Designjet T120 - Printer or Ink System Error

[askulina]

Hi,

My designjet T120 started displaying the error: "There is a problem with the printer or ink system" after installing a new ink cartridge and cleaning the printhead several times. (We cleaned the head to fix banding on prints but every time it cleaned it seemed to get worse..)

We then tried all the recommended support guidance (removing/reinstalling cardtridges & printhead) but to no avail. Phoned HP Support and was told to try reset PHA startup condition through the service menu but this didn't work (message said "FAIL" upon entering PIN number 2873...) 

I was then advised by HP to buy and install a new printhead, which I did and installed this evening.

The error message disappeared and all seemed fine for the setup process. The diagnostic print pages were fine, except for a small amount of leaking yellow ink at the top and bottom edges of the prints. I thought this would go away so I printed several more diagnostic pages and it did appear to dry up for a while. However the issue quickly returned and we cleaned the printhead 3 times. Again, each time it got worse and there were large streaks of yellow in amongst the other colours on the diagnostic pages. 

At this point we carefully inspected the printhead and saw that the yellow had leaked and the carriage to the right (inside the printer) was quite wet with ink. After reinstalling the printhead and cartridges again, the "Printer or Ink System Error" appeared and we haven't been able to resolve this. In the meantime I have removed the cartridges from the printhead.

We feel that since the issue hasn't been resolved by a new printhead, there must be a further underlying problem.. Any help or advice would be much appreciated. 

Thanks,

Andrew

[cyun]

Hi,

Have you checked if the cartridge is leaking? If it is leaked, pls replace the cartridge. If no, the failure might comes from Prime Pump, Carriage Assembly or Trailing cable.

To check the Prime Pump, perform a diagnostic test of the pump subsystem.

for more detailed steps, you can refer to document below.

http://www.lbrty.com/tech/Manuals_DN/DNT120_T520.pdf

Hope my answer is helpful to you.

[askulina]

Hi,

Thanks for your response. The cartridge showed signs of a little leaking, at the nozzle after I took it out.

Just now I tried replacing with an old cartridge (almost empty). This did get rid of the error message and it began printing normally for a short while until the cartridge ran out!

I replaced with a new yellow cartridge and this also seemed to work well until mid-way through a print, it stopped and made a noise like when it cleans the printhead. It then continued to print. Half of the resulting print was good quality but the other half had banding and there was a yellow area of leakage on the page. (Presumably this occurred when it cleaned the PH midway?)

I looked inside and again the yellow had leaked inside, mainly along the metal tray. I have taken the ink out again to ensure no further leaking.

I also performed the prime pump diagnostic but this appeared to be performing fine.

Any other suggestions?

Thanks

[cyun]

Hi Askulina,

Seems replacing a new ph and cartridge doesnt resolve the issue, then it could be other hardware problem. I suggest you contact HP directly instead of trying out again to prevent futher ink leakage and wastage.