HP LATEX 560 - Odd Print head ml firing usage and slow printing - HELP

[kkotvas]

Hello - I was wondering if anyone else had similar issues with their HP latex printers.

1.) SLOW PRINT SPEED
We got a HP Latex 560 back in 2020 and its always printed super slow no matter the print speed. We are comparing this with our much older HP 360 which can sometimes print twice as fast as the newer 560.
We are using same print modes, same # of passes, same profiles (all that jazz).
At one point we had a rep in here to test the data transmission speed between both printers and from what I recall it was "normal" or they both were comparable.
We use ONYX THRIVE 23 for the RIP and as far as I can tell all the settings are the same in the rip for both printers.

We have had cases where we load up a roll of vinyl banner on both printers, use same profile and everything, print the same file (its a very long run and uses the entire 100+ foot roll of material).
The 560 will print at almost half the speed of the 360. We have seen where the 360 would finish its run a couple of hours before the 560 and they are both printing the same amount of square footage. Its just baffling.
There is NO INNER PASS DELAY set on the 560 but it almost acts like that is whats going on. There is never a time where it just prints the passes smoothly, without a delay like the 360 does. The is a short pause in between passes and over long runs this short pauses amounts to a lot of wasted time.

video link so you can see for yourself

2.) OPTIMIZER PRINT HEADS
Unlike the older 360 model, the 560 utilizes 2 optimizer print heads. You would think it would make it print faster (which it is supposed to do). The thing that I have noticed over the years is that the OP print heads never fire the same amount of milliliter of optimizer. They aren't even close. We install them both new on the same day. They both start out at 0mil fired. Then I check back a few weeks later. One of them will have fired 50ml and the other is at like 550ml. Seems very strange to me and I've never gotten a straight answer from HP or the company who sold us the machine. But considering the colored inks also have two print heads each and fire much more closely to the same amount of milliliters (when installed new at the same time), it would only make sense that the OP print heads should be relatively close in the amount of ml they are firing.
So can anyone answer who has an HP Latex that uses 2 Optmizer printheads and let me know if yours is firing around the same rate?

 

[kkotvas]

Wow literally no one replied to this post. HELLO! HELP

 

[balstestrat]

Just one thread please. I'll reply here.

Sorry the video isn't great but I got this about a month ago while both the 360 and 560 where running. And what you can see in the video is the typical behavior that we expect out of each machine. One is running vinyl while the other is running poster paper but both are on 12 pass. Before someone else tries to say that we aren't comparing apples to apples here, I realize that these are different medias using different profiles and you should expect some differences. However this video is a good example of what we get out of the 560 even if both machines were running the same media, same profile etc.

The 560 is always so slow! After the jobs in this video were finishing running, I ran the numbers and the 360 was printing around 150sf/hr while the 560 was closer to 75sf/hr. Nearly half the speed! Crazy huh? We got this machine in 2020 and its always printed like this. We have ruled out the network being an issue.

Video can be view on YouTube. -

HP 360 vs 560 Speed

Also we have never used aftermarket ink. Always HP Original Ink. Any feedback would be appreciated.

I think in this case it's artificially slowed down because of the small width of your substrate. So basically the speed is same as if you were printing 64".
Is it exactly the same with 64" roll?

This seems pretty much the same as yours.

Another

 

[chrisphilipps]

I can think of 3 things, It is either what balstestrat said, but I believe that it is based on a 54" print width, you have an inter pass delay set in the substrate, or the printer isn't connect to the rip at a full 1000 (Mbps) and it is waiting on data.

 

[JBurton]

Another setting may be the extra print head cleaning, I think that will add a pause every time the gantry returns to home.
Also, I thought I was the only person to wait for the cart to hit 0! I waited for the last 2% at the beginning of a long run once, after about 20 minutes while I waited, I figured the cost on that 2% versus my pay to wait to swap. I swapped it out pretty quickly when I realized I was trying to save $3.

 

[kkotvas]

Just one thread please. I'll reply here.


I think in this case it's artificially slowed down because of the small width of your substrate. So basically the speed is same as if you were printing 64".
Is it exactly the same with 64" roll?

This seems pretty much the same as yours.

Another

It slows down like that on every width that we run. Doesn't matter if its 36" or 63". Its always slow when compared to the 360 and the print modes don't make a difference. They are all varying degrees of slower compared to the 360. As of 2025 our 360 is 10 years old and the 560 is only 5 years old. Yet the 360 HAS ALWAYS printed BETTER and FASTER than the 560. Its been perplexing for years but I see that yours also does the same thing.

 

[kkotvas]

I can think of 3 things, It is either what balstestrat said, but I believe that it is based on a 54" print width, you have an inter pass delay set in the substrate, or the printer isn't connect to the rip at a full 1000 (Mbps) and it is waiting on data.

I've also been chasing down that theory. That maybe it isn't getting data fast enough. It was checked out a few months after it was installed 5 years ago and the sales guy said it tested just fine. Not sure if I believe him without seeing it with my own eyes but we ruled that out as a possibility at the time.

 

[balstestrat]

It slows down like that on every width that we run. Doesn't matter if its 36" or 63". Its always slow when compared to the 360 and the print modes don't make a difference. They are all varying degrees of slower compared to the 360. As of 2025 our 360 is 10 years old and the 560 is only 5 years old. Yet the 360 HAS ALWAYS printed BETTER and FASTER than the 560. Its been perplexing for years but I see that yours also does the same thing.

Does it recognize on the screen when you open or close the curing door?
I assume it does... Or the loading would be stuck.

Only other thing I could figure is something to do with the heating system not being right and it's slowing down because of that. Just guessing anyway it would need to be checked out.

 

[JBurton]

Just guessing anyway it would need to be checked out.

I'm guessing there's no easy way to do something like a hard reset, or reload the whole HDD without extra costs/risks.

 

[netsol]

Another setting may be the extra print head cleaning, I think that will add a pause every time the gantry returns to home.
Also, I thought I was the only person to wait for the cart to hit 0! I waited for the last 2% at the beginning of a long run once, after about 20 minutes while I waited, I figured the cost on that 2% versus my pay to wait to swap. I swapped it out pretty quickly when I realized I was trying to save $3.

to me the hp's are fairly inconsistent. (can be showing 8% and pretty quickly jump to zero.
i have not had this problem but a good friend has one that drives him crazy with that behaviour