DesignJet 1050C+ Repair in Barnsley
Started the week with a short journey over the Pennines to Tankersley, near Barnsley.
Brilliant trip to carry out a DesignJet 1050C+ repair – an absolute old classic.
The DesignJet 1000 platform was the first, but certainly not the last, Hewlett Packard DesignJet to use the HP JetX Ink System. This ink system was developed by Hewlett Packard late in the 20th century (now who feels old)?
Developed at a reputed cost of $2.2 billion, this ink system heralded a new era for HP.
Subsequently, form that point on and now well into the 21st century, every new Hewlett Packard InkJet, DeskJet and DesignJet uses a version of the JetX system.
Working on a DesignJet 1050C+ was an absolute treat for myself. They are becoming more and more obsolete now, with their age and lack of drivers for modern windows platforms.
For me personally, working on a DesignJet 1050C+ in a live situation, was a trip down memory lane. After signing HP’s version of the “Official Secrets Act", I was their Beta test engineer for the North of England, way back in the last millennium. Responsible for maintaining several machines on strategic sites.
Anyway, back to the present. The machine didn’t have any error code, it had just been very expressive with the magenta ink creating an image on the office wall to rival Jackson Pollock himself.
This is common problem for the DesignJet 1000 range. The pressure on the ink cartridge is around 1.9psi, this is not constant as it depends on how much ink is left in the bag.
So, when a seal breaks all hell breaks loose. The ink is ejected through a small hole under pressure – result, for want of a better phrase, “a right bloody mess”.
The actual fix is straight forward, replaced the tube assembly and cleaned the mess up. The latter being the difficult, time consuming part of the repair. Seriously, I looked like I’d bludgeoned my way through the entire office when I’d finished.
So with the tube assembly replaced and the plotter cleaned, all that needed to be done was carry out the necessary calibrations and do a full service to the machine. This is carried out as part of our “Total Care Solution” and is included in the cost of the repair.
The DesignJet 1050C repair is now complete and the machine retuned back to the customer.
