HP800w latex white ink (wa)consumption.

[Th3Ex3cutiv3]

We have been running some white prints on clear vinyl.

We have noticed the consumption seemed quite high. Today after running a couple (est.) 573ml white print on a new cartridge, the printer showed white as empty. Ripped open the ink box to reveal that wa bag was empty and wb bag is full. Is this as simple as switching something to pull ink from the second bag? We have had this printer about two months and only recently worked up the courage to dive into white prints as initial setup/tutorial was horrendous from dealer.

 

[balstestrat]

Edit: Sorry this is for L700W for anyone else in need.

If the printer shows cartridge empty but there is still loads of ink in the ink mix, either you have a problem that you should look into or you have had some issue before that made that happen.
If everything is working correctly it will simply consume all the ink from both cartridges and then ask you to replace the W one.

It's very bad if you have a full ink mix and then you insert a full W cartridge. The system can't recirculate and it's going to be fucked in the long run.

My advice, throw away that ink mix and replace it with a new one. But it must be done with a full W cartridge at the same time.

Those can be cycled in the diagnostics but nothing will recover a cartridge marked "empty" by the system.

 

[greysquirrel]

you are under warranty. don't pay for another box of ink until you speak with HP directly. Have them service your printer if your dealer was not able to train you properly. Inform them about your training they will send an HP trainer in to assist.

 

[chrisphilipps]

The 800W moves the ink from the A side to the B side and then back to the A side once a day. If for whatever reason this gets interrupted it may stay in the B side but it will fix its self on the next circulation. The printer should print properly in either case. Was the printer giving you an error message.

 

[Th3Ex3cutiv3]

Forgive my ignorance! When you say throw away ink mix, can you clarify? I’m not sure if there is “loads of ink in the ink mix.” Nor how to determine that.

 

[Th3Ex3cutiv3]

you are under warranty. don't pay for another box of ink until you speak with HP directly. Have them service your printer if your dealer was not able to train you properly. Inform them about your training they will send an HP trainer in to assist.

I’m not even sure how to contact them. It’s been a couple of days, already ran through 3 hours with dealer.

 

[balstestrat]

Ohh dang. I completely mixed up your L800W for L700W so forget that!

But the same idea, if it says it's empty but you still have ink left, you have a problem that you need to fix.

 

[Th3Ex3cutiv3]

Ohh dang. I completely mixed up your L800W for L700W so forget that!

But the same idea, if it says it's empty but you still have ink left, you have a problem that you need to fix.

It says it’s empty. We have a full bag inside the cartridge. Have already ran through all diagnostics with tech support shows no issue. I am now concerned that we only get to use 1/3 of the ink we are paying for & that we only had the 1 brand new cartridge and grimco says 10 days to replace it.

 

[Th3Ex3cutiv3]

The 800W moves the ink from the A side to the B side and then back to the A side once a day. If for whatever reason this gets interrupted it may stay in the B side but it will fix its self on the next circulation. The printer should print properly in either case. Was the printer giving you an error message.

Unfortunately we can’t even try to continue to print to see if it corrects itself.

 

[Th3Ex3cutiv3]

Is there a manual override to bring ink from wb to wa within the service menu?

 

[balstestrat]

Is there a manual override to bring ink from wb to wa within the service menu?

Yes But it won't do anything with empty cartridge. Just warranty it and forget.

 

[Th3Ex3cutiv3]

Bumping this back up. We now have to warranty every box of ink as we have yet to have this problem solved. We are consuming somewhere between 25-30% of our white ink boxes and then they show empty. Once in a while we can unplug the cartridge (when it shows empty) and have it then reset to what we estimate as the proper number. If we do this once however, we can’t do it again the next time.

Eg: shows 0 ink remaining after running a 4 ft print on fresh box/cartridge. Unplug and reconnect, shows 97%. Run 4ft print, shows 0 ink remaining. Disconnect and reconnect shows 0. Warranty phone call.

 

[balstestrat]

I would call up HP hopefully they take your explanation and ask to replace the white connectors and recirculation unit. Like it's not normal you obviously have some problem.

My best guess is on the pressure sensor in the circulation system.