HP Z5200 Owners Manual

							1.If the Printer is experiencing  horizontal misalignment problems, th e Alignment Test will show
something like this:
2. If the Printer is experiencing  vertical misalignment problems, the Alignment Test will show
something like this:
3. If the Printer is experiencing  bi-directional misalignment problems, th e Alignment Test will show
something like this:
Corrective Action
Perform the Printhead Alignment ( Main Menu / Image Quality Maintenance  / Align Printheads ), using
the same paper type with which you were experien cing unacceptable image quality, if feasible (some
paper types are not suitable for Printhead Alignment).
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							Diagnostic Part 3: Printheads & Paper Advance
This test is designed to check whether the Prin theads and the Paper Advance Mechanism are working
correctly. This part of the Image Quality Test should  NOT be used to check fo r color consistency or
accuracy.
Banding
If the Printer is experiencing a banding problem, you wi ll see repetitive horizontal bands within the printed
image.
● Darker horizontal bands or lines repeated along the vertical band (from top to bottom at the same
distance).
● Whiter horizontal bands or lines al
ong the vertical band (from top to bottom at the same distance).
The plot is printed in Best or Normal mode (according to the menu option selected) with Error Hiding
ON. The top band has 100% ink density patches while the bottom band has 50% ink density patches.
Troubleshooting Banding Problems
If banding  does NOT  occur in ALL the colors, then it is more than likely a Printhead problem. In this
case, try the following:
1. Check that the appropriate print quality settings  are being used (refer to the User’s Guide for more
information).
2. Recover the printheads using the option through the Front Panel ( Main Menu/ Image Quality
Maintenance / Clean Printheads ). Reprint the Diagnostic Print or the print file and if the problem
persists, replace the faulty Printhead.
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							If banding does occur in ALL the colors, then it is mo re than likely a Paper Advance problem:
● If the bands are light, it means that the paper has advanced too much.
● If the bands are dark, it means that the paper hasn’t advanced enough.
● In high quality modes, graininess in ALL colors can indicate problems either with alignment
or Paper Advance.
Corrective Action
In order to solve problems that re sult in banding, try the following:
1. Check that the appropriate print quality settings ar e being used (refer to the User’s Guide for more
information).
2. Check that the loaded media is the same type as se lected in the printer. You can verify the media
type selected through the Front Panel ( Main Menu/  Paper menu  / View loaded paper ).
3. If the customer is using low quality paper, tr y recommending better quality paper (preferably HP
paper). Printer performance can only be guaranteed by using recommended papers.
4. Perform the Paper Advance Calibration  using the same type of paper that will be used for the final
print ( Main Menu  / Image Quality Maintenance  / Paper Advance Calibration / Calibrate Paper
Advance ).
If there is white point banding  in only one color band and the problem cannot be fixed using the
Printhead recoveries, in some cases using the force a drop detection option can fix this issue.
See 
Force Drop Detection on page 35.
No Printing Defects Found  in the Diagnostic Print
If all the test patterns from the Diagnostic Print are correct and you still ex perience Image Quality
problems, you can use the following pr ocedures to resolve the problem.
●
Reading the Advanced diagnostic Print Results on page 30
●
Printhead Alignment on page 33
●
Nozzle Health on page 34
●
Force Drop Detection on page 35
The Advanced Diagnostic Prints
What are the Advanced  Diagnostic Prints?
Advanced Diagnostic Plot . These tests provide more information of the IQ defects found in the  Image
Quality Service  plot.
The  Advanced Diagnostic Plot  is divided into the following parts:
● Visual Media Advanced Diagnostic. Used to check advance reliability.
● Visual Alignment Diagnostic. Used to check pen alignment reliability.
● Visual Nozzle health Diagnostic. Used to check nozzle health reliability.
● Force Drop Detection. Used to reset the nozzl
e health historic data base and force new drop
detection.
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							Printing the Advanced Diagnostics Print
1.In the Service Utilities submenu, scroll to “ Diagnostic Print” and press OK.
2. You will be given three options. Use the  Arrow keys to select the  Advanced Diagnostics  menu.
3.From the displayed options, use the  Arrow keys to make the required selection Paper Advance,
Visual Alignment Diagnostic, Nozzle Health, Force  Drop Detection or Print Banding Plot, and press
the  ENTER  key to start printing.
4.Make sure media is loaded, the Media Lever is  lowered and that the Ink System is correctly
installed. Press the  OK key to print the Diagnostic Print or press  Back/ Cancel  to exit without printing
the Diagnostic Print.
5. The selected Advanced Diagnost ic Print will now be printed.
Reading the Advanced diagnostic Print Results
Paper Advance
This plot helps you to visually check any alignment problems of the printer. You use it to precisely
measure the media advance error with a one dot row accuracy, and to verify the stability of the media
advance.
The whitest vertical line should be positioned in t he 0 offset column with minor variations between +2
and -2 columns. If the offset is not positioned on  the 0 column or between +2 and -2 columns and the
whitest vertical varies greatly, the printer requires Paper Advance Calibration ( Main Menu / Image
Quality Maintenance  / Paper Advance Calibration  / Calibrate Paper Advance ).
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							NOTE:It is very important to verify th at the loaded media is the same media type as selected in the
front panel. You can verify the media type selected through the Front Panel ( Main Menu/ Paper
menu / View loaded paper ). The wrong type of  paper selected will produce an  offset error in the Paper
Advance.
The following plot shows correct medi a advance, there is a straight white line positioned close to the 0
column for the majority of the points.
The following plot shows a bad media advance, there is  a straight white line positioned close to the -6
column, instead of the 0 column for the majority of the points.
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							Corrective Action
To fix Paper Advance problems, try the following:
1.Check the Paper Advance Calibration Status. This can be done by going to  Main Menu/ Paper /
View Loaded Paper . At the bottom, the Front Panel displays the Paper Advance Calibration status.
There are three status messages:
● DEFAULT
. The paper loaded is recognized as HP paper, which is already optimized and
calibrated for the printer. Do not calibrate the Paper Advance for this paper.
● RECOMMENDED
. The paper loaded is NOT recognized as HP paper, and Paper Advance
values have NOT been customized for this paper type. In this case, calibrate the Paper
Advance from the user menu.
● OK
. This indicates that the paper loaded has been calibrated before. If the printer continues
to have banding and graininess problems, calibrate the Paper Advance from the user menu.
NOTE: Whenever the printers firmware is upgraded,  the paper advance calibration values will
be reset to factory default.
2. To calibrate the Paper Advance from the user menu, go to  Main Menu/ Image Quality
Maintenance / Paper Advance Calibration / Calibrate Paper Advance .
NOTE:It is very important to verify that the load ed media is the same media type as selected in
the front panel. You can verify the media type selected through the Front Panel (Main  Menu/ Paper
menu/ View loaded paper ). The wrong type of paper selected  will produce an offset error in the
Paper Advance.
NOTE: Some paper types are not suitable for Paper  Advance Calibration. Do not use colored
papers or transparent materials such as translucent bond, clear film, matte film, tracing paper, or
vellum.
Paper Advance calibration from th e user menu will only calibrate the Paper Advance for the paper
type loaded in the printer at that moment.
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							3.If Calibrate Paper Advance has mostly solved the problem, try Adjust Paper Advance to fine tune
the Paper Advance ( Main Menu/ Image Quality Maintenance / Paper Advance Calibration /
Adjust Paper Advance ).
Select the percentage of change from -100% to  100%. To correct light banding, decrease the
percentage. To correct dark ba nding, increase the percentage.
4. The Paper Advance calibration from the service menu will calibrate the Paper Advance for ALL
paper types. This action is recommended when:
● The Paper Advance calibration from the user menu does not solve the problem.
● The Paper Advance problems affect ALL paper types.
The procedure for Paper Advance Cali bration is in the service menu 
Paper Advance Calibration
on page 140.
Printhead Alignment
This plot helps you to visually check any alignment problems of the printer. You use it to precisely
measure the alignment error with a one dot row accuracy. For the printer to be considered correctly
aligned, the results must be within ± 2 dot row.
The illustration shows the complete  Printhead Alignment that identifies each of the specific alignment
test results covered. The plot is split into four areas printed at different speeds and resolutions:
25ips@1200dpi, 35ips@1200dpi, 36ips@600dpi and 50ips@600dpi.
▲ In order to know the print modes associated to 
the speeds and resolutions refer to the following
table
NOTE: For the other types of media and print m odes use the reference of 25ips @1200dpi.
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							What to see in the AutoPen Alignment Diagnostics1.At the left we have two checks for the pen to pe n alignment in scan axis direction (Pen2Pen-Fwd
& Pen2Pen-Rev). It is forward and reverse. The ar ea to check is the junction (marked with “-”) of
the black with the rest of colors. The arrows show the printing direction
2. The bidirectional check is at the top, marked as number 2 (Bidir). Check that the lines are
continuous without a gap. The junction is marked  with “-”. The arrows show the printing direction.
3. The pen to pen alignment in paper axis direction  (PAD) is marked as number 3. The area to check
is the junction (marked with “|”) of the black with the rest of colors
4. The ThetaZ of the printhead are checked in the area  marked as 4. It checks in forward and reverse
direction. The area to check is the junction (marke d with “-”). The lines have to be continuous. The
arrows show the printing direction.
5. The area marked as number 5 is a reference legend  that shows junction misalignments of 2, 4 and
6 dots. The junction to check has to be equal to or below 2 in all the cases. If the error we appreciate
is above 2 dots, then real ign the printheads again.
In the next example, the Pen2Pen (both Fwd and Rev)  is above these 2 dots and the unit should be
realigned. Same happens with the ThetaZ (die2dieSAD). The rest of the pattern shows a right alignment.
Nozzle Health
The print contains three separate parts.
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							1.The Variable Frequency Nozzle health plot with od d/even nozzles separation. This is used to detect
misdirected or weak nozzles, nozzles not workin g correctly at all frequencies, or even Gloss
Enhancer (GE) color problems.
2. Inspector measuring tool test plot.
NOTE: Test 2 should NOT be used by Service Engineers.
3.Nozzle Print Test  which is also part of the Image Qualit y Service Plot. This test is designed to
check that the Printhead nozzles print correctly.  The test prints out every single nozzle of each
Printhead. No error hiding or Printhead Alignment algorithm is applied. For each Printhead, you
can see both the adjacent an d the consecutive nozzles.
This is what you would see in the  Nozzle Print Test part if there are nozzles not printing correctly:
1. On the right of each Printhead Nozzle test, there is a series of numbered stepped diagonal lines.
If one or more of the nozzles are malfunctioning  or out of position, you will see that the stepped
lines are broken or misdirec ted in one or more places.
2. On the left of each Printhead Nozzle test, there is a series of horizontal straight lines. If one or more
nozzles are misdirected there will be unequa l spaces between the corresponding lines.
Corrective Action for Nozzle Defects
If the printer has nozzle defects, it does not mean that  you will not get perfect print quality results. The
printer has automatic procedures to hide many nozzle defects.
1. Recover the Printheads using the option through the Front Panel ( Main Menu/ Image quality
maintenance / Clean printheads ).
2. Reprint the Nozzle Print test to check that  the defective nozzles have been corrected.
3. If the problem continues, replace the defective Printhead.
Force Drop Detection
If the  Nozzle Print Test  plot has persistent white point banding in only one color that cannot be fixed
with a printhead recovery, you can use this option to resolve the problem by resetting the nozzle health
data base so that all nozzles  are assumed to be correct.
Once the nozzle health data base has been reset drop detection is forced.
The normal cause of this white point banding in a single color is the incorrect detection of failed nozzles
by the drop detector.
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							Troubleshooting Print Quality Problems
Print Quality General Advice
1.To achieve the best performanc e from the printer, only genuine HP accessories and supplies
should be used.
2. Make sure that the  paper type selected in the Front Panel is the same as the paper type loaded
into the Printer.
3. Make sure to use the most appropriate print qualit y settings for your purposes. A lower print quality
is likely to be seen if the print quality slider has been moved to the Speed  end of the scale, or the
custom quality level set to  Fast.
4. Check that the environmental conditions (temper ature, humidity) are within the temperature/
humidity range as specified for the Printer (ref er to the User’s Guide for more information).
5. Check that the ink cartridges and printheads have not exceeded their expiration dates.
Horizontal Lines Across the Image (Banding)
Description of problem
When you look at the image you have printed, there  are horizontal lines across the image. Shown below
is an example of what you might see if you have this problem:
Corrective Action
1. Check that the paper type loaded corresponds to  the paper type selected in the front panel and in
the software. You can verify the paper type selected through the Front Panel ( Main Menu/ Paper
menu/ View loaded paper ).
2. Check that the appropriate print quality settings  are being used (refer to the User’s Guide for more
information) and reprint the image. In some ca ses print quality problems can be resolved by
selecting a higher print quality level.
3. Print the Service Image Diagnostics Print, and clean any printheads that need cleaning. Reprint
the job in case the problem has been solved.
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