Need a Carriage Drive Belt for obsolete DesignJet 1050c

[JoeRave]

My printer is so old that the support section won't even let me enter its serial number, it says it's inaccurate.

And now the carriage drive belt is very worn and I need a replacement. The spare part is no longer carried by HP. Which carriage drive belts made for other products can I use? I bought the printer used and have never used one of these before. But apparently it worked for the previous owner. Now, upon start-up, the window says "Check Printhead Path (1)", and any methods I've found and used have been unsuccessful. So now I'm looking at the carriage drive belt, which is frankly totally worn.

Also, why can't I email HP support? Why are phone and chat-bot the only two alternatives?

[D Hook]

Go to LPScomputers.com.  They have exactly what you need.  they specialize in legacy designjets.  

https://www.lpscomputer.com/

[JoeRave]

Thank you very much!

[D Hook]

While you're there, check to see if they have a downloadable copy of the service manual.  You'll need it for changing the belt.

You may want to take a flashlight and find the motor spindle the belt runs on and check it for debris.  As the belts age some bits get stuck on the spindle, increasing it's diameter and throwing off the printer and showing the error you're seeing.  If you see pieces of belt laying around the motor, it's time to change the belt.

You can also check Ebay for belts, though they're not quite as good usually as what LPS sells, IMHO.

These are great printers and I think you'll get a lot of use out of it.

[JoeRave]

Do you think I’ll get the belt unstuck (if only temporarily) by clearing out the debris?

[D Hook]

Yes.  You can remove the cover and clean the spindle and debris off the bed of the printer and, unless the belt is shredded and showing strings, you can get it to print but for how long is unknown.  Belt isn't hard to change but be aware of brittle plastic pieces.  Take your time and follow the steps in the service manual and it will work just fine.

[JoeRave]

I’m building up the courage to open the machine up and clean it out. 
Vacuum cleaner works good?

[D Hook]

Yes, vacuum is fine.  Unplug the printer first.  I usually use a small 2" paint brush as a way to loosen up any dust before vacuuming.  I felt the same way first time I took the covers off.  Just take your time, don't force anything and it'll be fine.  Pictures help a lot so you can be sure how to put it all back together.  Don't remove or unplug anything that doesn't absolutely have to be removed or unplugged.

Let us know how it goes.

[JoeRave]

 

 

 

 

Got the new belt. Took weeks to work up that courage I mentioned. Watched Bob Wert’s 31-minute instruction video. 
He says “sometimes it’s a little stiff, sometimes it’s a lot stiff”. I feel like the machine has been working against me. So many things have been hard to open. And the old carriage belt is just in tatters. I took a photo but I wish I had taken one before I vacuumed. It looked terrible. 
And I’ve identified a toner leak or two. See attached photos for the leaks (and the tattered drive belt). The blue ink on the shelf looks like it wouldn't cause any problems, but the foam that's been corroded by the red ink looks to be in worse shape. Should I do something about this?

[D Hook]

Can't tell exactly where that magenta ink leak is from the picture.  Is that the left or right hand side of the machine?

Were you able to find a service manual?