HPZ3200 light head strikes with MOAB Entrada Natural 300GSM

[sharadn]

I am occasionally getting a few short head strikes with this paper. I have been asked to make some very large prints 30x45 and 40x60. Printing at this scale is new for me and I don't want to have to discard huge prints because of head strikes. I have a pretty good handle on the profiles and so on for this paper and am happy with what I am getting out of the printer. I looked at the preset that I have Entrada and I don't see how I can adjust the platen height for thicker paper. It has it as normal and it is not a normal it is a thick paper.. The Canson Platine preset would allow me to change it from normal to think but not the Entrada and I have a number of Entrada presets. Can some please advise?

[kers]

Then you have to add again a new papertype for Moab and choose the 4ink HM thick art paper as a starting point.
But it would mean also new calibration and profiling.

I have used this paper without a problem. Another thing is to unroll it some time before you start printing.

[sharadn]

I looked at the HM smooth fine art preset and it is also not letting me define it as thick. see the screen shot

[Kyle Jackson]

Use the "Fine Art Paper >250 gsm" preset. It'll unlock everything you should need.

Also ditto the tip about paper curl, especially if the strikes are on the leading edge.

Edit: more info and ref docs available here:
http://z3200.com/Working_with_other%20Papers_HP-Z3100_z3200_Printers.htm

[sharadn]

I just went through all the fine art selections and none of them show a high carriage height. Do you think my driver is not working properly? The only preset that shows a high carriage is the Canson Platine preset. See the screen shot

[Kyle Jackson]

Yeah it's similar for me too. I think / speculate that the ones with greyed out setting are hard-coded with the settings shown in the HP charts at that link. So FAPMI / FAPLI (More/Less Ink) are High and Normal, respectively. Dubious that they show the wrong value when greyed out 🤷‍♂️

(Also before I said "FAP >250 gsm", that's Z3100 speak. It became FAPMI on Z3200.)

So as long as you create your custom preset from one of the options with the correct settings, it should be good. FAPMI is a common go-to here, because it's for heavy non-gloss paper and it uses the full quad-black inset (PK, MK, G, LG). Also the highest ink limit (theoretically max gamut).

Edit: It's possible that your Entrada preset is similarly hard-coded to High but showing Normal greyed out. But don't know how it was created. If Moab made it, presumably they started with a preset with a High setting.

[sharadn]

I just increase the leading edge margin so that if I get head strike it can be cut off, but no head strike. Maybe my leading margin was not wide enough to hold the paper flat when the head starting moving across it. Or, do you think that my service station needs to be cleaned? I only got the head strikes after making many prints one after the other in quick succession and perhaps there was ink in there that got on the head that was still wet. Maybe I did not get any today because any ink kicking around in there would have dry by now. Head strikes on 14x21 prints are not the end of the world but on 40x60 or even 30x45 it is a wallet drain. I am happy there are still die hard HPZ3200 users to help out and appreciate the input.

[Kyle Jackson]

Okay it sounds like you have something completely different from what I picture  by "head strikes"... I was thinking horizontal scrapes / "zebra stripes"  across the print (actually bare paper in places) because the heads are physically dragging across it.

But it sounds more like you have ink smears on the print, which doesn't really need a head strike, it just needs head/carriage with some built up ink gunk on it. I think you'd more likely see that on the right side (near the carriage's home position) and on the leading edge of the print, because after that it gets wiped off.

Paper curl at leading edge can def exacerbate it, especially if it curly media on small core or near end of roll. But it still means there's some buildup you might want to clean. Anytime I find ink on a print like that, I take the heads out and clean any build up, clean the carriage as best as I can, and clean the service station area.

[sharadn]

good suggestions all. It is on the left hand side of the leading edge. See the photo. the smear is parallel to the front of the print. I will clean the print heads and service station or maybe just give some time between prints for the ink to dry. As always I appreciate your input!

[Kyle Jackson]

Hmm, does look more like a brief head contact there, since it's not really a wet glob smear. The heads are always kinda dirty even when "dry" and can leave pencil-like marks if there's contact.

Since that's the left side of the printer, my guess is the mark was made by the right side of the head (MK-R) as it was returning from the left side gutter. That head is always the dirtiest one, between the build-up in the service area and the clotting challenges of the MK ink itself. It can build up dry-ish lumps almost like caked mud that can eventually contact the paper.

Paper curl at leading edge/corners ofc plays a factor too.

I think a good cleaning plus re-checking the curl would help. And also trying a new paper preset that you're sure uses the high carriage height (probably FAPMI in this case) to help rule that out. It might actually give better results too (more gamut / Dmax) that the pre-made one.

[sharadn]

Thanks again!

[sportmaster]

Feed a few inches of paper through the printer before you start printing.