How exact do the Z3100 diagnostic prints need to be

[hogloff]

I'm battling my newly acquired ( used obviously ) Z3100 printer and have it mainly working. My question is how precise does the diagnostic print need to be in order for me to be satisfied. Right now, the MK print head has a few gaps in the lines from the diagnostic print. What affect will these gaps have on the final output and how much effort should I put in to try to get gapless results.

[Kyle Jackson]

Hi, if you post a photo of the diag plot we can probably give some more feedback. In general tho, the solid colour patches, and your own test prints, are a better guide. The printer applies a lot of error compensation for those gaps you see in the nozzle section of the diag plot. The solid patches shouldn't show any banding if it's working well, nor should your actual prints.

It can be a bit unnerving to see all those nozzle gaps but perfection on the diag plot is neither the goal nor necessary. As well if the heads weren't used for a while, they usually improve quite a bit once you start using them again (at least up to a point). Running the headclean cycle from the printer panel and exercising the printheads with some printing can help.

If all you're seeing is a few gaps in the MK but the solid patch is good, it sounds like you might be in good shape. MK is the Z3100 / Z3200 problem child... The pigment is like pure carbon lol so it loves to make clogs when not used. This is especially an issue if you never print on matte media that uses the MK ink, so it's helpful to exercise the MK printhead regularly on some cheap matte media (and vice versa for PK on satin/gloss media).

But post a photo and can go from there. How old are the heads, and when were they last used before you got the printer? Was it sitting without power for a long time?

Depending on all that if might be worth weighing the heads to check for ink level, since they get air in them over time which leads to print issues and ultimately fries the head..., and there are no more of these being made so we need to take extra care of them. A full head weighs 60 grams, and empty is like 44g -ish. You can start having issues in the mid-50s.

[kers]

Agreed the MK is more grainy than the others; but it is also one of the best inks in terms of BW printing and longlivety.
Must say if i have a near perfect plot i never see bad results in the print. The Z's have more nozzles than necessary and can skip some.
About the Z3100: the major difference is the red73 ink in the Z3200 that makes possible: deeper red on matte papers.
Red is more orange on the z3100; in the case of glossy papers they both are fine.

[hogloff]

The printer sat for about 1 year without use. Most print heads have a 2021 date.

One thing I'm wondering about. I have shaken the ink cartridges and have shaken the print heads in order to mix up the pigments...but what about the ink that sat in the ink lines from the cartridges to the heads. Wouldn't the pigment settle in the lines causing issues with the print head until they are fully cycled?

Does anyone know how much ink is used in a print head cleaning and how much ink is contained in the ink lines. Just wondering how long before I start getting ink that has been thoroughly agitated.

[Kyle Jackson]

A year isn't too bad, especially if it had power the whole time so it could do its maintenance cycles. But even if not, I've brought printheads back from much longer power-off storage. If you're only seeing a few broken lines on one head then it sounds like it survived it really well.

I wouldn't worry about the pigment issue. Agitating the carts can help, and even the heads when it comes out of storage like that. But in normal use it shouldn't be needed for the heads (just think of how quickly that carriage whipsaws back and forth when printing..., I mean the whole machine shakes from it). As for the lines, again it's a non-issue. Those are tiny diameter tubes (you can see them with the cover open) and they're sealed from the elements. By the time the ink reaches the head nozzles it's gone thru plenty of "mixing". The hp inks seem to have terrific stability and longevity -- I still have some ink from like 15 yrs ago lol.

No the main issue with the printers sitting dormant without power is ink clotting the printhead nozzles and then it can be difficult to get them running clear again.

And then somewhat separate from that is the issue that heads get air in them over time, which leads to print issues and eventually the thermal heads burn out trying to "print air". But they can be reprimed with ink to remove the air and keep them going.

The printer does have an ink purge plot option if you want to try it after it sitting so long. It does burn a lot of paper and ink though (it's like a 6-ft long print) so if any carts are low it can run out before you get through all the colours. But I would really only do that if I was having problem with multiple heads.

Otherwise you can just print some test charts or whatever to exercise them. The coloured stripe chart at the very bottom of this page on Mark Lindquist's excellent web resource is one I use a lot: http://z3200.com/Cleaning_HP-Z3200_Print_Heads_Manually.htm