L25500 dirty print. Started 2 days ago

[Dennis422]

Hello everyone. I wonder if someone knows a solution on how to fix this.
I tried to do a printhead clean, and then did a test print, everything seemed fine after I did that. Started printing again, and it happened again.
It was kind of late last night so I just cancelled the print.

Is there anything more I could do before I start printing again. (except printhead clean in the command menu)

Thanks

 

[jawdavis]

Depending on how much ink you've run through the printheads, may be time for a change. If you can isolate it to a particular color, then perhaps only change that set of heads. If you start seeing banding, dropout, and misfirings or clogged nozzles and you've run more then 5000mL through the heads of this machine, then just swap in new ones. Dropout like this on the L25500's is often a sign of heads starting to fail -- could be because of a media jam or something similar too.

You could also do a manual printhead cleaning though you need to be gentle. I used to use isopropyl alcohol swabs and gently wipe down the bottom of the printhead in one direction. Gently shake and return to the printer. See what this does for you.

 

[Dennis422]

Depending on how much ink you've run through the printheads, may be time for a change. If you can isolate it to a particular color, then perhaps only change that set of heads. If you start seeing banding, dropout, and misfirings or clogged nozzles and you've run more then 5000mL through the heads of this machine, then just swap in new ones. Dropout like this on the L25500's is often a sign of heads starting to fail -- could be because of a media jam or something similar too.

You could also do a manual printhead cleaning though you need to be gentle. I used to use isopropyl alcohol swabs and gently wipe down the bottom of the printhead in one direction. Gently shake and return to the printer. See what this does for you.

Thanks for the response. All of the heads but one are no more than 1500 ml. 3 of them almost brand new. One is a bit over 4000 but that one has a pretty damn good test print for that much of printing.
I believe that there must be something stuck on the bottom of the printhead. and it is dragging on the print. It has speckles of the ink in all colors and all over the print, that would eliminate issue with one only one printhead.
Is there a way to pull out the cleaning cartridge to check the bottom of the printheads? Or I will need to pull one by one to check them?

Thanks

 

[jawdavis]

I guess there are multiple ways to do it, but it depends if the machine is on or not. If it's off, then what I would do is manually move the printhead cleaning cartridge to the front, then remove. Shine a flashlight in there and see if anything is visible. You probably won't be able to reach it well, but this is an easy way to visually inspect the bottom of the printheads. Stick your phone in there if you want and snap some good close-up pics.

Alternatively, if the machine is on, you can initiate a printhead replacement, then remove each one and visually inspect and if there are issues, then use the alcohol swab to gently wipe clean. Replace any and all printheads and let it complete the printhead alignment test that follows.

If something is stuck to the bottom of your head, then you should have no problem cleaning it up and returning it to a normal state. I noticed this alot on the 25500, but ink would begin to dry and cake up around the edges of the printheads and that can sometimes cause deflection, or if one of the dried crusty pieces comes loose it can cause the issue you're seeing.

Personally, i would initiate the replacement with the machine on and inspect each head, and scrape the caked on gunk off if any, and gently wipe the head with an alcohol swab only IF there are any visible issues.

 

[ddarlak]

nothing to do with printheads, you have some ink build up somewhere under the carriage, investigate more closely and report back....

 

[Dennis422]

somewhere under the carriage, investigate more closely and report back....

How to get there?
I purchased this printer used and do not know much about taking it apart. Taking the cleaning cartridge out and then checking under it?

 

[DougWestwood]

there's a hair

Looks to me like there is a hair or string stuck in your print head undercarriage.
Have operated the larger model of this HP, the 28500, and haven't seen any dripping problem like this that wasn't some kind of string collecting over spray ink and dripping it onto the material.
It doesn't look to me like a print head failure.

It's in there. Keep looking.
- Doug
Vancouver

 

[Dennis422]

I found the issue. I went in and I pulled out the cleaning cartridge. Cleaned the printheads and a bit around them.
It looked pretty good and I could not see an issue there.
Started printing again and I noticed that it prints good.................... until the substrate jam reflector did not get to above the print.
It looks like there is something attached to the bottom of the substrate jam reflector and I just did not have a chance to clean that area again.

Should do that today afternoon and I will let you know if that is the case as soon as I'm done.

Thanks everyone.

 

[Dennis422]

I tried cleaning under the front of the printhead carriage. No luck.
Does anyone know how to get under there??? I get the cleaning cartridge out, but that part is still over the funnel and can not be cleaned from there.
When I push the carriage over the platen, it is too tight under there.

Thanks

 

[AF]

Assuming you don't see anything stuck, I would consider taping some felt or other soft material to the platen and manually running the suspect area of the carriage over it to see if anything rubs off. Avoid the print heads, of course.

I have had stuff get stuck under the carriage, but removing the cleaning cartridge has allowed for enough access to deal with it.

 

[Dennis422]

Update.
Fixed last Saturday. There was a "hair" hanging on the carriage (As previously mentioned by Doug).
What confused me, it is that it was on the trailing end (Back) of the carriage. For some reason, I only tried cleaning the front

All good now. Thanks everyone for you time and info.

 

[DougWestwood]

Yeah!

Rock on, Dennis. You got the cheapest fix of all.
-Doug

 

[Suz]

That's great! Glad you fixed it.
Thanks for sharing. You never know, I may need this some day!

Update.
Fixed last Saturday. There was a "hair" hanging on the carriage (As previously mentioned by Doug).
What confused me, it is that it was on the trailing end (Back) of the carriage. For some reason, I only tried cleaning the front

All good now. Thanks everyone for you time and info.

 

[Dennis422]

That's great! Glad you fixed it.
Thanks for sharing. You never know, I may need this some day!

You are welcome!
I thought that was the purpose of the forum. Ask questions and share answers or solutions.
But unfortunately, sometimes it feels like some people would rather have their teeth pulled than give answer on the question

 

[Dtay]

UPdate appreciated

I had been checking this thread because we have had strange things happen with our latex too.... so happy you fixed it and updated us on the cause. ROCK ON!

 

[Suz]

Well, thankfully there is knowledge being shared. Very nice. Thanks again.

Lately I have not been too happy with what my printer is doing. I'm a little puzzled, so been reading whatever I can here about what goes on with the print heads. Mine haven't fired enough ink to go bad, but I did have a recent head strike (yikes) and wonder if that is the cause. Probably.

You are welcome!
I thought that was the purpose of the forum. Ask questions and share answers or solutions.
But unfortunately, sometimes it feels like some people would rather have their teeth pulled than give answer on the question

 

[BIG EASY DOES IT]

Well, thankfully there is knowledge being shared. Very nice. Thanks again.

Lately I have not been too happy with what my printer is doing. I'm a little puzzled, so been reading whatever I can here about what goes on with the print heads. Mine haven't fired enough ink to go bad, but I did have a recent head strike (yikes) and wonder if that is the cause. Probably.

Have you recalibrted since the strike. It might have been enough to jostle the heads out of alignment. I told you email me if you need anything.

 

[Suz]

Have you recalibrted since the strike. It might have been enough to jostle the heads out of alignment. I told you email me if you need anything.

Hey Big Easy,

Thanks so much, and yes, will have to go through all of that again. Yes, I did do the re-calibration after the head strike. Replaced a yellow/black head, and I am going to replace another to see if that helps the print quality. At the same time, ran out of black ink, so gotta get that cartridge. Also, the cleaning kit is due for replacement, and probably the waste bucket too. Ouch, lotta money going into this thing this week for upkeep, plus have wasted quite a bit of banner material with testing. Lost some Fredrix canvas also due to print problems.

Expensive and frustrating. When the thing is printing nicely, it is a miracle machine. When not printing right, it's hell on wheels. At least the wheels function so I can shove it out of the way and do some embroidery to generate some income. This thing takes up more space, money, and materials than it is worth most of the time.

Thanks for letting me rant. After I get the delivery of supplies from Grimco and get her up and functioning again, I have a couple billboards to do. Hopefully she'll behave long enough to earn her keep.

TTYL, and thank you!

 

[richsweeney]

I have found leaving the printer on, in sleep mode, so the heads will not dry out so fast.

Also the hp tech support is great, I think for $35 they will help you for a week on a given problem.

Last summer they told me to change the sleep mode settings to like a hour?

Ours has been a great machine, except trying to print on aspire smooth scrim from denco. I like denco, but that almost killed my machine.

Don't feel bad about the costs, when you compare it to a Rolland, $800 per head and then add the tech charge to install it.

 

[BIG EASY DOES IT]

Hey Big Easy,

Thanks so much, and yes, will have to go through all of that again. Yes, I did do the re-calibration after the head strike. Replaced a yellow/black head, and I am going to replace another to see if that helps the print quality. At the same time, ran out of black ink, so gotta get that cartridge. Also, the cleaning kit is due for replacement, and probably the waste bucket too. Ouch, lotta money going into this thing this week for upkeep, plus have wasted quite a bit of banner material with testing. Lost some Fredrix canvas also due to print problems.

Expensive and frustrating. When the thing is printing nicely, it is a miracle machine. When not printing right, it's hell on wheels. At least the wheels function so I can shove it out of the way and do some embroidery to generate some income. This thing takes up more space, money, and materials than it is worth most of the time.

Thanks for letting me rant. After I get the delivery of supplies from Grimco and get her up and functioning again, I have a couple billboards to do. Hopefully she'll behave long enough to earn her keep.

TTYL, and thank you!

When I was at my old shop we just put a 5 gallon bucket behind the machine and hung it where the bucket would go. Much cheaper.