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Why do I need a regular service program for my plotter?
Modern Designjet plotters are high speed high quality large format inkjet printers. In order to achieve high quality at high speed, each machine has a print carriage operating four or eight printheads, sweeping across an A0 or A1 sheet. Each head has 200 microscopic nozzles firing ink droplets so fine that it would take over two million of them to fill the volume of a single raindrop. Because the droplets are so fine, they form an aerosol mist, most of which is sprayed on to the paper. Some of the mist however remains suspended in the air above the paper and as the carriage sweeps past, it drifts and is deposited in a thin layer through the plotter.Over a period of months or years this mist works its way into every moving part of the plotter. It forms a sticky deposit which has the appearance and consistency of boot polish and gradually begins to have a detrimental impact on the performance of the plotter.
Increased friction in the printhead bearings due to ink sludge buildup will place undue strain on the plotter drive belt causing it to fragment and eventually snap. Replacement of the belt is a major job, requiring a complete stripdown of the plotter to effect repairs.
The ink mist finds its way into the plotters optical sensor, upsetting the colour balance and causing paper edge detection problems.
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