Apr 302011
 

Because some media gets damaged while being handled or stored loading this media can sometimes head strike on the HP Designjet L25500 Latex printer (not usually causing any damage but still usually avoidable).

The way we suggest loading media into the printer is using the following “Automatic Load” method but with a couple of useful tips.

Firstly the obvious, if the front edge of the roll is very damaged, trim that part off to make the loading process smoother, however this is not commonly needed.

Load the roll onto the spindle and into the printer in the usual manner.

Pull the front edge of the media to about the edge of the spindle loading holder. If your arms are long enough then hold both ends of the roll pulling it around to align with the load slot keeping it tight so it stays straight and flat with the slot. If your arms aren’t wide enough then do your best to roll the media over to align with the slot.

Push the media in and keep pushing until you feel the internal rollers of the printer pull the media though to the print platen (print area).
NOTE: there is a sensor in the load area that will automatically sense the media and start the “Automatic Load” without you needing to prompt the load from the printer menu so you do not need to do anything before this step.
SECOND NOTE: when you start pushing the media in and the sensor starts the rollers winding to assist the load it will only try for so long, if you push and then hesitate or remove the media and try again then the printer will continue to attempt to assist the load before giving up and notifying you on the LCD screen so it’s important to push the media in and keep pushing until it’s through the platen rollers.

Before you continue with anything else in the printer (the menu will ask you what kind of media is loaded but do not proceed with the menu yet).
Lift the large blue load media lever to the right of the front curing heater to release the media path within the printer, then push the media in from underneath the printer (above the roll) until the front edge of the roll is past the front heater out the top.
Leaving the media release lever up, pull the front edge of the media that is out the front of the printer towards you in a left to right motion until the media pulls evenly against the roll underneath. This step will pull any damaged front edge away from the printhead as it comes out in the next step and this is the usual point of strike in this situation.
Lower the media release lever to clamp the roll in this position.
NOTE: make sure the roll underneith is wound back tight before you proceed because in this next step the printer will advance the media testing what direction the roll is wound (print side in or print side out) because the printer will apply a back tension on the media roll to ensure consistent print quality and media advance. I have seen some people pull this back after they do this next step causing the printer be tricked to think the media is loaded the opposite way than it is and the media will actually unwind the roll under the printer because it is trying to put back tension to the roll but it is in the wrong direction.

The LCD menu will return to the prompt asking what kind of media you a loading – you can now enter the appropriate media kind and length.
The printer will check for skew, the roll width, and return the roll to the front edge but should not strike or crash in this process.

Now you should push the “Move Media” button and advance the media forward through the printer past any damaged parts of the media – if the media still is prone to loading strikes then move the media to the front of the platen and this should not happen. When you press ok this will set this as a new base point.

In my experience this eliminates almost all loading strikes or crashes within the L25500 printer. If you have any questions or additional suggestions to this please add them to the commments area below

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