HP Z3200ps single sheets and multiple s#!%s

[Geraldo Garcia]

Hello,

I own and work on a daily basis with a HP Z3200ps 44" and am quite familiar with it´s pros and cons. I tend to use roll media 99.9% of the time as I know very well how bad the Z series handles single sheets, but last week I got a box of A3+ paper and decided to use it. It was way worse than I remembered, to the point of making me ask if you think that is normal.

The paper loading and alignment was as bad as I remembered, but the printing speed was way worse. The print heads move to the left and stops for a second or so, than moves to the right and pauses again. Sometimes it makes 2 or 3 passes in a quick succession than stops again for a second or so. It goes like that during 80% of the length of the page, but on the last 20% it prints without stopping. I did not recall that behaviour, but I may be wrong.

As bad as that, or maybe worse, I cannot put several prints on the queue! Looks like the printer is unable to do anything else while printing on a single sheet, even opening its internal web server to check the queue takes a long time. I am printing from a PC running Vista 64 with the latest drivers and firmware installed.

Just to make it clear, nothing like that happens when I print from rolls. The printer is not what anyone would call "fast", but it does not pause after almost every movement and I can put dozens of jobs on the queue.   

Calling the HP support the attendant insisted that it is how it was supposed to be and that is because the printer is being "extra careful" and checking the paper alignment as it prints. I simply can not accept it.

For those who use the Z3200 with single sheets, is that how it goes for you? Does anyone know if some setting may speed up things (avoid the pauses) or solve the queue problem?

Thanks.

[Colorwave]

That does not sound like normal behavior at all.  Try turning off the skew check to see if that makes a difference.  I've left mine off now for several years, and have only vague memories of having to repeatedly re-align paper to make the printer happy with the sheet alignment.  I don't ever print anything without trimming, though, so I suppose those who need absolute sheet alignment perfection would still have a use for skew check. otherwise, it's a PITA.

[Damir]

And load sheet straight, from the same path as you do with roll, not from above as HP recomend it.

[Colorwave]

And load sheet straight, from the same path as you do with roll, not from above as HP recomend it.

Exactly.  I think I used the single sheet tray only a handful of times, when I first got the machine.

[Geraldo Garcia]

Thanks for the answers.

I always load the paper from the roll slit using the roll holder as a guide. I have tried with and without skew check and it does not seems to have any impact on the printing speed/behaviour.

Thanks again.

[Colorwave]

Just as another double-check:  you've tried a hard restart, to see if it just needs something reset.  HP actually recommends flipping the power switch without sending it a power down command.  That will sometimes clear anomalous behavior.  It sounds like an ink supply or memory buffer issue, but the fact that it behaves normally with roll paper would seem to rule those problems out.

[Ernst Dinkla]

On the Z3200 with Skew Check Off my printer drops to a horribly slow
pace in printing and that is not getting better when I load a roll next
time. The only way to get normal speed again is by using the sheet mode
Skew Check On and then Roll mode is fast again too. I reported that to
HP Barcelona and maybe it is solved with the latest firmware but I have
not installed that one on the Z3200.

What I do on that printer is deliberately feed a sheet skewed and the
printer asks me to align it at the blue lines where I did put some tabs
to get register when needed. If no register is needed I insert the sheet
over the roll against the spindle flange and that works most of the time
with the thicker sheets, less so with thin papers where the first method
then also helps.

The Z3100 is always on Skew Check Off and does not show that problem.

I have removed the sheet insert "lid" from the back of my printers and have a spindle + core there to guide sheets into the printer. Might make something more table like there when more sheets have to be printed. The lid is more a handicap than that it helps.


--
Met vriendelijke groet, Ernst

Dinkla Grafische Techniek
Quad, piëzografie, giclée
www.pigment-print.com

[MonsterBaby]

i use a lot of sheets on my Z3200 PS 44, i would say 50% sheets to roll.

i have never experienced anything with custom paper sizes concerning the speed but the same as Ernst says.

the only difference in speed is skew off. skew on and roll is fast and flawless, skew off is slow!
to me though i never have problems loading a roll afterwards. its always fast there, too and has always been.

i do love! the ability tho to turn off the skew and being asked each time as i use a lot of cut offs for testing in between rolls and it was a hassle to try to allign an odd sheet or go in the menu on the Z31!

AND.. its another GREAT advantage to the other printers as i have a client where i print on hand made paper with crooked edges that would never get thru the skew!

[Geraldo Garcia]

Some good news! With your help I managed to get the speed back to normal (without the pauses).

Apparently the behaviour of my Z3200ps printer is a mix of Georgek´s and Ernst´s printers: The paper must be loaded with skew check on AND the size of the page cannot be bigger than the size measured by the printer, not even by a tenth of millimetre, it has to be equal or smaller. With that warranted the printing speed is as good as with roll media.

But, and there is always a "but", I could not solve the queue problem. With roll media I can easily put dozens of files on the queue for printing. With cut sheets I send one file for printing, it is listed as "processing" on the queue and then starts printing, I send the second file while the first is printing and it is listed as "processing" on the queue, but it does not change its state to "waiting for printing" and the queue does not accept any other file before the fist is finished and the second moves to "printing" state.
Does that reflect your experience?

Thanks a lot for the help.

[brianrybolt]

Although I'm not 100% sure, I think you can queue using Qimage if you use Windows or if you are on a MAC, you can use Qimage via parallels.

Brian

[Ernst Dinkla]

Qimage has a queue for images to be processed for the driver but Qimage also uses the Windows printer driver print queue/spooler system in the end and whatever HP stores en route.  Qimage does split up big data transfers to smaller ones to speed up processing but if the driver's or printer's queue/spooler is blocked for one reason or another it will not speed up the image processing. I think one should look into the settings of printer driver buffers/spoolers to get the issue solved but what exactly Geraldo has to change is harder to write down. Two spots to check: Print Server properties. Logs possible there to check what might go wrong. And the Advanced menu of the PCL3 driver properties (PCL3 is the driver I always use). Several choices. Print processor data type on RAW.

In sheet mode most of the time I have to print say 10 sheets both sides and I set the driver on 10 copies of one print page created in Qimage. First sheet is printed and I load the next one deliberately skewed, align to tabs after the printer error appears and walk away as the second sheet data comes from the spooler. I have done the same if the content was different between the sheets and have a Qimage queue for that but I do not recall an issue then either.

Other users go by the HP Utility server route but I prefer Qimage + the PCL3 driver. You could check what jobs are stored there though and delete them.

Too often I go by the Never Change A Winning Team approach and if that works one forgets how that team was put together ;-)

--
Met vriendelijke groet, Ernst

http://www.pigment-print.com/spectralplots/spectrumviz_1.htm
December 2012, 500+ inkjet media white spectral plots.