Problems with HP-500 Designjet 42" plotter

Try powering down and unplugging it from the wall. Wait a few moments then plug it back in, turn it on and let it go thru it's boot up.
You might get a few more plots with the existing print heads.

> Try powering down and unplugging it from the wall. Wait a few moments then plug it back in, turn it on and let it go thru it's boot up.
> You might get a few more plots with the existing print heads.

Reason I'm asking, before I go out and spend $140 on 4 new print heads, is it the print heads or some other problem?

I had that problem a while ago. Seem to remember fixing it by simply turning off the plotter, then manually moving the print carriage back into its starting position. On my machine, when the jam occurred it left the carriage out of position and sort of messed it up on re-boot.

I got out of it cheap, and haven’t had any problems since. Good luck.

If all the other suggestions don't work, get into the service menu under print head replacement and remove all print heads and wipe them off with a paper towel. Don't forget to wipe off the contact points with a clean paper towel and the contact points in the carriage if necessary. Be on the lookout for ink residue and build up on the contact points and the print face of the print heads. Then put the print heads back into place and give each one a little wiggle as you seat it. Then turn the plotter back on and run it through the alignment process. Hopefully it will straighten up and behave. If it begins working, I would clean up that yellow print head that you replaced and try it again. If it works, the put your new print head in a Ziplock baggie and save it for later. Please let us know what it takes to get it going again.

Try a coffee filter instead of paper towel. Lint free.

Bruce

:good:

I was going to add, Run the calibrate print heads routine.