Odd L25500 problem

[Desert_Signs]

On long runs of banner (think 50yd rolls) the print always errors out about 3/4 through the roll with a 14:10 error. It never happens with any other substrate but banner. It's been irritating, but not that big of an issue as we usually run banner on our flatbed, but I think I finally figured out what's happening, but not why.

Today I ran into the shop to get some stuff done and decided to run some banner on the latex. It errored out on me once, so I had to shut down and restart. It came up with the same error when it restarted and the printer seemed unusually warm. So, I shut down again and waited for about 30 minutes. Restarted and it came up fine. I started printing again, but kept on eye on it. About 45 mins into the print, I noticed the cure temp was behaving strangely.

You know how it has the actual temp on the left with the arrow pointing to the set temp? Well, the actual temp was bouncing all over the place. For whatever reason, the printer was not maintaining the cure temp, but the dry temp was holding within a few degrees. The cure temp would eventually hit ~50 degrees higher than the set temp and that's when the 14:10 error would happen.

So, what's going on? Why is my printer not maintaining the proper temp, but only with banner? I ran 2 full rolls of vinyl on Friday and it didn't have this problem at all.

Thoughts?

 

[HulkSmash]

sounds like a network error.. bad lines or cables.. aren't able to stream data long enough?

 

[Desert_Signs]

sounds like a network error.. bad lines or cables.. aren't able to stream data long enough?

Why then is it only on banner? I've never had this error pop up when printing SAV or canvas etc. And I've never seen the temp bounce all over with any other substrate either.

 

[ProWraps]

banner is much thicker. could be that its just soaking up the heat much more.

what is your print room temp? could it be colder than normal in there due to possibly some winter weather (cold/humid)?

 

[Desert_Signs]

banner is much thicker. could be that its just soaking up the heat much more.

what is your print room temp? could it be colder than normal in there due to possibly some winter weather (cold/humid)?

Print room is pretty constant 78-80 degrees. Humidity here is always low. However, this has been an ongoing issue (but only with banner!) for about 6 months. We used to outsource most of our banners and so never had a need to run more than a 3x8 or so every once in a while.

I tried turning the temps down a little, but that just left the ink a little greasy. So, that's not really an option. I'm running it at 6 pass, so it doesn't stay in the machine very long. The banners I was running today had an individual print time of ~11 minutes (38"x98"). It would print 4 and then error on the 5th, give or take. But the temp always spiked to 50+ degrees over the print temp just prior to the error.

Maybe it is the banner just holding too much residual heat?

 

[ProWraps]

could be. i would bet dollars to doughnuts its got to do with the density of the banner material vs what you normally print.

strange non the less.

thinking maybe turn the heat down and run an external IR heater if you print a bunch of banner?

 

[Desert_Signs]

could be. i would bet dollars to doughnuts its got to do with the density of the banner material vs what you normally print.

strange non the less.

thinking maybe turn the heat down and run an external IR heater if you print a bunch of banner?

I think I'll just not run a bunch of banner on it.

I'll stick to the flatbed. Only reason I ran these latex is because our ink is low on the flatbed. I had enough to do the job, but not anything else. I'd rather save what ink I do have for stuff that has to be flatbed in the morning. We had a big job come through (not planned for) that ate up 40% of the magenta, and I wont have a new box until about noon tomorrow.

Mostly I was just curious if this has happened to anyone else and what they did to solve it. We've been running the 25500 for coming up on 4 years and I thought I'd seen it all. Guess not!

For those wondering, it's 13oz jetflex banner.

 

[ProWraps]

we run 13oz ultraflexx. i did a run that was about 120' and had no problems at all.

very strange.

we dont run a ton of banner though so my experience to pull from on that printer/banner/combo is limited.

 

[Desert_Signs]

Possibly solved??

I had a tech come out today to replace Maintenance Kit #3 (aerosol fan, filter, and line sensor) and learned something interesting. We have the oldest L25500 in Arizona. =) Probably one of the oldest around.

Anyway, I mentioned the issue to him and he told me how to fix it. I'll have to take a picture tomorrow to show, but basically on the right side of the heaters in the flip up window, there's a piece of aluminum that shorts on the element. Apparently this has been fixed in newer models. He took the piece off and I trimmed 1/4" off. Like some of you suggested, the theory was that banner held more heat and caused the element to warp just slightly and make contact with the aluminum, shorting the element.

We'll see if it fixed it....

 

[Christian @ 2CT Media]

Whats your manufacture date on you L25500?

 

[Desert_Signs]

Where would I find it?

 

[Desert_Signs]

Pics of the "culprit" after modification.

First pic just to give you a general idea of where it is (on the right of the flipped up window). Second pic shows the area where I trimmed off. The aluminum used to actually touch the element.

 

[gssoartist]

I have two L25500, have had them since they came out. Did trimming the aluminum down so that it did not touch work out for you? I have had that Error 14.10:11 pop up on both of my machines.

 

[gssoartist]

L25500 Error Code 14.10

this is the most insane Error Code, I have grown to hate these machines. Not worth a damn. OK, now I have that out of the way. I read all the posts here about his Error Code 14.10. Tried everything that was mentioned, trimmed the metal around the heating element so as not to touch, lowered my two heating controls in Wasatch. Powered off and back on.

The crazy thing about all theses fixes that do not work, is I have found (I think) the simplest fix in the world. I have two of these machines, and have NEVER seen as many issues as I have seen with this model. Love HP Printers, BUT, these ones are the worse by far.

This Error Code pertains to too much heat being generated. Do this and see what happens for you, buy a simple Oscillating Fan. Keep it from Oscillating and direct the fan at the printer. Ever since I did this, I have no more error codes at all. Sounds crazy but it is working for me. My fan is about three feet from the printer.

 

[gssoartist]

Pics of the "culprit" after modification.

First pic just to give you a general idea of where it is (on the right of the flipped up window). Second pic shows the area where I trimmed off. The aluminum used to actually touch the element.

.... I did this and it still did not work.

 

[ProWraps]

your heater core is bad.

two of mine went out right at about 65k sq/ft through them.

$2300 to fix unless you have an extended warranty.