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Author Topic: Z3200ps Red Ink Incomplete Printing  (Read 497 times)

atxprint

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Z3200ps Red Ink Incomplete Printing
« on: March 23, 2022, 09:29:03 pm »

A few months ago we received a Z3200ps with numerous problems: Frayed belt, ink cartridge in the carriage way, dried out printheads, over saturated service station. After repairing the belt, cleaning up the carriage way, replacing the printheads, and cleaning out the service station everything seems to be running smoothly now with the exception of the red ink fading out part the way through a print.

We figured it may be the printhead as the alignment pages were coming out with breaks in the lines for red so got a replacement under warranty, and that seemed to fix the breaks, but not the red being missing in large prints. We tried one of the large color band prints from Z3200.com and that highlighted the fading issue.

Any ideas or suggestions on what parts to investigate?
« Last Edit: March 23, 2022, 09:43:46 pm by atxprint »
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gchappel

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Re: Z3200ps Red Ink Fading Issue
« Reply #1 on: March 23, 2022, 09:34:03 pm »

I can not help you with your issues, sorry
I just want to say you may want to reword your subject title.
You are not really having an issue with the red ink fading.
You seem to have  problem with incomplete printing, but not actual ink fading?
Two very different problems.
gary
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atxprint

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Re: Z3200ps Red Ink Fading Issue
« Reply #2 on: March 23, 2022, 09:52:45 pm »

I can not help you with your issues, sorry
I just want to say you may want to reword your subject title.
You are not really having an issue with the red ink fading.
You seem to have  problem with incomplete printing, but not actual ink fading?
Two very different problems.
gary

Updated! Sorry about the confusion!
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John Nollendorfs

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Re: Z3200ps Red Ink Incomplete Printing
« Reply #3 on: March 24, 2022, 12:37:27 pm »

Could be a problem with the ink cart? Maybe give it a good shake, and try printing an extended area of those colors again? Could just be an slight ink clog that needs to get dislodged. Have you been using the printer much? Some intensive use could clear it up.


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atxprint

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Re: Z3200ps Red Ink Incomplete Printing
« Reply #4 on: March 24, 2022, 01:26:02 pm »

Could be a problem with the ink cart? Maybe give it a good shake, and try printing an extended area of those colors again? Could just be an slight ink clog that needs to get dislodged. Have you been using the printer much? Some intensive use could clear it up.

It was fairly neglected when we got it so I suspect there's some nursing back to health that's needing done. It does look like that helped though! There's some fading still towards the end but it's far less pronounced. The cartridge does feel a lot lighter than some of the others despite it saying it's nearly full, so I think we're going to spring for a new chromatic red as well to see if that fixes it.
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John Nollendorfs

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Re: Z3200ps Red Ink Incomplete Printing
« Reply #5 on: March 24, 2022, 01:56:22 pm »

The problem also could be in the Magenta channel. Sometimes it's hard to know how the printer is using the different colors. Print out the quality check image from the printer and look at that instead. It will show which color you are having problems with.
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deanwork

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Re: Z3200ps Red Ink Incomplete Printing
« Reply #6 on: March 24, 2022, 06:15:10 pm »

Did you thoroughly shake the ink carts? The inks can’t sit like that for long periods without printer being turned on. They loose suspension like all inkjet pigments.

I had an HP tech over here once and he told me that the printer could sit there for years though and the ink would not dry on the lines. That’s good to know. He said the lines are sealed.
 
It’ should be either the inks or the printheads. Remember the red is more orange than red so yellow, red, or one of the magentas could be involved. I’d replace as many of the inks as you can afford. I know there are a lot of them.



The problem also could be in the Magenta channel. Sometimes it's hard to know how the printer is using the different colors. Print out the quality check image from the printer and look at that instead. It will show which color you are having problems with.
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kers

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Re: Z3200ps Red Ink Incomplete Printing
« Reply #7 on: March 25, 2022, 04:55:50 am »

i would suggest to print the calibration target, so you can see what ink gives problems. ( on matte paper you print all the inks including PK and MK)

then print some papers with all colours but especially the troubled ink... and see if it goes away...

If the printheads and cartridges are new there seems to be some ink supply problem .... printing might help.

Allthough the printheads are new- it still could be a printhead problem... the quality of the heads is not as good as it used to be... don't know why.
In that case replace it ( for free) with a new one.
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Pieter Kers
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glyph

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Re: Z3200ps Red Ink Incomplete Printing
« Reply #8 on: March 29, 2022, 10:54:24 pm »

As a long time Z owner, I've most likely seen all of the common issues more than once. Thankfully, the modular nature of the printers means that most issues are readily fixable.

To me, it looks like ink starvation, which is always an ink delivery issue caused by leakage. The printer is fine with the faulty channel until you put higher demands on it keeping up, and it is unable to pump the ink fast enough. Since you have already replaced the printhead (which usually fails by two colors mixing inside a single head), so I'd put money on it either being a supply tube leak or perhaps a faulty seal at the cartridge. Either issue is solved by replacing the supply tubes. I'd look into replacing them with ones from LPS. The service manual has very clear and easy to follow instructions on how to perform the swap. I've done it twice.
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