DesignJet T210 cutter is not picking up consistently

HunterDrafting · ‎10-14-2023

I recently purchased a designjet T210 plotter and noticed the cutter is not always getting picked up by the printhead. I opened the compartment where the cutter is displayed and noticed the printhead is not returning the cutter to the correct position after making a cut. It's about 2in. shy of the start position. This prevents the printhead from picking up the cutter on the next initiation. If I back up the cutter to the start position, the printhead picks it up without fail. Is there a way to adjust how the printhead resets the cutter to get it to place the cutter all the way to the original position?

Repairatrooper · ‎10-14-2023

It is purely a mechanical interface between the cutter and the printhead. I would suspect that if you are getting chattering noises when cutting that one of the gears in the cutter has failed and will need to be replaced. You can find 3rd party replacement gears online (I have never tried them) or purchase a new cutter assembly from HP. You can physically check by removing the cutter and opening it and looking for a cracked gear

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HunterDrafting · ‎10-14-2023

Thank you for your response. I took the cutter apart and it appears new with no defects. It runs on the rail as expected without issue if I manually pull it to the left all the way. After the printer does a cut, it doesn't return the cutter all the way back to the far left. It's just about 2" from the correct resting position. After every cut, I put my hand in the opening to pull the cutter back to the far left. I've moved the cutter freely across the rail and there appears to be no bad spots where it would get hung up. When observiing it, I can only conclude the printhead is not pushing the cutter all the way to the left for some reason. Like it thinks it needs to return the cutter a little too close to the paper edge. I'm scratching my head on this one. The printer has about 80 pages in it's logs so, pretty new. It's still under warranty so, I think I'll contact HP to see if they can service it. I just prefer to fix things on my own if I can. Less hassle then dealing with support desks. 😉

Repairatrooper · ‎10-16-2023

Might be an issue with the calibration of the carriage sensor or the encoder strip might be dirty.

If you find the information provided useful or solves your problems, help other users find the solution easier by giving kudos and marking my post as an accepted solution.
I am a volunteer, offering my knowledge to support fellow users, I do not work for HP nor speak for HP.

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