If you've never put oil on the carriage rail, you should. If you have but you can't remember when, do it again. Put 4-5 drops of baby oil or 3 in 1 oil on the rail that the carriage rides on. Its a round metal rod that runs all the way across the printer -- under the cover, of course! 

After you put the oil on you can run a print, a demo print or just press the FORM FEED AND CUT button.This moves the carriage over the length of the machine and gets fresh lubricant under the bushings on both the carriage and the cutter. 

After you apply the oil and run the printer, you may see a build up of dust and debris on the side of the carriage -- wipe it off with a paper towel.-- its a good thing, that collection was under the bushings of the carriage and is now gone! Your printer will run quieter and will be less likely to throw error messages that don't mean anything!

If your old cartridges (or even new ones) won't print 
here's some things to try;
.

FIRST -- ALWAYS CLEAN THE CONTACTS IN THE CARTRIDGE SLOT -- they often have ink on them and that just doesn't work -- they need to be clean! Also, clean the slot contacts on the carriage where you place the cartridges. (see photo)

1) Hold under running hot water, shake it and look for two lines of ink when pressed to a damp folded paper towel. (Of course it is waterproof, it has ink in it!)

2) Soak for an hour in a quart of hot water with a hearty squirt of liquid dish soap and a quarter cup of ammonia - then shake hard and look for two parallel lines on a damp folded paper towel.

3) Fold up 4 or 5 very wet paper towels until you have at least an inch tall gob of towel. Press down slowly and firmly then release slowly and the towels will create suction as they return to their original depth.

4) If all else fails try smearing a bit of saliva down the cartridge contacts and snap into place. It sounds dumb. However, many have found this to work. My theory is that the spit seals small cracks in the microscopic contact wires that cause the cartridge to fire ink. 

​5) Try rubbing the contact strip in the cartridge slot and on the back of the cartridge with a dollar bill. Others report this has worked...I haven't tried it yet.

Sometimes replacing the trailing cable (big white ribbon that follows the carriage) is what is needed for your cartridges to fire ink out of all the microscopic jets. 

​

"My 430 plotter would intermittently only plot a few inches of the drawing. The carriage would keep moving, but no ink was being deployed. This would go on for a few plots and then it would plot the full sheet. It would also give me cartridge errors intermittently too. This went off & on for over 2 years. I purchased an electronic module and replaced it with no change. I cleaned the cartridge contacts and changed the cable to the computer. This too resulted in no change. Finally I replace the trailing cable and instantly my machine is plotting fully again. The thought was that the trailing cable, which constantly flexes when plotting, has a wire or wires that broke but were still making contact some of the time. Thereby giving me the intermittent problem."

​Thank you John for sharing this info!
​

​Print spooler might error or close unexpectedly when attempting to print
After installing KB4557957, certain printers may be unable to print. Print spooler may error or close unexpectedly when attempting to print and no output will come from affected printer. You might also encounter issues with the apps you are attempting to print from. You might receive an error from the app or the app may close unexpectedly. Note This issue might also affect software-based printers, for example printing to PDF.

Affected platforms:

• Client: Windows 10, version 2004; Windows 10, version 1909; Windows 10, version 1903; Windows 10, version 1809; Windows 10 Enterprise LTSC 2019; Windows 10, version 1803; Windows 10, version 1709; Windows 10, version 1607; Windows 10 Enterprise LTSC 2016; Windows 10 Enterprise 2015 LTSB; Windows 8.1
• Server: Windows Server, version 2004; Windows Server, version 1909; Windows Server, version 1903; Windows Server, version 1809; Windows Server 2019; Windows Server, version 1803; Windows Server, version 1709; Windows Server 2016; Windows Server 2012 R2; Windows Server 2012

Resolution: This issue was resolved in the out-of-band update KB4567523. It is a cumulative update, so you do not need to apply any previous update before installing it. To get the standalone package for KB4567523, search for it in the Microsoft Update Catalog. You can import this update into Windows Server Update Services (WSUS) manually. See the Microsoft Update Catalog for instructions. Note KB4567523 is not available from Windows Update and will not install automatically.

6/19/2020
ALERT!
IF YOUR PRINTER SUDDENLY STOPPED WORKING THIS WEEK IT IS A BAD MICROSOFT UPDATE
GO TO SETTINGS>UPDATES AND SECURITY>VIEW UPDATE HISTORY.  UNINSTALL THESE UPDATES:  
​KB4560960 AND KB4557957 FROM JUNE 9TH (OR NEAR THERE)

NEXT: INSTALL NEW UPDATES 
IF YOUR WIN 10 IS VER. 1909 OR 1903 INSTALL THE KB4567512 UPDATE
IF YOUR WIN 10 VERSION IS 1809 INSTALL KB4567613
IF YOUR WIN 10 VERSION IS 1803 INSTALL KB4567514

GO HERE TO SEARCH AND DOWNLOAD YOUR UPDATE

​

Jeff from Henderson MN called this morning and said that although I'd put a new trailing cable in his Designjet 430 last year, the cartridge light was blinking and he was thinking of sending his guy Randy to me with the plotter. It's about a three hour drive so Randy stepped up and offered a possible solution:

Rub the cartridge contacts with a dollar bill.
Randy says he often uses this to get better performance from spark plugs.

IT WORKED!

Snapping the cartridge back into the plotter the light went out and the plotter started printing!

Give that Randy a raise!!!

This may work with your Designjet 500 or 800 if the install of the latest firmware now makes your plotter aware of expired inks --- I haven't tested it. Let me know if it works. Thanks!

If you cannot print is not because the ink is expired.

Try this.

1- delete all the pending jobs at the printer panel
2- reset the ink cartridges and acknowledge the warnings
3- print the Image Quality Print to check the status of the nozzles ant the printheads.
4- replace any bad printheads
5- do the printhead alignment and paper advance calibration
6- print an internal demo to test the hardware

 I was working on getting a 450c Designjet refurbished today. New belt, cleaned up inside and out, fresh spittoon and oiled the rail. Thinking all was ok, I put the covers back on and got ready to print. BOOGERS! The LOAD + ALIGN + MEDIA lights were on and I wasn't sure what it was that was causing this.

​Looking in the service manual I found a number of things it could be. I decided to try the easiest thing and wiped down the encoder strip with a soft damp paper towel. Don't Use Alcohol If You Try This - just warm water! Wiped it all the way across from far left to far right. As I was wiping I noticed a couple of ink smudges on the encoder strip. They came right up on the paper towel.

Then with the plotter turned off I moved the carriage to the middle of the machine and restarted it. This lets the carriage "refind" itself with the clean encoder strip which is the GPS of the plotter. It tells the carriage where to be from left to right. IT WORKED!

​Below you can see the suggestions from the service manual.

Ron called this morning. He has a Designjet 500 giving him a 22:10 error code. The key to finding the solution came when he said he'd just replaced an empty cartridge. 

I asked Ron if he'd tried turning it off and on and/or disconnecting the electric cord from the wall for 15 minutes. He humored me and said yes they had without sounding disdainful of the question! Really, it is important to ask this, so don't be offended...there are hundreds of problems that can be quickly and easily solved with just turning the darned thing off!!!

I told Ron to turn off the printer, take all the cartridges out. Turn the printer back on and make the printer ask for ink. It asked, he reinstalled the ink cartridges. That solved the problem. The printer came quickly to READY. 

​HOORAY!!!

So my old buddy Aaron in Phoenix had just replaced the carriage belt on his Designjet 430 and suddenly ALL the lights on his control panel were lit and neither he nor I could find a reason for it. After trying about 30 different potential fixes, Aaron found that the reason was that the parallel to USB cable wasn't fully seated on the parallel connection. Problem solved! 

If you woke up to find Windows 10 on your computer and thus your plotter isn't connecting and printing, call me and I'll help you get things right again for a $50 fee via Paypal. Call me and I'll log on to your screen, download the right drivers and make sure you are able to print...then, after we've confirmed you are happy I will send you an invoice via Paypal and you can pay with a credit card.
​

I've recently helped many people  who found Windows 10 on their computers unexpectedly. So, no, you aren't imagining things and no you didn't accidentally click on the wrong thing...Here's what I've found:

"The Windows 10 upgrade is automatically being installed on many Windows 7 and 8.1 machines as a result of Microsoft changing the status of the upgrade to that of a "recommended" update. Windows 7 and 8.1 machines sold to home users are generally configured to automatically install these recommended updates."

Every day I read online articles that tell me the older HP Designjet Plotters can not be used with the newer Windows 8 and Windows 10 (aka: Win8 or Win10).  I say BS! I just today help another guy, Sam from Pennsylvania to connect his Designjet 750c to Windows 10. Sam asked me to log on to his screen and just get it connected.  We downloaded the drivers from this site which I copied directly from HP some time back before they took them off their website. Then I showed Sam some of the tricks of the trade...how to resuscitate old cartridges, how to use the USB connection and how to change ports when necessary.  When we were done Sam was printing with his old 750c Designjet! So call me today for help in connecting your older plotter to your newer Windows 8 or 10 operating system. I'll charge you $50 only if we are able to connect your computer to your plotter and get you printing!         651-247-3022 ask for The Princess!

How can I install non-digitally signed drivers in Windows 10? (see below for Win 8)
Windows 10 enforces driver signatures by default. What this means is you can download a driver from this site or others, but the driver signing requirement kicks in and "disables" the driver...you won't know it...it looks like it is there and functional. This is because drivers weren't signed back in the 90's! You might get a message that says something about a hash tag...but your downloaded driver won't work. YOU MUST DELETE THE DRIVER FROM YOUR SYSTEM AND REMOVE THE PRINTER FROM YOUR LIST OF PRINTERS. This can be disabled to install drivers that are not digitally signed. Use the following steps to disable driver signature enforcement.
NOTE: If this is all too intimidating or too much  of a hassle you can call the Plotter Princess and for $50 I will remotely connect to your computer, download the drivers, install the printer/plotter and get your plotter to print a test print...so you can be sure you are properly connected and ready to get some work done!! Usually an appointment is not needed. Call 651-247-3022

1. Click the Start  menu and select Settings.
2. Click Update and Security.
3. Click on Recovery.
4. Click Restart now under Advanced Startup.
5. Click Troubleshoot.
6. Click Advanced options.
7. Click Startup Settings.
8. Click on Restart.
9. On the Startup Settings screen press 7 or F7 to disable driver signature enforcement.

Your computer will restart and you will be able to download, extract and install non-digitally signed drivers.
​

______________________________________
How can I install non-digitally signed drivers in Windows 8?
Windows 8 enforces driver signatures by default. This can be disabled so non-digitally signed drivers can be installed. Use the following steps to disable driver signature enforcement.

1. Press the Windows () key + C, or swipe in from the right edge of the screen to open your Charms.
2. Select the Settings charm, and then click Change PC settings
3. Select General, and then scroll down and click on Restart Now under Advanced Startup.
4. Click on Troubleshoot, Advanced options, and then select Startup Settings.
5. Click on Restart.
6. On the Startup Settings screen press 7 or F7 to Disable driver signature enforcement.

Once the computer restarts you will be able to install non-digitally signed drivers for that Windows session. If you restart the computer again the driver signature enforcement will be enabled. You can repeat the above steps at any time you need to disable this feature.


​When next you restart your computer after this the driver signing requirement will be back in force. That's a good thing because it saves you from viruses. Any driver on this site was copied from the original HP driver sites before those lovely folks at HP decided to get rid of them so people like you couldn't use those old plotters anymore!



NOTE: If this is all too intimidating or too much  of a hassle you can call the Plotter Princess and for $50 I will remotely connect to your computer, download the drivers, install the printer/plotter and get your plotter to print a test print...so you can be sure you are properly connected and ready to get some work done!! Usually an appointment is not needed. Call 651-247-3022

​ISSUE: When printing an AutoCAD drawing/image on any of the HP Designjet 500 or 800 series printers using either roll or sheet fed media the drawing/image shifts and is clipped.
WORKAROUND: In Autocad 2000, 2000i and 2002, use the following steps:

1. Select File, Plot.
   
2. Click the Plot Device tab, and select the correct driver.
   
3. Select Properties.
   
4. Click Modify Standard Paper Sizes.
   
5. Click Modify.
   
6. Click Specify.
   
7. Specify non-Printable edge.
   
8. Select Next.
   
9. Enter the following values:
   
   1. Top margin 1.33 inches (34 mm)
      
   2. Bottom margin 0.0 inches
      
   3. Left margin 0.39 inches (10 mm)
      
   4. Right margin 0.0 inches
      NOTE: Remember to allow enough room between the image and the page size for the hard margins.

For an alternate solution using sheet fed media, cut a sheet larger to allow for the hard margin offset and trim the page after the print is made.
Other possible causes include:

• Incorrect paper size is selected
• Incorrect scaling factor has been chosen
• When creating different lay-outs the correct printer driver is not used

SUMMARY: The printer has hard margins of 17 mm leading and trailing edge, and a 5 mm left side and right side edge. The printer will offset the jobs 17 mm up and 5 mm in from the bottom-right corner. This may cause the document on the left and top side of the drawing/image to clip in portrait mode.

Here's a great page for finding and downloading the service manuals for HP Designjets.  It is maintained by www.PartsNow.com. 

 Just another day, tripping over things that you might find useful while researching a new model.  I'm getting a Z2100 ready in the workshop and it appeared that PDFs couldn't be printed...but I was wrong and had used the wrong driver. In the meantime I found this HP article about printing PDFs and decided to share.  

I'm getting beautiful prints now...very happy!
​
I also figured out something else - It can use expired ink...you get alerts, but you can ignore them. I love plotters that can use expired ink!

My most asked question these days is how to use the older plotters with Windows 8 and 10. You CAN do it. I've helped lots of folks to do it. Just last week we put an old Designjet 650 on a Windows 10 computer!
Here's an article on how to do it.

I'd picked up a nice HP DJ 800 from a lovely couple from Windom who traded it in on a newly refurbished model. They'd said that in full disclosure they'd hired someone to replace the belt and after that repair the darned thing started popping up an error message they couldn't get rid of and they just wanted to NOT deal with it anymore. Thinking I'm the Plotter Princess of Lindstrom MN and I can fix anything I plug it in and instantly get the 21:10 error code. I take out the service station, disassemble it and clean it up and put it back into this lovely machine and darned if it didn't error with the 21:01 again. I tried another spare service station...it continued to give me the 21:10 error code throughout the evening and into the next day. I wasted a whole day changing the encoder strip and other hopeful things...and yet no relief. I was ready to scream when I stepped behind the plotter to plug it in one more time and noticed some pink insulation near the hole that's under the cover...see the pictures below for the rest of the story.

Yup, a mouse had been nesting in the HP Designjet 800! I'm sure she chose it because it had mousey sized holes and no human would ever bother her and the little growing family! The only thing that runs through that space is the ribbon cable...nothing else. The only reason I came to the back of the plotter to look more closely was because I'll read about on the HP Designjet Forum how that cable getting pinched can cause the 21:10 error code on the Designjet 800 and the Designjet 500. When I saw the ribbon was free of crimps I started to think about where the cable goes and looked at the little mouse holes! Mystery solved! Popped a new ribbon cable on this fine machine and instantly it asked for paper and ran a printhead alignment! 

Hello from England - and thanks for the blog

My question relates to oiling the rails when installing a new belt.

I took my 1998 2500CP plotter apart, took out the old belt, which was worn but not completely broken (No small job).

I put a new belt in and the carriage juddered as it went down the rails - it would not run smoothly - but only when under tension from the new belt.
I tried a few things, but in the end had to put the old belt back on - which works fine - so it probably wasn't an installation issue.

The (friendly) vendor is worried that I may have used the wrong lubricating oil.

Can you help with a simple guide to the best oils and grease to buy?

If you watch plotter servicing videos about changing belts etc , done by apparently specialist plotter guys, the impression given is that many light oils (including sewing machine oil), are OK. Some say do not use WD40 - except on the belt, according to one!

- and you too seem to suggest any light oil would be fine.

On the other hand - a HP official lubricating and cleaning video shows a product DB2-68 from the service kit.
Googling that I found an ebay seller wanting $275 for a bottle - mamma mia, can't be right - and why is the picture Photoshopped?

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/DB2-68-LUBRICANT-OIL-4-FL-FOR-HP-DESIGNJET-PRINTERS-GENUINE-USA-/321615581166

My 1998 2500CP has printer plodded on for many years with no fresh lubrication and the old belt now works OK again.
- so you would not think it was that fussy about lubrication

Incidentally, I probably should put some more of that pink silicone grease on the plastic gears too. 
That product seems cloaked in mystery too and I suspect that one of the many third-party silicon greases would be fine.

A small and simple list of suitable compatible types of silicone grease and oil would be good! 

Many thanks, Dominic


For more than six years I have exclusively used mineral oil (also known here as Baby Oil) for lubricating the rails. I have never had a problem with anyone over oiling and never had a problem with the rails drying. Sometimes when the carriage has dirt under the bushings I have taken a syringe and needle and directly squirted mineral oil 1-3 cc's under the bushing and then moved the carriage back and forth and then done it again. This will often cause old dust and dirt to show up on the rail as I move the carriage. If it does, I keep repeating until I don't see more dirt coming out from under the bushings. 

They are right when they say don't use WD40...it turns to snot on the rails and makes an awful mess. You CAN use triflow or sewing machine oil. HP will sell you rail oil for $40 USD per ounce. But if you are going to throw away that money, send it to me and I'll sell you baby oil for that amount!

When I first get and old machine, I strip it down and clean up the inside of old dust and ink and then I remove the old belt and use a dental pick to take out black residue on the motor gear and on the tensioner wheel (if it is the style with three grooves around.) If you don't do this the gear teeth on the motor can't smoothly move the belt.

Next I empty the spittoon, if there is one and replace it adding a "Mr Clean Magic Eraser Sponge" as it will absorb lots of ink and keep it from overflowing if someone moves the machine in the wrong direction while relocating it in the future.

Now I put the new belt on and put 5-7 drops of oil on the rail and vigorously move the carriage all the way to the right and all the way to the left. I also put a few extra drops in front of the cutter on the rail and manually slide the cutter all the way across and back. After all this I wipe off the rail with a paper towel and look to see if there's lots of black residue, if there is I start over again with putting more oil on the rail and moving the carriage and cutter. I keep repeating until the rail is clean and nothing shows on the paper towel and then I add oil drops again and call it complete!

These machines are so sensitive to any friction on the rail that this cannot get too much oil or too much attention! 

The white plastic gears don't really need anything...I've never seen any wear on these. However, I always scrape the pink grease off the edges and put it back on the gear surface as a good will gesture to the machine! But you can use any third party silicone grease. I've also used silicone plumbers grease.

I see these old machines like classic cars and give them so much attention when I'm rehabilitating and refurbishing them. They are like beautiful old ships and almost as big! I call them "she" just like they were boats...and when they don't work they are just big boat anchors!!!

The only other thing that I can think of that might cause juddering/shuddering would be if you put the bushings for the carriage on backwards. I've only seen that once before and it didn't move as smoothly as it should.

I've been working hard in my workshop trying to get a plotter to work. It is a Designjet 500 that I purchased from someone who stated "The belt has been replaced but it still needs some adjustment." What he didn't say was that HE'D replaced the belt himself and he didn't have a clue what he was doing. When I took the covers off I found many parts that were loose and missing screws. I kept running the printhead alignment and it kept failing. Everything was back together properly, but it just wasn't able to align. So "Googled" it and found this HP forum posting...Now, I never take the bushings off the carriage when replacing a belt. But it appears the seller of this machine had! I switched them around and yes, the alignment came out perfect! So if you are in the same situation and it is possible that the bushings have been switched, give it a try.

From: http://h30499.www3.hp.com/t5/Printers-Designjet-Large-Format/Double-Lines-being-Printed-Designjet-500/td-p/1091490?notmigrated#.VcVVSXFViko
Re: Double Lines being Printed - Designjet 500
Post Options
‎02-01-2010 08:46 PM

Here's my solution to the common double printing, blurred images on the Designjet 500 & 800.

When the carriage was removed to install a new belt, I had also removed the two "C" shaped bushings as well, one on each side of the carriage. I didn't need to, but thought I could get the carriage off without removing the right-hand side cap and service-station... BTW, you DO need to. 

Anyway... when they were reinstalled, they were swapped accidentally left for right (they only go in one way) and they fit pretty loosely in the carriage when they are swapped.

The resulting slop will allow the carriage to "cock" on the carriage return, and since it prints in both directions, the result is two images, identical, but shifted and produces a "blurry" or double-printed output.

We pulled the carriage again today, and sure enough, they were installed backwards. When the bushings are inserted in their little cavities correctly, it is a very light 'press-fit'. They will fit snugly, and will not fall out if you tilt the carriage left or right. You then secure them with the one small screw and washer for each side.

Buttoned the plotter up, and did a plot... voila!! Perfect plot without even doing a head alignment or anything!!!

It's worth a try... if you didn't remove these bushings, then I don't have any solutions for you. It's an elusive problem, but this repair sure fixed our broken plotter.

Sure beats buying a new $450 carriage assy.!!

Thanks to Martin Lavender for this tip:
The small belt is the most common cause of the error message "Switch Power Off, Check Pen Path". This message can occur when the small belt has worn down, or even snapped. The small belt is located on the right hand side of the plotter. It drives off the motor, to a double pulley assembly, which in turn drives the pen carriage assembly. Tension is applied to it by the idler puller and tensioner assembly. You may notice your printer sounding noisy as the pen carriage moves, which is an indication that this belt may require replacement.

This part is for the DesignJet 200 220 600 and the more popular 650C. Small belt - Part Number 1500-0855

When your carriage stops at an unexpected place on its travels up and down the rail, get out a flashlight and take a close look at your encoder strip - that's the silver strip that runs through the back of your carriage. The encoder strip tells your carriage where it is on the trip from left to right. If there's a bad spot or a dirty spot your carriage may stop at someplace other than the end cover where it is normally housed at rest. The photo shows two pieces of encoder. The piece on the left is worn out, de-laminated. The one on the right is fine. The "clear" portion of the strip has a zillion tiny lines that mark every millimeter of the space from left to right. They are easy to replace and they don't cost much...usually less than $30.

Cleaning note: While we are on the subject, do NOT clean your encoder strip with alcohol or window cleaner or anything but water and a very soft cloth, like an old t-shirt. If the fabric comes back with black marks on it, stop cleaning...as your encoder strip doesn't get cleaner than that. The black is tarnish from the silver. Dampen the soft fabric with warm water and wipe it lightly on both sides of the strip from the far left to the far right. Now use another piece of soft cloth that is dry to very gently wipe the strip of water droplets and water marks. Now you are done. Do NOT do more. If the encoder strip gets sticky or gummy you may as well order a new one as it is probably not going to work well and may already be a problem.