During a recent printing session, my Z3200 declared an “86:01 paper jam” error. Looking into the printer, I quickly realized that the carriage belt had gone slack. I replaced the OEM carriage belt a number of years ago with a very high-quality belt from LPS Computer, so I was quite sure the belt had not broken. A quick examination of the carriage belt path revealed that the belt tensioner had failed. More specifically, the shaft which holds the pulley had failed.

Belt Tensioner Pulley Failure

What to do? Obviously order a replacement part, but it would take several days to arrive, and my printer would be unavailable in the interim. So, I decided to repair the broken shaft. Past experience suggested that merely gluing the shaft back together would not work. I believe the shaft is ABS … Read More »

HP Z3200 Photo Printer Scan Axis Drive Belt Replacement:

I recently had to replace the Scan Axis Drive Belt (otherwise known as the carriage belt) in my HP Z3200 Photo Printer. I use the printer several times per week, but the print volumes I do are relatively light, so the belt did not “wear” out. Instead, the elastomer (rubber) component of the belt which binds the Kevlar strands together began to deteriorate and eventually disintegrated completely. Not only did this affect the Scan Axis alignment (see first image below) but it also left innumerable rubber crumbs throughout the paper path. I successfully replaced the belt and cleaned up the paper path and internals with a minimum of trouble, as well as replacing the noisy (howling) power supply fan. I should point out that I do have considerable background … Read More »