"Reseat" on 2 printheads simultaneously on a Designjet Z9+ 44"

[pbrooks259]

(Kiran and I have discussed this but I probably did not adequately emphasize that the "reseat" mostly and almost always occurs simultaneously for both the PK-MK & G printheads. Kiran recommended cleaning the contacts. I have done that for both printheads, and am hoping it cured it. I will report back. It is OK after about 3 hours.)

On a Designjet Z9+ I am mostly getting “reseat” for BOTH the PK-MK & Gray printheads; sometimes it is only 1 or the other of them that is “reseat” briefly, but ultimately they both end up with the status “reseat”. Just weird that it is "always" those 2: PK-MK & G, simultaneously, every few to several or so hours nowadays; seems it used to take several days or a few weeks or so. I assume 1 affects the other, maybe, or they are both connected to the same carriage pca component(s) that have gone or are going bad perhaps. I am afraid it MIGHT be the carriage pca; hopefully not.

PK-MK printhead is out of warranty and has fired about 1400ml. (That MIGHT be it right there; maybe I just need to replace the PK-MK printhead and see what happens. But I am sensing it is something upstream from the printheads.) G printhead is in warranty and has fired about 200ml.

With a damp cloth, I cleaned up both their contacts and their respective carriage flexible contacts, and it prepared the print system and calibrated. (Before a damp cloth, I tried a dry cloth and the “reseat” returned; actually I use Q-tips, dry and moistened.) I am expecting it to throw up “reseat” for both again soon, but hopefully not. Hopefully it is not the carriage pca or something else (trailing cable maybe).

I have replacement printheads on order, but it MIGHT just be 1 affecting the other. But as far as I know it could be the carriage pca or trailing cable or further back.

I would like to perform some diagnostics but I do not have the admin password; I tried to “reset security” (set it to factory defaults, pg. 55 in SM) in order to set a new password but I have not been able to reset it yet; have not figured it out yet.

Thanks for any input.

[pbrooks259]

Cleaned up contacts and both are "reseat" status within 8 hours. I don't think I have ever seen a "delayed reseat" like this before.



....well again PK-MK is out of warranty and has fired 1400ml (That might be the problem right there.); G printhead is in warranty and has fired 200ml, not a whole lot. I THINK again PK-MK printhead has some electrical connection to the G printhead. Many times when I 1st reseat the PK-MK printhead, G printhead is already checked OK without touching it. Maybe this is all due to "high mileage" on the PK-MK printhead.



I have not really ever paid attention. Can an old well used printhead at some point just register as "reseat"? I don't think I have ever seen that. It seems they print sketchy or the printer keeps saying that performance is degrading, etc. Usually it seems the print quality, clogged nozzles, failing nozzles, etc. seem to be the issue.

I will just proceed to replace the PK-MK printhead and see what happens. ....my 1st experience with one of these with "universal" printheads. I got the PK-MK and G printheads confused (although the G head should only lay down 1 track) and swapped them. And thought WTH? which is which? But the front panel told me they should be "relocated".



Thanks.

[Kiran Otter]

My recommendation would be to replace the PK-MK printhead, and see if the problem persists. If the grey continues the same thing, replace it under warranty.

Kiran

[blackcat4866]

I've seen " ... reset ink cartridge ... " messages on a T2530PS.

The first clue that I got was when I looked in the drawer where the ink cartridges were stored. There were (4) cyan & (2) yellow ink cartridges laying unwrapped in the drawer. All of them were mostly full of ink, and all Genuine Canon supplies.

It displayed "Yellow ink cartridge is empty. Please re-seat yellow ink cartridge.", "Magenta ink cartridge is empty. Please re-seat magenta ink cartridge.", "Cyan ink cartridge is empty. Please re-seat cyan ink cartridge." Reseating helped for one or two of the total three cartridges, but rarely could I get all three to clear and actually print. Most of the time magenta cleared, but rarely yellow.

This particular machine has had some interesting issues, all as a result of being carried at a 45degree angle up 6 flights of stairs. The resulting ink spillage took 4 calls to resolve the various consequences.

The Panel side Ink Service Station had surprisingly little ink spillage (it was the end tipped up). I ended up reseating the ribbon cable to the Panel ISS.

A few weeks earlier this same machine had "45.2:03" errors (internal code 272654337), approximately 2 weeks after the enduser moved the plotter up (3) floors of stairs. The ink from the left side ISS spilled on the spindle encoder wheel and sensor, and could not be adequately cleaned off with alcohol.

This enduser saved ~$150USD by moving the machine themselves. The resulting service was more than $1500USD.

[pbrooks259]

I did carriage diagnostics (electronics). Ultimately I got:

"All 6 pens present. All 6 pens communication OK.

Pen 0 CSI0 fails! Test failed."

I don't know what pen that is. I assume it is M-Y (furthest left), I assume they are 0-4 from L to R. PK-MK is 3rd from L. G is 5th from L. Maybe it detects a pen failure and just throws up the 1st pen. I have no idea.

At any rate, this SEEMS to indicate a specific pen failure, at least "Pen 0".

Yeah, the obvious thing is to replace the PK-MK printhead, but I get ahead of myself--trying to think of all contingencies, like carriage pca, flex contacts, etc.

Frustrating: got a guy wanting this and now I have this problem. He wants it yesterday. And I am waiting for printheads from California. At least they are coming 2 day shipping, I think--probably did not ship out yesterday.

Thanks for replies!

[pbrooks259]

I suspected that MAYBE POSSIBLY the "reseat" problem was temperature related (I still do not truly know, just assuming this--I had been keeping the Z9+ in a 40-50F garage.); I commenced to keeping the temp in the range of 60-65F or so, and I had replaced both printheads that were "reseat" status. At 60-65F, I had 4 days running with NO "reseat" messages. I got the Z9+ to the buyer and I suppose the printer temp. was in the 30Fs somewhere. Outside was upper 20s-low 30s. Shortly after it started up I got "reseat" again on 2 printheads (G & PK-MK)--my original problem although I had replaced both with new printheads--PLUS a new 3rd printhead "reseat" (C-CR). My heart sank. I thought I'm gonna have to haul this printer back home. But after reseating those 3, it did OK. (Of course, the printer temp is climbing up to room temperature all the while.) Not heard anything from buyer. Hope I don't hear from him for a good while. It's possible that putting it in a heated garage the night before leaving for delivery made no difference but maybe it did--made the printer a little warmer along the trip. I think maybe the printheads and/or carriage are "cold-natured". If true, I had never experienced that before. Again the specified operating temp. range is 41-104 degrees F. I was getting down to the bottom of that range. Thankfully buyer said he keeps his working environment at around 70F steadily. I should have let it sit there 1-2 hours to acclimate but started it after about 15-20 minutes--impatient.

[blackcat4866]

The temperature could surely affect the viscosity of the ink, perhaps affecting the pumps performance or the purge unit's performance. I can't say that I've ever had an ink based device in a low temperature environment before.

The function of the printhead would certainly be affected by temperature. A printhead, by design, rapidly heats each oriface (as it is needed) to cause the ink to form a bubble-expand-pop. The temperature of the ink would definitely affect how quick the bubble was formed. The rule we used was: the machine must acclimatize for the same amount of time it is in cold temperatures. Our delivery drivers never left an ink based device in the truck overnight for that reason. =^..^=

[pbrooks259]

Thanks, Blackcat. I tried to transport it as warmly as I could given I had no heated space in which to transport it. I had it warmed up in the garage and I wrapped it in a few blankets. But then I hit the interstate with temps in the upper 20sF and lower 30sF. At my destination it was about upper 30sF. I was on the road a few hours, so it was getting cooler all the while I transported it.

I don't know that it was truly a temperature influenced printhead "reseat" but it seemed fairly coincidental with cooler temperatures. When it was cooler 40-50F I got "reseat". When it was warmer 60-65F I got no "reseat". When I got to the buyer's, the printer was cold, and I got "reseat". As it was warming up I got no "reseat". I hope the no "reseat" continues.

Thanks for all your input.

....thinking my originally "reseat" status printheads MIGHT be OK. ....another thing I think I learned is that although you install printheads under warranty, if you use expired ink, I think, that voids the warranty. In my case I was just going to go ahead and use up the expired ink. (I very seldom buy consumables in warranty, too expensive to me. I just try to agitate out of warranty ones well, stir up the ink.)

[Phil B.]

The temperature could surely affect the viscosity of the ink, perhaps affecting the pumps performance or the purge unit's performance. I can't say that I've ever had an ink based device in a low temperature environment before.

The function of the printhead would certainly be affected by temperature. A printhead, by design, rapidly heats each oriface (as it is needed) to cause the ink to form a bubble-expand-pop. The temperature of the ink would definitely affect how quick the bubble was formed. The rule we used was: the machine must acclimatize for the same amount of time it is in cold temperatures. Our delivery drivers never left an ink based device in the truck overnight for that reason. =^..^=

temperature effects ink based life forms dramatically... we always kept the Epson WF in the shop until ready to deliver.
(yup found out the hard way.. listened to the boss)