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Fb500 shop vac

Turnergraphics

New Member
Received the shop vac replacement for the FB500 today. Wonder why HP used a 240 volt vac and not 110?
 

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balstestrat

Problem Solver
Is the user end / PC part not 120v? Fairly certain the electronic part is 120v... But I could be wrong
No? Well I can only repeat myself... whole system is designed for 240v.
At least that how is seems in the manual that there is no 120v option.
 

ikarasu

Active Member
I was in the office today. There is 2 plugs... One 240 volt for the ink system / shop vac.

The screen and PC is powered by a 20 amp 120v plug. I only remembered because we bought a 240v ups for it...and I was annoyed I couldn't plug both ends into it and had to buy a secondary ups.

But I can confirm it is using 120v for the whole PC / user end side.
 

ikarasu

Active Member
Wall outlet — 100-240 VAC, 50/60 Hz, provides temporary power tothe vacuum system when it is necessary to remove power from theprinter for service

According to the site prep guide... Looks like the 120 is for backup power, which is interesting because my machines screen won't turn on if it's not plugged in. I'll have to play with it once I'm back in the shop tomorrow!
 

Notarealsignguy

Arial - it's almost helvetica
In just about everything, control voltage is single phase 120.
With this situation, the question boils down to how much time do you have on your hands to save $400?
 

jmasten

New Member
Wall outlet — 100-240 VAC, 50/60 Hz, provides temporary power tothe vacuum system when it is necessary to remove power from theprinter for service

According to the site prep guide... Looks like the 120 is for backup power, which is interesting because my machines screen won't turn on if it's not plugged in. I'll have to play with it once I'm back in the shop tomorrow!
Hello. Did you ever find a solution for the shop vac that would work with US 110 power so you don't have to purchase the $550 shop vac from HP? Thanks
 

ikarasu

Active Member
Sadly no. I didn't know it was just a shop vac before I got it serviced.

You can buy a 220v to 110v stepdown converter for $50 on Amazon - then plug a 120v into that. I don't know if HP has any software detection to block that... But I doubt they would. Amazon has free returns too.... So doesn't hurt to buy one, hook up a normal vacuum or whatever vacuum you have around to it and see if it throws an error. Worst case you're paying $10 to ship it back to amazon
 

jmasten

New Member
Sadly no. I didn't know it was just a shop vac before I got it serviced.

You can buy a 220v to 110v stepdown converter for $50 on Amazon - then plug a 120v into that. I don't know if HP has any software detection to block that... But I doubt they would. Amazon has free returns too.... So doesn't hurt to buy one, hook up a normal vacuum or whatever vacuum you have around to it and see if it throws an error. Worst case you're paying $10 to ship it back to amazon
Thanks for the reply. That is what I came up with too. Didn't find any posts that anyone has done this successfully, but the tech I work with says he has another customer that does it, but he said he didn't know how. Seems like it should work. Can't seem to find a vac quite this small, but got the smallest Craftsman ($35) from Lowes and the step down off Amazon, so will try it out tomorrow!
 

JBurton

Signtologist
I searched high and low for a 220v shopvac and I came up with nothing, until I stumbled upon a page from the Philippines, 220v is evidently their standard voltage. Couldn't even find a reference to the model number when digging through legacy products and replacement parts catalogue. I wonder how nefarious this is, or if it was some engineer's misunderstanding that was solved by shipping shopvacs from overseas.
 

Notarealsignguy

Arial - it's almost helvetica
I'm not familiar with the printer but if you open the panel, it may already have a neutral and 120v setup in it. If you have a neutral bar, you should be able to move the unswitched vac hot wire to it and then you would have 120. If it's plugged into an outlet inside the machine, change it out, mark your neutral and make sure you wire it to the new outlet properly. You would also want to be sure that the wiring is the correct gauge since a 240v vac will likely be half the amps of a 120v unit.
 

ikarasu

Active Member
I don't think it was nefarious, most of the parts inside the HP flatbed are Chinese. If I recall it even uses the 220 volt Chinese plug, it's not just wires.

I believe there is 120 volt on the machine in addition to the 240 volt, but the way the machine tells the vacuum to go on is by giving it power, it's an automatic on/off system not a manual one.so swapping it over likely won't work... Unless you get really fancy with the wiring.

I think the best bet is to buy a 220 to 110 step down for very cheap and to use that. The only unknown is if the flap it will complain about the suction being different or if it somehow measures the amperage/voltage to turn the vacuum power up and down

Definitely interested to see how the step-down goes, so make sure you post your reply when you get it tested!
 

JBurton

Signtologist
Step down may be viable, unless it measures power to some degree, which the step down will have an extra draw, which may throw an overcurrent error. But it would seem to me, that since the thing is a straight up shop vac, it's probably just a relay throwing power to the vacuum.
I'd guess pulling more amps off the 120v rail would push the printer past the max circuit amperage, and putting a bigger breaker in would kindly put the printer at risk. Plus, odds are the shop vac is going to introduce noise into the 120v side. But I too am fully unfamiliar with the printer, just offering up advice to confuse those that come after us.
 

jmasten

New Member
I have purged 4 times and so far with no errors. Also have tested a handful of times with the vacuum test on the machine. Got the 1000W step down on Amazon for $59 and used the Craftsman $35 2.5 gallon wet dry vac (smallest I could find) from Lowes since the original one was 8L. Had to wire the plug from the shop vac onto the step down to work with the end on the printer, they do sell the same plug at Lowes, but didn't see it till after I wired it. Wasn't any big deal since the shop vac was burnt up anyway.

Here are the links:
Step Down: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07XQ5WYF7?psc=1&ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_product_details
Vac: https://www.lowes.com/pd/CRAFTSMAN-2-5-Gallon-Corded-Portable-Wet-Dry-Shop-Vacuum-Corded/5013057707

If all goes well, I will probably check it in 6 months, because the old one was burnt up and I read somewhere that someone's caught on fire. I purchased this machine used about 4 months ago so not sure if it has been changed before, but I am guessing so based on what I have read. I added white ink to the machine and it purges a lot and I don't want it to catch on fire at night or weekends when no one is here. Seems like the machine trashes more white ink than it actually prints. Seems about as half baked as using a $35 shop vac and charging $550 for it.

Also, does anyone know where to get the printheads for the HP750 that are not thru HP? I think I read they are a Richo Gen 3 printhead? Can anyone confirm or share where you get? Seems like they are close to $2k thru HP.
 
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