Z3200 paper calibration question

[jasdown]

This newbie wishes to thank all the forum members who pointed me in the right direction(s) to date.  I have another question, however. Can anyone tell me why my Z3200 requires that I re-calibrate the (same) loaded paper every two weeks, or so? For example, the same paper that I calibrated on 11/2 (and left loaded) is now declared invalid by the HP Utility on today's date. This happened on the starter roll as well, the calibration data was declared invalid by the HP Utility about two weeks after its initial calibration.
Thank you.

[jasdown]

Just to re-phrase my question (more succinctly, I hope), is it normal for paper calibrations in the Z3200 to expire every two weeks?

An HP spokesman said that was possible, because of potential environment changes. But every two weeks seems sort of excessive to me when it's the same paper loaded.

[Colorwave]

Just to re-phrase my question (more succinctly, I hope), is it normal for paper calibrations in the Z3200 to expire every two weeks?

I have a 3100, but I would assume that the behavior is the same.  I haven't figured out the reasons why it sometimes asks for a new calibration, but have had it declare that one was due as often as two weeks after the previous one.  I don't think that it is all that aware of the specific environmental variables to make a judgement call based on environmental changes, but could be wrong on that count.  I know that telling it you want to change printheads, in order to pull and clean them certainly voids the previous calibration.  Beyond that, it certainly appears to be random, some times.

[abiggs]

So far it looks like my Z3200 has historically wanted to recalibrate about every month or so. 2 weeks seems often, actually.

[neil snape]

For ultra precise reprints or printing to the state the profile for that media was created, you can even go to daily calibrations. Two weeks is reasonable if you are printing a lot of the weather changes often.
 Sounds silly but it is not. It is indeed a measurable quantity.

I can't say if my 3200 does a cal recommendation every two weeks or every month.

Personally I ignore them and do a new cal when I need to assure the repeatability of the print.

If you ignore the cal warning, it still uses the last dated cal.

[jasdown]

Personally I ignore them and do a new cal when I need to assure the repeatability of the print.

If you ignore the cal warning, it still uses the last dated cal.

That's great to know, Neil. I was hoping that it somehow worked from the last calibration, as nothing has really changed environmentally in my workshop.

As an aside, may I ask any of you Z3200 owners if you have ever had a printing error that prompted you to call HP Support on the printer's front display? This happened to me yesterday and I was coached to yank my hard drive card and re-seat it. This has me currently somewhat concerned about an impending hard drive failure -- and I just got the printer about 5 weeks ago (and it has very low print "mileage", maybe about twelve 16x20 prints). This has me feeling very apprehensive, as the Z3200 was a very big expenditure for me and, to make matters worse, I feel as though I have been "orphaned" by the company from whom I purchased it. Thanks.

[Ernst Dinkla]

For ultra precise reprints or printing to the state the profile for that media was created, you can even go to daily calibrations. Two weeks is reasonable if you are printing a lot of the weather changes often.
 Sounds silly but it is not. It is indeed a measurable quantity.

I can't say if my 3200 does a cal recommendation every two weeks or every month.

Personally I ignore them and do a new cal when I need to assure the repeatability of the print.

If you ignore the cal warning, it still uses the last dated cal.

I have that idea in my head that the call warning interval can be adjusted but can not find it right now. I switched it from 2 weeks to a month if my memory is correct. When new rolls arrive I do the calibration and whenever the warning is there.



met vriendelijke groeten, Ernst Dinkla

Try: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Wide_Inkjet_Printers/

[jasdown]

I have that idea in my head that the call warning interval can be adjusted but can not find it right now. I switched it from 2 weeks to a month if my memory is correct.



met vriendelijke groeten, Ernst Dinkla

Try: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Wide_Inkjet_Printers/

That is very good to know. Thanks, Ernst. If you should happen to remember how to adjust the intervals between paper calibrations, would you please post the procedure?

BTW, Ernst, how concerned would you be about the above-mentioned printing error wherein HP had me pull my hard drive card and re-seat it? Does this sound ominous to you, after only having owned the printer for 5-6 weeks? Thanks!

[artobest]

As I understand it, there is a known issue with some of the motherboards - sorry, formatters - on the Z3200. Mine failed (I was told it was a HD issue) and needed to be replaced. A new one was sourced rapidly - interestingly, it was an older version with a slightly older Hitachi hard drive. On the plus side, I got great support from HP, and changing the formatter on the Z is a piece of cake. OK, at least, it isn't that hard. All the related issues have been resolved now. Which isn't to say the Z runs predictably all the time, but it's pretty damn good most of the time.

[jasdown]

As I understand it, there is a known issue with some of the motherboards - sorry, formatters - on the Z3200. Mine failed (I was told it was a HD issue) and needed to be replaced. A new one was sourced rapidly - interestingly, it was an older version with a slightly older Hitachi hard drive. On the plus side, I got great support from HP, and changing the formatter on the Z is a piece of cake. OK, at least, it isn't that hard. All the related issues have been resolved now. Which isn't to say the Z runs predictably all the time, but it's pretty damn good most of the time.

Thanks, Artobest. It is encouraging to know that HP was so responsive and the fix was so user-friendly.  So far (fingers crossed!), mine has responded to the simple hard drive re-seat. It did log the error as "1 71:03" -- whatever that means.