HP DesignJet Z5400 printing miscolored horizontal bands

[Oryang_88]

Our office plotter has been recently producing miscolored horizontal bands as shown in attached photo (also some diagnostic prints). I've checked the ink cartridges, cleaned and aligned the print heads, cleaned the platen, checked the firmware, but none of this has seemed to help. Any other possible solutions I've missed? 

[Repairatrooper]

Have you performed a media advance calibration? You may need to select a higher print quality setting as well.

[Oryang_88]

Below is the result of the 'Paper Advance Calibration', which did not solve the alternating light and dark bands in parts of the map printed. Highest image quality was selected for every print attempt.

[Oryang_88]

Another example of the alternating miscolored horizontal bands:

[D Hook]

Can you tell us a little bit about what ink supplies you're using?  Are the printheads genuine HP products?

Banding problems can be hard to diagnose since it's difficult to tell which color is missing sometimes.  If it was mine, I'd remove the right cover and closely inspect the service station.  Sometimes some dried ink will accumulate in the service station that can effect the printhead function.  This excess ink buildup can scrape against the printhead and clog the nozzles or even damage them.  

[Oryang_88]

Below is a picture on the ink we are using. Print heads and all other parts are original, genuine HP products. Can you explain where/what the service station is? I'm looking through the manual but not finding anything like that.

[D Hook]

Ok.  Looks like you've got the correct ink supplies.  How old do you estimate the printheads to be?

Usually the operator's manual doesn't go too deep into fixing mechanical issues; just printheads and ink supplies when it comes to trouble shooting banding problems.  So no surprise there's not much info there.

Here is a link to a service manual for your printer:

https://www.laserexpressinc.com/manuals/HP/hp-dsj-t790-t1300-z5400-t2300-service-manual.pdf

It has some procedures for checking for banding solutions as well as removing components and trouble shooting error codes.  Handy to have around.

You can download it and it will show you the procedures for removing the cover and checking the service station on the right hand side.  You'll need some torx head screwdrivers but that's about it.  Pay attention to the procedure for getting the service station out of the way so you can move the carriage manually with the power off.  Or you can start the printer and when you see the carriage move to the center of the printer, unplug it from the back.  That will allow you to access the service station without using the steps outlined in the service manual.  

It's not difficult to remove the cover as the manual should show you where all the screws are located.  One or two might be a little tricky to find.  Take your time, take pictures if you need to so you can reassemble easily.  You might want to wear some vinyl gloves as you'll be encountering ink residue on the service station.

Let us know how you get on.