Z3100ps 44"-with APS-4 years light usage. Unused service contract. Need Advice

[Edhopkins]

We bought a 3 year service contract to add to the 1 year warranty that came with the printer. This service contract expires this October.  We had the pinch wheel/star wheel upgrade done back in 2008 and have not had the service people out since. 

In truth, we have not done anything to the printer other than change ink cartridges and dust the top.  We have left it powered on the entire time.

We have been following this forum for years and following what we understood to be Ernst's advice--in the Wide_Inkjet_Printers forum on Yahoo, we have left the machine running on Leopard: it works fine. we are not going to upgrade it. (The upgrade to Leopard was a horror show.)

Over this period we have made about 500 44 x 32 prints.

The printer seems to be working perfectly.

According to the service manual for this printer we will not need the "Preventive Maintenance Kit#1"--new belt, etc--until we do approximately 100,000 A0 prints.  So at the rate we are using the printer, we will be long dead before we reach this point.

Questions:

We are going to ask the people who hold the service contract to come out and do "preventive maintenance" before the contract is up.  What should we ask them to do other than clean and lubricate the guide rails, clean printhead service station, carriage, and contacts and look around for premature wear and failure?  Are there things that wear out just because of age and not because of usage?

We are thinking of not getting another service contract and hoping that the printer continues to function as it has been or that any needed repairs can be done by us or by a modestly priced service call. If the printer needs expensive work, we probably would just upgrade to a newer printer rather than put more money into this one.

What are we missing? Any advice or suggestions would be appreciated.

Dottie and Ed


We are cross posting this on the Wide_Inkjet_Printers forum on Yahoo. That is the other forum we have lived by the last four years.

[William Chitham]

According to the service manual for this printer we will not need the "Preventive Maintenance Kit#1"--new belt, etc--until we do approximately 100,000 A0 prints.  So at the rate we are using the printer, we will be long dead before we reach this point.

From my own experience I think the service manual is pretty optimistic here; you should have a good look at the drive belt and maybe replace it as a matter of course - it isn't a very expensive part and there are lots of posts on the forums about relatively lightly used 4 year old printers with worn or failed belts. Also check for ink spillage from the left side spittoon, particularly if it is the older type with the metal retaining plate on top. They seem prone to leaking red ink which finds its way onto the drive roller gear train and the star wheel lifter which may fail as a result.

[kaelaria]

+1 to that - odds are the belt is going to fail at a tiny percentage of that figure, based on many other's reports and my own.

[neil snape]

The mechanical parts such as the carriage belt, hard drive, capping station , none will reach 100,000 prints.

With the decreasing value of the printers over their life , it doesn't make sense to renew service contracts on equipment that is of low residual value.

I'd say manually clean the cap station, keep an eye out for the carriage belt disintegrating, and hoep for the best with the rest of the gear.

[Damir]

Replace the drive belt - it is easy to understand that after 4 years rubber will lost quality wheather you print or not, it is a matter of fact.

Proper way to read manual is approx. 100 000 prints or 4 years - which comes first