Help with 1055cm

[Maxw1982]

Hi all, 

I recently got a secondhand designjet 1055cm for printing some poster type materials for a charity.

The seller showed me printouts showing it all working and said he thought possibly the black head might be failing as it wasn’t solid black but rest seemed ok. 
he was open in saying it hasn’t been used for a while.

I don’t want to obviously spend loads on it for a charity cause but obviously I want it to work!

it seems to be very hot and miss on printing and looking at the pipe work going up from the tanks it seems to have air in, I googled it and someone suggested doing print head recovery several times and it seems to pull the ink up but then after a while it seems to drain back down, which makes me think I might be letting air in. 
there is no sign of leaking so I’m not sure if it’s the pipes or possibility the o rings as I have seen in diagrams o rings for sealing the head to the carriage/pipe work.

What is the best way to find my issue?

The printer says

black- monitor

cyan- monitor 

yellow- ok

magenta - monitor 

where should I start?

thanks

[perthblue1960]

Air in the tubes...

there is a Universal Designjet Ink Tube Priming Tool available online 

easy to use.

[Maxw1982]

My concern is why/ how the air is there!  Does it naturally happen? Is it a failing head or seal or pipe? How do I check?

thsnks

[perthblue1960]

Sometimes hapens if cartridges are run low

[Maxw1982]

Ok great, I have ordered a cleaning and priming kit. 
is it possible to replace the seals to the heads? If they were not sealing would they leak or suck air in? I’m assuming the seals are in the carrier not the print heads?

thanks

[NC77]

This is a very old wide format printer.  I have seen many of these donated to charities or purchased by individuals.  This printer model series has a history of printhead errors, faded print, or ink errors.  Most of these printers are sold "As Is" and you cannot return them.  In the past, I have worked on the 1055 many times.  My opinion, you are going to spend a lot of time and money on this printer with little benefit.  Parts are limited.  You would need to be an experienced 1055 tech to have a chance to be successful.  See if you can get your money back.

[Maxw1982]

Oh no 😞

i won’t get my money back but the seller did show me a printed out page showing it all working, surely worse case it’s print heads and new pipes?