HP designjet 130 printing problems

[stewarthemley]

It was working perfectly then suddenly it's not sharp. Like it has gone out of alignment, with a slightly fainter image printed just slightly offset. It happened over a course of three prints. The first is perfect, the second shows the problem starting and the third is the worst. It hasn't got any worse, or better.

The strange thing is, the image quality diagnostic page prints perfectly with no sign of "offset" or misalignment. I've done a couple of cleans even though there's no sign of one ink missing and it's never needed a clean in it's life. I have also done the alignment test which said it was ok. The printer is about four years old and has done about 3500 prints on the original print heads. The obvious answer is to change the print heads but then why would the test page print so well? I have tested it with several images and they print fine on another machine. Any help would be most appreciated.

edit to add a bit more info: I don't think it's relevant as it was working well for a while, but I'm on a Mac with Snow L and nothing changed to cause the problem. The other machine that prints fine is also through a Mac with SL.

[Ernst Dinkla]

It was working perfectly then suddenly it's not sharp. Like it has gone out of alignment, with a slightly fainter image printed just slightly offset. It happened over a course of three prints. The first is perfect, the second shows the problem starting and the third is the worst. It hasn't got any worse, or better.

The strange thing is, the image quality diagnostic page prints perfectly with no sign of "offset" or misalignment. I've done a couple of cleans even though there's no sign of one ink missing and it's never needed a clean in it's life. I have also done the alignment test which said it was ok. The printer is about four years old and has done about 3500 prints on the original print heads. The obvious answer is to change the print heads but then why would the test page print so well? I have tested it with several images and they print fine on another machine. Any help would be most appreciated.

edit to add a bit more info: I don't think it's relevant as it was working well for a while, but I'm on a Mac with Snow L and nothing changed to cause the problem. The other machine that prints fine is also through a Mac with SL.

Doesn't sound like a dirty coding strip and bad sensor readout as that would affect all the head positions. One head not fitted properly that may shift during longer print runs is unlikely too. I think it has something to do with ink supply (damper sieve filthy etc) or the head warming up and no pump capacity to address the dots correctly. That would show on larger prints and not on the test strips. Not familiar with the 130 though.

Edit: oil the bar the carriage rides on. The last time I had a misalignment on the Z3100 I did get the right oil and cleaned the bar + oiled it before I did the realignment step. It could be that it doesn't show on smaller prints = shorter head paths.


met vriendelijke groeten, Ernst Dinkla

Try: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Wide_Inkjet_Printers/

[enduser]

We once had this problem with a DJ 130 printer and a "Head Re-alignment" fixed it.

[stewarthemley]

Thanks Ernst and Enduser. I'll try both and report back. Cheers.

[stewarthemley]

In case anyone else has similar problems, I'll report any progress, or otherwise, till the thing is fixed. Oiled the carriage bar: no change. Did a head realignment: no change. So I've now ordered new print heads. The machine has done about 3500 prints, some 24x60",  on its original print heads so I don't think I should complain too much. HP recommend you change them every few ink cartridges. My view is, if it ain't broke, don't fix it. But now it's broke...

[stewarthemley]

Phew! It was print heads. No flashing symbols to warn of it, but I went ahead and bought them, then fingers, legs, few other things crossed while it fired up. But now its working just fine.
During the course of my searching for answers I came across this maintenance manual. I don't think it's for general release but it should be so here's the link.

http://www.keepandshare.com/doc/show.php?i=832144&cat=3

It's got lots if useful little tips that don't appear anywhere else, as far as I can see. If HP (and other printer makers) would release this sort of info with their machines I think we'd all be a lot happier.

Another little tip: the maintenance utility doesn't work on leopard or snow L (Mac) but if you have VM Fusion, or similar, you can get it to work via windows. (Printers, highlight DJ130, properties, then the final tab on the box will access the MU.)