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HP 26500 Ink supply tube leak, help & advice required please?
Hi All you HP latex users. My 26500 seems to have decided to spring a leak in one of either the light cyan or cyan supply tubes. From the look of it I have a feeling it may have had a very small leak for a while as there appears to be some dry ink in the bottom of the carriage following a quick cleanup of the liquid in of which there was a good 3mm depth!
Luckily I noticed it when I’d just finished a print job & on unloading the vinyl there was a couple of patches of blue ink on the edge
There were a couple of small patches of wet ink on the print platten too but most of it was confined to the bottom of the carriage so managed to avoid a major mess!!.
I’d like to know if it’s possible to replace the individual short tubes, which I think is where the issue lies. I’d also like to know if there’s an easy way to check where the leak is without powering up again & risking spraying ink everywhere??
I presume it would be safe to remove the pipes with the printer powered off as they would no longer be pressurized? Do I need to be wary of letting air into them & if removed & replaced does the system need bleeding?
I’m hoping that I also won’t need to remove the carriage & can affect a repair with it in situ.
I have a copy of the engineers’ service manual but it only covers the removal & replacement of the whole ink supply tube assembly which I’m hoping isn’t necessary.
Any advice greatly appreciated.
Regards
Myles -
7 Replies
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Hi Myles,
I had the same thing happen to mine! I called an independent engineer to tell him an ink line had burst, he immediately guessed it was the cyan, apparently happens regularly in the same place with the same colour! I was advised that you can’t buy a single tube, you have to purchase the full ink line set up, which is something like £1200.
We had been considering moving to the Epson 80600, this failure pushed us into doing so.
Mark Dawson from Dawson support is an independent who works purely on HP latex, sure he will be able to advise you well!
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quote Luke Culpin:Hi Myles,I had the same thing happen to mine! I called an independent engineer to tell him an ink line had burst, he immediately guessed it was the cyan, apparently happens regularly in the same place with the same colour! I was advised that you can’t buy a single tube, you have to purchase the full ink line set up, which is something like £1200.
We had been considering moving to the Epson 80600, this failure pushed us into doing so.
Mark Dawson from Dawson support is an independent who works purely on HP latex, sure he will be able to advise you well!
Hi Luke,
Yes, looking at it closer now it definitely looks like it’s been maybe leaking a very small amount for a while as there are some quite crusty bits as I took the tubes apart
& since I’ve had the printer I’ve been having intermittent issues with the light cyan printheads failing & wonder if this may have been related?
There are no obvious signs of cracks or damage to any of the tubes & the rubber sealing rings all appear good when removed. I’ve cleaned them all up & put it back together so might just switch back on tomorrow & keep a close eye on it.
It’s definitely not worth spending £1200 on it but I might be able to get some used spares that would keep it going for a while at least.I’ve actually been half looking into upgrading to a 365 with the likelihood that HP will end consumables production at the end of this year for the 26500’s. I somehow wonder if my machine has taken the hump with hearing me discuss its successor!! :yikes:
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I think you will get away with running the machine still, ours spat out quite a lot of ink, but actually still printed ok! I didn’t rely on that and quickly ordered the replacement machine!
On a separate note, check out the Epson before you make your decision! I nearly carried on with latex, but so glad I didn’t! Print quality is far far superior, total different league to be honest! Speed is quicker plus white and metallic inks! Plus outgassing times are said to be 4 hours! I’ve actually laminated something nearly straight away with no issues! As well, I think the Epson is quite a lot cheaper than the latex!
Speak to Richard at Sedo for a demo!
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quote Luke Culpin:I think you will get away with running the machine still, ours spat out quite a lot of ink, but actually still printed ok! I didn’t rely on that and quickly ordered the replacement machine!
On a separate note, check out the Epson before you make your decision! I nearly carried on with latex, but so glad I didn’t! Print quality is far far superior, total different league to be honest! Speed is quicker plus white and metallic inks! Plus outgassing times are said to be 4 hours! I’ve actually laminated something nearly straight away with no issues! As well, I think the Epson is quite a lot cheaper than the latex!
Speak to Richard at Sedo for a demo!
I did wonder about the Epsons & I know there’s a lot of interest in them but my situation of printing at home in what’s basically a bedroom (ground floor) I think solvent inks are not ideal especially as I sit about 12" from it when it’s printing a lot of the time. Speed of print isn’t really a major issue for me & any newer printer will actually be faster than the 26500.
The main upside of the Epsons I think is the print quality, but having said that the HP’s ain’t bad :thumbsup:The other plus for the latex is the eco credentials which the way things are heading these days can only be a good thing.
The other big thing for me is the rear media loading with the Epson. I just wouldn’t have room. My HP sits right against the wall. -
Makes sense same head and same ink line giving issues probably due to the same reason.
Never had this issue as I didn’t do the milage on mine but I’m pretty sure they are changed on one of the service as I thought I can remember mine being changed. Might be worth asking one of the dealers for a old one that you can clean and use, apart from that cannot really help buddy.
Kev
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quote Kevin Busby:Makes sense same head and same ink line giving issues probably due to the same reason.
Never had this issue as I didn’t do the milage on mine but I’m pretty sure they are changed on one of the service as I thought I can remember mine being changed. Might be worth asking one of the dealers for a old one that you can clean and use, apart from that cannot really help buddy.
Kev
Hi Kevin,
Yeah, I think it’s perhaps been waiting to happen & seems it’s a common enough issue. I actually just turned down the offer of an old 26500 with a 25500 for spares for €1000 because I simply don’t have room to store them, but they are both even older & more used than mine so doubt they’d be much use to be honest & I’m really just putting off the inevitable.
I just need to keep mine going for a bit longer if I can.Bleeding the air out I think is my main issue by the look of it. I’m just off to the vets with the dog so may see if I can get a syringe from them whilst I’m there.
Anyone got any tips on bleeding the air? Do I need to do it before I turn it on again or after so it pressurizes or will that just fill my printheads with air? -
Just a quick update on this. I managed to fix what I think was the main leak which was coming from the rubber seals that lead into the printheads. Just removed them, cleaned up & superglued them back in. Have printed about 30m or so this week & no signs of the cyan leak so far so fingers crossed. I did, however, notice a very small amount of black now in the base of the carriage. I think probably due to the tubes rotating on the joiners as the unit was moved out of the way to access the bottom of the carriage & as the tubes are aged & hardened they are obviously not a great seal any more.
My intention now is to source replacement spurious tubing & I’m wondering if anyone on here may know the internal diameter of the tube? I could remove one of them but fear it won’t go back on without disintegrating.
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