FB500 Magenta print heads not firing

[Great Signs]

On Friday my FB500 was working fine. I changed the Magenta in to a new box and upon my return on Monday, neither of the 2 Magenta print head are firing in (not even a drop)

• Checked the Thermister... OK
• Did both regular and performance purges... OK
• Emptied and refilled the print heads multiple times... OK
• Did Prime bar test print... No Magenta firing on either head
• Did Jet recovery... Nothing printed
• Changed the Magenta Ink box to an old box... Changed nothing

I'm about to have a heart attack...
Can anyone help?

 

[ABA Visibility Products]

HP has a lot of bad ink. We've had several boxes replaced in the last 6 months. It's a joke. Magenta and black are the two with issues. If the ink has an expiration date in 2020 it's likely the inks.

Call HP whether you're in warranty or not. They'll help you.

 

[greysquirrel]

Pull the box make sure the ink line is not pinched inside cutting off ink flow.
Also, did you prime the ink box filter before installing? Ink should be flowing before you plug into the printer. You would not know that either of these are an issue until you run through all the ink in the lines.

 

[ikarasu]

On Friday my FB500 was working fine. I changed the Magenta in to a new box and upon my return on Monday, neither of the 2 Magenta print head are firing in (not even a drop)

• Checked the Thermister... OK
• Did both regular and performance purges... OK
• Emptied and refilled the print heads multiple times... OK
• Did Prime bar test print... No Magenta firing on either head
• Did Jet recovery... Nothing printed
• Changed the Magenta Ink box to an old box... Changed nothing

I'm about to have a heart attack...
Can anyone help?

As others have mentioned, the ink is likely bad... especially since its the magenta which theyre having lots of issues with.

Talk to NDgraphics... they sell Nazdar ink in your area, after we switched not a single issue with ink... before hand we were sending boxes back every week... their new boxes arrived, worked for 30% of a box and we had to send that one back... the free ink was nice, but the few day wait for ink was killer...and we couldnt drop $500 on a new thing of ink everytime it went bad.... the techs suggested a switch, so we did. Unfortunately grimco isnt allowed to sell non hp branded ink apparently... but nd does and its great.

When you switch ink boxes, you have to do 3 head empty / fills in order to get the new ink into the head. It's likely the old ink is still in your lines and thats why the old box isn't working anymore.

 

[dasigndr]

Pull the box make sure the ink line is not pinched inside cutting off ink flow.
Also, did you prime the ink box filter before installing? Ink should be flowing before you plug into the printer. You would not know that either of these are an issue until you run through all the ink in the lines.

I have had this happen many, many times and it has ALWAYS been a pinched line in the ink box!

 

[Great Signs]

On Friday my FB500 was working fine. I changed the Magenta in to a new box and upon my return on Monday, neither of the 2 Magenta print head are firing in (not even a drop)

• Checked the Thermister... OK
• Did both regular and performance purges... OK
• Emptied and refilled the print heads multiple times... OK
• Did Prime bar test print... No Magenta firing on either head
• Did Jet recovery... Nothing printed
• Changed the Magenta Ink box to an old box... Changed nothing

I'm about to have a heart attack...
Can anyone help?

Thank you everyone for your quick reply... My service tech from Grimco advised me to replace the ink as he believes it to be bad. I am well aware that Black, Magenta and sometimes yellow are very problematic. I just find that the fact that both Magenta heads are not firing AT ALL (Not a drop when doing a prime bar test or jet recovery) is odd. I have had ink issues as mentioned but never like this one.
Also the Magenta Print heads were changed to new print heads about 6 months ago.

I have heard of the Nazdar ink... is it really safe to use... Non OEM ink always scares the heck our of me since it pretty much destroyed one of my Rolland printers a few years ago.

 

[Great Signs]

As others have mentioned, the ink is likely bad... especially since its the magenta which theyre having lots of issues with.

Talk to NDgraphics... they sell Nazdar ink in your area, after we switched not a single issue with ink... before hand we were sending boxes back every week... their new boxes arrived, worked for 30% of a box and we had to send that one back... the free ink was nice, but the few day wait for ink was killer...and we couldnt drop $500 on a new thing of ink everytime it went bad.... the techs suggested a switch, so we did. Unfortunately grimco isnt allowed to sell non hp branded ink apparently... but nd does and its great.

When you switch ink boxes, you have to do 3 head empty / fills in order to get the new ink into the head. It's likely the old ink is still in your lines and thats why the old box isn't working anymore.

Thanks Ikarasu... I know this bad ink issue is a real inconvenience especially for a smaller shop owner. to be shut down due to bad ink for a couple of days at a time is not right...
Is Nazdar ink less expensive than the HP FB250 inks... HP is also killing us with the cost of their inks especially considering how much ends up in the waste ink bottle.

 

[dasigndr]

Yes I waste a lot of ink!
I estimate that I waste at least half my inks.
I run an FB750.

at over $600 CDN per "supposed" 3 litre box.

I just checked and I am at least 12litres of waste ink in the last 2 months.
That is over $2500 in the garbage!!

 

[Great Signs]

Yes I waste a lot of ink!
I estimate that I waste at least half my inks.
I run an FB750.

at over $600 CDN per "supposed" 3 litre box.

I just checked and I am at least 12litres of waste ink in the last 2 months.
That is over $2500 in the garbage!!

I hear Ya. Like I said I am a smaller shop and that truly hurts the pocket book... HP has it all figured out... High cost ink, 50% -70% going to waste... time to start considering a new flatbed printer...lol

 

[Rohit Prasad]

On Friday my FB500 was working fine. I changed the Magenta in to a new box and upon my return on Monday, neither of the 2 Magenta print head are firing in (not even a drop)

• Checked the Thermister... OK
• Did both regular and performance purges... OK
• Emptied and refilled the print heads multiple times... OK
• Did Prime bar test print... No Magenta firing on either head
• Did Jet recovery... Nothing printed
• Changed the Magenta Ink box to an old box... Changed nothing

I'm about to have a heart attack...
Can anyone help?

Sounds like an ink line issue. Track and check the lines all the way from the box to the head. It could be pinched/cracked inside the tracks....but that would cause a visible leak somewhere along the lines.

 

[Great Signs]

Sounds like an ink line issue. Track and check the lines all the way from the box to the head. It could be pinched/cracked inside the tracks....but that would cause a visible leak somewhere along the lines.

I have already checked that.
Ink is getting to the resivoir and into the print heads because I have done multiple fill and empty cycles...
neither of the print heads are firing any ink at all... 0... Nada

 

[Great Signs]

OK so just to update.
I have installed a NEW ink box... emptied and refilled the print heads 3 times and still nothing. Ink is getting to the reservoir and the print head but the Magenta heads still print nothing... tried jet recovery, purges, prime bars ect.
Is there a way or a test to see if the Magenta heads are even working?

 

[Rohit Prasad]

OK so just to update.
I have installed a NEW ink box... emptied and refilled the print heads 3 times and still nothing. Ink is getting to the reservoir and the print head but the Magenta heads still print nothing... tried jet recovery, purges, prime bars ect.
Is there a way or a test to see if the Magenta heads are even working?

When you empty and fill do you see ink dripping out of the magenta heads?
Whats the on head reservoir status? Does anything look out of wack for the Magenta heads?
Voltage for those particular heads?

 

[greysquirrel]

you can print solid fields of magenta from individual heads go to print tests under service

 

[greysquirrel]

Yes I waste a lot of ink!
I estimate that I waste at least half my inks.
I run an FB750.

at over $600 CDN per "supposed" 3 litre box.

I just checked and I am at least 12litres of waste ink in the last 2 months.
That is over $2500 in the garbage!!

What are you doing that your printer wastes that much ink, cleaning after every pass? If you switch from white to 6/c and back you burn 130ml per head. A normal purge is 5ml of ink, a performance is 15ml. Is your printer set to performance? There is actually more than 3 liters in every box to account for a service tech or vacuum not working causing print head to drip ink. Not too sure what you are doing...

 

[Great Signs]

When you empty and fill do you see ink dripping out of the magenta heads?
Whats the on head reservoir status? Does anything look out of wack for the Magenta heads?
Voltage for those particular heads?

Yes there is ink drops coming out of the head... not air filled but solid droplets

On PG 7 of the stystem Status it shows normal for the Magenta on both the ink and air

Voltage for both also show as OK and in comparison to the others is the same as well

 

[signman315]

Another thing I've seen is the filter that comes attached to the new box of ink is clogged before ever being installed/used. Disconnect the ink box and on the filter connected to the end of the line on the ink box has a little white "nipple". That nipple can be pressed in, allowing the ink to flow out. If the ink doesn't easily run out while that nipple is pressed then the filter is clogged OR your ink has gelled and is too thick to get through the filter. Also if this gelled ink has made it's way into your lines then you need to flush the lines...I've been able to do a half crap flush of the lines by simply installing a good ink cartridge and filling/purging the heads repeatedly (like 3 or 4 fills and like 10 purges, ballpark-ish) eventually the gelled ink is expelled and it starts working well...of course if that is indeed the problem....

 

[Great Signs]

Hello Everyone.
Just to up date you... it was bad ink... go figure...
Hard to believe that the bad ink would completely stop the flow of ink 100% from both print heads.
New ink has been installed and everything is back on the road to normal until the next batch of bad ink...
SHAME on HP for selling this crap.

Thanks to everyone for your help and advice.

Stay Safe
Dennis

 

[signman315]

Thanks for the update Dennis, yeah HP has had bad ink issues a lot lately. Definitely a shame, they take care of it, but a lot of lost time and stress that you never get back. Glad you got it figured out, cheers