Aficio 3228c weird cq problem

[Guest]

hi
we have an estate agent that prints a3 details, and when they print the house pictures they have like an 'electrical' image problem. if a wall is yellow the top bit may be blocky! i have tried the obvious, drivers, printing to another machine, trying docs off my laptop. i have checked the pcus and devs but when you print solid test patterns on every colour its fine. ive updated the firmware and it doesnt make a difference. the only thing that would work would if i change it to print on 1800dpi which makes me think bcu or memory(but reluctant to order one if not gonna fix)


Any ideas?


Tony

[Cipher]

I've had similar problems with estate agents in the past from JPEG artifacts showing up in there pictures to inaccurate colour matching.
Estate agents are very picky over the copy quality of their mail shots and display material but the fact is these machines are primarily designed for fast general office use.

You can spend hours tweaking driver and application settings that yield a mixture of different results but I've never really found a solution as such.

[tonyd]

pcq

yeah i know what you mean. this machine has been installed for about a year and is used for producing one off details. its always been ok. definitely think its a machine problem due to the fact ive printed the details to another 3228c and also when i printed samples from my laptop they are exactly the same

[FRIDGEMAGNET]

Hi Tony
What does it look like on a test chart/test pattern? Is the colour registration out? Is the problem on all printouts now, or just one set of details? Is it OK on other paper sizes (A4)?

[tonyd]

pcq

hi
no machine is fine on test patterns and registration is fine. ill try and scan one in tomorrow. it does it on every print out using rpcs, pcl and even tried a hp driver. its hard to describe but its like if you had a yellow wall, part of it would look like colour was missing but pixelated. the weird thing is if you put the driver on quality(1800dpi) its a lot better. ive tried to adjust the laser beam pitch but still no joy! i tried some sample photos from my laptop and it did the same. its like the laser isnt putting all the pixels down. very weird!

tony

[Tonerbomb]

Tony what does the printer tset pattern fron printer SP mode look like?? I've had problems with pic's not being right and also with the machine. If the printer sp print shows color reg problems check the transfer unit encoder and motor. If this is a problem the machine won't pass LP. As for the jpeg's , these are good business color unit's not picture printers. Try explaining that after the sale!

[FRIDGEMAGNET]

Tony, there is a Postcript update in firmware that shows a similar problem. Check if PS is installed.
What document is being printed? PDF/ MS Word?

[tonyd]

pcq

hi

i think im confusing people so am gonna try and get the problem scanned in. there is absolutely no registration problems, all firmware has been done,. it was also sold a 'business' colour machine and has handled these photos for a year with no problems. the customer has 3228s in every shop and the exact same document is fine on the other machines. i printed some test pages from my laptop and it does exactly the same. the only thing that makes it slightly better is putting it on quality(1800dpi) and not speed(1200dpi). ive changed a few Bcu's on these machines for wobbly text and also for putting electrical lines on copies

tony

[tonyd]

fixed

hi
just thought id let everyone know it was the NVRAM. I had a problem on a MPC3500 last week with exactly the same problem and was lucky enough to have another machine nearby. I copied the NVRAM from the working machine, edited the serial number in the dll file and then uploaded to faulty NVRAM. Machine was sorted after this so spoke to Tech Spec at NRG and suggested new NVRAM for the 3228c. He went today with new NVRAM and its sorted
Thanks everyone for their input

[JohnF]

I must apologize for my post. It is not my wish to interrupt the helpful nature of this board or this thread. However, I feel NRG have been misrepresented here.

[tonyd]

Hi John
The post i put on here was to aid other engineers and not to misrepresent NRG, however i am adamant that the NVRAM solution WAS put forward to the specialist before issue was resolved. We use this site to help each other and i am disappointed that this has become such an issue that who is right and who is wrong. The main objective is the machine is fixed and hopefully help other engineers in the field.
Tony

John Call ME

[tonyd]

HI

Just wanted to add to the above post that it was definitely a misunderstanding and cross wires and was in no way a criticism of Mr F or NRG and am glad to say its sorted now. amen

PS if i could edit the fix post I would as it was rushed when it was typed and needs more explanation!!

[Cipher]

Well I guess that confirms NRG has a presence on this board now.

I take it that is JohnF from NRG in Northampton yes?