z3200 printhead streak troubleshoot

[mfrohman]

Hi all,

I'm getting some faint streaking in my MK even after putting in a new printhead. The diagnostic shows some streaking but the nozzle graph looks nearly perfect. I've cleaned the contacts on the MK printhead carriage as well. I've seen mention of clogged tubes but don't know much about those.

Any recommendations of next step troubleshooting/cleaning would be greatly appreciated.

btw this machine is 5 years old and runs everyday.

thanks!

[sportmaster]

Paper advance calibration?

[deanwork]

With the head unit  moved out of the way clean the capping station and the surface of the waste tank area with a damp lint free cloth. Ink builds up there overtime, and can transfer ink to the bottom of the heads. I’ve seen that more than once cause this problem. I clean that area once a month. You need a good light.

Remove and clean the bottoms of all the heads inspect them for any bent edges of all heads.

After that do the head alignment and paper advance calibration.

Also inspect the whole carriage area and Star wheels for any ink. It’s not uncommon for one of those little starwheels to break off get jammed and need removing.

Paper advance calibration?

[mfrohman]

Thanks guys, I think I didn't describe this particular issue correctly.

I'm getting printhead nozzle clog banding in my MK areas. The print diagnostic chart confirms this in the MK rectangle - it is not solid but has some faint, but visible banding that corresponds with what I'm seeing on my prints. The nozzle chart though only shows a few faint broken lines.

This is a brand new MK-R printhead. I've done the auto-cleaning routine several times. I took the printhead out and cleaned it with water. Also shook it inside a plastic bag. I also cleaned the MK-R contacts on the printhead carriage. I still get some banding in the MK.

Maybe it's a bad printhead but I'm wondering if there could be some other problem in the system that would cause this issue beside the printhead that I should look at? Air in the ink tubes or something like that?

as always, thanks!

[deanwork]

Do you remove the ink and shake it? The MK And lk are mostly carbon and it’s a good idea to remove them and  shake them gently if you haven’t been printing a lot with them lately.

If you did a head alignment and it’s still doing that return the head. Honestly in 12 years I’ve never received a defective head, not one that prematurely went bad, but I would return it. These are not like Epson heads that get clogged up and need attention constantly. They should send you another overnight.

Thanks guys, I think I didn't describe this particular issue correctly.

I'm getting printhead nozzle clog banding in my MK areas. The print diagnostic chart confirms this in the MK rectangle - it is not solid but has some faint, but visible banding that corresponds with what I'm seeing on my prints. The nozzle chart though only shows a few faint broken lines.

This is a brand new MK-R printhead. I've done the auto-cleaning routine several times. I took the printhead out and cleaned it with water. Also shook it inside a plastic bag. I also cleaned the MK-R contacts on the printhead carriage. I still get some banding in the MK.

Maybe it's a bad printhead but I'm wondering if there could be some other problem in the system that would cause this issue beside the printhead that I should look at? Air in the ink tubes or something like that?

as always, thanks!

[mfrohman]

Can't seem to get past this issue.

I've tried 2 different new MK Heads.
I've cleaned the contacts on the head carriage.
I've done a head cleaning, advance paper calibration, printhead alignment, and calibrate color multiple times.

Still getting faint but visible banding in MK areas of my prints.

If it's not the printhead, what other component of the printer might cause this issue?

It's possible I didn't clean the contacts on the head carriage good enough. I used water. Or do the contacts go bad over time. This machine's about 6 years old with heavy daily use.

I've attached a photo of my diagnostic chart with MK. It's a little hard to see in the photo but you can see there's some faint banding, which is ruining all of my prints.

Thanks in advance for any other suggestions!

[kers]

Can't seem to get past this issue.

I've tried 2 different new MK Heads.
I've cleaned the contacts on the head carriage.
I've done a head cleaning, advance paper calibration, printhead alignment, and calibrate color multiple times.

Still getting faint but visible banding in MK areas of my prints.

If it's not the printhead, what other component of the printer might cause this issue?

It's possible I didn't clean the contacts on the head carriage good enough. I used water. Or do the contacts go bad over time. This machine's about 6 years old with heavy daily use.

I've attached a photo of my diagnostic chart with MK. It's a little hard to see in the photo but you can see there's some faint banding, which is ruining all of my prints.

Thanks in advance for any other suggestions!

I also have a strange problem banding problem. An old HPz3100.
In my case it is a reflection of how the prints are build up in bands.
I print mostly on glossy papaer and the banding shows up in the dark area's. Printheads are fine.
My not 100% perfect work around is to choose the standard setting instead of the most perfect.
The image is built up in smaller lines and that makes it a lot better.
Now my belt has snapped , maybe it has to do with an old belt.  Any way i have to replace it and see if the problem persists.