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HP L26500 keeps throwing print head 1 C/LC
Our L26500 seems to always throw up an error 16 on printhead 1 within warranty. Normally it goes before 500ml. Has anyone else noticed this problem?
It doesn’t seem to happen after a head strike which was my first thought. Just wondering if it’s a common problem?
Thanks
John
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16 Replies
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Yep, we’ve had two so far, both within warranty. We think there is a bad batch out there.
Good luck getting a replacement from HP, it takes forever!
Mark
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I have a stack of 5 on my desk which I must return. The problem is I think that the problem isn’t the heads but the position. Head 2 rarely fails and that’s also C/LC. Have you noticed they always go when in slot 1, or have you had them go in slot 2 as well?
John
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Both slot 1 but we were told unofficially that there was an issue. I’m guessing in, our case, that the head in slot 2 is from another batch and that we keep replacing slot 1 with heads from the same bad batch.
Mark
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High Guys, you could try changing the sleep timer to 120 mins, this allows all of the hot air dissipate before the machine goes to sleep, if you have it set to 30mins, it Dosnt give the machine a chance to cool down properly. also upgrade to the latest version of FW, also turn of the extra head cleaning and this should solve your issues.
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I had the same issue about a month ago! Had engineers out on 4 different visits! It sounds like one of two things! Either your ink tube to that head is knackered and potentially putting air in the system. Or more likely, one of the locator pins on the bottom of the print carriage itself has been damaged with a head strike. this will mean that your heads will not be locating correctly with the cleaner cartridge and therefore clogging or drying out on one or more of the printheads!
You can see a problem if you take out the cleaning cartridge, you will see cyan ink around the capping station or possibly all in the spounge inside the cleaner cartridge. Taking the carriage rail apart to look at the underside is a job for the engineer though. But this may be your issue!
I highly doubt you have had a run of faulty printheads, not 5 in a row in the same slot! Hope this helps.
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We had the same issue
Did a firmware upgrade, changed all heads and cleaning cartridge and haven’t had the problem since.
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We are struggling with similar problems and would like an update on your current status John.
Has the problem been solved? In that case, what was your solution?Our L26500 is running fine on smaller prints but pretty much everytime we do a longer print (10 meters+) either a C-LC or M-LM printhead fails…
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Just for your info I think many of us have had the same problem but I think James hit the culprit on the head.
I had pretty much every part and board changed without fix, the last time the engineer was here he did a few more bits and said as a precaution replace the Head cleaning cassette, well I thought it was a waste of fifty plus quid but not had the problem since and when I think back it only started after installing a new cassette so stupid how it might sound this might be the fix you need.
Plus after doing this a head which had previously failed at under 100ml is now still running 3 months later without problem 🙂
Kev
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Guys,
Since doing all the bits I mentioned above we haven’t had a problem with the Latex.
Mind you it doesn’t get as much use as we have bigger bits of kit handling work…But never the less when it is used – Spot on each and every time.
Many Thanks
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Further twist. Failure of C-LC in slot 1 so swapped the slot 2 head which has done over 3000 ml and put new head into two. Slot 2 C-LC has just failed at 80 ml. Slot 1 still ok.
Still think its the heads.
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quote Mark Oughton:Further twist. Failure of C-LC in slot 1 so swapped the slot 2 head which has done over 3000 ml and put new head into two. Slot 2 C-LC has just failed at 80 ml. Slot 1 still ok.
Still think its the heads.
I had the same thing happen but the reason I dont think your right with the head being faulty is, I had a head fail after 47ml, errored several times then totally failed and gave an error. Luckily engineer was coming next day to fix, so I never told him about the head failing just left it.
After changing parts again but this time changing the head cleaning cassette it printed fine and that failed head is still in the machine now printing away quite happily. I could be well wrong about the cleaning cassette but we all seem to have had the problem around the same time and for me it was straight after replacing the head cleaning cassette. At the end of the day you can always replace it with a new one and if it does not sort it go back to using your old one.
Cya
Kev
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Hi Kev
I can see where you’re coming from but I can’t get my head around a head failing in 1 but an old head being fine in 1 whilst the replacement fails in 2 which had previously been fine for 3000ml? It’s not like we haven’t changed the maintenance cartridge whilst this has been happening either. Guess we will see how long this one lasts in 2 and if the old head keeps going.
Thanks anyway
Mark
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I had this problem so many times in both C/LC one and two, I’ll try upgrading the firmware and inform you about the results.
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UPDATE: It seems our problem was caused by a faulty print head cleaning kit. Despite the kit only being at about 40% I took it out to check it and the roller mechanism that advances the cloth reel had jammed, and ink had built up on the surface so much it was touching the print heads. Replaced it and we’ve only just replaced head 1 which was on 3980ml.
John
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Hi John
Nice to hear, I’m glad I was correct about the cleaning cassette, ive not had a head changed since nor an error on head 1 again despite HP saying the heads blowing was down to media crashes lol.
Lets hope the 26500’s keep rolling for another few years without problem.
Kev
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Also haven’t had a problem for months now. No engineers or parts replaced. Maintenance cartridge only replaced when it was due.
Still convinced it was a bad batch of heads in our case. Glad we didn’t panic and throw money at it.
Mark
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