you'd probably run out of at least 1 colour before the end of the first roll.
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I already have a 44" Z3200 and I work in two different locations in different times of the year. I am thinking of buying one of these 24" printers. How much ink do they come with? Will I have to come up with all new cartridges after startup?
Yep. Both of the ones I just bought had full sets of "fun size" ink cartridges and standard printheads. One printhead might have been bad, or it may have been that it took a couple of tries to ge the ink tubes primed so it got an air bubble inside of it. Repriming the head didn't work so I tossed it. The silly little priming printheads only worked for a few ink channels. I just sucked the rest up through the bongos with a hypodermic. It's a more reliable method, anyway.
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Thank you. Will I have to buy printheads also?
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Repriming the head didn't work so I tossed it. The silly little priming printheads only worked for a few ink channels. I just sucked the rest up through the bongos with a hypodermic.
How do you mean?
What is the error/status code for that printhead?
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Thank you. Will I have to buy printheads also?
They come with full sets of printheads. Out of the 12 that came with the two printers, one was bad, or perhaps just got air into it if the priming wasn't thorough.
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How do you mean?
What is the error/status code for that printhead?
No error message per se, it just kept insisting I replace the "faulty printhead" after inserting it.
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Thank you. Will I have to buy printheads also?
A new printer comes with all the printheads, but with half inks.
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No error message per se, it just kept insisting I replace the "faulty printhead" after inserting it.
It's on the printer itself. Front panel menu, go to to Info section and look for Printhead info. For each printhead that has been in the printer it will show a bunch of status info, including a status code and/or an error code. Post the codes for that printhead here and we can check the codes in the service manual.
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I have a working* Z3200 printer that I plan to part out and sell on eBay. Would anyone be interested in the whole printer? You would need to arrange for shipping, of course but I wouldn't charge anything for it.
*The printer still prints nice as ever but it is generally unreliable; it hangs up frequently and needs to be reset. It also needs a new drive belt. I replaced it once a number of years ago but it's damaged again.
I would also throw in two new inks that I have on my shelf (PBK and MBK).
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I have a working* Z3200 printer that I plan to part out and sell on eBay. Would anyone be interested in the whole printer? You would need to arrange for shipping, of course but I wouldn't charge anything for it.
Probably better to post a separate thread for it where people can see it easier (or in the For Sale group).
I'd love to rescue all the printers and keep them running but I'm told that's a psychological disorder... :-X
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I just bought the last of these, Toledo is only a couple of hours so I drove there to pick it up. The guy who had the z3200's for sale is nice and easy to deal with, and mentioned that he just got in several z9+ again 24", again new in the box, stacked in his warehouse with shipping pallets attached. These are higher priced, I believe he said $1050. I didn't ask if he was going to have them on eBay, would guess he will.
I bought the z3200 because I have a backlog of personal work I'd like to get to, and certainly can't complain about the price! I had a z2100 in the way back, love the prints it made, but it feels like starting over. I'll let the list know how it goes....... ;>)
Dave King
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I bought one of those Chinese ( refurbished ? ) Z3200 heads on eBay by mistake. I thought what the hell so I used it and it worked perfectly. So maybe there is some hope left.
How do you mean?
What is the error/status code for that printhead?
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I bought one of those Chinese ( refurbished ? ) Z3200 heads on eBay by mistake. I thought what the hell so I used it and it worked perfectly. So maybe there is some hope left.
I have some too, came with the printer from previous owner. They couldn't get the printer to accept any of them (which is why they sold it). So your mileage may vary. Also I noticed they mislabelled the MK-R head for Z3100 vs Z3200 (HP70 vs Hp 73).
They do however appear to be originally legit HP heads, they just have the HP logo burned off on the plastic (photos in other thread https://forum.luminous-landscape.com/index.php?topic=141083.msg1242843#msg1242843). No idea whether they are refurbs or surplus/second-grade HP stock. I kinda suspect the latter because business economics of refurbing a used head seems really poor.
As for what ink they're primed with, no idea 🤷♂️ If I ever used them I'd probably purge/reprime them with HP ink to be sure.
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The guy who had the z3200's for sale is nice and easy to deal with, and mentioned that he just got in several z9+ again 24", again new in the box, stacked in his warehouse with shipping pallets attached. These are higher priced, I believe he said $1050. I didn't ask if he was going to have them on eBay, would guess he will.
Well that's interesting... Wonder where they're getting these things. My understanding is the Z9+ is still being produced and sold. Or maybe this is the leading wave of HP surplusing them because they're discontinuing them. (That's kinda how I got my Z3100 back in the olden times lol.)
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I bought one of those Chinese ( refurbished ? ) Z3200 heads on eBay by mistake. I thought what the hell so I used it and it worked perfectly. So maybe there is some hope left.
My experience is that most refurbished printheads are fine, but one did overheat badly once installed and melted part of itself. That was a bit disturbing. ALL of them come loaded with crap ink. Not being a chemist, I'm calling them crap because their colors are way off. You have to flush them out with the good stuff before trusting them to play nice. That takes 10 minutes of potentially messy work. it took me a few times doing it before I was able to do it quickly and as neatly as such a thing can be done.
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I have a large lot of new unopened (2022,2023) and used HP ink cartridges from my z3200s for sale if anyone's interested. I also have a full set of opened but unused printheads and some used but still good printheads.
I have a listing from awhile back in the sale section but if you dm me I can send a full list of what I have.
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Since I'm a newbie here don't know if this is the appropriate place for a startup question. I'm just now setting up the z3200, peeling off all the tape etc etc, and when powered on initially it was not yet to the point it asks for language preference, and there were a few loud clicks, then a message to power down and restart, and if it again cannot complete the initial power on to call for service. So... I have not powered on again, in no hurry, and thought I'd throw this out and see if anyone has seen this before. Wondering if there is a carriage clamp to be removed...I do see a blue plastic piece on top of the carriage, which is still all the way to the right, and it has a handle...
TIA - Dave King
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Since I'm a newbie here don't know if this is the appropriate place for a startup question. I'm just now setting up the z3200, peeling off all the tape etc etc, and when powered on initially it was not yet to the point it asks for language preference, and there were a few loud clicks, then a message to power down and restart, and if it again cannot complete the initial power on to call for service. So... I have not powered on again, in no hurry, and thought I'd throw this out and see if anyone has seen this before. Wondering if there is a carriage clamp to be removed...I do see a blue plastic piece on top of the carriage, which is still all the way to the right, and it has a handle...
Hi Dave, congrats on the new Z3200! ;)
The blue lever opens the printhead carriage. You'll need that step when you install the printheads.
Removable shipping pieces are generally orange so they're easy to spot, and the setup instructions do a good job indicating how to remove them. (BTW might want to keep some for moving, and also the printhead caps are very useful to have. I regret throwing mine away.)
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Probably better to post a separate thread for it where people can see it easier (or in the For Sale group).
I'd love to rescue all the printers and keep them running but I'm told that's a psychological disorder... :-X
Little do my 3 children know that when I die they each get 2 wide format printers..
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Little do my 3 children know that when I die they each get 2 wide format printers..
Adopt me 🤪
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Hi Dave, congrats on the new Z3200! ;)
The blue lever opens the printhead carriage. You'll need that step when you install the printheads.
Removable shipping pieces are generally orange so they're easy to spot, and the setup instructions do a good job indicating how to remove them. (BTW might want to keep some for moving, and also the printhead caps are very useful to have. I regret throwing mine away.)
Thanks Kyle, I'll double check for orange pieces, I thought I got all of them, but ya never know.
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An update on my progress -- turns out the clicking I was hearing was normal as I heard it numerous times during the initial set up process. I did get it going, to a point, which I read about in one of Mark Lindquist's posts where he said something to the effect if there's a startup issue first thing is to change the lithium button battery in the formatter board. Considering that battery is at least 8 years old it makes all kinda sense, and that was the problemo.
But setup only to a point so far. I think I'm going to get more views by starting a new thread...but basically the current glitch seems to be the startup DVD is written for 32 bit operating systems, but macs have been a 64 bit operating system for years. So I downloaded and installed the software from HP website but the handshake has not occurred as yet and I'm stumped. Well I only began working on it today, and I'm in no rush.
Something else Mark Lindquist stressed is the importance of leaving it on continuously to keep the print heads healthy. I did that with my z2100 years ago, but since this z3200 is not communicating with the macbook yet turning it off seemed like a good idea. Well today turning it back on the initial setup repeated taking 45 minutes. It's still not talking to the macbook but this time I'm leaving it on ;)
I'm also wondering how many of the folks here that have been using and writing about the z3200 are still keeping these beasts running. I am impressed with it even tho I have not even got it printing yet!
Dave King
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Definitely leave it on always. It doesn't matter whether a computer is connected or not. The printer periodically does self-maintenance that's essential to keep it in good shape (especially the printheads).
And yes the startup time (from power off) can be quite lengthy. There are different types of startup it automatically uses, some are much longer than others. And all the clicks, whirs, wiggles, etc are expected..., after a while you get to learn what they actually mean..., and then you're One Of Us :o lol
I can't comment on Mac but for PC/Win you don't def don't want to use whatever latest universal driver garbage HP has on their website now. They're not made specifically for the features on these printers, so many of the key things don't work. The bundle that came in the box is what you want to use to start. Up until recently the HP website still had some of the older versions (listed under older OSes) but it seems they've wiped it all now. So around here some of us have been resorting to passing drivers around.
I can only tell you some good driver/software versions for Win/PC, so hopefully someone else here can comment on the Mac versions (check other threads too).
Edit: ok you might be in luck, it looks like the HP website still lists legacy driver/software versions under older Mac OS versions. So you can browse the lists for a good fit. (For Win they recently replaced all legacy versions with the latest "universal" driver.)
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Thanks Kyle, good info.
I haven't played with it again, been busy, but your post has me wondering if I'd have better luck with a win 11 driver.
Let me ask a dumb question, there are two Mac driver downloads on the HP download page, a PCL3 raster and a postscript. The printer model is z3200PS, because of it being the PS version I installed the the PS driver, should I try the raster driver instead?
My work station is right next to the printer, connected by the USB cable that came with the printer. Supposed to be easy with the USB cable! ::)
Dave
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I haven't played with it again, been busy, but your post has me wondering if I'd have better luck with a win 11 driver.
Let me ask a dumb question, there are two Mac driver downloads on the HP download page, a PCL3 raster and a postscript. The printer model is z3200PS, because of it being the PS version I installed the the PS driver, should I try the raster driver instead?
My work station is right next to the printer, connected by the USB cable that came with the printer. Supposed to be easy with the USB cable! ::)
I mean if you have a Win machine to try instead of Mac it's worth a shot. Just use the driver/software version from the installation CD. You can always sort out Mac connection later.
Yeah the "PS" label on the printer is confusing. The PCL3 raster driver is the one you want. It'll raster the file on your machine before sending it to the printer. The Postscript driver instead sends the file to the printer to convert it there (and only supports certain file types). There's some cases where it's useful but not for most of us printing images.
The PS version of the printer has more features/options not on the regular version. For example the Print Utility / web interface has more options for queue and job management, etc.
I use the ethernet cable connection from my router. USB is crazy slow, and some ppl mention connection issues. Running a cable to your network router seems the best way. Set a static IP address on the printer so it's easy to access the web interface. I use one outside the DHCP range of the router so it doesn't get taken by another device.
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More good info and yes I will take my win laptop to the printer room and give the DVD another whirl this weekend. Running an ethernet cable is a good idea too, I will see if I can finish setting it up with a good nozzle check first.
Appreciating you Kyle, thanks!
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PM sent to Mfrohman
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Hey Kyle, I've been waylaid getting full sized ink carts from Ebay etc, and making slow progress in other ways.
I couldn't get the printer to see USB and a constant message that IP was not available, so I got ethernet down here in the basement and the printer now sees my network.
And when I open HP printer utility the printer is "seen", but below that is the message "status unavailable, device may be offline or unreachable at this time"
I did grab a driver off the HP DVD disk, guessing it's pretty old by now which I thought may be good, same age as the printer, maybe. There were 4, two were 32 bit and two were 64 bit, the one I grabbed is 64 bit with the name pcl3winxp_x64. I was assuming the other driver is postscript because it was named pswinxp_x64, and I am trying to get the raster driver.
So I don't know why the printer is still "unavailable"! I'm wondering if there's a range of possibilities or if it usually boils down to the same thing. I would at least like to get to the point I can do a nozzle check! ;D :(
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Hey Kyle, I've been waylaid getting full sized ink carts from Ebay etc, and making slow progress in other ways.
I couldn't get the printer to see USB and a constant message that IP was not available, so I got ethernet down here in the basement and the printer now sees my network.
And when I open HP printer utility the printer is "seen", but below that is the message "status unavailable, device may be offline or unreachable at this time"
I did grab a driver off the HP DVD disk, guessing it's pretty old by now which I thought may be good, same age as the printer, maybe. There were 4, two were 32 bit and two were 64 bit, the one I grabbed is 64 bit with the name pcl3winxp_x64. I was assuming the other driver is postscript because it was named pswinxp_x64, and I am trying to get the raster driver.
So I don't know why the printer is still "unavailable"! I'm wondering if there's a range of possibilities or if it usually boils down to the same thing. I would at least like to get to the point I can do a nozzle check! ;D :(
You can do nozzle checks and many other things without any computer connection, just use the front panel menu on the printer. Diagnostic plots are under Image Quality Maintenance > Print Diagnostic Plot. You can also print some of the demo prints under Internal Prints (they big tho, like 24x36).
That sounds like the right driver. Is this for Windows? What's the driver version? It's usually something like "61.121.362.41" (think that's what I'm using). The first 2 digits after the 61. are the year of the driver, so mine's a 2012. You can also check it in the install package directly, just open the .inf file with a text editor and it'll be near the top somewhere.
You can check the printer's IP address on the front panel. I think you can also change it to a static IP address there too. Typing that IP address in to web browser should open the printer's web interface if there's a connection.
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Well more progress I have been printing nozzle checks and profile patches. Pretty nice how fast and easy making profile will be. The one hitch remaining is getting the port setting right so that I can use HP Utility. It's in sleep mode now for the first time and I probably won't get back on it for a couple of days, but I don't know where to see the driver number...is that in HP Utility?
Thanks for the help :>)
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The main reason I'm interested in the driver version is because you said your PC can see the printer, but can't interact with it. That's an issue I've noted with some of hp's later "universal" drivers. But I suppose it could also be a network setup issue.
There's a number of ways to check printer driver version. One is like I mentioned, check it in the driver install package directly (the one from the CD), just open the .inf file with a text editor and it'll be near the top somewhere. Another is open the Print Management app in Windows, then under Print Servers drill down to the printer and check its properties, and the About tab has the driver package version number at the top (see screenshot).
While you're there, check the Ports tab and confirm that "Enable bidirectional support" is checked. If it's greyed out / unchecked then there's a problem.
If you previously had a different driver version installed before installing this one, I recommend a complete do-over. Uninstall the printer and any driver software from the PC. Reboot when done. Use Print Management app to confirm it's gone completely under Drivers and Ports and Printers. If anything is still there remove it. Reboot again and confirm it's all gone. Then re-install your drivers. You can generally leave HP Utility installed the whole time, it's independent of the drivers package.
Also check the version of HP Utility (Help > About). The last version made was 1.17.0.3. After that I think they went to a newer but similarly-named app. I haven't used it but think I've read that it lacks some of the features of the original.
For my network setup I just set the desired static IP address on the printer. Since my router uses the 192.168.0.100s block for DHCP, I use a unique number in the .200s. On the printer under Connectivity there are a number of settings. Drill down under Ethernet to the TCP/IP stuff, give it a hostname if you want (like "Z3200PS", set connection method to Manual, give it the IPV4 address you want, and point Default Gateway and Primary DNS to your router's IP address. Then reboot router (and maybe PC) and all should be good.
If you've got a firewall (Windows Defender, etc) make sure HP Utililty can get thru it. It'll usually prompt for network access the first time it runs.
In addition to HP Utility you can access the printer's web interface in a browser using either its IP address or Hostname. Actually because some functions are only available via the web interface, HP Utility will open a browser for you in some cases (but it defaults to MS Edge ugh).
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Kyle I got waylaid, some having to do with the printer, but mostly due to other issues. I got a new computer and set the printer up on that using the setup disk. HP utility can see the printer, but it's "status unavailable". Your detailed Feb 19 post may help, I'll read it carefully and get back to you.
Dave
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Hey Kyle,
Well I solved the ethernet problem awhile back, I was trying to use a Wi-Fi extender which also has a couple of ethernet ports on the back, and was not getting anywhere. I was talking to a guy at an excellent computer store here in Cleveland (Micro Center) who manages the printer dept (dozens different models, including 3d). I gave him the background story and mentioned I was using a Wi-Fi extender, he slapped his forehead (figuratively) and said that's your problem!
So I drilled some holes and ran a cable to the basement, ran the install program again and it just worked immediately, and that felt good:) Well I've only run USB in the past, and should have known better.
And since then been setting up other stuff, a new file storage and backup system, getting the room together, etc.
I do have a smallish niggle now, I haven't done enough printing yet to have installed most of the full size carts, and for some reason the starter cart for yellow went from bright yellow to approximate mid tone yellow. I'd say it happened pretty early, but I ignored it, bigger fish to fry. So I made the first profile today, and it did compensate the yellow a bit, but still not the bright hue it started with, and all the other inks continue to look great.
I suppose the easy fix is to pop in the full size cart, purge the yellow line, and make a new profile. But I wonder if you've heard of this kind of issue.
Attached a phone shot of the two yellow patches, color and tone compressed a bit but should give an idea.
Appreciate your input!
Dave
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wel known problem is the on occasion leaking of one color into the other chamber inside the printhead-
in this case; a bit magenta in the Yellow.
If you make a calibration and a profile, the printer will compensate for the color change, however a very bright yellow will not be obtained.
So at some point in more severe contamination you could take some action.
Personally i do not know any other solution than trying to purge yellow and/or replace the printhead.
also the reason for this behaviour is still a mystery for me
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Thanks for the comment kers, I've taken the route of a profile and calibration for the moment and with a head cleaning the yellow improved a bit, so it's really not so bad. If I have to I'll put in a new head later, meanwhile as you said no bright yellow.
Regarding the reason for this problem John Nollendorfs suggested the parking station pad can get a bit of the adjacent ink on it, if that's the case it was probably my fault when setting up initially. I forgot to shake one of the printheads, popped it back out, shook and reinstalled it. Was it the magenta ink? Didn't make a note of which head it was, but maybe.
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Hi, sorry I was away for quite a while...
A wifi extender should not be a problem, I used my Z3100 on one for years. But you have to be careful with your network settings. In my case the extender does not report the exact MAC address of the connected printer, it instead substitutes half of the MAC address with its own code. So when binding a static IP address in my router I have to use the modified "virtual" MAC address. Yours may be similar.
Regarding colour, are both those patches on the same paper? There'll be some variation between media. And I've also observed some variation between diag plots in general depending on a number of factors including calibration state. Agitating the ink carts occasionally might help too if it's been sitting a long time.
Weigh the head to confirm it doesn't have (too much) air in it. A full head is 60g. Anything more than 2~3g less than that is likely too much air. Air causes a number of issues which can include ink being siphoned from the nozzles of the adjacent colour. To my knowledge ink doesn't actually get inside the other colour's compartment inside the head itself, there's no internal leak path for that. Instead it's far more likely the nozzle gets fouled by ink from the adjacent colour's nozzles. That's why the contamination usually clears up quickly within the first few inches of a print.
If the head has air it needs to be purged and the head re-primed with ink. HP 70/73 heads are discontinued so it's best to do this than throw away perfectly good heads.
Edit: Also the heads do not touch the messy "pad" on the right side of the printer, it would be a colossal mess if it did. The capping station is the actual "rest pad" and most people have never seen it because it's retracted out of harm's way whenever the carriage is out of the parked position. You can see the capping station here in the last 2 photos:
https://forum.luminous-landscape.com/index.php?topic=143162.msg1258563#msg1258563
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No Problem on the late reply Kyle, I tend to come here mostly when I've hit a snag. And your input has been helpful, thank you.
I think I know what is causing the yellow contaminated with magenta, let me know what you think. On initial set-up when installing the heads was following instructions to shake each head for a few seconds before taking off the orange protection plastic and installing. Well I forgot to shake one head so I took it back out to shake then re-installed. Without the orange plastic bits magenta could possibly have crossed into yellow.
I've printed patches on a variety of media, the yellow is clearly darker, head cleanings seem to help, so your comment about refurbishing a head is interesting. One of the first test prints I made was a bright yellow, so I use that as a reference. The darker yellow shows up as a problem for example printing the Atkinson Lab Test Page, the two yellow photos. Both are tonally compressed and darkened by 1.5 or 2 F-stops.
I did weigh each head with a gram scale and all were in the range I was given by Tim Wert at LPS design Jet, but that was with the previous head.
Tim also suggested cleaning the service station wiper tray, your photos of that are interesting! Looks a bit complicated.
So I bought another yellow-magenta head and installed it yesterday, which has resulted in an error message:
Printhead replacement not completed. Restart it.
M-Y printhead replacement not completed
Press OK to start printhead replacement
Which puzzled me. So the first thing I did was pull the printhead up just a bit, then push back into place. That didn't clear the message, so I went through the (long) procedure again, and at the end of that got the same error message, I tried to run a test print anyway but couldn't. So now I'm dead in the water.
Dave
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So I bought another yellow-magenta head and installed it yesterday, which has resulted in an error message:
Printhead replacement not completed. Restart it.
M-Y printhead replacement not completed
Press OK to start printhead replacement
LPS has a video that talks about this repeated error message being from air in the ink lines, and how to fix it with their air purge kit. Here's the original old video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bsZ1Dqye_Lo
And here's the newer video that just talks about purging air in general but doesn't seem to mention the printhead error message anymore:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0RYtEb5eZuY
There's also a similar-sounding error message that a printhead needs to be "reseated". (I get this one frequently on the MK-R head in my Z3100ps.) But that message may have a different trigger. Sometimes it goes away by killing the power switch on the back of the printer and rebooting a couples times, but in my case it returns at some point.
Anyhow if forced reboots and/or reseating the head don't clear the message, I'd try the ink line air purge shown in the LPS videos. Since you have a new M-Y head it should be okay so you shouldn't need to reprime that, you just need to get the air out of the ink lines in the printer. You may want to reprime your old M-Y head tho if its weight was light, that way you're not wasting the M & Y ink you pull from the printer ink tubes.
Make sure you have a lot of ink in the carts, I wouldn't try pulling ink from the lines with low carts.
Sometimes you can also get into a vicious cycle of replace multiple head messages and you kinda need to restart everything from scratch. Purge air from all ink tubes, make sure you have fully re-primed heads and every ink cart is nearly full (almost like a new set for all 12+6), and then start up the printer with all carts and heads removed, and it will prompt to add them all one by one. That's how I recovered my Z3200ps that I rescued.
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LPS has a video that talks about this repeated error message being from air in the ink lines, and how to fix it with their air purge kit. Here's the original old video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bsZ1Dqye_Lo
And here's the newer video that just talks about purging air in general but doesn't seem to mention the printhead error message anymore:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0RYtEb5eZuY
You know what, I bought that kit because I thought I might need it one day, but in the interim forgot it was about this very issue lol. So I need to watch the vids carefully and give it a go!
thanks for reminding me...
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That LPS ink cartridge refurb kit is great! Don't know what I would have done without it.
So now I'm on to profiling papers. A lot of choices in the Create New Paper Preset, and some of them seem to overlap in the sense they are similar verbally but print a slightly different initial pattern. The paper I'm working with now is a roll of HP Universal Bond Paper, which is matte and coated, lightweight, cheap, and decent image quality. Any thoughts on where I could go to read up on profiling with the z3200?
Dave
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That LPS ink cartridge refurb kit is great! Don't know what I would have done without it.
So now I'm on to profiling papers. A lot of choices in the Create New Paper Preset, and some of them seem to overlap in the sense they are similar verbally but print a slightly different initial pattern. The paper I'm working with now is a roll of HP Universal Bond Paper, which is matte and coated, lightweight, cheap, and decent image quality. Any thoughts on where I could go to read up on profiling with the z3200?
Dave
Is that a pic of before/after re-priming the heads? Wow quite a difference!
HP has a bunch of PDF files for these printers (incl the main user manual) that walk through how to use the HP Utility software for profiling, colour management, and working with different media (incl non-HP). I don't know if they're still available online. The HP website has always been a trainwreck but googling will often bring you directly to the useful info when their own on-site search can't.
You can also find some good info on Mark Lindquist's site here:
http://z3200.com/Working_with_other%20Papers_HP-Z3100_z3200_Printers.htm
The disc that came with the printer probably has some of them too.
The paper presets set the paper-handling settings for the printer, things like paper thickness, ink limit, etc. Many paper types use similar settings, as you can see in the tables at the link. We usually just pick whichever preset in those tables best fit the paper we're using.
Plain/bond paper is very light/thin, so the main difference you can see in the preset table is the ink limit. It's actually the lowest ink amount of any paper type, because it can't handle much. Less ink density usually means less colour gamut so colour range on that kind of paper is naturally limited.
The HP Utility automatically goes through all the steps of selecting the paper preset, calibrating the paper (when needed), and then printing the profile target for profiling, and finally adding the ICC profile to your PC for use in Photoshop or whatever (sometimes need to run the Synch Profiles option in HP Utility if they didn't sync).
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...Here's one of the HP colour management docs:
https://support.hp.com/us-en/document/c01563257
Edit: note the HP "Color Center" is part of the HP Utility software. Open HP Utility, select the printer, then the Color Center tab.
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Is that a pic of before/after re-priming the heads? Wow quite a difference!
HP has a bunch of PDF files for these printers (incl the main user manual) that walk through how to use the HP Utility software for profiling, colour management, and working with different media (incl non-HP). I don't know if they're still available online. The HP website has always been a trainwreck but googling will often bring you directly to the useful info when their own on-site search can't.
The disc that came with the printer probably has some of them too.
The paper presets set the paper-handling settings for the printer, things like paper thickness, ink limit, etc. Many paper types use similar settings, as you can see in the tables at the link. We usually just pick whichever preset in those tables best fit the paper we're using.
Plain/bond paper is very light/thin, so the main difference you can see in the preset table is the ink limit. It's actually the lowest ink amount of any paper type, because it can't handle much. Less ink density usually means less colour gamut so colour range on that kind of paper is naturally limited.
The HP Utility automatically goes through all the steps of selecting the paper preset, calibrating the paper (when needed), and then printing the profile target for profiling, and finally adding the ICC profile to your PC for use in Photoshop or whatever (sometimes need to run the Synch Profiles option in HP Utility if they didn't sync).
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Yeah it surprised me too, even made me wonder if the yellow is too light now! But the test prints color balances now looks good, and I'll go with that.
I've managed to make a profile using HP Utility for the primary paper I'm using at the moment, Epson Ultra Premium Presentation Matte, and the profile looks good.
One thing that bugs me, the HP does not seem to be able to plop an image in the center of cut sheets...a "handling border". Am I missing something?
Thanks for the info!
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Arranging the image on a sheet size is done in the image software and/or print driver.
For example I use ancient Photoshop CS5 and the HP driver (raster not PS driver) and the driver interface (after I click Print in PS) lets me specify the sheet size (under Printer Properties) and where the image is placed on it. The driver can be flakey sometimes so each time I always go into Printer Properties to verify my sheet etc settings are still as they should be, and then I return to the driver interface to specify image placement/scaling etc.