Stuck with lots of HP Papers... Profiles for Canon 4000 or Epson 9000?

[cogden]

My beloved HP Z3100 has finally ended it's life (dead main circuit board, etc.) so I'm switching to a Canon 4000 or Epson 9000.

Neither printer have a built-in spectrophotometer, and I'd love to avoid spending $2K+ on an Xrite 900+ patch profiling kit.

I have a bunch of HP Papers (from Satin Pro to Vinyl Scrim). I've come up empty online finding existing profiles of HP Papers on either of the new printers. Has anyone made the journey before me (i.e., have profiles already) and/or experience with a top quality profile-making service?

Any experience using HP papers in the Canon 2000/4000 or Epson SureColor 7000/9000?

thanks!

[Mark Lindquist]

Why not fix your beloved HP Z3100?

You can find any IC board needed here:

ALL CIRCUIT BOARDS FOR Z3100

And you can use this as a reference:

REPAIR YOUR HP Z SERIES PRINTER

Depending on where you live, you might be able to find a free-lance repair guy.

With many of the boards all you have to do is plug in the replacements.

What a shame to be stuck with all those papers and no on board Spectrophotometer.

Maybe don't give up quite so soon?

-Mark

[deanwork]

He's right, the HP mainboard is just a matter or removing two hand screws and sliding another one in.

When mine was new and under warranty I had a lighting strike zap my mainboard and HP overnighted one to me for free. All I had to do was pop it in. There was no special rank settings to do or anything. It was automatic.

 You don't need anyone for that, just the board. For any of the other boards you should be able to find an HP tech to help you if you are afraid of taking the printer apart yourself using Marks instructions. All of these Z type machines are very similar and use similar if not identical parts. A lot of the Office Depot and Kinkos types of places use these printers and have them serviced all the time and there are many people who work on them. Here in Atlanta we have two different places that specialize on HP machines but are not part of HP, though they can get parts if you can't.

Why not fix your beloved HP Z3100?

You can find any IC board needed here:

ALL CIRCUIT BOARDS FOR Z3100

And you can use this as a reference:

REPAIR YOUR HP Z SERIES PRINTER

Depending on where you live, you might be able to find a free-lance repair guy.

With many of the boards all you have to do is plug in the replacements.

What a shame to be stuck with all those papers and no on board Spectrophotometer.

Maybe don't give up quite so soon?

-Mark

[cogden]

Thanks for the encouragement. 

However, running Service Diagnostics on the Carriage Assembly gives Error 02.1:10 "FAIL reading Pens voltage."   

After a long talk with Sr. HP tech, he says it could be just PCA, but if spend a full day to tear it all down, should at a minimum replace the entire Carriage Assembly (Q6659-67019) which cost $1,100-$1300 new (although eBay may have for $500, if it can be trusted), and possibly Carriage Flex Cable(s) at $80 each.   HP auth service tech estimates $1500+ in labor. That could take up to the $3K realm, with little/no warranty if the next thing breaks. The Canon 4000 is down to $3500, the Epson 9000 $4,000 (plus extra ink, etc. etc.) and has warranty.

Two years ago, I went through replacing the belt, and it was a three week elapsed nightmare with a technician -- it is not a trivial fix.

I hate to keep pouring good money after bad. Most say I should be thrilled to have gotten 9 years of service from it.

[Mark Lindquist]

The mainboard is not that expensive and you can easily just plug it it.  If it works, you'd be really way ahead of things, especially since you've already been through the belt business.  Not hard to do.

Alternatively,  you could look for a deal on a new Z3200ps and buy one of those.
Here's how you would be ahead:

No learning curve - it's the same machine basically.

Not having to buy a seperate profiling system and going through the learning curve with all that.

You can use all your supplies including inks form your Z3100 except the Red.

You can likely sell your Z3100 for something.

Good luck, whatever you decide.  All the main printers are excellent, just not as great as the Z's are for occasional use.  Hard to beat.

Edit- BTW - HP support will just begin replacing parts until it works. 
Often a lot is replaced that doesn't need it in getting to the root cause.
The error codes are indicators.  Not specific diagnostics - they can mean other things and often trigger when the main board goes out.

[cogden]

OK Mark, following your lead. Ordered $88 PCA board only via eBay. Due here by Saturday. Hope I won't also need Carriage Flex Cable or other parts. According to the HP Service Manual (pg 8-126 thru 8-130), it looks like installation "should" be much easier than the whole tear down for the belt or the whole carriage. Fingers crossed!

[Mark Lindquist]

If it doesn't work, you're only out $88.00.  You may get lucky.

Sometimes loose connections cause things to go haywire too.  When you get the board in, replace it and see what happens.

If it goes beyond that, you can try a few things without spending money, then cry uncle.

Hopefully, you'll be back up and running.

-Mark

[Mark Lindquist]

By the way, Cogden, before you go tearing into the printer replacing the PCA board, you might want to try resetting the formatter first.

You can do this now.

Make sure the printer is turned off and unplugged.

Go to the back of the unit on the right side from the back where the switches are.

Look at the diagram in the service manual - figure 5-7: Left Hand Assemblies (5-15)
Read about it. (see photo attached)

Where the LAN cable connects, unscrew the 2 allen screws and lift that unit out by the handle.  The board just pulls right out.
Have some canned air ready.  DO NOT SPRAY CANNED AIR INTO THE PRINTER>

Spray canned air on the formatter board carefully.  Handle carefully as well.

Inspect it, check for any gunk on it and if there is, carefully remove it with lint free cloth and a dab of water.

Take a flash light and look down in the printer and see that the slot has no obstructions and replace the formatter.

Put screw back in, etc.  Plug back in and see if the printer will initialize.

Long shot, but never know.

You can try this before the PCA card comes in.  That will be more of a job to replace, as you know.

Let us know what happens.

Good luck.

Mark