HP T1100, T1100ps, T610, T1120, T1120ps User Manual

HP Designjet
T1100/T1100ps/T610/
T1120/T1120ps
Printer Series
Version 6
March 19, 2009
For HP I nternal Use O nly
©Copyright Hewlett-Packard Company 2009
This document contains proprietary information that is protected by copyright. All rights are reserved. No part of this document may be photocopied, reproduced, or translated to another language without the prior written consent of Hewlett-Packard Company.
Version 6: March 19, 2009
Warranty
The information contained in this document is subject to change without notice.
Hewlett-Packard makes no warranty of any kind with regard to this material, including, but not limited to, the implied warranties of merchantability and fitness for a particular purpose.
Hewlett-Packard shall not be liable for errors contained herein or for incidental or consequential damages in connection with the furnishing, performance, or use of this material.
WARNING
The procedures described in this manual are to be performed by HP-qualified service personnel only.
Electrical Shock Hazard
Serious shock hazard leading to death or injury may result if you do not take the following precautions:
- Ensure that the ac power outlet (mains) has a protective earth (ground) terminal.
- Disconnect the Printer fr om the power source prior to performing any maintenance.
- Prevent water or any other liquids from running onto electrical components or circ uits , or through openings in the enclosure.
Electrostatic Discharge
Refer to the beginning of Chapter 4of this manual, for precautions you should take to prevent damage to the Printer circuits from electrostatic discharge.
WARNING
The Warning symbol calls attention to a procedure, practice, or the like, which, if not correctly performed or adhered to, could result in personal injury. Do not proceed beyond a Warning symbol until the indicated conditions are fully understood and met.
CAUTION
The Caution symbol calls attention to an operating procedure , practi ce, or the lik e, which, if not correctly performed or adhered to , could result in damage to or destruction of part or all of the product. Do not proceed beyond a Caution symbol until the indicated conditions are fully understood and met.
Content Management Department, Barcelona Division, Hewlett-Packard Espanola, S.A. Avda. Graells, 501 08190 Sant Cugat del Valles Spain
Safety Symbols
General definitions of safety symbols are given immediately after the table of contents.

Table of Contents 1

1 Troubleshooting 2 System Error Codes 3 Service Tests and Utilities 4 Service Calibrations 5 Parts and Diagrams 6 Removal and Installation 7 Preventive Maintenance
For info rmation about Using this Manual, please refer to the next page.
HP Designjet T Series — Service Manual -1
Table of Contents

Using this Manual

Purpose

This Service Manual contains information necessary to test, calibrate and service:
HP designjet T1100 Printer 24 inch (Model Q6683A)HP designjet T1100 Printer 44 inch (Model Q6687A)HP designjet T1100ps Printer 24 inch (Model Q6684A)HP designjet T1100ps Printer 44 inch (Model Q6688A)HP designjet T610 Printer 24 inch (Model Q6711A)HP designjet T610 Printer 44 inch (Model Q6712A)HP designjet T1120 Printer 24 inch (Model CK837A)HP designjet T1120 Printer 44 inch (Model CK839A)HP designjet T1120ps Printer 24 inch (Model CK838A)HP designjet T1120ps Printer 44 inch (Model CK840A)
For information about using these printers, refer to the corresponding User and Qu
ick Reference Guides.

Readership

The procedur es de sc r ibed in this Se rvi ce Manual ar e to be perfor med b y HP Certi fied service personnel only.

Part Numbers

Part Numbers for Printer options, accessories and service parts are located
Chapter 5 Parts and Diagrams on page 5-1.
in

Conventions

Any text that uses the blue underlined format (except this one) is a link that directs you to the page number of the reference. If you are viewing the document as a pdf, you can click on that link to be taken there directly.
-2 HP Designjet T Series — Service Manual

Troubleshooting 1

Using the Front Panel 1-3 General Troubleshooting 1-4
Introduction 1-4 Troubleshooting System Error Codes 1-4 Performing a Service Test on a failed Assembly 1-4 Performing the Necessary Service Calibrations 1-4 The Front Panel is blank 1-5 Solving Print Quality Problems 1-5 The Printer does n ot Power ON 1-5 The Printer Continuously Rejects Printheads 1-5 Cover Sensors are not Working 1-5 The Line Sensor ha s Problems Detecting Media 1-5 Banding at variable extreme environmental conditions 1-6 Worm marks on HP Coated media with light area fills 1-6 Solving Media-Handling Problems 1-7
Print quality troubleshooting 1-9
Print Quality Troubleshooting Actions 1-9 The Servi ce Image Quality Diagnostic Print 1-9 Reading the Diagnostic Print Results 1-11
Diagnostic Part 1: Printhead Reliability 1-11 Diagnostic Part 2: Printhead Alignment 1-12
Diagnostic Part 3: Printheads & Paper Advance 1-13 The Advanced Diagnostic Prints 1-15 Reading the Advanced diagnostic Print Results 1-16 Troubleshooting Print Quality Problems 1-24
Print Quality General Advice 1-24
Horizontal Lines Across the Image (Banding) 1-25
Lines are Missing, Too Thin, or Too Thick 1-26
Problems with Stepped Lines 1-27
Lines are Printed Double or in Wrong Colors 1-27
Lines are discontinuous 1-28
Lines are Blurred (Ink Bleeds from Lines) 1-28
Problems with Graininess 1-29
Paper is not Flat 1-29
Ink marks on the paper 1-30
Horizontal smears on the front of coated paper 1-31
Ink marks on the back of the paper 1-31
Problems with the Edges of objects 1-32
Stepped or not sharp 1-32
Darker than expected 1-32
Black and white prints do not look neutral 1-32
Horizontal lines at the end of a c u t sheet print 1-32
Verti cal lines of different colors 1-32
White spots on the print 1-33
1
HP Designjet T Series — Service Manual 1-1
Problems with Color Accuracy 1-33
Output Only Contains a Partial Print 1-34
Problems with Image Clipping 1-34
Some objects are missing from the printed image 1-35
A PDF file is clipped or objects are missing 1-35 Print Quality Troubleshooting Wizard 1-35
Ink Supplies Troubleshooting 1-39
Introduction to ink supplies 1-39
What are Ink Supplies? 1-39
Ink Cartridges 1-39
Available Ink Cartridges 1-40
Printheads 1-40
Available Printheads 1-41
General Information About the Ink Supplies 1-41
General Precautions When Handling Ink Supplies 1-41
When Should You Replace the Ink Supplies? 1-42 Ink Cartridge Levels, Information, and Replacement 1-42
Ink Cartridge Le vels 1-42
“View Ink Levels” Direct Access Key 1-42
“View Ink Levels” from the ink menu 1-42
Obtaining Ink Cartridge Information 1-42
The printer consumes more gray ink ink than M, C, or Y 1-44
Changing an Ink Cartridge 1-44 Printhead Information, Replacement and Alignment 1-46
Obtaining Printhead Information 1-46
Changing a Printhead 1-47
Aligning Printheads 1-49
Reinsert Printheads Procedure 1-49
Image Quality Maintenance Procedure 1-49
Scanning errors during alignment 1-50 Ink Cartridge and Printhead Status Messages 1-50
Ink Cartridge Status Messages 1-50
Printhead status messages 1-51
Printhead Error Codes 1-51 Solving Ink Supplies Problems 1-53
You Cannot Insert the Ink Cartridge Into the Printer 1-53
You Cannot Insert the Printhead Into the Printer 1-53
The front panel says to reset or replace a printhead 1-53 Maintaining and Cleaning the Pr intheads 1-54
Clean the printheads 1-54
Flex Contacts Cleaning Tool 1-55
HP Designjet T Series — Service Manual 1-2

Using the Front Panel

Below is a diagram of the front panel.
Using the Front Panel
View Loaded Paper
Unload Paper

Key Function

Arrow Keys
Use the Arrow keys to scroll through a menu or toggle between YES or NO when
Cancel
Use the Cancel key to abort or stop a procedure or reject test results.
OK
Use the OK key to select a menu option.
Power
Use the Power key to turn the printer ON and OFF.
Menu
Use the Menu key to enter the main menu.
Back
Use the Back key to go back to the previous menu or reject test results.
View Ink Levels
Form Feed and Cut
prompted.
Up and Down
Cancel
OK
Power
Menu
Back

Service Key Combinations

Diagnostic mode
With the printer OFF, press and hold the UP and OK k e y s. While holding the Up and OK ke printer. Hold all three keys un til the Power key stops flashing, usually about 5 seconds.
ys down, press and hold the Power key to turn on the
Service Menu (Service Engineers Only)
From the main menu, press and hold the Up and Cancel keys.
Service Menu (For users)
From the main menu, press and hold the Down and Cancel keys.
HP Designjet T Series — Service Manual 1-3
Troubleshooting

General Troubleshooting

Introduction

This chapter will guide you through the relevant steps to take when troubleshooting the printer.

Troubleshooting System Error Codes

Chapter 2 System Error Codes on page 2-1 contains a list of system error
codes and their respective descriptions and recommended corrective
. Only try one recommended action at a time and check if the error
actions code has disappeared.
If you have an error code which is not documented in this Service Manual or you
have an error which you cannot resolve, then report the error to the HP Response Center or the nearest HP Support Office. When reporting the error, have the following information ready:
Model and Serial Number of the printer.Which firmware revision the printer is using (See Note below). Check
firmware in Utilities / Statistics / Code rev.
The complete error number (See Note below).The Service Configuration Print.
The Current configuration sheet.
Which software application the customer is using (name, version, etc.).
When reporting the System Error Code, make sur e that you supply the full Error Code and the firmware version. Without this information, HP Support Personnel cannot help you.

Performing a Service Test on a failed Assembly

If possible, always perform a Service Test on the component/assembly that you are about to replace, just to make sure that is the component/assembly that has failed.
If the test on that component/assembly passes, you should NOT replace it.
For inf ormation on the Service Tests and how to use them see Chapter 3
Service Tests and Utilities on page 3-1.

Performing the Necessary Service Calibrations

Is the printer calibrated correctly after replacing a component? For information on the Serv ice Calibrati ons and how to use them s ee
Service Calibrations on page 4-1.
Remember that certain Calibrations are required even if an Assembly has been disassembled to gain access to another Assembly or Component.
Chapter 4
1-4 HP Designjet T Series — Service Manual

Solving Print Quality Problems

Whenever a Print Quality problem appears, it is ad visable to print the
Diagnostic Pr int to help di agnose the problem. The Di agnos ti c Pr int w ill he lp
you differ entiate between po ssible prin thead err ors and other pr oblems such
as incorrect front-panel selection, driver or RIP configuratio n or mechanical
problems.

The Front Panel is blank

1 See What to do if the Front Panel is blank on page 2-3.

The Printer does not Power ON

1 Check that the power cord is connected correctly to the Printer and to the
Power Socket.
2 Check that the Power Switch on the B ACK of the Printer is in the ON
sition.
po
3 Check to see the LED on the Front Panel Power Switch are On. 4 Check that the Front-Panel Cable is correctly connected to the Electronics
Module
. Also make sure that the Front-Panel cable is not damaged.
General Troubleshooting
5 Replace the Power Supply Unit. See
Starwheel Assembly on page 6-208.

The Printer Continuously Rejects Printheads

1 Clean the flex contacts on the Pr inthead and in the Carr iage Ass embly using
the Carriage Interconnect Wiper and try again. See
Tool on page 3-20.
2 If ALL the Printheads are r ejected (the s tatus message on the F r ont Panel does
T show "OK" for ALL the Printheads) then perform the Electr o ni c Module
NO
Test. See
3. Electronics Module on page 3-21.

Cover Sensors are not Working

1 Perform the Sensors Test. See 5. Sensors on page 3-31. 2 Check if the cable for the faulty sensor is not damaged and is connected
rectly.
cor
3 Replace the faulty Sensor.

The Line Sensor has Problems Detecting Media

1 Check the type of media that is being u sed since the Line sensor may have
problems detecting transparent media or some types of Non-HP media. Try
loading white HP media in to the Print er and chec k if the Line sensor detects
it.
he Line Sensor is not calibrated correctly. Perform the Line Sensor
2 T
C
alibration. See
Line Sensor Calibration on page 4-15.
Flex Contacts Cleaning
3 The Line Sensor is damaged or faulty. Replace the Line Sensor. See
Sensor (T1120/T1120ps) on page 6-157.
HP Designjet T Series — Service Manual 1-5
Line
Troubleshooting

Troubleshooting Media Jams/Printhead Crashes

The failure modes "media jam" and "head crash" are grouped together because in many cases a media jam causes the media to lift up into the Carriage path and cause a Printhead cr ash, thus causing many media jam failures to be reported as head crashes.
d the media jam occur when loading media?
1 Di
If the client has had media jams, it is common for pieces of media to get
stuck in the media path. Clear the media path.
When clearing a media jam, sometimes media is stuck in the paper path. To clear this, you must lift the Media Lever and insert thicker media into the paper path to push out the media that is still stuck there.
2 Is the customer using non-HP media?
The use of non-HP media can easily be the cause of media jams and
head crashes (es pecially head crashes because HP media is specially formulated to a vo id cockle , one of the primary caus es of head cr ashes). If the media is not HP approved, advise the cust omer t o us e HP media and check to see if the problem is now solved.

Banding at variable extreme environmental conditions

Since the Accuracy Calibration has been done at normal environmental conditions, printing in extreme en vironment al conditions will cause banding because the advance of the Media Advance Roller does not correspond to the same conditions that the calibration was done in. To solve the problem, try the following:
Pe rfor m the Acc u rac y Calibr ati on in the new en v i r onmental conditi ons (R ef er
ser’s Guide).
the U
to

Worm marks on HP Coated media with light area fills

Light bands (S-shaped) in P aper axis direction where light area fills are printed, causing unacceptable Image Quality defect.
Print the Service Configuration Print and check if the le vel of Humidity is
very low (below 30%). Increasing humidity may help in reducing the severity of the problem.
The media is causing t h e problem and NOT the Printer. Do not attempt to try and replace Printer parts to solve this problem.
1-6 HP Designjet T Series — Service Manual

The Media Basket was damaged during printer setup

The Media Basket was damaged during printer setup
1 There are three plastic parts that could br eak during printer installation and
need replacing.
2 Check the parts table and graphics in Pa
service parts you must order. See
3 Replace the component. See

Solving Media-Handling Problems

The Front Panel indicates that media is misaligned or incorrectly positi oned
Roll media
The roll may be loaded the wrong way. The paper should load over the
roll toward you.
Check that the paper is correctly loaded onto the spindle.
The paper may be loaded at an angle. The right-hand edge must be
aligned with the blue line on the Print Platen.
With 24 inch printers, ensure that the paper is wrapped tightly on the roll. This is a very important step to remember because if this is not done, the media may be loaded at an angle, causing the media to be rejected.
Check that the Right Spindle Holder (rewinder included) is properly
attached and screwed to the printer. For 44 inch printers, the Rewinder, located on the R
(rewinder included), should maintain proper back tension. If the Right Spindle Holder (re winder included) is misaligned or not properly attached to the printer, the Rewinder will not function properly.
For a gra phic of a properly installed Rewinder, see
and Rewinder (T1120/T1120ps) on page 6-87. To further diagnose
problems with the Rewinder, see
rts and Diagrams to identify what
Printer Support on page 5-2.
Bin Assembly on page 6-10.
ight Spindle Holder
Right Spindle Holder
6. Rewinder on page 3-34.
Sheet media
Always load sheet media using the Rear Input Tray. Do NOT load the
media as you would load roll media.
It must be loaded with the right-hand edge against the blue line on the
Print Platen.
The media may be crumpled or warped or may have irregular edges.
If hand-cut media is used, the edges may not form a right-angle or they
may be rough. If possible, hand-cut media should not be used. Only purchased sheet media should be used in the Printer.
If you have problems with paper jams, check that the Overdrive is not
obstructed by bits of paper or using the Turn Drive Ro ller Service Utility.
1. Turn Drive Roller on page 3-58.
See
Check that the Ri ght Spindle Holder (r ew inder incl uded) is prope rly attac hed
and screwed to the printer.
For 44 inch printers, the Rewinder, located on the Right Spindle Holder
ew
inder included), should maintain proper back tension. If the Right
(r
HP Designjet T Series — Service Manual 1-7
The Media Basket was damaged during printer setup
Spindle Holder (re winder inc luded) is misaligned or not proper ly attached to
the printer, the Rewinder will not function properly.
To further di agnose problems with the Rewinder, See
3-34.
6. Rewinder on page
HP Designjet T Series — Service Manual 1-8

Print quality troubleshooting

Print Quality Troubleshooting Actions

For some Print Quality problems, a Call Agent can try and troubleshoot the Printer by requesting the Customer to perform certain actions. Using this process, most problems can resolved without the need of an on-site visit.
Use the Print Quality Troubleshooting Wizard to help customers with their print quality or color problems. For information about how to use the Print Quality Troubleshooting Wizard, see Print Quality Troubleshooting Wizard
on page 1-35.
When faced with a Print Quality problem, perform the follo wing actions in
order to resolve the problem:
1 Printer Configuration:
Check that the paper type loaded cor res ponds to the paper type s elected
in the front panel and in the software. You can verify the paper type selected through the Front Panel (Main Menu/Paper menu/View loaded paper).
Make sure that the correct Print Quality settings are used for different
types of print content . See
1-9 for further information.
Dry time should be set to “Optimal”.
Print Quality Troubleshooting Actions on page
Print quality troubleshooting
2 Perform Printhead recovery (Main Menu/Image Quality Maintenance/
ean Printheads).
Cl
3 Media:
Select the correct media type thr ough the front panel when loading it.
Make sure that HP or HP-approved media is being used.
4 Perform the Printhead Alignment (Main Menu/Image Quality Maintenance/
ign Printheads), using the same paper type with which you were
Al
experiencing unacceptable image quality, if feasible (some paper types are
not suitable for Printhead Alignment).
heck if the latest version of the firmware is installe
5 C
firmware revision .

The Service Image Quality Diagnostic Print

What is the Service Image Quality Diagnostic Print?
The Printer contains an internal Image Quality Test which helps you to
diagnos
Diagnostic Print is available in the following options:
1 Image Q
detail the possible source of any image quality defects. It is accessible
through the Service Utility Menu.
e the possible source of any image quality defects. The Service IQ
ualit
y Service Best Plot. This plot helps you to diagnose in more
d. If not, install the latest
HP Designjet T Series — Service Manual 1-9
Print quality troubleshooting
The Image Quality Service Best Plot uses the Best Print Mode and is divided
in to three parts as follows:
Diagnostic Part 1: Printhead Reliability Test. The purpose of this test is to
identify which Printh ead is faulty.
Diagnostic Part 2: Printhead Alignment Te st . T his test is de signed to chec k
any color-to-color and bi-directional misalignment the printer may have.
Diagnostic Part 3: Printheads and Paper Advance test. This test is
designed to check w hether the Printheads and the Media Advance Mechanism are working correctly.
2 Image Qualit
Quality Service Best Plot but uses the Normal Print Mode.
3 Advanced Diagnostic Plot.
defects that we could find in the Image Quality Service plot. For more
information, see
Considerations for Printing the Diagnostic Print
he IQ Diagnostic Print prints in A3 and B sizes so you must have media
1 T
loade
d (roll or sheet) that is this size or larger.
2 Use the same type of media that the cust omer was using when they found
the image qualit
3 If the customer is using non-HP media and after the Image Quality T est you
ill have the same image quality problems, change to genuine HP media
st
and repeat the Image Quality Test.
If you do see problems with the Image Quality Test, continue with the
Adv
anced Diagnostic pr ocedur e s which w ill help you diagnose the problem.
Printing the Diagnostic Print
1 In the
Service Utilities submenu, scroll to “Diagnostic Print” and press OK.
y Service Normal Plot. This plot is the same as the Image
These tests provide more information of the IQ
The Advanced Diagnostic Prints on page 1-15.
y problem.
2 You will be given three options. Use the Arrow keys to make the selection
and press the OK key to start printing the required Diagnostic Print or to
enter the Advanced Diagnosti cs menu.
3 If you selected the Advanced Diagnostics Prints in the previous step, use the
Arrow keys to make the required selection Paper Advance, Printhead
HP Designjet T Series — Service Manual 1-10
Print quality troubleshooting
Alignment Diagnostic , Nozzle Health, For ce Drop Detecti on or Print Banding
Plot, and press the Enter key to start printing.
4 Make sure media is loaded, the Media Lever is lowered and that the Ink
System is cor rec tl y installed . Pr es s the OK ke y t o print the Di agnosti c Pr int or
press Back/Cancel to exit without printing the Diagnostic Print.
5 The selected Diagnostic Print will now be printed.

Reading the Diagnostic Print Results

Diagnostic Part 1: Printhead Reliability
The Nozzle Print Test test is designed to check if the Printhead nozzles print
correc
tly.
The nozzles check (top of the plot) is printed in a one-pass full swath mode.
The di
agnostics test prints out every single nozzle of each Printhead without
applying an error hiding or alignment algorithm.
For each Printhead, you can see both the adjacent and the consecutive
nozzl
es.
If any nozzles are not printing correctly they will be shown on the right of
each Printhead Nozzle test. Ther e i s a ser ies o f number ed s tepped diagonal
lines. If one or more of the nozzles are clogged, malfunctioning or mis-
positioned, you will see that the stepped lines are broken or misdirected in
one or more places.
HP Designjet T Series — Service Manual 1-11
Print quality troubleshooting
Below, the stepped lines highlighted in yellow are broken. When the line is
completely broken, this means the nozzle is out.
Below, the stepped lines highlighted in yellow are misdirected. When the
line is misdirected, this means the nozzle is malfunctioning or out of
position.
On the left of each Printhead Nozzle test, there is a series of horizontal
aight lines. If one or more nozzles are misdirected there will be unequal
str
spaces between the corresponding lines.
Corrective Action
If the printer has nozzle defects , y o u can still get
The printer can automatically compensate for nozzle defects, so there is no
need to replace the Pr inthead.
The method of improving Nozzle Defects is to:
1 Recover the Printheads, using the Front Panel Main Menu/Image Quality
Maint
enance/Clean Printheads option.
2 Reprint the Printhead Nozzles Test Plot to verify that the defective nozzles
e been corrected.
hav
3 If the problem continues, replace the defective Printhead.
gnostic Part 2: Printhead Alignment
Dia
This test is designed to check any color-to-color and bi-directional
misalignmen
t the printer may have.
perfect print quality r e sults .
HP Designjet T Series — Service Manual 1-12
Print quality troubleshooting
1 If the Printer is experiencing horizontal misalignment problems, the
Alignment Test will show something like this:
2 If the Printer is e xper ienc ing vertical misalignment problems , the Ali gnment
Test will show something like this:
3 If the Printer is experiencing bi-directional misalignment problems, the
Alignment Test will show something like this:
Corrective Action
Perform the Printhead Alignment (Main Menu/Image Quality Maintenance/
Ali
gn Printheads), using the same paper type with which you were experiencing unacceptable image quality, if feasible (some paper types are not suitable for Printhead Alignment).
Diagnostic Part 3: Printheads & Paper Advance
This test is designed to c heck w hether the Pr intheads and the P ape r Adv ance Mechanism ar NOT be used to check for color consistency or accuracy.
e working corr ectl y. This part of the Image Quality Test should
HP Designjet T Series — Service Manual 1-13
Print quality troubleshooting
Banding
If the Printer is experiencing a banding pr oble m, you will see repetitive horizontal bands within the printed image.
Darker horizontal bands or lines repeated along the vertical band (from
top to bottom at the same distance).
Whiter horizontal bands or lines along the vertical band (from top to
bottom at the same distance).
The plot is printed in Best or Normal mode (according to the menu option selec
ted) with Err or Hiding ON. T he top band has 100% ink density patches
while the bottom band has 50% ink density patches.
Troubleshooting Banding Problems
If banding does N Printhead problem. In this case, try the following:
1
Check that the appropriate print quality settings are being used (refer to the User’s Guide for more information)
2 Recover the printheads using the option through the Front Panel (Main
Menu/Image Quality Maintenance/Clean Printheads). Reprint the Diagnostic Print or the pr int file and if the pr oblem persists , replace the f aulty Printhead.
If banding does oc Advance problem :
OT occur in ALL the colors, then it is more than likely a
.
cur in ALL the colors, then it is more than likely a Paper
If the bands are light, it means that the paper has advanced too much.If the bands are dark, it means that the paper hasn’t advanced enough.
HP Designjet T Series — Service Manual 1-14
Print quality troubleshooting
In high quality modes, graininess in ALL colors can indicate problems
either with alignment or Paper Advance.
Corrective Action
In order to solve problems that result in banding, try the following:
1 Check that the appropriate print quality settings are being used (r efer to the
ser’s Guide for more information).
U
2 Check that the loaded media is the same type as selected in the printer. You
verify the media type selected through the Front Panel (Main Menu/
can Paper menu/View loaded paper).
the customer is using low quality paper, try recommending better quality
3 If
pa
per (preferably HP paper). Printer performance can only be guaranteed by using recommended papers.
erform the Paper Advance Calibration using the same type of paper that
4 P
w
ill be used for the f inal print (Main Menu/Image Quality Maintenance/
Paper Advance Calibration/Calibrate Paper Advance). If there is white point banding in on
cannot be fix ed using the Pr inthead r ecov eri es, in s ome cases using the for ce a drop detection option can f i x this issue . See
1-24.
ly one color band and the problem
Force Drop Detection on page
No Printing Defects Found in the Diagnostic Print
If all the test patterns from the Diagnostic Print are correct and you still exper
ience Image Quality problems, you can use the following procedures
to resolve the problem.
Reading the Advanced diagnostic Print ResultsPrinthead AlignmentNozzle HealthForce Drop Detection

The Advanced Diagnostic Prints

What are the Advanced Diagnostic Prints?
Advanced Diagnostic Plot. defects found in the Image Quality Service plot.
The Advanced Di agnostic Plo t is di
Visual Media Advanced Diagnostic. Used to check advance reliability.Printhead Alignment Diagnostic. Used to check pen alignment reliability.Visual Nozzle health Diagnostic. Used to check nozzle health reliability.Force Drop Detection . Used to reset the nozzle health historic data base
and force new drop detection.
These tests provide more information of the IQ
vided into the following parts:
HP Designjet T Series — Service Manual 1-15
Print quality troubleshooting
Printi ng the Advanced Diagnostics Print
1 In the Service Utilities submenu, scroll to “Diagnostic Print” and pr ess OK.
2 Y ou w ill be giv en thr ee options . Us e the Arrow ke y s to select the A d vanced
Diagnostics menu.
3 From the displayed options, use the Arrow keys to make th e required
selection Paper Advance, Printhead Al ignment Diagnostic, Nozzle Health, Force Drop Detection or Print Banding Plot, and press the OK key to start printing.
4 Make sure media is loaded, the Media Lever is lowered and that the Ink
System is cor rec tl y installed . Pr es s the OK ke y t o print the Di agnosti c Pr int or press Back/Cancel to exit without printing the Diagnostic Print.
5 The selected Advanced Diagnostic Print will now be printed and, if
necessary, automatically scanne d.

Reading the Advanced diagnostic Print Results

Paper Advance
This plot helps you to visually check any ali You use it to pr ecisely measure the media adv ance er ror with a one dot r ow accuracy, and to verify the stability of the media advance.
gnment problems of the printer.
HP Designjet T Series — Service Manual 1-16
Print quality troubleshooting
The whitest vertical line should be positioned in the 0 offset column with minor variatio ns between +2 and -2 columns. If the offset is not positioned on the 0 column or between +2 and - 2 col umns and the whitest vertical
varies greatly, the printer requires Image Quality Maintenance/Paper Advance Calibr Advance).
It is very important to verify that the loaded media is the same media type as selected in the front panel. You can verify the media type selected through the Front Panel (Main Menu/Paper menu/View loaded paper). The wrong type of paper selected will produce an offset error in the Paper Advance.
Paper Advance Calibration (Main Menu/
ation/Calibrate Paper
HP Designjet T Series — Service Manual 1-17
Print quality troubleshooting
The following plot shows correct media advance, there is a straight white line positioned close t o the 0 column for the majority of the points.
HP Designjet T Series — Service Manual 1-18
Print quality troubleshooting
The follo wing plot show s a bad media ad v ance , ther e is a str aight w hite line positioned clo se to the -6 colu mn, ins tead of the 0 column for the major ity of the points.
Corrective Action
To fix Paper Advance problems, try the following:
1 Check the Paper Advance Calibration Status. This can be done by going to
Main Menu/Pa displays the Paper Advance Calibration status. There are three status messages:
per/View Loaded Paper. At the bottom, the Front Panel
DEFAULT. The paper loaded is recognized as HP paper, which is
already optimized and calibrated for the printer. Do Not calibrate the Paper Advance for this paper.
RECOMMENDED. The paper loaded is NOT recognized as HP paper,
and Paper Advance values have NOT been customized for this paper type. In this case, calibrate the Paper Advance from the user menu.
OK. This indicates that the paper loaded has been calibrated be fore. If
the printer continue s to ha ve banding and grainine ss pr oblems , calibr ate the Paper Advanc e from the user menu.
Whenever the printer's firmware is upgraded, the paper advance c alibration values will be reset to factory default.
HP Designjet T Series — Service Manual 1-19
Print quality troubleshooting
2 To calibrate the Paper Advance from the user menu, go to Main Menu/
Image Quality Maintenance/Paper Advance Calibration/Calibrate
Paper Advance.
It is very important to verify that the loaded media is the same media type as selected in the front panel. You can verify the media type selected through the Front Panel (Main Menu/Paper menu/View loaded paper). The wrong type of paper selected will produce an offset error in the Paper Advance.
Some paper types are not suitable for Paper Advance Calibration. Do NOT use colored papers or transparent materials such as translucent bond, clear film, matte film, tracing paper, or vellum.
Paper Advance calibr ation from the user menu will only calibrate the Paper Advance for the paper type loaded in the printer at that moment.
3 If Calibrate Paper Adv ance has mo stly solved the problem, try Adjust Paper
vance to fine tune the Paper Advance (Main Menu/Image Quality
Ad Maintenance/Paper Advance Calibration/Adjust Paper Advance).
Select the per centage of change from -100% to 100%. To correct light
, decr
banding percentage.
he Paper Advance calibration from the service menu will calibrate the
4 T
Pa
per Advance for ALL paper types. This action is recommended when:
ease the percentage. To correct dark banding, increase the
The Paper Advance calibration from the user menu does NOT solve the
problem.
The Paper Advance problems affect ALL paper types.
The procedure for P aper Advance Calibration from the service menu is document
Calibration on page 4-6.
ed in Chapter 5, Service Calibrations. See
Paper Advance
Printhead Alignment
To ensure you obtain meaningful results, use the s am e type of media that the customer was using when they encountered the image quality problem.
This plot helps you to visually check any alignment problems of the printer. You use it to precisely measure the alignment error with a 3 dot row accuracy. For the printer to be considered correctly aligned, the results must be within ±3 dot row.
HP Designjet T Series — Service Manual 1-20
Print quality troubleshooting
The illustration shows the complete Printhead Alignment that identifies each of the specific alignment test results covered.
a b
c
d
e
The Printhead Alignment Diagno stic pr int sho ws the f ollo w ing di agnosti c tes t results:
a Line Sensor Calibration b Pen to Pen Align c Carriage thetaZ d Bidirectional align (high) e Bidirectional align (Low)
r tests a, b , and c, the order of the color band is:
o
F
For tests e and f, the order of the color band is:
Once the printer has correctly printed and scanned the Printhead Alignme nt Diagnostic print , the F r ont P anel displa ys the r esults. T he top ro w displa ys the printhead, and the left column displays the test.
HP Designjet T Series — Service Manual 1-21
Print quality troubleshooting
The results are seperated onto two scree ns. U se the Arrow keys to di splay the second resul t s screen.
Any printhead w ith a test r esult containing a number that is not wi thin the ±3 dot row range i s mi sali gne d .
The mK printhead is used as a reference to test the other printheads. If all the printheads fail the Pen to P en tests, it is the mK printhead that is misaligned.
Reading the Printhead Alignment Diagnostic Print
The following plot shows correct printhead alignment for all patterns. The clea
r band is in the center of the pattern.
The following plot shows bad printhead alignment. The clear band is not in the center of the pattern.
Corrective Action
If any of the printheads are misaligned beyond the ±3 dot row range,
perform a Printhead Alignment. See
Aligning Printheads on page 3-14.
If a Printhead Alignment does not correct the problem, replace the bad
printhead.
HP Designjet T Series — Service Manual 1-22
Print quality troubleshooting
If the customer is using non-HP media and after the Image Quality Test you still have the same image quality problems, change to genuine HP media and repeat the Image Quality Test. The best alignment calib ration is obtained using HP Photo Paper.
Nozzle Health
The print contains three separate parts.
a
b c
a The Variable Frequency Nozzle health plot with odd/even nozzles
separation. This is used to detect misdirected nozzles, weak nozzles, or nozzles not working correctly at all frequencies.
b Inspector measuring tool test plot.
Test b should NOT be used by Service Engineers.
c Nozzle Print Test which is als o part of the Image Quality Service P lot.
This test is designed to check that the Printhead nozzles print correctly. The test prints out e very single nozzle of each Printhead. No er ror hiding or Printhead Alignment algor ithm is applied. For each Printhead, you can see both the adjacent and the consecutive nozzles.
This is what you would see in the Nozzl
e Print Test part if there are
nozzles not printing correctly:
1 On the right of each Printhead Nozzle test, there is a series of numbered
epped diagonal lines. If one or more of the nozzles are malfunctioning or
st mis-positioned, you will see that the stepped lines are broken or misdirected in one or more places.
n the left of each Pr inthead Nozzle test, there is a series of horizontal
2 O
st
raight lines. If one or more nozzles are misdirected there will be unequal
spaces between the corresponding lines.
Corrective Action for Nozzle Defects
If the printer has nozzle defects, it doe
s not mean that you will not get perfect print quality results. The printer has automatic procedures to hide many nozzle defects.
ecover the Printheads using the option through the Front Panel (Main
1 R
menu
/Image quality maintenance/clean printheads).
HP Designjet T Series — Service Manual 1-23
2 Reprint the Nozzle Print test to check that the defective nozzles have been
corrected.
3 If the problem continues, replace the defective Printhead.
Force Drop Detection
If the Nozzle Print Test plot has p one color that cannot be fixed with a printhead recovery, you can use this option to resolve the problem by resetting the nozzle health data base so that all nozzles are assumed to be correct.
Once the nozzle health data base has been reset drop detection is forced. The normal cause of this white point banding in a single colo
incorrect detection of failed nozzles by the drop detector.

Troubleshooting Print Quality Problems

Print Quality General Advice
1 To achieve the best performance from the printer, only genuine HP
ssories and supplies should be used.
acce
2 Make sure that the p
the paper type loaded into the Printer.
aper type selected in the Front Panel is the same as
Print quality troubleshooting
ersistent white point banding in only
r is the
3 Make sure to use the most appropriate print quality settings for your
poses. A lower print quality is likely to be seen if the print quality slider
pur has been moved to the Speed end of the scale, or the custom quality level set to Fast.
4 Chec
5 C
k that the environmental conditions (t the temperature/humidity range as specified for the Printer (refer to the User’s Guide for more information).
heck that the ink cartridges and printheads have not exceeded their
e
xpiration dates.
emperature, humidity) are within
HP Designjet T Series — Service Manual 1-24
Print quality troubleshooting
Horizontal Lines Across the Image (Banding)
Description of problem
When you look at the image you have printe acros s the image. Shown be low is an example of what y ou might see if you have this problem:
d, there are horizontal lines
Corrective Action
1 Check that the paper type loaded corr es ponds to the paper ty pe s elect ed in
ront panel and in the software. You can verify the paper type selected
the f through the Front Panel (Main Menu/Paper menu/View loaded paper).
heck that the appropriate print quality settings are being used (re fer to the
2 C
Us
er’s Guide for more information) and reprint the image. In some cases print quality problems can be resolved by selecting a higher print quality level.
int the Service Image Diagnostics Print, and clean any printheads that
3 Pr
need cl
4 Check the paper advance calibration status. If the status is PENDING,
perform the Paper Advance Calibration (Main Menu/Image Quality Maintenance/Paper Advance Calibration/Calibrate Paper Advance).
5 A 6 Watc h the printe r carri age when it r eac hes the end of its s w ath. If ther e is an
unexpec This delay is possibly the result of the following:
eaning. Reprint the job in case the problem has been solved
fter calibration reprint the job.
ted delay, this may cause the banding.
.
The user is performing tasks with other appli cations while pr inting
(particularly image processing applications). These applications are using too many computer resources, and the computer cannot effectively process the print job.
The file to be printed is complex, and the computer does not have the
capacity to print such complex files.
HP Designjet T Series — Service Manual 1-25
Print quality troubleshooting
If printing over a LAN, it is possible that the LAN is too slow to meet the
requirements of the print job.
If this is the case, the following corrective measures can be taken:
1 Do not use the computer while printing. Close applications that use a large
amount of
2 Convert the file PDF. Formats like PDF require less resources to print, which
may s
Lines are Missing, Too Thin, or Too Thick
Description of problem
Shown below is an example o f w hat you might se
computer resources.
olve your banding problem.
e if you hav e this pr oblem:
Corrective Action
1 Check that the paper type loaded corr es ponds to the paper ty pe s elect ed in
ront panel and in the software. You can verify the paper type selected
the f through the Front Panel (Main Menu/Paper menu/View loaded paper).
heck that the appropriate print quality settings are being used (re fer to the
2 C
Us
er’s Guide for mor e inf ormation). Select the c ust om print q uality options in the Print dialog, and if you are using best quality and glossy paper, try turning on the Maximum detail option. Reprint the job in case the problem has been solved.
3 If the r
4 C
5 C
6 U
esolution of the image is greater than the printing resolution, a loss of
line qu
ality may be seen. You can find the Max. Application Resolution option in the Windows driver dialog's Advanced tab, under Document Options > Printer Features. Reprint the job in case the problem has been solved.
heck the Printhead alignment status. If the status is PENDING, perform the
Pri
nthead Alignment (Main Menu/Image Quality Maintenance/Align
Printheads). After alignment reprint the job.
heck the paper advance calibration status. If the status is PENDING,
perf
orm the paper advance calibration (Main Menu/Image Quality Maintenance/Paper Advance Calibration/Calibrate Paper Advance). After calibration reprint the job.
se Part 3 of the Image Quality Diagnostic Print, check if there are a
sig
nificant amount of nozzles out in the color that is actually c au s ing the problem (if see yo u a problem w ith the Black color in the cus tomer print , then only check the Black printhead in the Image Quality Diagnostic Print). If there is a significant amount of nozzles out then replace the defective Printhead.
HP Designjet T Series — Service Manual 1-26
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