Lexmark Z52 problem

[Theophylact]

I changed the black ink cartridge and ran the alignment and jet-cleaning routines; everything was fine. Then I changed the color cartridge and kablooey! The computer can't print to the printer at all, even to do the alignment tests.

I keep getting an error signal: two blinks of the power light, which the miserable excuse for a manual informs me is "cartridge carrier stalled" or words to that effect. The suggested cure is turning the printer off for a while, then turning it back on. No such luck; turn the printer on, and the cartridge carrier zips back and forth once, slams hard against the left side and stays there.

Lexmark's web-based technical support didn't seem to be working at all last night; it produced no hits for "cartridge" or "carrier"!

Anybody have experience with this problem?

[LDGifts.com]

Did you by chance move the cartridge carrier at all during installation? I have had this problem before, and all I had to do was move the cartridge back into place so that it didn't beat against the side. Try moving the cartridge manually to the right. It might work. Hope this helps!

[Theophylact]

Nope; tried that, with and without power; tried moving the belt; tried disconnecting all cables; tried without cartridges in the carrier. No dice.

[Theophylact]

Update: Athough Lexmark no longer provides phone-based support for this model (except under warranty), they do have e-mail support. I queried them with the symptoms and got this reply:

The encoder strip is most likely the problem. Unplug the power from the printer. Open the front cover and move the cartridge carrier to the center. You should see a white ribbon cable, a thin plastic strip, and a black belt with teeth. The thin plastic strip is the encoder strip. It rides in a sensor on the back of the cartridge carrier that you will not be able to see. Reach in with the first finger of either hand and carefully strum the strip as if playing a guitar. The strip will need to be lowered slightly and brought towards you slightly. Be careful not to break the strip or your printer will need to be replaced (only under warranty). Once you believe the strip is set correctly, plug the power back and try printing the self test.

In fact, this cured the problem.

[kazzie]

Knowing from where the 'encoder strip' fell out from helped solve my problem. Took the printer appart, inserted the strip and it plays like a charm. Lexmark's 17 cent an hour teck support would only tell me It would have to be repaired by Lexmark, not where the strip fell out from. Since it wasn't broken at the holes, putting it back in solved my problem. It comes appart real easy, since it's been fixed many times, by me. Thanks again Theophylact. Kaz Sokolowski