Designjet Z3200 86:01 error

[theengel]

Let's start at the beginning. Customer worked on the machine. The belt was installed incorrectly. I corrected that, and during the startup, it asked for new MY printhead. After replacing MY head, it asked for one of the other heads. Ended up putting in all new printheads. It started printing the alignment pattern (just a single bar of colors) and then threw the 86.01 error. After restarting, the carriage would reach the very edge of the service station (before it actually got over it) and stop with the error.

I oiled the railing and cleaned the encoder strip. Now the carriage gets all the way on top of the service station, then throws the code, just after the starwheel lifter goes up and down once.

I ran the carriage diagnostics, and several things are failing. The first is that PCA revision, which is something like 2.09. Then the Carriage Voltage is too high as well. The diagnostic finally stops with an error showing a Maximum DeltaE of 95.something. Is this pointing me toward a new carriage, or should I be checking something else?

[Kiran Otter]

Don't you love it when the end user tries to fix it themselves?

That's very weird about the carriage PCA rev being wrong. I would inspect both ends of the trailing cable very closely and make sure something isn't wrong there. Look for broken connectors. And check the entire cable, for that matter. I would run the carriage test again with the printheads removed, see if the results change.

From there, I would replace the trailing cable first.. if you can find just the trailing cable somewhere. Now the cable and carriage assembly are all one part. If it's not the cable, then replace the carriage or just the carriage PCA, and then the main PCA.

Kiran

[theengel]

Just an update. I've replaced the carriage unit & trailing cables with a "refurb", and the machine prints now. But the carriage diagnostics still gives me a PCA Revision of 2.09 and the carriage voltage is still really low. I haven't been able to get through an entire carriage diagnostics because it throws a 79.xx error. It's working, and the customer is happy with it, but something just isn't right. The boards on these designjets are touchy, and if the voltage isn't right, I'm afraid of it causing more problems. Anyone have any suggestions?

[Kiran Otter]

Were you able to run the carriage diagnostics with the printheads removed? I was just curious if it had any effect on the results.

Kiran

[theengel]

I didn't actually do it myself. I had the customer do it. With the printheads removed, the carriage diagnostics still had high PCA rev and low carriage voltage.

[Kiran Otter]

Not to put too fine a point on it.. but you initially said the voltage was too high, and now you're saying it's too low?

I assume you're referring to the +Vs voltage that should be between 43.6 and 46.3? (The +Vaux doesn't give a min/max but the manual shows an example of about 5v.) And what is the Pens Voltage? It should be between 26.5 and 33.

All this aside, I think the logic here would dictate that it's not the carriage or trailing cable, and must be either the main PCA or power supply.

I'll see if I can find anything else out about the voltage and PCA version. But I'd like to know exactly what the test results are, if possible.

I guess if it's printing and that's all that matters, that's cool. Just chalk it up to being another head-scratcher.

Kiran

[Kiran Otter]

OK.. I asked HP about this, and the bottom line is; don't worry about the test results. Apparently the manual isn't up to date (or accurate) in that area.. which I somewhat suspected, at least on the PCA revision. It stands to reason they'd come out with newer PCAs after the printing of the manual.

If it's printing correctly and not throwing any errors, then it's OK. Personally I would like to know why the differences and what's truly considered acceptable test results, but the only way to know if the results are good, is to compare them to another machine.

Kiran

[theengel]

Thanks for all this. You are right, I said the carriage voltage was high, but I meant low. The pens voltage is within range. I guess I'll stop worrying about it for now.

Thanks,

[markus.weinzierl@arcor.de]

Hi I´m markus,

i think the errorcodes from HP designjet plotters are all the same. I had this error with my Z6100.
Please check the carriagebelt for lost teeth and the encoderstrip for defects or contamination.

If you have to change the carriagebelt make sure to change the tensioner and clean the encoderstrip and the
carriages photosensor reading the encoderstrip.

Good luck

Markus