Z3100 Print Heads

[karrphoto]

I had a printhead go on me tonight??? Unfortunately nowhere to get a new one until Monday    I was printing on thicker paper and the edge caught on the carriage and now all of a sudden my MK/R needs replacing. I don't see anything wrong with the head, cleaned it and the socket it sits in of all ink (cleaned all the heads which were quite disgusting with some serious buildup on the edge of the heads), pop back in and still "needs replacing" Still "In Warranty" till 2010. Any idea if HP will replace for free?

Also, was looking at my supplies, found a head that expired 6/08. Will HP do anything for you with these or is it just a lost $70?

Thanks,
Jim

[Ernst Dinkla]

I had a printhead go on me tonight??? Unfortunately nowhere to get a new one until Monday    I was printing on thicker paper and the edge caught on the carriage and now all of a sudden my MK/R needs replacing. I don't see anything wrong with the head, cleaned it and the socket it sits in of all ink (cleaned all the heads which were quite disgusting with some serious buildup on the edge of the heads), pop back in and still "needs replacing" Still "In Warranty" till 2010. Any idea if HP will replace for free?

Also, was looking at my supplies, found a head that expired 6/08. Will HP do anything for you with these or is it just a lost $70?

Thanks,
Jim

Did you clean the cart slot as well, made the contacts dry there ?

Don't worry about the expired date of the head. It will work without doubt, which is the main thing.


Ernst Dinkla

Try: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Wide_Inkjet_Printers/

[karrphoto]

Did you clean the cart slot as well, made the contacts dry there ?

Don't worry about the expired date of the head. It will work without doubt, which is the main thing.


Ernst Dinkla

Try: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Wide_Inkjet_Printers/

Ernst-

   Yes, I saw there was ink in the socket too, covering some of the contacts so I did clean that as well, but still, nothing.

[Roscolo]

They will walk you through some tech support to make sure it really needs to be replaced. If the head is in warranty, they will replace it. I thought I had a bad head once as well, similar to what you describe. Support talked me through some stuff and it turned out to be fine, so I did not need a new head.

HP still sent me some free ink anyway for the hassle routing tech support! First question for tech needs to be, "do you know what a z3100 is? have you ever seen one?" If the answer is "no" you have the wrong dept. and need to be asked to be routed to the Designjet folks.

[karrphoto]

They will walk you through some tech support to make sure it really needs to be replaced. If the head is in warranty, they will replace it. I thought I had a bad head once as well, similar to what you describe. Support talked me through some stuff and it turned out to be fine, so I did not need a new head.

HP still sent me some free ink anyway for the hassle routing tech support! First question for tech needs to be, "do you know what a z3100 is? have you ever seen one?" If the answer is "no" you have the wrong dept. and need to be asked to be routed to the Designjet folks.

Thanks.  Unfortunately I'm going to be going out and buying a new head tomorrow.  I need work done NOW, not waiting even for overnight package to arrive from them.  It's $56 where I bought my printer from and they are only 45 minutes from me (assuming Chicago traffic doesn't blow!)

I'll call them in the morning, but who knows.. maybe they will get it to work.  I did notice the SMALLEST (I mean small) bump in the ribbon, maybe there is a small cut in the ribbon causing bad communications with the cartridge.

This all reminds me I need to save up money for the extended maint. package.  I rather spend the $500/yr (I think it's $1500 for extra 3 years on site) than pay for a service call, which I thought someone said was at least $700 for them to come out.

Jim

[karrphoto]

Didn't buy a new head, but I did get conflicting info from HP Support.  

After an hour of being transferred around (got commercial Extra Care support, which I guess is for those who had purchase extended warranties) and back to CS, then to someone else, Warranty is invalid (ugh.. went through this once before.. can't HP keep their s**t straight?) finally got someone who asked me the date on the head, told her, she said she'd send one out.

Once I emailed HP the info AGAIN for my 1 year factory warranty they told me it was shipped with an arrival date of Wed, but I should have someone onsite to fix it tomorrow.   So which is it?  It's only a freakin head.  I can manage replacing that, but to send someone out? OK... it's your dime.   So we'll see if I get a call from HP tomorrow to come over and install a new head.  Feel sorry for that tech if he has to come out here....

[Roscolo]

And there you go. There is the primary problem with HP Support. It's not the support itself, it's getting to the right person. They seem to be aware of the support routing problem, but they don't seem to be able to fix it. So I always advise folks to make absolutely certain you're talking to someone who knows your product and knows it well before you waste too much time.

Also, once you get the right person, write down their name, phone number, extension, etc. to make sure you can find them again and maybe dodge what can be a real drag getting back to the right dept.

Sounds like they have you taken care of.