Designjet T 2500 strange issue carriage slams and repeats last print

[juanT2500 · Accepted solution]

Allright, I'm gonna mark this problem as solved since the printer is still working fine. And maybe someone runs into the same problem.

Everything points to the printhead. It would seem that it was faulty somehow... although I can't say precisely in what way because it was printing just fine, go figure. It was a stroke of good luck though.... because I was already gearing up to replace one of the mainboards, and they come quite pricey. But one day, the printer lost one of the colors so I decided to change the PH first.

It wasn't easy though... because the printer was in a state in which it wouldn't complete any of the service routines. Power up routine... cleaning routine... all those failed with a carriage bang! against the left stop. I figured the printhead replacement routine would be the same. And it was. It started the replacement ... and after a couple of minutes: BANG! and the process stopped. So, I had to resort to priming the new printhead myself manually. Yes it's as crazy as it sounds, yes it's a carnage worthy of a caveman.. but it is doable. With that done, I used the "mark printhead as filled" option in the service menu (that's a useful function!)... and boom... problem solved.

Lesson  learned.

Later all.

[juanT2500]

I can see that my last post was moderated. That's too bad. I think it had valuable info for anyone having the same problem as me...

I get it though... there are terms of use and all that. 

I would ask the moderator to reconsider. Maybe not delete the whole block?... just the offending sentence. Wich if i'm to be honest, i don't think it was that bad...

[HJ47]

Hi,

Thank you for sharing. I will keep in mind.

[D Hook]

Thanks for the follow up.  How odd that the printhead would cause that problem.

[pbrooks259]

How did you you prime the printhead manually?   I assume by applying suction with a syringe at the priming holes at the carriage or did you slide it all the way to the left and apply suction there where the primer tubes attach or what?  Could you make it detailed?   I may have to do the same.   Thanks.

[juanT2500]

No, actually I did it off-printer. By dissasembling the printhead subtanks. If you want I can post a step by step tomorrow, from work. I still have the corpse of the old printhead in a box there.

[pbrooks259]

OK, please do so if not too much trouble.    .....my situation--I don't want to change the subject too much--I get "printhead replacement not completed".    Ink is not filling printhead with most of the ink that is pumped by Cyan, Magenta, PK, & Gray pump.  But Cyan did seemingly make it to the nozzle.  The ink compartment on the far right (as you face the front of the printer) is seemingly totally empty, not sure of that shade of Black--I assume PK or Gray.   You probably know.   I do not know why it only got Cyan to the nozzles and seemingly none of the other 3 (Magenta, PK, & Gray) to the nozzles.   Maybe that's when the primer failed after it forced the Cyan into the printhead, if it failed.   I do feel  the primers' blasts of air in the primer service test.

The Yellow & Matte Black pump seems to be getting those inks to the printhead nozzles.  I am thinking I need to replace the Cyan, Magenta, PK, & Gray pump.   But not positive.  They come as a set so I would replace both primers.

....I have thought of the "mark printhead as full" option.     But if I fill the printhead and "mark as full" I still may have a bad primer pump to contend with.    Thanks.

[juanT2500]

Keep in mind that I had to resort to manual priming because I had an underlying problem. If it's the same for you, then I would suggest, first, determine the cause of the failed priming, and rectify that problem. Also keep in mind that you have  a good chance of ruining your printhead by doing this. I did it accepting that risk, and because my printer was otherwise unusable, so I had little to loose.

You'll need:

T10 torx driver

Syringe with needle

Some bulk ink (the 6 colors) , or, Oem cartridges from where to extract some ink with the syringe.

A good supply of tissues

Before you move forward I would suggest to check that you have no air in the ink tubes. Remove the PH and apply suction to the septums with the syringe (you'll have to bend the needle). You should see plenty of liquid ink, no air and no foam. If you find air in the tubes, abort mission, and try to prime again the proper way.

Procedure:

( "forward" means the face of the PH that has the printed ciruit board w/contacts)

- Ready a work area where some ink spillage won't be a problem. The kitchen sink worked for me.

- Remove the PH from the printer

- Remove the 4 torx screws from the top of the printhead.

- Now the whole top piece comes off. Remove this top piece. The 6 subtanks are now exposed.

- The subtanks can now be removed by hand, they are only locked in place by tabs and a leaf spring. To remove them, VERY GENTLY  push forward and lift the back side of the subtank but JUST BARELY. If you lift too much you WILL BREAK the ink tube to the PH and then your PH will be toast. I did one tank at a time so as not to mix up the colors.

- With the subtank out, you need to fill it with ink. You do this with the syringe (with needle). Insert the needle in the lower-most hole on the front of the subtank. There is a rubber plug inside. Try not to destroy this plug with the needle. Go gently and let the needle find its way inside the tank. You'll now because the ink should flow into the tank with no resistance. If it's fighting you, then you probably haven't gone past the rubber plug. Fill the tank with the appropiate color. To what level? No idea. I figured about 2/3 the way up was something logical. That worked for me.

- From memory I think the order of the colors is as follows (but please double check this):

Looking at the PH from the front, from left to right:  Mk Y C M Pk Gy

- Repeat for all 6 colors. Reinstall all the subtanks and reinstall the top piece.

- Now you need to prime the printhead proper. You do this with the syringe (minus the needle)  by applying gentle air pressure (not suction) to the 2 priming ports in the fron of the PH. The left port primes the Mk Y group, and the right port the C M Pk Gy group. Put some pressure and watch for the ink to come out of the nozzles as air/ink foam. By VERY GENTLY cleaning the nozzles with a moist tissue, you can see when all the colors begin to flow out.

- When you are satisfied that all 6 colors are flowing out (you'll have to use your judgement here) make sure the PH is clean and dry and reinstall on the printer. 

- Power up the printer, enter the service menu, and use the "mark printhead as filled" option. Mind you.. I had to do this several times... I don't know why. Must've been 3 times of marking the printhead filled, and power cycling the printer. Until it worked. Don't freak out if it prints like crap at first. It will print funny until the ink levels in the tanks normalize. That happened pretty quickly for me. I was using the printer normally that very same morning.

Good luck buddy!

[pbrooks259]

JuanT2500, thanks very much for posting the procedure to manually refill the printhead!