I have an HP 500 plotter, that I bought in the late 90's. It is hardly ever used, as I don't produce plats for clients, and almost all deliverables are digital.
I do use it to make maps of projects that I am going out to do, for example a street atlas plot of a photo control job, or a plot of a cad drawing to check.
It recently stopped working, telling me I need to replace two of the ink cartridges. I bought 4 new cartridges (not HP). I put them in, and it made one plot just fine. Then the front panel showed that the cyan needed replaced (it had an X through it).
Question: is there any "cleaning" or maintenance I can do to clear this problem?
It may just be time to get a new plotter, but since I hardly ever use it, and not to deliver products to clients, I am reluctant to spend much on a replacement. Any suggestions for a low volume 24" plotter?
there is a difference between the "print head" and the Ink cartridge. maybe it's asking for the print head to be replaced?? I have one, it's a workhorse.
Thanks, Andy. For as little as I use it, it is probably worth it to have it looked at. I did have a guy come out in 2007 or so and do a cleaning/maintenance.
I agree that it sounds like it could be a print head.
We've got a couple of 500's here and one does not get used very much at the moment. So I make a point of printing a color picture through it once a month or so just to keep it from drying out.
HP 111plus
"Any suggestions for a low volume 24" plotter?"
Hp 111plus or whatever is the current model.
I have the older version, the 110plus that has served me well for over 3 yrs now.
Prints a bit slow, but sure beats driving 15 mins to get plots done on a faster machine.