HP Z3200ps fuzzy banding after star wheel motor replacement

[Kelly2017]

Here’s a short history of this printer and how I got to where I’m at today…

1. Manufactured in May of 2007 and sold to a photographer in Sedona.  I bought it from him in 2015.  I’m using Qimage Ultimate as the software for printing.

2. I replaced the carriage belt and PCA cooling fan following direction from Mark Lindquist’s website.  Although I got a 03.10 (cooling fan speed) error after I put it all back together, the printer continued to work properly.

3. This printer is used about once a week to print an average of four 8x10 prints (sometime larger prints).  A test print to exercise the printer was printed on a weekly basis if no other printing was done that week.

4. Error 47.01 three weeks ago prompted replacement of the star wheel motor (by myself again)

5. While the printer was down, I cleaned all printheads by hand with warm distilled water and wiped with clean coffee filter paper.  In addition, I replaced the Blue-Green printhead with a new one.

6. No issues during recalibration of the printer after replacing the star wheel moter.

7. Noticed banding when I printed out the first test print.  Repeated printing of test prints (10) and commanded “printer clean all printheads” option 4 times on the front panel made the banding issue better but did not eliminate it.  There is still fuzzy looking banding on the test print as shown in the attached photo.

I’m now at a lost regarding what to do next.  I look forward to any feedback that can help point me in the right direction. 

Regards,
Kelly

[deanwork]

What does the nozzle check pattern look like?

Did you do the head alignment and then then the paper advance procedure?

Here’s a short history of this printer and how I got to where I’m at today…

1. Manufactured in May of 2007 and sold to a photographer in Sedona.  I bought it from him in 2015.  I’m using Qimage Ultimate as the software for printing.

2. I replaced the carriage belt and PCA cooling fan following direction from Mark Lindquist’s website.  Although I got a 03.10 (cooling fan speed) error after I put it all back together, the printer continued to work properly.

3. This printer is used about once a week to print an average of four 8x10 prints (sometime larger prints).  A test print to exercise the printer was printed on a weekly basis if no other printing was done that week.

4. Error 47.01 three weeks ago prompted replacement of the star wheel motor (by myself again)

5. While the printer was down, I cleaned all printheads by hand with warm distilled water and wiped with clean coffee filter paper.  In addition, I replaced the Blue-Green printhead with a new one.

6. No issues during recalibration of the printer after replacing the star wheel moter.

7. Noticed banding when I printed out the first test print.  Repeated printing of test prints (10) and commanded “printer clean all printheads” option 4 times on the front panel made the banding issue better but did not eliminate it.  There is still fuzzy looking banding on the test print as shown in the attached photo.

I’m now at a lost regarding what to do next.  I look forward to any feedback that can help point me in the right direction. 

Regards,
Kelly

[Kelly2017]

I only did the printhead alignment process after cleaning/replacing the printheads.  I've never done nozzle health or paper advance diagonstis prints before... I'll have to read up on how to do it and then report back.

[Kelly2017]

I followed the HP service manual and conducted the following diagnostic tests as suggested by Dean.

1. Paper advance option under Service Calibration

    a.   Used 24” HP universal instant-dry gloss photo paper (I have a 44-inch Z3200ps printer).  Selected “HP Premium instant-dry gloss photo paper” on the front panel.

    b.   Paper Advance Calibration – Print Calibration Pattern – Accuracy calibration pattern printed successfully

    c.   Continued to Scan Calibration Pattern – Failed

    d.   Performed a Line Sensor Calibration pe HP manual – success

    e.   Followed by printhead alignment – success

    f.   Repeat Paper Advance Calibration – success (got a new Accuracy calibration pattern)

    g.   Repeat Scan Calibration Pattern – Failed (HP manual suggested replacing the Media Advance Driver as the next step)

2. Nozzle Health – Diagnostic print did not show any obvious issues

At this point, I printed out the weekly test print and the fuzzy banding is still there. 

Anything else that I should try before replacing the Media Advance Driver?

Regards,
Kelly

[mcbroomf]

At the risk of being a bit naïve (?) here ... the posted image looks like a paper defect more than a printer (head/starwheel) type defect.  Perhaps only showing up when the paper is loaded with ink?

What type of paper is it?
Have you seen this on other papers?  ... (different media type)
The nozzle check pattern didn't look fuzzy at the same spot?  ...  (note that is does not load the paper with ink)

I can't recall as my 3100 is long gone but is it possible to lift the starwheels while doing a test print?

[Kelly2017]

Mike,

I don't think paper defect is an issue here.  Because I tried three differnt types of paper and the fuzzy banding appeared on all of them (HP photo gloss, Hahnemuhle ultra smooth, and regular office paper).

When I printed out the nozzle health diagnostic print, there's no signs of the fuzzy banding (attached is the top half of the diagnostic print for reference).

I don't know if it is possible to lift the starwheels while doing a test print, since I have never done it before.

Regards,
Kelly

[GST]

I am really curious what kind of prints you are showing here? How did you generate that output? Looks like nothing the HP Utility or the printer itself usually does.

Can you post some diagnostic images generated directly using the printer menu, this should look like this:  http://z3200.com/images/printhead_cleaning/printhead-005.jpg

regards

[Kelly2017]

The prints attched in my last message were obained through the printer's service utilitites section.

Attched is a diagnostic image printed after replacing the star wheel motor and cleaning the printhead twice internally. 

I would appreciate any feedback from anyone, since I'm at a lost on what to do next short of replacing the Media Advance Driver.

Regard,
Kelly

[GST]

As I guess the shadow in the middle is caused by your camera, that print looks perfectly fine. So no printhead issue on your printer.
You will need to look at the printer driver or your printing application and such.
Can you try printing using the embedded webserver of your printer (job  manager)

[Kelly2017]

Thanks for your feedback.  I've reinstalled the printer driver from HP's software site before replacing the star wheel motor.

When you said "try printing using the embedded webserver of your printer (job  manager)", I'm assuming to reprint the job from the front panel, which I have done already... no change to the fuzzy banding behavior.

Regards,
Kelly

[GST]

I suggest not to reprint (as any  error might be already there) but to send as a new job, just like uploading.
Circumventing any driver and appplication.

[Kelly2017]

Could you please elaborate on how to print a job without going through the printer driver or application?  I have never done that before.  Thanks.

[GST]

Open your preferred browser, go to http://your.printer.address and follow https://support.hp.com/ie-en/document/c01562783

[Alistair]

Hi,

1. Do the fuzzy bands run in scan or feed direction? Are they the full width/length of the print?
2. Do the fuzzy bands appear at precisely the same distant intervals all the way down/across the print?
3. Do they appear in all prints or just this one? (you may need to make some solid fill images and print these to ascertain this point)
4. Have you tried printing problem image using uni-direction?

[Kelly2017]

Alistair,

Thanks for your interest on this issue.

1. Do the fuzzy bands run in scan or feed direction? Are they the full width/length of the print? In the scan direction.

2. Do the fuzzy bands appear at precisely the same distant intervals all the way down/across the print? No, the intervals are random.

3. Do they appear in all prints or just this one? (you may need to make some solid fill images and print these to ascertain this point).  Yes, they appear on all prints of this file, and in a print of another file that I had four 8x10 photos across the top.

4. Have you tried printing problem image using uni-direction?  I don't know how to do this.

Yesterday, I opened up the cover and checked all feed rollers and star wheels for obstrusion.  I also turned the drive roller by hand to see if there is anything caught underneath it, but found nothing.  When I turned the printer back on, I got an 81.01 error code along with a message "clear paper jam. Click OK to learn how to clear paper jam".  However, there's is no paper jam.  when I clicked OK, nothing happens... Looks like I'm in a worst situation than before and dead in the water!

Regards,

[Alistair]

Sounds like matters have taken a turn for the worst 

Anyway, regarding the unidirectional; there will be an option in your printer settings. here is what it looks like in the HP driver and browser interface for a Z6200:



Printing with unidirectional will eliminate the possibility that there is an issue with your bidirectional printing.

That said, it looks more like a paper handling issue to me. Either the paper height is inconsistent or the feed rate is inconsistent.

[Kelly2017]

There's new development with this issue...

I unplugged the printer from the power source overnight, restarted it this morning and the 81.01 error code went away. 

There is no "unidirectional" option in printing preference for the Z3200ps.

I found a typo in the service manual regarding paper advance scanning.  I re-calibrated the paper advance and had no problems going through scanning process, which means the Media Advance Driver is not an issue and needs no replacement.  However, when I reprinted the test print, the fuzzy banding is still there.   

I'm out of ideas.  Anybody want to give this a shot? 

[John Nollendorfs]

What does a regular print look like? Does it show signs of the fuzzy banding you mention? If you have cleaned the individual print heads, maybe you just need to run some prints through to clear up the situation?

[Kelly2017]

John,

Before I replaced the star wheel motor and cleaned all the print heads, there were no signs of the fuzzy banding on the rainbow looking print or ay other prints even on different paper types.  Since the repair, I have produced 10 test prints and the the fuzzy banding seems to get a little weaker each time.  I sure hope that I just need to run some more prints through to clear up the situation like you said.

Sportmaster, if you zoom into the areas as indicated by the hand drawn arrows in the photo I posted on August 15, 2021, 08:39:55 pm; you will find the fuzzy banding.

[Kelly2017]

Just a quick update since I posted the fuzzy banding issue back in August…

The star wheel motor that I replaced came with two new plastic gears.  I suspect the new gears might be out-of-round and therefore causing the fuzzy banding.  I decided to put the old gears back in and also replace the carriage belt that is cracking; and by the way the left spittoon was full so I want to replace that too.

With all that work mentioned above completed, I got an error message that the Gloss Enhancer-Gray printhead needed replacement.  So, I went ahead and replaced it with a new printhead, but still got the same error message.  I thought may be I got a defective new print head, so I bought another new one and put it in… but got the same error message again!  Upon closer examination, I saw leakage of dark color ink at various locations under the carriage.  After doing some research, it looks like I need a new ink tube assembly.  Any thoughts anybody? 

What keeps me going on my Z3200ps is the print quality, it produces beautiful prints when it works.  However, it left the factory back in 2007, is it time to give it up and move on to something new... something like a Z9+?

Thanks,
Kelly