Pages: [1]   Go Down

Author Topic: What would cause the printhead carriage of a DesignJet z2100 to crash left?  (Read 1231 times)

stonechurch

  • Newbie
  • *
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 11

I'm having a devil of a time getting a used z2100 working.  The printer boots up fine but any print job (including printhead alignment test and any system report print) sends the carriage to the straight to the left where it crashes and yields a 79:03 error.  The power supply, Main PCA, Formatter Board (with hard drive) and print mech PCA have all been replaced with no effect.  Does anyone have any ideas what it could be?
Logged

Mark Lindquist

  • Sr. Member
  • ****
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 1596
  • it’s not about the photos we take - it’s the ones we leave
    • LINDQUIST STUDIOS

Most likely the encoder strip was put in backwards.  Anyone trying to fix that and buying an encoder strip from China (IOW Non-OEM), would mean there are no markings designating right or left.
Swap it end for end and it just might fix your problem.

Mark
Logged
Mark Lindquist
http://z3200.com, http://MarkLindquistPhotography.com
Lindquist Studios.com

John Nollendorfs

  • Sr. Member
  • ****
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 623

Before you try Mark's suggestion, try cleaning the right third of encoder strip. Could be it got some ink on it, causing the problem. Lot easier than taking it out and reinstalling, if that fixes it.

Sent from my XT1575 using Tapatalk

Logged

stonechurch

  • Newbie
  • *
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 11

Thanks to both of you for your replies.  I'll try the cleaning and then replacement and report back.
Logged

stonechurch

  • Newbie
  • *
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 11

The encoder strip was as clean as a whistle.  I had the covers off and the strip has, on the left end, two holes on either side of the machine screw hole that fit over corresponding short plastic retainers pins,  which indicates that the strip is installed in the right orientation.  Any other ideas?  I'm clueless.
Logged

howardm

  • Sr. Member
  • ****
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 1984

I don’t know the insides of the Z but check that there is (or is not) a small U shaped optical sensor (LED and sensor combo) whose beam would be broken if the carriage went too far.  If that is dead, the machine might not know when it's reached the limit of travel.

Just a SWAG.

Ernst Dinkla

  • Sr. Member
  • ****
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 4005

The encoder strip was as clean as a whistle.  I had the covers off and the strip has, on the left end, two holes on either side of the machine screw hole that fit over corresponding short plastic retainers pins,  which indicates that the strip is installed in the right orientation.  Any other ideas?  I'm clueless.

44" items installed on a 24" ?  I doubt that is possible but nevertheless. One way or another it counts more stripes on the encoder than there actually are or the carriage motor gets more impulses than the number of stripes on the encoder strip has.  AFAIK there is no other sensor that tells the motor that the end is near for the carriage.

Met vriendelijke groet, Ernst

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





Logged

stonechurch

  • Newbie
  • *
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 11

I don’t know the insides of the Z but check that there is (or is not) a small U shaped optical sensor (LED and sensor combo) whose beam would be broken if the carriage went too far.  If that is dead, the machine might not know when it's reached the limit of travel.

Just a SWAG.

No limit of travel sensor to be seen on the left side.
Logged

stonechurch

  • Newbie
  • *
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 11

44" items installed on a 24" ?  I doubt that is possible but nevertheless. One way or another it counts more stripes on the encoder than there actually are or the carriage motor gets more impulses than the number of stripes on the encoder strip has.  AFAIK there is no other sensor that tells the motor that the end is near for the carriage.

Met vriendelijke groet, Ernst

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

Sorry, I should have mentioned that it's a 44". 
Logged

stonechurch

  • Newbie
  • *
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 11

One other thing -- when I loaded paper  it printed the attached garbled mess.  You can just make out "Current Configuration"  in red under in big bluish rectangle. 
Logged

deanwork

  • Sr. Member
  • ****
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 2400
Re: What would cause the printhead carriage of a DesignJet z2100 to crash left?
« Reply #10 on: February 12, 2019, 02:45:40 pm »

Look very carefully with a good light along the encoder strip to see if any part of it got damaged during installation. I saw this kind of situation in an old Epson when the strip got bent.




One other thing -- when I loaded paper  it printed the attached garbled mess.  You can just make out "Current Configuration"  in red under in big bluish rectangle.
Logged

Ernst Dinkla

  • Sr. Member
  • ****
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 4005
Re: What would cause the printhead carriage of a DesignJet z2100 to crash left?
« Reply #11 on: February 15, 2019, 10:41:05 am »

Sorry, I should have mentioned that it's a 44".

Sensor on the carriage that runs along the encoder strip not acting well? Allowing the printer to start but after that out of control? Signal must go through the head carriage board and after that the flat cables before it reaches the PCBoards you mentioned.

Met vriendelijke groet, Ernst

http://www.pigment-print.com/spectralplots/spectrumviz_1.htm
March 2017 update, 750+ inkjet media white spectral plots
Logged
Pages: [1]   Go Up