HP Designjet Z6100 Printer series - Manual (Page 84)

Interpret the Printhead status plot
The print is divided into two parts, both of which test printhead performance.
● Part 1 (top) consists of rectangles of pure colors, one for each printhead. This part represents the
print quality that you will get from each color.
● Part 2 (bottom) consists of small dashes, one for each nozzle on each printhead. This part
complements the first, and detects how many faulty nozzles are on each printhead.
First look at the top part of the print. Each colored rectangle should be a uniform color without any
horizontal lines across it.
Then look at the bottom part of the print. For each individual colored pattern, make sure that most of the
dashes are present.
If you see horizontal lines in the top part and also see missing dashes in the bottom part for the same
color, the printhead for that color needs to be cleaned. However, if the rectangles look solid, do not worry
about a few missing dashes in the bottom part, because the printer can compensate for a few clogged
nozzles.
The graphic shown illustrates printhead 2 in a bad state:
72 Chapter 5 Handle the ink system
Ha
nd
le the
ink sys
tem