Vent: My plotter decided to have a meltdown right before a deadline

The feed mechanism jammed and started chewing up a 36-inch Mylar sheet yesterday afternoon. I had to power it down, clear the rollers, and switch to manual feeding for the last two sheets. Anyone have a good trick for keeping those older HP plotters from getting grabby with thicker media?

4 comments

4 Comments

ray6132mo ago

My old HP 750C at the print shop would eat Mylar if the rollers got too clean. We actually had better luck just wiping them down with a dry cloth to keep a little grip.

kim_mason5526d agoTop Commenter

Victor's right about the residue thing, that's key. We used a specific brand of dry teflon lube in aerosol form at my last shop, just a tiny burst did the trick. Letting it dry completely before running media was the difference between perfect feeds and a huge sticky mess. Clean rollers might look nice but they really do need a bit of that controlled slip to handle thicker sheets.

evafoster2mo ago

Try a light silicone spray on the feed rollers.

victor_nelson2mo ago

Absolutely, that stuff works wonders. I had an old printer that kept jamming every other page, and a quick spray on the rollers fixed it right up. Just make sure you get the kind that dries without leaving any sticky residue behind. It saved me from having to take the whole thing apart or buy a new one.