Tips for keeping your HP Designjet plotter in A1 working condition

 

Here are our tips for keeping your HP Designjet plotter in A1 working condition:-
If in doubt call the experts on 07835 777628

 

How to troubleshoot poor print quality 
• Check that your Printheads are in warranty and have not exceeded 100% usage
• Align your printheads (this can be performed via the front panel in the ‘Ink’ menu)
• Perform the colour calibration (this can be performed via the front panel in the ‘Ink’ menu)
• Calibrate the paper advance (this can be performed in the ‘Calibrations’ menu)
• Replace your printheads. Before installing check the ‘install before’ date on the back of the box to make sure the printheads are in-date.

 


Only use genuine HP ink cartridges

It may be tempting to save money and be environmentally friendly but we've encountered many problems caused by using inferior-quality refilled ink cartridges. The big problem with these ‘re-manufactured’ cartridges is that HP only make the cartridge last for 1 lot of ink, so by refilling the same cartridge over and over again will inevitably cause leaks and problems getting the plotter to recognise the insertion of these cartridges. Also in our experience they never seem to be refilled fully so although they may be half price they may only be 50% full!

Stepped Lines on your plots?

Increase the DPI setting by altering the print quality to 'Best' or ‘Normal’ if using ‘Draft’ or ‘Fast’ mode.

Do you get "Banding" when printing solid images?

This can be cured by either using a good quality coated paper, by selecting the 'Best' print quality setting or by performing the printhead alignment procedure found via the front panel in the ‘ink’ menu.

Ink bleeding into the paper?
This causes raggedy not straight lines.
Possibly the grade of paper is too low or the plotter's environment is too humid.

Problems with your printheads or cartridges?

Try removing them and giving the contacts a clean with a lint-free cloth.

Communication problems between computer and plotter?

Try the following 3 tips.. Confirm that you have selected the correct interface port in your software. If your plotter is networked, try using it directly connected to your computer instead. Then try using another interface cable.

Only getting a partial print?

Maybe your plotter has too little memory. Modern software creates much larger file sizes so we can supply memory upgrades for you.

Save paper

When printing out a series of "small" images, use the 'nesting' facility.

If your printer seems too slow

Check which print quality setting you're using. 'Normal' or 'Fast' setting will print quicker than 'Best' and remember that the settings on your computer will usually override the setting on the plotter.

d-gen mimaki

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