Fb500 shop vac

[Notarealsignguy]

I don't think it was nefarious, most of the parts inside the HP flatbed are Chinese. If I recall it even uses the 220 volt Chinese plug, it's not just wires.

I believe there is 120 volt on the machine in addition to the 240 volt, but the way the machine tells the vacuum to go on is by giving it power, it's an automatic on/off system not a manual one.so swapping it over likely won't work... Unless you get really fancy with the wiring.

I think the best bet is to buy a 220 to 110 step down for very cheap and to use that. The only unknown is if the flap it will complain about the suction being different or if it somehow measures the amperage/voltage to turn the vacuum power up and down

Definitely interested to see how the step-down goes, so make sure you post your reply when you get it tested!

Step down should work without any real worries but based on the stuff I have here at my shop, the controllers only switch 1 leg of the 240. Even if it did both, you would have physically removed the second and put it on the neutral so power would still be switched. Don't get me wrong here, I'm not saying I am right or that it should be done this way. That's just have I have used 120v parts in place of 240. Going back to OEM is the easiest way if the part is available. Might sting a little but theres no fiddling around required.

 

[ikarasu]

The fb500/700 is no longer being sold. I think it was 4(maybe 5?!) Years ago we got an alert saying after 5 years they would no longer make parts. That's why we got rid of ours...

We looked into a step down before because the vacuum table on the FB sucks. You can't close a section off... So when printing 24x36 or smaller signs the hold down wasn't so good... We figured we could throw a better shop vac in and get better results. But after the discontinued email.... We decided it wasn't worth screwing with and offloaded it and got a true flatbed.

To me... That's the biggest advantage, not saving a few hundred on a shop vac... But putting a bigger one in for better hold down

 

[balstestrat]

The fb500/700 is no longer being sold. I think it was 4(maybe 5?!) Years ago we got an alert saying after 5 years they would no longer make parts. That's why we got rid of ours...

We looked into a step down before because the vacuum table on the FB sucks. You can't close a section off... So when printing 24x36 or smaller signs the hold down wasn't so good... We figured we could throw a better shop vac in and get better results. But after the discontinued email.... We decided it wasn't worth screwing with and offloaded it and got a true flatbed.

To me... That's the biggest advantage, not saving a few hundred on a shop vac... But putting a bigger one in for better hold down

Isn't the shop vac just for printhead purge...? I don't think it has anything to do with the table vacuum.
I don't really know FB but to me it sounded like it was just running the vac for cleaning...

 

[ikarasu]

Maybe... I didn't Tinker with it too much. I was just a lowly print operator back then and didn't dare to take apart the machines. I think we got rid of it 8 months after I got into the business.

I was always curious, and we have a good relationship with our techs so I watched most repairs and asked a million questions, probably annoyed the crap out of them.

I know it uses a regular computer PSU box, with just a couple different wires that you can easily splice from a regular power supply.. it's a cheap Chinese brand and they charge almost $600 for that as well.

I always figured the vacuum must be for the table, and figured that was why the suction on the table sucked. But I am probably completely misguided, and it is probably just for purging

I presumed that it just uses the ink pump to push the ink through

 

[Nik Ingram]

I have purged 4 times and so far with no errors. Also have tested a handful of times with the vacuum test on the machine. Got the 1000W step down on Amazon for $59 and used the Craftsman $35 2.5 gallon wet dry vac (smallest I could find) from Lowes since the original one was 8L. Had to wire the plug from the shop vac onto the step down to work with the end on the printer, they do sell the same plug at Lowes, but didn't see it till after I wired it. Wasn't any big deal since the shop vac was burnt up anyway.

Here are the links:
Step Down: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07XQ5WYF7?psc=1&ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_product_details
Vac: https://www.lowes.com/pd/CRAFTSMAN-2-5-Gallon-Corded-Portable-Wet-Dry-Shop-Vacuum-Corded/5013057707

If all goes well, I will probably check it in 6 months, because the old one was burnt up and I read somewhere that someone's caught on fire. I purchased this machine used about 4 months ago so not sure if it has been changed before, but I am guessing so based on what I have read. I added white ink to the machine and it purges a lot and I don't want it to catch on fire at night or weekends when no one is here. Seems like the machine trashes more white ink than it actually prints. Seems about as half baked as using a $35 shop vac and charging $550 for it.

Also, does anyone know where to get the printheads for the HP750 that are not thru HP? I think I read they are a Richo Gen 3 printhead? Can anyone confirm or share where you get? Seems like they are close to $2k thru HP.

This is incredible! I just ordered one! Thanks for the tips.

P.S. I have some heads I can sell you pretty cheap that you would want to get global garage to recover for you. I bought two printers for parts and couldn’t get them home, doll so I just took the whole carriages on both.

I wanted them for the heads anyways.

 

[Haimduek]

Yes the FB550 FB500 FB750 FB700 are using a 240 volts 2 phase much like a dryer plug. The computer system is running on 110V

 

[Rohit Prasad]

Isn't the shop vac just for printhead purge...? I don't think it has anything to do with the table vacuum.
I don't really know FB but to me it sounded like it was just running the vac for cleaning...

The shop vac is only for the print head purge at the cleaning station. Nothing to do with the vacuum table.

 

[MCaruthers]

I know this post is old, but wanted to put this info out there in case someone searched for this info like I did. The shop vac on my FB550 went out. I was not successful at finding a cheaper version of the 240 volt shop vac that I could get in the US. Still, I was too cheap to buy one from HP for an enormous price. I decided to find a replacment motor instead. I found one on Amazon that was very close in size and matched the specs of the motor in the shop vac. It is used in a central vac system which is why it is 240 volt. The one I bought off Amazon was 1/2" taller, so it left a 1/2" gap when I put the top and bottom side of the vac back together, but it did not affect the performance of the vacuum. The cost of the vac motor is $142 and it took me about 30 minutes to replace it. Here is that part number if anyone needs it.

Ametek Lamb 5.7 Inch 240 Volt 2 Stage Ball Bearing Motor 116110-01​