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From: DaveC on 27 Jan 2010 23:56
I'm trying to troubleshoot an error with an HP ink jet printer (Photosmart
3210) that says "Ink System Failure". All other components seem functional.

In the printer there is a small PCB with a few soldered components that
appear to sense ink flow or pressure. It is in series with the pump output.

<http://i48.tinypic.com/o8xz84.jpg>

<http://i49.tinypic.com/r76kib.jpg>

How does this work? Are these 6 LEDs and photodiodes? Just detecting the
presence of ink doesn't seem likely. Wouldn't movement or pressure be what is
detected?

What does this PCB do and how does it do it?

Thanks.

From: DaveC on 28 Jan 2010 00:24
Upon closer examination:

<http://i50.tinypic.com/2vdoa4m.jpg>

it looks like the printer controller is testing for continuity of the ink.
Could this be a simple presence / absence of ink in these tubes? I suspect
that some ink residue has built up on some of these tiny probes which may be
indicating no ink and generating this error.

Ideas?

Thanks.

From: pimpom on 28 Jan 2010 04:37
DaveC wrote:
> I'm trying to troubleshoot an error with an HP ink jet printer
> (Photosmart 3210) that says "Ink System Failure". All other
> components seem functional.
>
> In the printer there is a small PCB with a few soldered
> components
> that appear to sense ink flow or pressure. It is in series with
> the
> pump output.
>
> <http://i48.tinypic.com/o8xz84.jpg>
>
> <http://i49.tinypic.com/r76kib.jpg>
>
> How does this work? Are these 6 LEDs and photodiodes? Just
> detecting
> the presence of ink doesn't seem likely. Wouldn't movement or
> pressure be what is detected?
>
> What does this PCB do and how does it do it?
>
> Thanks.

If you're talking about the tiny black rectangular parts numbered
R1-R6, they are resistors.


From: TheM on 28 Jan 2010 05:01
"pimpom" <pimpom(a)invalid.invalid> wrote in message news:hjrlta$a6r$1(a)news.albasani.net...
> DaveC wrote:
>> I'm trying to troubleshoot an error with an HP ink jet printer
>> (Photosmart 3210) that says "Ink System Failure". All other
>> components seem functional.
>>
>> In the printer there is a small PCB with a few soldered components
>> that appear to sense ink flow or pressure. It is in series with the
>> pump output.
>>
>> <http://i48.tinypic.com/o8xz84.jpg>
>>
>> <http://i49.tinypic.com/r76kib.jpg>
>>
>> How does this work? Are these 6 LEDs and photodiodes? Just detecting
>> the presence of ink doesn't seem likely. Wouldn't movement or
>> pressure be what is detected?
>>
>> What does this PCB do and how does it do it?
>>
>> Thanks.
>
> If you're talking about the tiny black rectangular parts numbered R1-R6, they are resistors.

I had a HP inkjet fax with several hundred MB of driver bloatware.
It refused to print B/W fax and complained colour cartridge was empty.
It has a separate B/W cartridge that was full. Sounds like their firmware
and software was written by sales people.

M


From: John Gilmer on 28 Jan 2010 09:15

>
> I had a HP inkjet fax with several hundred MB of driver bloatware.
> It refused to print B/W fax and complained colour cartridge was empty.
> It has a separate B/W cartridge that was full. Sounds like their firmware
> and software was written by sales people.

I have a Kodak printer in which the "print head" is a separate assemply from
the ink carts.

I note that there is a "chip" in each cartridge that, I ASSume, has a serial
number.

I just printed out a test page in which the cartriges 20 digit serial number
is printed.

The software also knows have many cartiidges of each type it has used and
the number of drops of ink (of each color) for this set of ink cartridges
AND for the print heads.

Part of that "bloatware" seems to be to get you to spring for a new
cartridge when the software "decides" it should be low on ink rather than
waiting for the user to decide. That seems to be a wave of the future.
(Lexmart cartridges for newer printers also seem to be "smart."

Re-cyclers can re-fill the cartridges since you are unlikely to get your
old cartridge back.

But if you just put more ink into your own cartridge, the software (which
tracks serial numbers) will still refuse to use it.

Were I not so lazy I would run experiments in which I would, for example,
switch "id chips" between a black cartridge and a color cartridge. Or
re-install the driver software to see whether the memory of the old
cartridges has been extinguished.




>
> M
>
>


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