Here's my HP500 carriage belt after 9 years of use in a not-intensive solo surveyor office:
When I noticed the wear on it last summer I ordered a new one immediately -- having no clue how to install it. Then I decided, correctly, as it turned out, that the old one would get me by till winter, which would be a more convenient time to frig around with it. To which chore I finally got this week. I had found the service manual online and started the job using that, but then I found this on youtube:
This walked me through the whole job -- it starts with a hard-sell for their kit and their belts, which was so convincing that I wished I'd ordered the belt from them last summer. Then I checked the invoice and found out that I had. Just the belt though, and not the kit, though the kit might have been the way to go. Anyway, the job took 7 hours spread out over 4 days -- I initially put the belt in inside out and realized this in time to salvage it and start over -- without that screwup it would have been more like a 4 hour job. I waited till today to start the machine back up so I could have the weekend to recover from flipping out if it exploded or started spewing smoke. Turns out I got it right and have a fresh good-looking print in hand. In retrospect the job was not that hard but was a mild PITA and I would rather have hired a technician who knew how to do it. Though I think my dealer once quoted me $200/hour for such a person, which I could not afford at this juncture. The belt was something like $36. So no serious regrets, and the hard-sell on the video has me thinking this is the last belt I'll ever need to put in this thing. Oh, and P.S. You will need a couple of Torx - type screwdrivers: a T-20 & a T-8.
I've replaced the belt in my HP500 twice so far. Most recently a couple months ago. I bought the plotter back in 2001 and it still prints nice. Have recently had some trouble with getting the printheads to align. Once they align it prints like a new one though.
Ah-ha, another feather in your cap.
We bought the repair kit, viewed the video several times and proceeded to install it without issue. It was a team building experience about a year ago and can now feel like that master of at least one machine in this office. Not to mention the recipient of a handy tool kit.
Correction: it's a T-15 Torx & not a T-20
I had the same experience with the same video. It gave me the courage to dive in and take care of business.
I just bought the belt though since I already had the torx bits.
The LPS belt is considerably more substantial than the HP oem in my opinion.