Z3100 - drop detector problem

[kers]

Lately i have from time to time Drop detector warnings  (- 52.11 i think)
I clean it but that does not seem to help.
I clean the opening with a fibrefree cloth-  is that enough or should i do something else?

Has anybody a good idea what this drop detector does- how it works?

has anybody else has had this problem?

I can recalibrate the drop detector- is that a thing i should consider to do?

thanks in advance  for all responding!

Pieter Kers

[Ernst Dinkla]

Lately i have from time to time Drop detector warnings  (- 52.11 i think)
I clean it but that does not seem to help.
I clean the opening with a fibrefree cloth-  is that enough or should i do something else?

Has anybody a good idea what this drop detector does- how it works?

has anybody else has had this problem?

I can recalibrate the drop detector- is that a thing i should consider to do?

thanks in advance  for all responding!

Pieter Kers

Pieter, so far no issues with the detector here. It is a small PCB with a metal chamber in a plastic house and no indication how it functions. EDIT: It is a device that measures the electrostatic voltage of the droplet to see whether the nozzle functions properly.  It would surprise me if the Z3100 has a very different one. The droplets are charged in the device over the full width of the head and a more vertical sensor detects the charged droplets then. I guess smaller droplet>less electrostatic, deflected droplet>other course, etc.  Find NEDD in this PDF of the B9180. http://mgcf.cchem.berkeley.edu/mgcf/hp_b9180.pdf  I salvaged one of an old B9180 and more of some Office Deskjets I think.  What I see is that the metal chamber part on the PCB can rust over time.  I tried to remove the drop detector of my obsolete Z3100 but that takes more time. It is the spares machine for my Z3200. According the service manual drop detector calibration is needed when some parts in the head carriage were replaced, I get the impression that it calibrates the sensors to the nozzles position, not physically though but based on the output of the sensors. EDIT2: Z3100 has another PCB shape in the plastic cage.

Ernst, op de lei getypt.

[Ernst Dinkla]

Modified my message above.

Met vriendelijke groet, Ernst Dinkla

https://www.pigment-print.com/spectralplots/spectrumviz_1.htm

"For every complex problem there is an answer that is clear, simple, and wrong." H. L. Mencken

[kers]

Hai Ernst, thank you very much for taking the time
- i had three (!) Hp9180 and they shared much of the technology of the Z3100 but thery were horrible ..
but the folder explains the drop detector better than i have seen before (- also the calibration explanation is good)

interesting is that you loose more ink in cleaning if the drop detector does not work properly.

[Ernst Dinkla]

Hai Ernst, thank you very much for taking the time
- i had three (!) Hp9180 and they shared much of the technology of the Z3100 but thery were horrible ..
but the folder explains the drop detector better than i have seen before (- also the calibration explanation is good)

interesting is that you loose more ink in cleaning if the drop detector does not work properly.

The Z drop detectors are sold on ebay, 30-40 Euro.

Ernst, op de lei getypt.

[kers]

OK - will have a look...