HP L65500 User Manual

HP Designjet L65500 Printer
Maintenance and troubleshooting guide (second edition)
Legal notices
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© 2009 Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P.
The information contained herein is subject to change without notice.
The only warranties for HP Products and services are set forth in the express warranty statement accompanying such products and services. Nothing herein should be construed as constituting an additional warranty. HP shall not be liable for technical or editorial errors or omissions contained herein.
Microsoft® and Windows® are U.S. registered trademarks of Microsoft Corporation.
Table of contents
1 Safety precautions
General safety guidelines ..................................................................................................................... 1
Warnings and cautions ......................................................................................................................... 2
Warning labels ...................................................................................................................................... 2
Emergency stop buttons ....................................................................................................................... 4
2 Printer status
Check printer status ............................................................................................................................. 5
Printer alerts ......................................................................................................................................... 5
3 Printer calibration
Align the printheads .............................................................................................................................. 6
Substrate-advance compensation ........................................................................................................ 7
Color calibration ................................................................................................................................... 8
Ink restrictions .................................................................................................................................... 10
Color profiles ...................................................................................................................................... 10
4 Hardware maintenance
Maintain the ink cartridges ................................................................................................................. 11
Maintain the printheads ...................................................................................................................... 11
Maintain the substrates ...................................................................................................................... 11
Check the printheads ......................................................................................................................... 12
Clean the carriage cover .................................................................................................................... 12
Clean the carriage rails ...................................................................................................................... 13
Clean the exterior of the printer .......................................................................................................... 15
Clean the ink deposits ........................................................................................................................ 15
Clean the line sensor and aerosol inlets ............................................................................................ 16
Clean the main roller .......................................................................................................................... 17
Clean the substrate edge holders ...................................................................................................... 17
Clean the pinch wheels ...................................................................................................................... 18
Clean the platen ................................................................................................................................. 18
Clean the printheads .......................................................................................................................... 18
Clean the substrate-advance sensor .................................................................................................. 18
Clean the temperature sensors .......................................................................................................... 19
Maintain the printhead primers ........................................................................................................... 20
Replace the carriage oiler foams ........................................................................................................ 21
Replace the line sensor box ............................................................................................................... 23
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Replace the printhead cleaning roll and aerosol filters ....................................................................... 24
Move the printer ................................................................................................................................. 27
Printer maintenance kits ..................................................................................................................... 28
Cleaning kit ......................................................................................................................................... 28
5 Software maintenance
Maintain the HP Internal Print Server ................................................................................................. 29
Update the firmware ........................................................................................................................... 30
6 Troubleshoot substrate issues
The substrate cannot be loaded successfully .................................................................................... 31
The substrate has jammed ................................................................................................................. 31
The substrate is not attached to the input core .................................................................................. 32
The substrate sticks to the platen ....................................................................................................... 33
The ink is still wet when the substrate emerges ................................................................................. 33
There are ink marks on the substrate ................................................................................................. 33
7 Troubleshoot print-quality issues
General advice ................................................................................................................................... 34
Banding .............................................................................................................................................. 34
Colors are misaligned ......................................................................................................................... 36
The print is grainy ............................................................................................................................... 37
The print is smudged .......................................................................................................................... 38
The substrate is not flat ...................................................................................................................... 38
Edges of objects are rough or blurred ................................................................................................ 38
Colors look washed out ...................................................................................................................... 38
Colors are inaccurate ......................................................................................................................... 39
8 Troubleshoot ink cartridge and printhead issues
Cannot insert an ink cartridge ............................................................................................................ 40
Cannot insert a printhead ................................................................................................................... 40
The front panel recommends replacing or reseating an ink cartridge ................................................ 40
The front panel recommends replacing or reseating a printhead ....................................................... 40
A printhead has overheated ............................................................................................................... 41
A printhead has damaged the substrate ............................................................................................ 41
Incorrect printhead cleaning roll errors ............................................................................................... 41
9 Troubleshoot other issues
The printer does not print ................................................................................................................... 42
The printer seems slow ...................................................................................................................... 42
The HP Internal Print Server cannot detect the printer ...................................................................... 42
Upgrade the HP Internal Print Server ................................................................................................. 43
Print job files have not been properly deleted .................................................................................... 43
Color calibration fails .......................................................................................................................... 43
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10 Front-panel error messages
11 When you need help
Documentation ................................................................................................................................... 48
HP Proactive Support ......................................................................................................................... 48
HP Customer Care ............................................................................................................................. 48
Service information ............................................................................................................................. 50
Appendix A Preset creation flowchart
Index ................................................................................................................................................................... 52
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1 Safety precautions

General safety guidelines

WARNING! Internal circuits use hazardous voltage capable of causing death or serious personal
injury.
No operator serviceable parts inside. Refer servicing to qualified service personnel.
The disconnecting devices for servicing are two Branch Circuit Breakers located in the building's Power Distribution Unit (PDU).

Electric shock hazard

Due to risk of electrical shock, do not attempt the following actions:
Dismantle the electrical control cabinet.

Safety precautions

Dismantle the drying and curing subsystems of the printer.
Remove or open any other closed system covers or plugs.
NOTE: Fuses that blow after being replaced may indicate malfunctioning electrical circuits within the
system. Have the system checked by qualified service personnel, and do not attempt to replace the fuse again.

Mechanical hazard

The printer has moving parts that can cause injury. To avoid personal injury, take the following precautions when working close to the printer.
Keep your clothing and all parts of your body away from the printer's moving parts.
Avoid wearing necklaces, bracelets and other hanging objects.
If your hair is long, try to secure it so that it will not fall into the printer.
Take care that sleeves or gloves do not get caught in the printer's moving parts.
Avoid standing close to the fans, which could cause injury and could also affect print quality (by
obstructing the air flow).

Heat hazard

The drying and curing subsystems of the printer operate at high temperatures and can cause burns if touched. To avoid personal injury, take the following precautions.
Avoid direct contact with the drying and curing area of the printer.
Take special care when accessing the substrate path.
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Safety precautions

Fire hazard

Heavy substrate hazard

Ink handling

CAUTION: The drying and curing subsystems of the printer operate at high temperatures.
To avoid the risk of fire, take the following precautions when operating the printer:
Do not manipulate the heating modules.
Load substrates that withstand temperatures of 125°C.
Special care must be taken to avoid personal injury when handling heavy substrates.
Handling substrate rolls always requires at least two people. Care must be taken to avoid back
strain and/or injury.
Always use a forklift, pallet truck or other handling equipment to lift substrates.
Always wear personal protective equipment including boots and gloves.
Your printer does not use solvent inks and does not have the traditional problems associated with them. However, HP recommends that you wear gloves when handling ink cartridges or printhead cleaner rolls.

Warnings and cautions

The following symbols are used in this manual to ensure the proper use of the printer and to prevent the printer from being damaged. Follow the instructions marked with these symbols.
WARNING! Failure to follow the guidelines marked with this symbol could result in serious personal
injury or death.
CAUTION: Failure to follow the guidelines marked with this symbol could result in minor personal injury
or damage to the product.

Warning labels

Label Explanation
Current leakage may exceed 3.5 mA.
The printer can be connected to power supplies at different voltages.
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Label Explanation
Identifies the main earth terminal
Danger of electric shock. Do not touch.
Danger of electric shock. Do not touch.
Danger of electric shock. In case of operation of the fuse, parts of the printer that remain energized may represent a hazard during servicing. Therefore, ensure that the printer is completely turned off before servicing.
Safety precautions
Printer parts may sometimes become hot. Do not touch.
Use protective gloves for handling printer parts, supplies or waste.
When substrate has been loaded, the carriage descends into its normal position, and could crush your hand or anything else left underneath it.
Danger that your hands may become trapped between gearwheels
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Safety precautions

Emergency stop buttons

Label Explanation
When the printer is printing, the printhead carriage travels back and forth across the substrate.
Beware of this moving part.
There are four emergency stop buttons distributed around the printer. If an emergency occurs, simply push one of the emergency stop buttons to stop all printing processes. A system error message is displayed on the front panel, and the fans turn at maximum speed. Ensure that all emergency stop buttons are released before restarting the printer.
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2 Printer status

Check printer status

You can check the current status of the printer in the following ways:
The HP Internal Print Server displays the status of the printer, the loaded substrate and the ink
system. The latest alerts are summarized at the bottom of the main window (see
on page 5).
The front panel displays the ink levels by default; otherwise, you can see the ink levels by selecting
the the Ink System icon

Printer alerts

Printer status

. In addition, the most important current alert, if any, is displayed in
the front panel.
Printer alerts
The printer can communicate two types of alerts:
Errors: When the printer is unable to print.
Warnings: When the printer needs attention for an adjustment, such as a calibration, preventive
maintenance or ink cartridge replacement.
Printer alerts appear primarily at the HP Internal Print Server, but one alert at a time also appears at the front panel.
HP Internal Print Server: A summary list of alerts appears at the bottom left of the main window.
To display a more complete and detailed list, select Information > Alerts.
Front-panel display: The front panel shows only one alert at a time, which is judged to be the
most important. It generally requires the user to press the OK key for confirmation, but in the case of a warning, it disappears after a while. Some alerts reappear when the printer is idle and there is nothing more important to report.
The following alerts require a service engineer:
Preventive maintenance #1 required
Preventive maintenance #2 required
Preventive maintenance #3 required
Preventive maintenance #4 required
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Printer calibration

3 Printer calibration

Align the printheads

Precise alignment between printheads is essential for color accuracy, smooth color transitions and sharp edges in graphical elements.
To align the printheads, go to the HP Internal Print Server and select Printer > Printhead alignment. You can select automatic or manual alignment; the HP Internal Print Server will recommend one or the other, but you can always choose.
Automatic alignment is a fully automated procedure that ensures optimal print quality in most cases.
The printer prints some patterns and scans them with the built-in line sensor. This is the recommended method for any smooth, high-quality substrates (including vinyl, banners or backlit). If the printheads have many defective nozzles, automatic alignment may not give good results.
The procedure takes about 14 minutes and consumes 9 inches of substrate.
Manual alignment provides reasonable print quality when automatic alignment is not possible,
typically because a highly-textured or non-white substrate is loaded (mesh, perforated, some fabrics, transparent, colored). The printer prints 8 series of patterns, and you must choose the best result from each of the series (for example, number 10 in the picture below).
The procedure takes about 15 minutes and consumes 9 inches of substrate.
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Troubleshoot printhead alignment

Automatic printhead alignment may fail occasionally. In some cases, you may see the front panel error message "Automatic Printhead Alignment is cancelled because of scanning errors". In other cases, there is no error message but the print quality is not satisfactory. Here are some possible explanations.
There is some problem with substrate advance (see
on page 7). After fixing any substrate-advance issue, retry automatic printhead alignment.
You are using a highly-textured (some banners), non-white or very reflective (some satinated
offset) substrate. Please use manual printhead alignment in these cases.
The substrate is wrinkled. Check that the substrate is correctly loaded with uniform tension. If
necessary, try adjusting substrate parameters such as tension or drying and curing temperatures.
The substrate is not wide enough. Repeat the alignment process using a substrate roll at least 24
inches (610 mm) wide.
The printer window was open during the printhead alignment process.
The printheads are not clean. See
If the problem persists, please try using manual printhead alignment, or call your service representative
HP Customer Care Centers on page 49).
(see
Printhead alignment diagnostic plot
The printer offers a printhead alignment diagnostic plot, to assess the quality of the current printhead alignment. To print it, start the HP Internal Print Server and select Printer > Printhead alignment > Diagnostics plot.

Substrate-advance compensation

Clean the printheads on page 18.
1. The colored crosses on the left side of the plot should show the lines well aligned with each other.
2. The vertical lines to left of center should be straight, without kinks.
3. Of the four vertical lines at the top right of the plot, the leftmost two should be straight, without kinks.
Substrate-advance compensation
Accurate substrate advance is important to print quality because it is part of controlling the proper placement of dots on the substrate. If the substrate is not advanced the proper distance between printhead passes, light or dark bands appear on the print, and there may be an increase in graininess.
The printer has a substrate-advance sensor and is calibrated to advance correctly with all the substrates appearing in the front panel. When you select the type of loaded substrate, the printer adjusts the rate at which to advance the substrate while printing. However, if you are using a custom substrate or not satisfied with the default calibration of your substrate, you may wish to change the substrate-advance compensation. See substrate-advance compensation will solve your issue.
Troubleshoot print-quality issues on page 34 for steps to determine whether
Printer calibration
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You can view and change the substrate-advance compensation of the currently loaded substrate at any time from the HP Internal Print Server by selecting the print job and then the Printing Adj. button, or by selecting Printer > Printing adjustments.
If you prefer the print quality after changing the figure in the Advance field, press the Apply button, and thereafter your preferred substrate-advance compensation will always be used for that particular substrate type.
Printer calibration
The substrate-advance sensor may not work correctly if it is dirty. See
sensor on page 18.
NOTE: Some substrates are invisible to the substrate-advance sensor; in which case, the sensor will
not work and should be turned off. You can turn it off by using the Automatic Tracking (OMAS) field in the Loaded Substrate window of the HP Internal Print Server. An alert will advise you if necessary.
NOTE: The substrate-advance sensor scans the back side of the substrate, which it expects to be of
a single color and shade. It is not guaranteed to work correctly if the back side has been printed on; in this case, there may be no alert from the printer, but the sensor should be turned off.

Color calibration

Color calibration enables your printer to produce consistent colors with a particular substrate type, even if printheads, ink cartridges and environmental conditions change. After color calibration, you can expect to get prints with the same colors from any two different printers situated in different geographical locations.
The color calibration test chart is printed using the following print mode, depending on the ink density used with your substrate.
Six passes for 100% ink density
Eight passes for 150% ink density
Clean the substrate-advance
Fourteen passes for 250% ink density
For this reason, you are strongly recommended to have fine-tuned the appropriate print mode before starting color calibration. To fine-tune your substrate preset for a specific print mode, see the User's guide.
To start color calibration from the HP Internal Print Server, select Substrate > Color calibration, then click the Calibrate button.
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The calibration process is fully automatic and can be performed unattended after you have loaded substrate of the type you wish to calibrate. The process takes about 18 minutes and consists of the following steps.
1. The Closed-Loop Color Calibration and Ink Restriction Test Chart is printed, which contains scales
of patches of each ink used in your printer.
2. The test chart is scanned and color-measured using the HP Embedded Spectrophotometer. If the
scan cannot be completed successfully, a message is displayed on the front panel; see
calibration fails on page 43.
3. From the measurements made by the spectrophotometer, the printer calculates the necessary
correction tables to apply to your print jobs, for consistent color printing on that substrate type.
Calibration should be done in any of the following circumstances:
Color
Whenever a printhead is replaced
Whenever a new substrate type is introduced that has not yet been calibrated with the current set
of printheads
Whenever you notice excessive color differences between prints. Such color differences can be
caused by aging and wear of the printheads, changes in substrate characteristics between one roll and another, changing environmental conditions and so on.
Whenever you replace a printhead, an alert will remind you to perform color calibration, unless you have disabled the alerts. If printhead alignment and/or substrate-advance compensation are also needed, color calibration should always be the last operation.
You can check the color calibration status of your substrates with the HP Internal Print Server or the front panel. In the HP Internal Print Server, select Substrate > Color calibration > Show all.
Printer calibration
Default status indicates that the substrate has never been calibrated. In this case, the factory
default color tables will be applied to print jobs.
Done status indicates that a color calibration has been performed successfully on this substrate.
Obsolete status indicates that a printhead has been changed since the substrate was last
calibrated, and therefore the substrate should be recalibrated.
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Printer calibration
Color calibration is based on the color measurement of printed color patches, using the HP Embedded Spectrophotometer. Some characterisitics of substrates, such as surface roughness or transparency, may make reflective color measurement of some substrate types very inaccurate. Color calibration of these substrates will fail or produce unacceptable printing results.
The suitability of particular substrate types for color calibration can be found in the table of supported substrate types in the User's guide. Only substrates wider than 36 inches (914 mm) can be calibrated.
It is possible to recover from a bad color calibration by restoring the factory default calibration. In the HP Internal Print Server, select Substrate > Color calibration > Reset.
You should calibrate a substrate type before creating its color profile; however, you can later recalibrate without needing to recreate the color profile.

Ink restrictions

Ink restrictions allow you to set the maximum amount of each primary ink (cyan, magenta, yellow, black, light cyan, light magenta) that can be laid down onto a given substrate.
To adjust ink restriction percentages from the HP Internal Print Server, select Substrate > Edit > Color.
Ink restriction percentages can be set from 50% to 100% for all inks by filling in the appropriate boxes. In general, a figure of about 80% is recommended.
High percentage settings (approaching 100%) use more ink and may therefore increase color gamut, at the cost of leaving less margin for the operation of the color calibration system, which may reduce color consistency.
Lower percentages use less ink, provide a smaller color gamut and a higher range of compensation for best color consistency.
NOTE: Ill-defined ink restrictions may lead to unpredictable results. You can restore the default ink
restriction settings by selecting Substrate > Edit > Color > Reset.
The Closed-Loop Color Calibration and Ink Restriction Test Chart contains printed ink ramps in 2% steps, which can be useful as a visual guide for selecting the ink restriction percentages.
To print the Closed-Loop Color Calibration and Ink Restriction Test Chart, select Substrate > Edit >
Color > Print plot.

Color profiles

Color calibration provides consistent colors, but consistent colors are not necessarily accurate. For instance, if your printer prints all colors as black, its colors may be consistent but they are not accurate.
In order to print accurate colors, it is necessary to convert the color values in your files to the color values that will produce the correct colors from your printer, your inks and your substrate. An ICC color profile is a description of a printer, ink and substrate combination that contains all the information needed for these color conversions.
These color conversions are performed by your Raster Image Processor (RIP), not by the printer. For further information on the use of ICC profiles, see the documentation for your application software and for your RIP.
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4 Hardware maintenance

Maintain the ink cartridges

During the normal lifetime of a cartridge, no specific maintenance is required. However, in order to maintain the best print quality, replace a cartridge when it reaches its expiration date. An alert notifies you when any cartridge reaches its expiration date.
You can also check a cartridge's expiration date at any time: see

Maintain the printheads

During the normal lifetime of a printhead, no regular maintenance is required. However, in order to maintain the best print quality, replace a printhead when it reaches its expiration date. An alert notifies you when any printhead reaches its expiration date.
You can also check a printhead's expiration date at any time: see
Printheads may need to be cleaned and aligned from time to time: see
on page 18 and Align the printheads on page 6.
To check the printheads for blocked nozzles, see
TIP: If you remove an unexpired printhead from the printer, planning to reuse it later, the best way to
protect it is by replacing the protective caps that you removed before inserting it into the printer.

Maintain the substrates

Keep substrates in their sealed wrapping material while they are in storage, and store rolls vertically to avoid the migration of plasticizers in some materials.
Move substrates from the storage area to the print production area at least 24 hours before use, so that they can adapt to its temperature and humidity.
Check printer status on page 5.
Check printer status on page 5.
Clean the printheads
Check the printheads on page 12.
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Hardware maintenance

Check the printheads

If you believe that one or more of the printheads is performing poorly:
1. Go to the HP Internal Print Server and select Printer > Printhead cleaning.
2. Press the Check button to perform routine cleaning.
3. If the problem persists, press the Print button in the same window to print the following display.
Each color is printed by a single printhead and shows the performance of that printhead.
Hardware maintenance
If a significant number of printhead nozzles are blocked, you will see missing lines in this display, as shown below.
4. In the same window, select any printheads that are showing missing lines, and press the Hard
clean button.
5. When the hard clean has finished, press the Print button again to see whether the printheads have
improved.
6. Check that the printheads' electrical contacts are clean. See
or reseating a printhead on page 40.
7. If you still see five or more missing lines in any one color, you are recommended to replace that
printhead. With fewer missing lines, the printer can maintain good quality when printing with four or more passes.
If the above printout seems blurred or grainy, you may need to change the substrate-advance compensation (see
Substrate-advance compensation on page 7).
The front panel recommends replacing

Clean the carriage cover

The printhead carriage cover is designed to reflect the radiation of the drying lamps in order to avoid overheating the printheads. If the cover becomes dirty, it reflects less heat. To avoid possible damage
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