HP Designjet Z3200 Photo - Ink drops on print

[JamesM]

Hi All

First post, hoping someone can assist in troubleshooting an ongoing issue with ink dropping onto the print.

I print on canvas and have an issue where blue ink drops onto the canvas approx 2mm in width. This happens on the print area as well as outside of the print edges. It seems to occur on large prints that are predominantly blue, usually on the back end of the print and never in the first 30%.

I have had a tech look at the printer who suggested a new printhead, however this has been completed to no avail.

The printer is only 2 years old and has had no major issues. I work from home with it and despite my best attempts there is some dust and lint making it's way in - which is cleaned as often as possible.

The carriage has been checked and does not appear to have any points of ink residue or build-up.

I've attached a photo of the drops.

I'm interested to know if anyone has had a similar issue with this model - or any inkjet printer and what the cause was.

Any info or suggestions would be greatly appreciated as this continues to be a burden on my small family business.

Cheers, James

[deanwork]

Are you sure that is the blue channel? It looks like it might be the magenta printhead.

I’ve had this happen a few times over the years and it has always been a bad printhead.

[JamesM]

Hi Dean.

Yes 100% certain it's the blue. The attachment doesn't show it clearly however the drops sometimes occur outside the print area on the canvas and are blue. I did change all printheads as a recommendation however the issue remains.

The only other thing I can think of is that I have had the issue only once before with yellow drops. This was coupled with the black dots (possibly roller marks) on the edge of the print which goes away once the felt beside the carriage is cleared of lint etc.

I appreciate your feedback, any other possible causes please send them through.

Cheers, James

[deanwork]

Damn. I hate when stuff like that happens. It’s very rare for me on Zs.

In that case if it were me I would try the following.

Get a good bright work light and clean all the area around the print head and carriage assembly with a lint free cloth and distilled water. Take out all the print heads when doin that . Also make sure the waste tank area and capping station area is totally clean. Stuff can get on the surface of your heads from there. You have a waste tank on both sides of the carriage assembly and both need to be free of gunk and ink. Also there is a pad on the carriage area on the right side near the cap station called a drop detector that the heads run across. That needs to be totally clean. Just don’t bend any of those star wheels when you are cleaning up everything.

Besides that the only thing I can think of is a small hole in the blue ink line, which would be extremely rare. I’ve never heard of that, or a loose connection where the ink line joins the head assembly. To inspect the later you would probably have to take the right cover off.

John

Hi Dean.

Yes 100% certain it's the blue. The attachment doesn't show it clearly however the drops sometimes occur outside the print area on the canvas and are blue. I did change all printheads as a recommendation however the issue remains.

The only other thing I can think of is that I have had the issue only once before with yellow drops. This was coupled with the black dots (possibly roller marks) on the edge of the print which goes away once the felt beside the carriage is cleared of lint etc.

I appreciate your feedback, any other possible causes please send them through.

Cheers, James

[JamesM]

Thanks again for the reply John (and apologies for calling you Dean).

Very handy suggestions as most of them have not been tried as yet.

I'll be sure to give feedback on this thread, hopefully a resolution is near.

Cheers, James