HP Z3100 printing PURPLE instead of BLUE?

[mrleonard66]

I have an old but still running z3100ps.
Lately when I print the blue is purple.
I ran cleanings on the MK-R head...as it seemed a bit dodgy (may need to replace) and it seems mostly ok there ( I thought this might be a factor).
I ran colour calibration...cleaned all heads.
Please look at my printouts, and if any old HP peeps can help me out I would greatly appreciate it

[Kyle D Jackson]

Hi, all the colour patches on your diagnostic plot look normal. The "blue" ink in the z3100 isn't really a blue colour (just like the "red" ink is more like orange).

As for the test picture, I don't know what your original image colours are supposed to look like. If the print doesn't match then there is probably an issue with the colour management workflow, or possibly the original image colour is outside the colour gamut of the printer.

Yes the MK-R head needs some help. It might be out of ink. This is common with Z-series and I believe what often leads to head failure. But since there are no more heads available then we need to take of the ones we have. So the first step is to weigh the heads. A full head is 60 grams. An empty head is ~45 grams. Anything significantly below 60 g has air in it which needs to be purged and re-primed with ink then it'll work fine again.

If the weight is close to 60 g, that's good, then maybe it's just the nozzles are clogged. The MK ink is almost like pure carbon so it clogs easily.

But since there are black streaks in the R side, I suspect one or both sides of the MK-R head are empty right now and it's siphoning ink into the nozzles. It's basically trying to print with air which will burn out the thermal head.

[mrleonard66]

That is a colour test print. The bracelet should be blue.
Ive attacvhed the test print.
Unfortunately...I am currently relying on the colour management in printer....as my old PC laptop I bought to run the older windows seems to be in an endless loop of trying to 'configure' the HP software...but then fails and starts again etc.
It is VERY frustrating and I have tried everything uninstalling etc etc.
I think it was I cancelled something during an installation or something and then now it is stuck in this endless cycle.
I suppose I will have to buy another older PC that runs the version of Windows (10 I believe) so I can run the HP colour management software....

[Kyle D Jackson]

The HP Utility is usually a really straightforward install (it's the drivers that are a different story...).  Yeah you definitely don't want printer managing colour, but let's fix the software issues first...

Is this a new-to-you printer that you're trying to set up for the first time? If so I suggest restart with a clean slate by uninstalling anything related to the printer from Windows.
- In Control Panel > Devices and Printers > find the printer >Delete
- In Settings > Apps > HP Utility > Uninstall
- Ditto > HP Proactive Services (if not already removed)
- Ditto > HP Z3100
- Reboot
- Control Panel > Administrative Tools > Print Management > under your PC > Printers > make sure it's gone, Delete otherwise.
- Ditto > Ports > if you still see a Z3100 port delete it.
- Ditto > Drivers > if you still see a Z3100 driver delete it.
- Reboot again recommended.

Ok now install your Z3100 driver package. If you don't have it, download it from HP here:
https://support.hp.com/sk-en/drivers/hp-designjet-z3100-photo-printer-series/3204970
- Select Windows 8 OS (it's not listed under later OS versions like Win 10 but it's the same driver) and choose 32 or 64 bit depending on your Win version.
- Grab the Raster PCL3 driver (there's no use for the Postscript or HP-GL/2 RTL drivers) but make sure you get the right version for your printer, either "Z3100" or "Z3100PS" (mine's a PS). Version is 61.101.366.41 from Oct 2012.
- Grab the HP Utility while there, it's 1.17.0.3 same for everyone, last one they made.
- (Can come back later and grab Paper Presets if you want but they're not super important right now, and I think the driver package has some anyway.)

- Install the raster driver package.
- Install HP Utility.

Should be good to go at that point.

If this was a printer you were using for a long time and HP Utility only recent started acting up, I'd suggest just uninstall HP Utility and try reinstalling it. If that doesn't work, then I'd try the complete remove / reinstall described above.

Edit: PS I think others here have mentioned it still runs ok with Win 11 too.

[Ernst Dinkla]

That is a colour test print. The bracelet should be blue.
Ive attacvhed the test print.
Unfortunately...I am currently relying on the colour management in printer....as my old PC laptop I bought to run the older windows seems to be in an endless loop of trying to 'configure' the HP software...but then fails and starts again etc.
It is VERY frustrating and I have tried everything uninstalling etc etc.
I think it was I cancelled something during an installation or something and then now it is stuck in this endless cycle.
I suppose I will have to buy another older PC that runs the version of Windows (10 I believe) so I can run the HP colour management software....

Hardware check first.

Print from the printer panel the target that shows the heads separate ink patches and nozzle patterns, if the light cyan patch is blue or near violet then light magenta ink may have entered into the light cyan head. A not uncommon issue. Either externally at the service station or a fault within the LM LC head. Printing a large area of light cyan color might show a shift to a correct light cyan color then. I have that issue with a Red-MK head sometimes.
If you do not observe that hardware issue then at least do the color calibration from the printer panel with a HP paper. Then print the image or a known test image with the correct HP printer profile  for that paper. Check the color management setting whether it is on printer managed, that is BTW the default. Also check the printed calibration target whether it is correct on all shades of light magenta and light cyan. Archive that calibration target with a date and further info.

Ernst, op de lei getypt.

[Kyle D Jackson]

Print from the printer panel the target that shows the heads separate ink patches and nozzle patterns, if the light cyan patch is blue or near violet then light magenta ink may have entered into the light cyan head. A not uncommon issue. Either externally at the service station or a fault within the LM LC head. Printing a large area of light cyan color might show a shift to a correct light cyan color then.

They already posted the diagnostic plot above and the colours are all normal (well aside from MK-R obviously, which suggests the MK is full of air and needs to be re-primed with ink before it burns out). So there appears to be nothing wrong with the printer itself.

It's likely just a colour management issue because of the software installation issues preventing them from using "app manages colour". The steps I gave above to repair the software installation should hopefully help fix that.

[mrleonard66]

Ok. Going through that process now..but here's a new one.
Now printer is saying it is 'missing' the LM ink cartridge...even though it is inserted. I tried removing and reinserting to no avail....
Ugh

[mrleonard66]

I did all the removal and reinstallation...but upon restart the HP installer frogram to 'configure' once again is on an endless loop and not proceeding. I hit cancel but it pops up again and again.
I am about to throw this printer into the lake lol.

[Kyle D Jackson]

Okay funny stuff going on...

Is the LM cartridge nearly empty?

What do your printheads weigh?

For the software, post a screenshot of the error message that's coming up.

Are you sure you're installing HP Utility V1.17.0.3 and not something else?

[Nora_nor]

Designjets can send weird error messages when the Bios battery is getting low, the one in the printer

[Kyle D Jackson]

For the software install issue, also make sure you don't have security software fighting it (firewall, antivirus). HP Utility needs network and internet access.

[mrleonard66]

Hi, all the colour patches on your diagnostic plot look normal. The "blue" ink in the z3100 isn't really a blue colour (just like the "red" ink is more like orange).

As for the test picture, I don't know what your original image colours are supposed to look like. If the print doesn't match then there is probably an issue with the colour management workflow, or possibly the original image colour is outside the colour gamut of the printer.

Yes the MK-R head needs some help. It might be out of ink. This is common with Z-series and I believe what often leads to head failure. But since there are no more heads available then we need to take of the ones we have. So the first step is to weigh the heads. A full head is 60 grams. An empty head is ~45 grams. Anything significantly below 60 g has air in it which needs to be purged and re-primed with ink then it'll work fine again.

If the weight is close to 60 g, that's good, then maybe it's just the nozzles are clogged. The MK ink is almost like pure carbon so it clogs easily.

But since there are black streaks in the R side, I suspect one or both sides of the MK-R head are empty right now and it's siphoning ink into the nozzles. It's basically trying to print with air which will burn out the thermal head.

I got a another laptop, was able to get software running, and also I replaced the LM ink cartridge and no longer get that 'cartridge missing' error.
The blue seems to print fine now.

The only problem I have is the MK/R head...and it streaks on to the red. I don;t print with matte black anyway as I print on lustre paper.
How can I 'purge' the head of air etc.?

[kers]

you can take the printhead out and clean the sides of the nozzels0 the nozzles itself don't wipe it but stamp it on absorbant paper ( kitchen paper)

( maybe the whole station is dirty? than you need to clean that too.)

weigh the head - if it is below 58 grams  ( 62 gram -max) it has lost some ink somewhere and could be a reason to mal function.

- there is a whole topic of how you can refill a printhead... so have a look at that.

if you put the head back and it persists- probably you refill
or buy a new one
or maybe print something with red and black first before you do the real print.  That can be helpful - sometines.

[Kyle D Jackson]

Lots of details about purging and priming printheads here in this thread:
https://forum.luminous-landscape.com/index.php?topic=141083.msg1258667#msg1258667

In short it requires buying a simple purge/prime kit online, using a "syringe" to pull any air from the ink lines in the printer, plus a bit of ink, then putting that ink into a funnel attached to the printhead ink ports, then using a different syringe pump to pull that ink into the head and pull the air out thru the nozzles. It's really simpler than it sounds.

[Ernst Dinkla]

I got a another laptop, was able to get software running, and also I replaced the LM ink cartridge and no longer get that 'cartridge missing' error.
The blue seems to print fine now.

The only problem I have is the MK/R head...and it streaks on to the red. I don;t print with matte black anyway as I print on lustre paper.
How can I 'purge' the head of air etc.?

The MK/R (Chromatic Red) heads on both my Z3200 printers gives me trouble from time to time. Over time I have to buy a new MK/R one more often than in the past and they tend to get problematic way sooner than the other heads do. In fact for a year the only heads with trouble. Mainly the red side but on one printer also on both channels now. The weight of the heads is no issue, both above 60 grams. It is not an issue of air getting in by a leaking connection to the tubes. Checked that, added extra seals but that doesn't change anything. reverting that has no influence on the other heads and does not heal the MK/R one.
First I thought maybe the service station capping on the most exterior heads, MK/R and E/G, is leaking more than on the four center heads but I doubt that now. My impression is that the red channel does not reach a good temperature at the nozzles fast enough, for example in printing a light orange part with the red head taking part the red starts badly for one or two square mm then becomes correct. If I add a strong red area around that spot that problem is solved. So I add some rainbow strips with a wider red band at the sides of the print I want to make. Works well most of the time. However one Z3200 MK/R now shows less output on both channels. I wonder whether the electric connections or wires starting from the power supply > mainboard > flat cable> head carriage board>head slots are getting weaker after 15 years of use and the pulses just do not reach a level high enough to let a few nozzles act. Whether that is covered by the service checks on voltage etc is the other question. Maybe that is done more basically and not at the head slots for example.
Any related knowledge in this forum?
Considering replacing the flat cable with a new one and adjusting the connections on more places now to see whether that has a positive effect.

Met vriendelijke groet, Ernst

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

[Kyle D Jackson]

That's a tough one, Ernst. My initial instinct is air etc but you already confirmed the weight. Assuming the nozzles are working correctly, which the diagnostic plot should show, then I don't know what it might be. Possibly air in the printer ink tubes themselves.

Can you post a photo of this issue? Maybe easier to understand whether it's an ink delivery issue, or a printhead control issue.