HP 500 cutting paper too long

[Seneb]

I'm trying to figure out why the plotter is cutting too long. Last week, it was cutting at 23.75" so we updated the firmware and drivers. Now it is cutting at 24.25" and I can't figure out why. I have the options for "remove margins" and "remove top/bottom blank areas" selected, but can't find anything else that might have an impact on the cutting size. I have tried with those options not selected, and when the "remove margins" isn't selected, it cuts at 24.5". This plotter is used with 36" rolls and is for 24x36 plotting only.

[ReMark]

Is this something that could be addressed with a firmware update?

[Seneb]

We just updated it to the most recent version available.

[ReMark]

Oops. I saw the word driver and neglected the word firmware.

 

Is there a "calibration" routine that can be run?

[Seneb]

I tried that and it auto-cancelled. Awesome.

[ReMark]

How old is this plotter? Is it the DesignJet 500?

[Seneb]

It is a DesignJet 500 #C7770B, but I don't know how old it is. I just re-installed the driver, so I'm going to try and calibrate it again.

[Seneb]

Super. After upgrading the driver, I now get this error when trying to plot:

"Warning 61:05. Error processing job. Flushing rest of job."

[ReMark]

Any chance you have the original drivers?

[Seneb]

Probably not. We have a couple versions, but not too far back.

 

After calibrating using a 23x35 rectangle on the 24x36 sheet, it now cuts a little longer than before. It seems that if I fake the calibration it might cut correct, but then the drawing would be slightly out of scale in relation to the 24" side.

[Coosbaylumber]

Had a similar situation reported last month here. Turns out the button-puncher was plotting via Windows and not the inborn Acad driver. Thus it had him set up overall Custom page size etc. and via Acad it does not ask such questions. That is when it blinked on us he was using the plotter all wrong. If the Acad plotter driver worked OK it ought to still today.

 

 

Wm.

[ReMark]

I'd rather have my drawing at the correct scale and sacrifice an inch of paper than to try and save on paper by tweaking the scale of the drawing.

 

We have a HP DJ 500 plus (24" width). I may the original drivers. What size (width) is your plotter?

[Seneb]

No kidding. Only problem is we sometimes plot and put them with drawings from consultants, so our pages would be obviously taller. I'm not as concerned with saving paper as I am with it looking correct. It's kinda funny though. This all started because it was cutting a little short, and now after updating the firmware it is cutting a little long.

 

The plotter is a 42" DesignJet.

[ReMark]

Then I guess my old plotter drivers would be of no use to you. We bought our plotter in 2002.

[Seneb]

I give up. I just tried a custom paper size at 23.75x36 and it still cuts the same long length. I have better things to do like update our CAD Standards. Thanks for the help Mark.

[ReMark]

What paper size do you normally select from the list available or do you always use a custom size?

[Seneb]

Normally, we just use Arch D (Landscape). I just tried the custom size to see if it would make a difference.

[ReMark]

Yep. That's what we use. Any chance you visited the HP printers/plotters forums? From past experience I know it is tough finding threads relating to a specific problem. HP doesn't give the user much in the way of narrowing done choices. Who wants to look at 243 pages of "I need help!"? You could however post your problem there. Maybe someone will have an answer to "Why are my plots suddenly longer?".