DesignJet 500+ Repair Glossop, Derbyshire
I had strange day today. Went to a DesignJet 500+ repair in Glossop, Derbyshire. No great drama, plotter was reporting a DesignJet 21:10 error on the display. Simple enough fix: 21:10 is service station failure, simply a matter of replacing the service station with a new/refurbished one, as well as carrying out a service and clean to the machine …. job done.
Well, that’s what I thought:…
On arrival the customer informed me they were also getting an 86:01 error. Y-Axis shutdown. The pen carriage was under the right-hand cover, so I attributed this to the faulty service station. However, once the service station had been replaced the 86:01 error was stall present.
Looks like some serious fault finding is required.
First thought was the carriage belt, this was thoroughly checked and appeared to be intact with no signs of wear. Removing the left-hand and top cover revealed two potential causes to the error. The first one was a wedge of media was stuck under the cutter assembly, preventing it being “parked” correctly. This would prevent the pen carriage from locating the true left edge of the plotter. This did not resolve the problem when removed.
The second issue was with the incorrect location of the trailing cable on the pen carriage. The trailing cable should be secured to the pen carriage along with the mylar supporting strip. This was not the case. Again, when rectified the DesignJet error was still apparent.
Its clear that the carriage belt on this machine has been replaced recently. Further investigation revealed the Y-Axis idler was the wrong type for the compatible belt used. The compatible belts use their own idler and not a HP one. Also, there was a large amount of “sticky” oil on the rail. The rail should have a thin application of light engineering oil, very similar to that used on sewing machines.
So, with the idler replaced and the rails cleaned and relubricated, the machine was going to function correctly. Wrong. – The 86:01 error was still there.
This has now got to be down to the encoder strip, which looked OK. Removed the encoder strip to gently clean it and the thing pinged off at about warp seven. Clearly this had been put on incorrectly. It was also badly damaged on the left-hand edge.
Cleaned the encoder along with its sensor on the pen carriage. This was also covered in the oily gloop. Correctly installed the encoder strip and “deep joy” the 86:01 error had gone.
Finished cleaning the machine and reassemble the covers.
So now ready to load media and start the calibration and testing part of the repair. This also went south because there was not fixing screw in the media lever housing. Something else needing attention.
Realigned the printheads and carried out the necessary calibrations. This is done on every DesignJet Repair we carry out as part of our “Total Care Solution” process. The outer covers were cleaned and the DesignJet tested to the customers satisfaction.
On speaking to the customer, the carriage belt had been replaced by a friend of the boss. He had no DesignJet experience and really made a total hash of it. The biggest thing puzzling me is how it had been working. Prior to the DesignJet 21:10 error the plotter had been working fine and I can’t figure out how.
I should have realised something was amiss when I discovered half the cover screws were missing and the other half were the wrong type. Effectively what should have been a 50-minute repair turned into a two-and-a- half-hour marathon.
YouTube is a wonderful thing, however it’s not always accurate. “YouTube Yani” trying to be a DesignJet engineer really messed this one up.
Our goal when on site is to complete every DesignJet repair on the first visit. To that end all our engineers carry a “car spare kit” for just such occasions. This certainly worked on this call out.
The good thing is the DesignJet 500+ repair in Glossop was completed first time, bit of extra work involved but well worth it. The customer is happy and that’s what counts.
If you’re looking to get a DesignJet Repair in Glossop, Derbyshire carried out then contact the professionals, Hutchins IT Limited. We will complete your HP Plotter repair in the shortest time possible.
Hutchins IT Limited you DesignJet Repair specialists in Glossop, Derbyshire and surrounding area’s.
