HP Z6100 not accepting ink cartridges problem

[M&M Displays]

Anyone else having these issues. The printer sometimes does not accept a new cartridge. It keeps saying to "Reseat Cartridge" This will our 3rd service call in 8 months. 1st call, found nothing wrong, second call found a problem with the lines, new lines ordered and installed. Right now its a large paperweight.

 

[Steenland]

When you say you installed "new lines," do you mean the Ink Supply Tubes and Trailing Cable Assembly? And that didn't work? Have you been able to resolve the issue?

I've had this problem with my Z6100 since it was new. At first it was just a nuisance and reseating the cartridge once or twice made the error go away. But the problem got worse (right after the warranty expired, of course), and now I can't get past it at all. I'm prepared to replace the Ink Supply Tubes/Trailing Cable Assembly (which is what the Z6100 is telling me to do), but I sure can't afford to put $1200 into this machine if that's not going to fix it. Someone suggested the problem may be with the Main PCA Formatter.

The problem is almost always with the same color, light grey. I've tried multiple cartridges, including brand new ones. I've tried cleaning the contacts and even swapped out the ISS To Cartridge Cables, but the problem stayed with the light grey cartridge. EEROM reset did not help.

I would love to hear from anyone who has had this issue and was able to resolve it. Thanks!

 

[M&M Displays]

Just a quick update. Turned out the issue was the dam chips on the cartridges, HP & Pittman replaced the ink

 

[Steenland]

Update and details on same issue: Printer: Z6100ps 60-in., p/n Q6654C, Firmware version GG-GG_11.0.0.2 (latest).

The printer thinks every Light Gray cartridge I install is faulty. Per Z6100 diagnostics and HP phone support, I replaced the entire Ink Supply Tubes and Trailing Cable assembly. No change. EEROM reset did not help. Hard disk wipe did not help. The printer passes the entire Electronics Module test.

I have three Light Gray cartridges on hand:
1. The starter cartridge (which still has most of its ink because the printer started rejecting it a couple of days after I bought the printer).
2. The 775ml cartridge I bought to replace the starter cartridge. It worked fine for several months, was occasionally rejected, but I was able to reinstall it and get it to work until recently.
3. Brand new 775ml cartridge. The printer says it is faulty.

Is it possible for cartridges that were OK to be corrupted by the printer and rendered faulty? Has anyone had that happen?

I guess I'll order another new cartridge and see if that works. Assuming it, too, gets rejected, what should I try next? Replace the PrintMech PCA? Replace the Main PCA Formatter? Junk the whole thing and buy a different brand?

Thanks!

 

[Steenland]

Follow-up/resolution to my previous post.

I was able to confirm that my three Light Gray cartridges were "faulty" by checking them in another Z6100. I installed a new Light Gray cartridge in my Z6100 and it liked this one. So that means that (before I swapped out the ink supply assembly) my printer was not only rejecting cartridges, it was corrupting good ones!

So, with the new Ink Supply Tubes/Trailing Cable assembly and a complete set of new cartridges, I manually initiated the priming process and it worked fine. We're back up and running.

If I may be allowed a quick rant though, it really burns me that I had to spend so much time and money on a problem that had nothing to do with the printer's ability to print. The problem was with the printer's cartridge sensing system which HP will tell you is there to ensure quality, but which I believe exists primarily to make it hard for owners to use non-hp inks or cartridges that have passed their "expiration" date. And it's ludicrous that I had to replace the entire Ink Supply Tubes/Trailing Cable assembly to fix this when I believe that all that was needed was the lower ISS PCA. My older Designjet CP series printers didn't have/need a "smart" cartridge system and I ran them for over ten years without a single service call. (I did my own maintenance, belt replacements, etc.) My Z6100 is less than two years old.

I'll also mention what a pain in the neck it was dealing with the HP Parts Store. First they said they had the part in stock. Then (five days later, when I was expecting the part to arrive) they informed me that it wasn't in stock. So I ordered it from another supplier. Then HP told me they DID have it. I told them to cancel the order because I had already ordered a different one, and they said I couldn't because it had already shipped (which it hadn't), so I had to cancel the second order. I did, finally, get the part from HP, but let me put in a plug for DECtrader.com. They were terrific to work with, they really knew their stuff and they know how to deal with HP! I'll go to them first next time.

 

[Steenland]

Thanks for the tip Paul, though I think it would be better for the integrity of this forum if you disclosed in your post that you work for the company that sells the ink cartridges you recommend.

Having said that though, I have a question. I've never used non-HP cartridges. How does the printer see them? Does your chip fool the printer into thinking they are HP cartridges, or does the printer recognize them as non-HP cartridges? If it knows they are non-HP, does that lock out some maintenance and quality-control procedures (such as ink tube priming or Pantone emulation)?