Z3200 wanting all 12 cartridges replaced

[martingemmell]

Hi all

I got a z3200 24” photo printer as a project to tinker with having brought a 42” hp 500 back from the scrapyard.

On first switch on a complete blank screen after a bit of trial and error pulled the formatter out and replaced the battery cell and gave it a good clean bingo got life out of the printer, up to the point where it wanted the cartridges replaced- all 12! Seems a bit odd. After engaging the embedded web server there is a log going all the way back to 2019 that this had been done 19 times with no success. It seems that the last time the printer successfully printed was 2019.

I am awaiting a response from the person I bought the printer from, as to whether this is correct or not. At time of purchase she had said that she had upgraded her Mac and the latest version couldn’t find the printer and as she wasn’t technically minded was giving up on the printer. What I paid for the printer was essentially scrap value so not concerned about purchase price being thrown away.

The embedded web server says the Printheads are out of warranty but ok.

Looking for advice on what to do next before replacing all cartridges.
Thanks in advance
Martin

[mcbroomf]

Replace 1 and see what happens?

[PeterAit]

If all carts have been replaced already 19 times without joy, do you think the 20th will do the trick?

[GST]

The question is, what is the state of the carts? empty? full?
If the printer insist on an inital setup you need at least 60% ink levels imho.

Pull them all out and power cycle the printer. Follow the instructions.

[martingemmell]

Cartridges are not quite full but far from empty if compared weight wise to a new cartridge.

Going to bite the bullet and strip the machine down and do a full clean getting rid of dust, making sure all cables are correctly seated etc. So it’s going to be a monster task.

Will give an update once I have finished or given up. Any advice in the meantime greatly appreciated.

[GST]

before taking the printer apart:
-remove all heads
-remove all carts
-power off (hard)
-clean printhead contacts and check for clogging
-power on and follow instructions on the display, it will prompt you to reinsert all stuff

let us know the result