Major Issues with HP Latex 310

[xkellyx]

I rocking 2 570's. Could it be several issue but not just one but they are compounding each other?

Does the 310 use 220 or 110 for power? You could be getting unreliable power to the unit or the unit might not be grounded properly.

This is very unfortunate but please try to keep us informed and updated.

Its 220. We run a variety of machines on site and haven't had problems with our electric. But, we will certainly investigate this avenue.

 

[chester215]

We bought a plotter that did strange things 15+ years ago.
Voltage going in was ok but the power supply was bad.
I would lean to a power issue also, voltage going in may be ok but the computer board voltage may be off.

 

[AGCharlotte]

Chester's probably got the right idea since it's been bad since day one. I know some of the local guys here have had heater element issues, but not initially... we're talking after 2+ years of use.

 

[uv]

I would bet my bottom dollar that this is a static problem.
We had major issues with our old colorspan flatbed. anytime it was a windy day and we would print cyan it would produce similar results.
We spent 100s of hours cleaning prints and $1000's of dollars on trying to fix the problem.

We purchased a ionising bar and set it directly above the media to blow on it just before it is printed.
The ionising bar was around $1500 AUD i think? and it worked instantly for about 2 years then just like that it stopped.

We have similar problems with our roland when printing black mainly, i just try to use a profile that cuts back on using so much black and it seems to minimise the issue. most of our prints are viewed from a distance so small imperfections are not picked up by the customer.

The only other possible solution i have been told is wet down the floor around the printer.

 

[xkellyx]

So a little update. I spent the week with a level 3 tech from hp. He pretty much ruled out everything which has been discussed thus far. A new power supply was installed, along with heaters, boards, ink delivery etc. Profiles have been tweaked and retweaked. We were able to make the issue less noticeable for some prints, but it's still pretty bad for others. We were also able to resolve the curing issue. My experience with all the techs they have sent has been great. it's just that we haven't been able to resolve the issue.....yet. Now we escalate more.

 

[dypinc]

You would think it would be easier on everyone involved to just replace it with a new printer.

 

[AKwrapguy]

I would bet my bottom dollar that this is a static problem.
We had major issues with our old colorspan flatbed. anytime it was a windy day and we would print cyan it would produce similar results.
We spent 100s of hours cleaning prints and $1000's of dollars on trying to fix the problem.

We purchased a ionising bar and set it directly above the media to blow on it just before it is printed.
The ionising bar was around $1500 AUD i think? and it worked instantly for about 2 years then just like that it stopped.

We have similar problems with our roland when printing black mainly, i just try to use a profile that cuts back on using so much black and it seems to minimise the issue. most of our prints are viewed from a distance so small imperfections are not picked up by the customer.

The only other possible solution i have been told is wet down the floor around the printer.

You could also look at getting a humidifier. Depending on the size of the room or area, could be like $25

 

[AF]

HP will “try to fix” your printer until the warranty runs out or you go out of business. Clearly the machine is defective and HP has no idea what to do. You would be amazed at the change in attitude of these corporations when they receive a demand letter from an attorney. Suddenly they figure out what to do to remedy the situation. Don’t let your livelihood be stolen from you by a bean counter at your vendor.

 

[rjssigns]

HP will “try to fix” your printer until the warranty runs out or you go out of business. Clearly the machine is defective and HP has no idea what to do. You would be amazed at the change in attitude of these corporations when they receive a demand letter from an attorney. Suddenly they figure out what to do to remedy the situation. Don’t let your livelihood be stolen from you by a bean counter at your vendor.

This^^^

Had a similar issues many years ago. One letter from my attorney and whaddya know. A brand new printer overnight shipped from Taiwan.

 

[xkellyx]

You could also look at getting a humidifier. Depending on the size of the room or area, could be like $25

We live in an area where we have a decent amount of humidity. The techs and the engineers pretty much ruled out humidity/static issue.

 

[xkellyx]

HP will “try to fix” your printer until the warranty runs out or you go out of business. Clearly the machine is defective and HP has no idea what to do. You would be amazed at the change in attitude of these corporations when they receive a demand letter from an attorney. Suddenly they figure out what to do to remedy the situation. Don’t let your livelihood be stolen from you by a bean counter at your vendor.

Two techs and an engineer couldn't figure this out. They are pretty much out of parts to replace. Its been another week with no movement. I am becoming increasingly agitated. The machine is under a service contract so unless I stop paying it, there's nothing to "run-out" so it's more of when I go out of business! I may have to take your advice.

 

[AKwrapguy]

Two techs and an engineer couldn't figure this out. They are pretty much out of parts to replace. Its been another week with no movement. I am becoming increasingly agitated. The machine is under a service contract so unless I stop paying it, there's nothing to "run-out" so it's more of when I go out of business! I may have to take your advice.

Have you talked to anyone about a replacement machine?

 

[Billct2]

Holy Cr*p! I usually don't read these kinds of threads expect when they involve a machine I own...but wow....You are a better person than I because I'd be holding the tech hostage at this point till I got a new machine.

 

[AF]

Bad crimps and cold solder joints are impossible for the average tech to find. Swapping a good part for a good part doesn’t fix the bad part. Having repaired equipment going back eons, I can tell you from experience that having the machine replaced can be cheaper for the manufacturer than spending unlimited time and cash trying to resolve obscure issues, and then legal costs on top of that.

 

[xkellyx]

Bad crimps and cold solder joints are impossible for the average tech to find. Swapping a good part for a good part doesn’t fix the bad part. Having repaired equipment going back eons, I can tell you from experience that having the machine replaced can be cheaper for the manufacturer than spending unlimited time and cash trying to resolve obscure issues, and then legal costs on top of that.

I'm at a complete loss. It's now been over two weeks since the engineer was on-site, and about two months into this issue. Prints were mailed to Barcelona and now crickets. The last I spoke with the engineer he was musing about replacing the entire power system in the machine. If you add up the parts they replaced, the time of the two local techs, and the engineer they flew out for a week, they probably could have installed two new machines by now.

I am beyond frustrated. I am unable to print any jobs which have saturated colors with any white space on the leading edge. To add insult to injury I just received my invoice for my support contract. This will be the second invoice I pay for the contract while the machine has been down.

It sucks being a small operation with no clout.

 

[Texas_Signmaker]

Lawyer letter, BBB complaint, call the VP of HP's division over commercial printer. You likely can't reach the CEO but go one or two levels down. Get someone past the "tech support" who can make those decisions

 

[AF]

When you make a sign and something comes out wrong, you redo the sign and deliver a quality product to your client. What HP is doing here is delivering a product with a manufacturing error but forcing the client to absorb the mistake. Unfortunately, the small business will go out of business whereas HP will continue on. As much as everyone loathes attorneys, this is a situation that can quickly be resolved with one.

 

[BigfishDM]

Two techs and an engineer couldn't figure this out. They are pretty much out of parts to replace. Its been another week with no movement. I am becoming increasingly agitated. The machine is under a service contract so unless I stop paying it, there's nothing to "run-out" so it's more of when I go out of business! I may have to take your advice.

What dealer did you buy it from? I would demand that they handle your printing until the machine they sold you works properly. We just finished up doing something similar with a client, we were able to produce work for them while our techs were trying to fix the equipment we had sold. It was only down for 3 days but the client never missed a beat.

 

[jon vital]

Have you tried wiping the media before it gets to the print platen to eliminate static? It looks like an issue we have on our JV33 on some medias where static builds up.

 

[TrustMoore_TN]

You mentioned they replaced the ink delivery system... did they check the calibration on the pressure of the ink being delivered to the heads? Reason I ask is that with ink blowing out on the right side of the printer, it may be that there is a fault somewhere in that system that is adding too much pressure and causing ink to be spit during the print pass.