HELP!! L25500 asking for ink cart resets... 10 times... and counting :)

[iSign]

Hi all... hope ya don't mind if I snuck off for the better part of a year, without so much as an "Aloha", and then crawl back like nothing ever happened when I need something...

ya don't? COOL!!

here's the deal.... I'll start by noting that I haven't been using my latex printer that much, so I haven't changed ink cartridges very often yet. As a result, I wasn't really sure what to expect from the various "ink low" messages when I got a ink-low warning on my black cartridge yesterday right before I started about 400 sq. ft of full coverage prints, mostly a dark navy blue color... so I assumed I would need to be changing it soon... but I got through that 400 sq. ft without running out.

...so today I needed to start another 400 sq. ft. or so, & I wanted to have 1/3 of that run unattended while I ran some errands... and the "ink low" message was now an "ink VERY low" message... so I decide to navigate to the ink menu & choose change cartridge...

..well, after a dozen times re-seating the cartridge (in and around re-starting Flexi, and later rebooting the entire system)... I finally gave up & shut down again to run my errands with no prints running.

When I got back, I decided maybe my mistake was trying to swap a cart. that hadn't given me an actual "spent cart. notice", so I put back the old black cart. Surprisingly, it looked like I would be able to run for a while using that "VERY low" one (In fact I have just finished running another 200 sq. ft.without the black running out!) ...well, just when I started up the printer, it now says "re-seat Magenta" which I tried & failed at, for ten attempts...

so, anyway it's great to be squeaking by and not needing a new cartridge too soon, but when I need the black cartridge, I can imagine it giving me that error again. I hope not of course, but I thought I'd ask if anyone else get's these "cartridge re-seating required" messages?

any tricks for resolving the issue besides returning & replacing the cartridges?

 

[ProColorGraphics]

Sometimes you get a bad cartridge. It happens. If it is still in its warranty period, HP will replace it. They replaced one for me that might have had 50ml left with a brand new one after it threw an error.

 

[P Wagner]

There are copper contacts on the back of the cartridge which can get dirty. Sometimes cleaning them (with a clean eraser like on a pencil) will clean the contacts and allow the cartridge to seat. Worth a try before calling HP support...

 

[Tim Aucoin]

Yep... what they both said! Has happened to me a couple times and it was a faulty cartridge. HP replaced them PROMPTLY and didn't even require the old ones to be returned. I still have a full "faulty" Cyan cartridge sitting on my shelf that I can't use. Too bad!! :Sleeping:

I'd call HP Doug... make it their problem.

 

[iSign]

thanks guys
I have a new set of inks on order, and my "very low" black ink is still firing... but what seemed really odd is the way the printer decided to start griping about the Magenta cartridge out of nowhere... that one wasn't even low, and hadn't been touched by me in many months... so that makes me suspect the printer instead of the ink cartridge... but I'll keep this thread updated

 

[GB2]

Hey Doug...I've been wondering where you've been....so in addition to the very real possibility of having a faulty cartridge or cleaning the contacts, the other thing I would suggest is taking the cartridges and shake...shake...shake! This also is my best suggestion for print heads before installation or if you are having issues with any of them. I don't know what the deal is, pigment that settles or what, but shaking those cartridges and print heads seems to work wonders.

 

[iSign]

thanks Gary. I almost thought that worked.... the last 50 times I tried to re-seat it, I got no response whatsoever on the key pad... but after shaking (and cleaning contacts again) I got it to go on to another screen in the boot-up process after the 're-seat cart" screen... so I was seconds away from doing a happy dance (and doing a boatload of backed up jobs) ...but then the recurring nightmare message popped up again

 

[ddarlak]

call hp

 

[Christian @ 2CT Media]

Have you tried doing a EEPROM reset?

 

[Christian @ 2CT Media]

While off Hold Cancel and UP then hold the Power button until you hear the beep. Immediately let go of all 3.

Once the service menu starts up its option 2 sub-option 10.

This will clear the EEPROMs and reset to factory. Sometimes Ink Cartridge data gets corrupted and this will clear the corruption.

If you are on the newest firmware, you may have to access this through the Connectivity Service menu.

 

[iSign]

Like Tim and ProColor were saying, Advantage sign confirmed for me that while it is not exactly "common" for any one individual to see this often, it IS quite a familiar situation to them, and they are quite sure having HP overnight a new cartridge is all I will need to do... and I have a whole set of inks arriving sometime tomorrow anyway... but I would still be great if I could print some jobs tonight!

Have you tried doing a EEPROM reset?

nope... never heard of that... thanks for the details
(just editing now, as I walked away from my reply window & didn't see your second post until I posted)

 

[Tim Aucoin]

Hopefully the new set of inks work for you... that would be the ultimate solution of course! Let us know what happens for sure.

I have never heard of the EEPROM reset either... gotta keep that in my notes for future reference!

 

[Christian @ 2CT Media]

Did the new cartridge fix your issues?

 

[iSign]

The new cartridge did work, so I suppose I could say it fixed my issue...

..but I think I mentioned above that I had a short lived oddity that I found disturbing, when out of the blue, right after powering down, and up again to try to get the black cartridge issue resolved... an identical
"re-seat cartridge" error popped up for the Magenta which hasn't
been touched in months..

so, that was weird, but at least it resolved itself quickly & easily... but now my cyan cart is low, and I was on the phone with HP because it has taken my 3 calls to get someone who could understand that I wanted a replacement for a bad cartridge.. after a string of clueless losers that don't seem to known the difference between a 60" L25500, and an 8-1/2" x 11' desktop printer... today I finally got my free replacement on it's way (I just had a whole set shipped from Advantage as soon as I could, deciding to deal with HP later)

...anyway, in the call to get my cartridge replacement (after losing it on the previous idiot who asked me "would I be interested in just replacing the printer instead?") I asked the technician about these cartridge chip failures, and mentioned that having my Cyan showing "low" now made me nervous about the whole issue I had just been through... so, hew says why don't you just put in the new one while I am here on the phone with you, so I did that: "re-seat cartridge" ..and tried to re-seat it 3 or 4 times.. and then he says put back the "low" one.. SAME DAMN THING!! ...so then I tell him I had just purchased a second set of inks & I have another full cyan ink... so he wants to try that out.. SAME THING AGAIN!!

At this point I power down, and power up again, and now it recognizes the new ink... so I don't dare try to install & use up the ink in the old one... not when I have printing I need to be doing anyway... but the guy is sending me a new Cyan cartridge too now..

TGIF

 

[jasonx]

We had a problem once where the retaining clip that holds the ink cartridge assembly wasn't letting the cartridges make full contact with the chip when inserted. But this meant we had reseat with all the carts on that side where the clip was broken.

 

[iSign]

We had a problem once where the retaining clip that holds the ink cartridge assembly wasn't letting the cartridges make full contact with the chip when inserted. But this meant we had reseat with all the carts on that side where the clip was broken.

very interesting... so this assembly is one assembly for all 6 carts? ...and is held in place with perhaps as little as 2 clips, inside the printer?... that kinda makes sense...

 

[jasonx]

very interesting... so this assembly is one assembly for all 6 carts? ...and is held in place with perhaps as little as 2 clips, inside the printer?... that kinda makes sense...

Yep these clips hold that plastic assembly the cartridges go into. There is one clip on each side. So one of our clips are broken cause the one side of the assembly to be pushed slightly backwards.

If you undo the side cover you'll clearly see if there was a problem. I simply put a clamp on it until HP could come out and replace it.

 

[GB2]

OK, so I don't want to hijack this thread but, since we are talking about HP L25500 cartridge issues...I wonder if anyone has ever had a problem with swollen cartridges? It's happened to me a few times where the cartridge just swells up and it takes everything I've got to yank it out. Fortunately, no problem or damage has occured because of it but someday it might and it's just strange how this happens. Anyone have any thoughts or solutions?

 

[HulkSmash]

OK, so I don't want to hijack this thread but, since we are talking about HP L25500 cartridge issues...I wonder if anyone has ever had a problem with swollen cartridges? It's happened to me a few times where the cartridge just swells up and it takes everything I've got to yank it out. Fortunately, no problem or damage has occured because of it but someday it might and it's just strange how this happens. Anyone have any thoughts or solutions?

interesting, Sounds like air got into it some how.

 

[kanini]

I guess these printers works the same way as the other Designjets, e.g. the printer pressurizes the carts to get ink out. When they are empty they have a lot of air in them and are therefore more swollen. If you look at the edge of the cart that goes in the printer there's one valve for ink and one valve for air. It shouldn't be any problem to get them out though, sounds strange...