z3200 Maintenance #2 required

[mfrohman]

Hi All,

My 4 year old z3200 hit the 'maintenance #2 required' alert a few months ago but I've continued to print with it as is. Now it won't let me clean the printheads unless I do the maintenance, saying manual purge is unavailable.

My understanding is that the maintenance kit #2 is mainly the right hand service station and I found a part online (http://www.partshere.com/online/detail.asp?partno=Q5669-67002). If I replace this part myself will I be back up and running? I've opened the right side before and it seems like changing out the service station is pretty straightforward. Does anyone have any experience making this maintenance #2 change? Hoping to do this on my own without calling in a service tech?

thanks!

[Ernst Dinkla]

What follows is part of a reply I wrote in August on another problem you had. With some luck the remedy might do the same for you.

Edit; at the bottom of that linked page the mechanism is shown too. But also how to oil the rear carriage bushing on the lubrication sponge. Which may prevent an error warning that could result in replacing the maintenance station in total. I had that error but figured out it had more to do with the head carriage not moving fast enough from the maintenance station when initialising so I oiled the bar and that spot and the error disappeared.

Met vriendelijke groet, Ernst

http://www.pigment-print.com/spectralplots/spectrumviz_1.htm
March 2017 update, 750+ inkjet media white spectral plot

[mfrohman]

Thanks Ernst - am I wrong in thinking that the service station fills up with ink and eventually needs to be replaced for that reason?

Also, a new development today: A strange rattling sound when printing that seems to be the belt rattling as far as I can tell. Inspection of the belt with a flashlight doesn't show any signs of shredding that I can see. The belt seems ok, however I notice the tension seems a little tight on the top strand of belt and maybe a little loose on the lower strand. There's also some black specks on the silver back plate and on the print a little, which looks like black ink but is maybe belt shredding?

For those who have had the belt shredding issue, does this sound like the beginnings of the belt failing? Or is there a belt adjustment that maybe needs to be done? Or maybe something to do with the service station? I did just oil the bar to see if it makes any difference.

thank you,
Mark

[Mark Lindquist]

Thanks Ernst - am I wrong in thinking that the service station fills up with ink and eventually needs to be replaced for that reason?

Also, a new development today: A strange rattling sound when printing that seems to be the belt rattling as far as I can tell. Inspection of the belt with a flashlight doesn't show any signs of shredding that I can see. The belt seems ok, however I notice the tension seems a little tight on the top strand of belt and maybe a little loose on the lower strand. There's also some black specks on the silver back plate and on the print a little, which looks like black ink but is maybe belt shredding?

For those who have had the belt shredding issue, does this sound like the beginnings of the belt failing? Or is there a belt adjustment that maybe needs to be done? Or maybe something to do with the service station? I did just oil the bar to see if it makes any difference.

thank you,
Mark

You can clean the service station pads.  Little black specs on the print are signs of the belt decomposing, but give it time since you've just oiled the carriage rail.  The spring in the belt tensioner does all the tensioning for the belt - there is no other adjustment.  You may be in for a belt replacement however.

Mark L

[Ernst Dinkla]

Thanks Ernst - am I wrong in thinking that the service station fills up with ink and eventually needs to be replaced for that reason?

Also, a new development today: A strange rattling sound when printing that seems to be the belt rattling as far as I can tell. Inspection of the belt with a flashlight doesn't show any signs of shredding that I can see. The belt seems ok, however I notice the tension seems a little tight on the top strand of belt and maybe a little loose on the lower strand. There's also some black specks on the silver back plate and on the print a little, which looks like black ink but is maybe belt shredding?

For those who have had the belt shredding issue, does this sound like the beginnings of the belt failing? Or is there a belt adjustment that maybe needs to be done? Or maybe something to do with the service station? I did just oil the bar to see if it makes any difference.

thank you,
Mark

One day the maintenance station might give that error based on too much ink in the waste bin but as written other things can cause that warning too.

Sounds more like the heads carriage is stuck or has a hard time gliding on the rod.  Usually belt issues showed themselves with debris on the paper and print area before the break. As indicated if the carriage does not move fast out of the maintenance station it can trigger that maintenance station error in my experience.  I would remove the right side cover and check what is blocking the head carriage. Oil the bar and the part that controls the head height. Check also whether no felt piece in the printing bed came loose near the maintenance station. I experienced that once too when I had vacuum cleaned the machine. Check the belt at the side of the motor also behind that right cover, if the blocking was too heavy wear might show on the belt teeth there.


Met vriendelijke groet, Ernst

http://www.pigment-print.com/spectralplots/spectrumviz_1.htm
March 2017 update, 750+ inkjet media white spectral plot

[Damir]

Thanks Ernst - am I wrong in thinking that the service station fills up with ink and eventually needs to be replaced for that reason?

Also, a new development today: A strange rattling sound when printing that seems to be the belt rattling as far as I can tell. Inspection of the belt with a flashlight doesn't show any signs of shredding that I can see. The belt seems ok, however I notice the tension seems a little tight on the top strand of belt and maybe a little loose on the lower strand. There's also some black specks on the silver back plate and on the print a little, which looks like black ink but is maybe belt shredding?

For those who have had the belt shredding issue, does this sound like the beginnings of the belt failing? Or is there a belt adjustment that maybe needs to be done? Or maybe something to do with the service station? I did just oil the bar to see if it makes any difference.

thank you,
Mark

I got rattling sound too. Serviceman told me that this is multicoloured cable that move together with heads.

[mfrohman]

Hi Ernst and all,

Wanted to follow up on this. I opened up the right side and cleaned and vacuumed everything. I also lubricated the guide rail and the rear bushing as you recommended. The good news is the sound that I thought was the belt is no longer there and printing seems to be fine. On inspection, the belt appears to be ok.

However, I'm still unable to run the head cleaning procedure, getting the message "manual purge can not be done." Does this mean the tank is full?

Is there a way to reset the "Maintenance kit #2 required" error message to see if it gets re-triggered? Could the error message be preventing the head cleaning? It did run a few months with the Maintenance kit #2 message before it refused to clean the heads.

Do you think I need to bite the bullet and replace the service station?

thank you!

[Ernst Dinkla]

Hi Ernst and all,

Wanted to follow up on this. I opened up the right side and cleaned and vacuumed everything. I also lubricated the guide rail and the rear bushing as you recommended. The good news is the sound that I thought was the belt is no longer there and printing seems to be fine. On inspection, the belt appears to be ok.

However, I'm still unable to run the head cleaning procedure, getting the message "manual purge can not be done." Does this mean the tank is full?

Is there a way to reset the "Maintenance kit #2 required" error message to see if it gets re-triggered? Could the error message be preventing the head cleaning? It did run a few months with the Maintenance kit #2 message before it refused to clean the heads.

Do you think I need to bite the bullet and replace the service station?

thank you!

Hard to say whether the maintenance station in total has to be replaced. Any idea what quantity of ink has gone through that printer? I think a component like the pump that sucks on the maintenance unit head pads may have failed as well if it is not the amount of waste ink in the tank. Pad rims not clean enough to create enough sucking power is another one. It certainly is no longer the speed of the head carriage leaving the station. For resetting you have to check the service manual.

Met vriendelijke groet, Ernst

http://www.pigment-print.com/spectralplots/spectrumviz_1.htm
March 2017 update, 750+ inkjet media white spectral plots

[mfrohman]

According to the HP utility, the printer has used 29640 ml of ink. It's been running pretty hard for about 4 years. Is that pump you mention part of the service station?

[Ernst Dinkla]

According to the HP utility, the printer has used 29640 ml of ink. It's been running pretty hard for about 4 years. Is that pump you mention part of the service station?

Yes. Usually a peristaltic pump on HPs. I never had to replace a service station so do not know what kind it is on this printer.
You were inside the right side cover. Did you have the  printer still running and see the pads and wipers carriage move there?

When I take a look there I first go for cartridge replacement in the printer menu, take the cartridges at that side out and take off the cover, put the cartridges back in and set for example head replacement and watch what goes on. Be warned that the head carriage goes back after some time when no head is replaced. You can open the lid of teh printer to avoid that.

Met vriendelijke groet, Ernst

http://www.pigment-print.com/spectralplots/spectrumviz_1.htm
March 2017 update, 750+ inkjet media white spectral plots

[deanwork]

All of us Z lovers should be eternally grateful for the years of help that Ernst and Mark have given us.
It is so rare that individuals that possess such technical abilities and intelligence take the trouble guide us in the proper directions when trouble shooting stressful situations. Both of them know as much as anyone about the Zs. More really since the print regularly with them.

It is true that the Z series does far less cleaning and wastes ink at a tiny fraction of the rate of similar Epson and Canon units. But eventually the waste tank will fill up. It is all determined by how much printing is done. In 11 years of use every week I had my Z3100 tank replaced twice. The last time recently. However I never did it myself and it was always done by the HP tech when replacing other parts like the belts. In both cases I never got an error message saying I couldn’t  do head cleanings and the tanks were never completely full. Hadn’t had the 3200 long enough to worry about it yet.

But after a large run I always clean the pads with lint free cloths and try to keep all that area on the right side pristine. You can even soak up some of that ink in the tank with a bounty paper towel or cloth if you are careful and have a good light to see back in there.

If I were you I’d clean the pad area as much as I can, then I would remove all the heads and clean the bottom of them all and underneath where the heads sit. If any heads look like there was excessive ink on them I’d replace them. Then do the alignment of the heads and see what happens. If it’s stll giving the error after doing all that I’d have them replace the waste tank and have them check the one on the left side as well while they are at it and replace the belt. You want to do all this stuff at the same time while you are paying for the service call. Then you can print like crazy for another 3 years or more.

John

Yes. Usually a peristaltic pump on HPs. I never had to replace a service station so do not know what kind it is on this printer.
You were inside the right side cover. Did you have the  printer still running and see the pads and wipers carriage move there?

When I take a look there I first go for cartridge replacement in the printer menu, take the cartridges at that side out and take off the cover, put the cartridges back in and set for example head replacement and watch what goes on. Be warned that the head carriage goes back after some time when no head is replaced. You can open the lid of teh printer to avoid that.

Met vriendelijke groet, Ernst

http://www.pigment-print.com/spectralplots/spectrumviz_1.htm
March 2017 update, 750+ inkjet media white spectral plots

[mfrohman]

Thanks John and Ernst for the advice! I will dig in again and clean the pads, which I've never done. I just took the right cover off and cleaned up the dust and anything that looked like it might be in the way, and lubricated. It seems to be printing fine, I just know I'll have to run a head cleaning at some point but it won't let me.

I did dig into the system error code a little more and came up with this additional info on the error:

class: Writing System
Subclass: Service Station
Error: PMK2 threshold 1
DRACO_WRITING_SYSTEM_SSTATION_PMK2_1

Not sure how the tanks work but wonder if PMK2 threshold means the matte black overlow tank is full?

I will dig in again and report back if I find anything that may be useful to others.


always appreciate the help all!

Mark

[mfrohman]

So I ended up ordering a new service station from LPS but have hit a snag in removing the existing station. There seems to be only 2 bolts and a clasp that hold the service station in place (although the service manual seems to have a confusing mistake regarding this). The two 2mm hex bolts are countersunk through the carriage rod and then thread into two plastic housings that are part of the service station.

I removed the first bolt with no issue. The second bolt is difficult to maneuver because it's so close to the encoder strip, the belt, and some of the plastic housing. I was able to loosen this bolt almost all the way but I can't get it past a certain point that would allow me to remove the screw. I'm guessing that I stripped it out somehow, either the head or the threading, not sure which, or maybe both.

If I undo the clasp, the service station seems to kind of dangle from this last screw that won't fully release. I'm attaching some pictures.

I'm considering trying to file or hack through the screw as I can see a little bit of thread between the carriage rod and the black plastic housing. I have a new service station which has the black plastic housing with the threads.

Does anyone else have any suggestions? I also need to track down 2 new bolts for the new service station.

[Mark Lindquist]

So I ended up ordering a new service station from LPS but have hit a snag in removing the existing station. There seems to be only 2 bolts and a clasp that hold the service station in place (although the service manual seems to have a confusing mistake regarding this). The two 2mm hex bolts are countersunk through the carriage rod and then thread into two plastic housings that are part of the service station.

I removed the first bolt with no issue. The second bolt is difficult to maneuver because it's so close to the encoder strip, the belt, and some of the plastic housing. I was able to loosen this bolt almost all the way but I can't get it past a certain point that would allow me to remove the screw. I'm guessing that I stripped it out somehow, either the head or the threading, not sure which, or maybe both.

If I undo the clasp, the service station seems to kind of dangle from this last screw that won't fully release. I'm attaching some pictures.

I'm considering trying to file or hack through the screw as I can see a little bit of thread between the carriage rod and the black plastic housing. I have a new service station which has the black plastic housing with the threads.

Does anyone else have any suggestions? I also need to track down 2 new bolts for the new service station.

mmm mmm mmm.  That's a tough one.  If you've stripped the head of the allen (hex) sure, that's rough.  But if you've stripped the end of the allen wrench, that can be replaced. Suggest getting another allen wrench first and seeing if you can move the screw (bolt) first.  If you've stripped the head of the Allen screw/bolt, about the only thing you can try is to possibly first use a left handed drill and hope it catches and eases it out.  If that won't work, you can always try using some JB Weld on the tip end of the allen wrench and let it cure well, then try unscrewing it carefully. Otherwise, yeah, put a metal cutting blade on a sawzall and have at it since you're going to replace the Service Station anyway.  Ugh.  PITA.
Good luck -
Mark

[mfrohman]

Tried it all and finally a mini-hacksaw did the trick. The bolt hex head was completely stripped. Tim from LPS was kind enough to send me a pair of replacement bolts and I've got the new service station in. I just hope I didn't damage the encoder strip - a touch of the jb weld got on it and I quickly wiped it off but it looks like there's a little residue left on the strip. I'm guessing it will throw an error if I've damaged it when I start back up.

Question: I have to put the old fan on the new service station. It seems to spin fine but it is caked in ink - any ideas of the best way to clean that film of ink off the fan?