rexm3 · 10-20-2007, 04:29 PM

We have owned our Colorspan 5465 for about a month now and are just getting it up and running for production purposes and putting it through its paces. Its falling flat on its face. While the support staff at Colorspan have been very nice, the 5400 series from Colorspan has design issues.

Even though the printer is specified to handle rigid material up to 1" thick, we cannot get ours to print on anything thicker than 1/4". The printer has a problem feeding sheet goods. It will not even feed 1/2" thick FomeCor. We just had a service technician for two days and they have given up.

Another issue the printer has is static electricity. While they designed in ionizers to help dissipate static electricity on the media, they do not work well. The only real solution is to slow the printer print speed or pause the print head between passes. That is hardly a solution in a production environment on a machine that was sold as fast and versatile. Another suggested solution from Colorspan is to reduce the head height. While this helps some, it increases the risk of head strikes on the media - an expensive risk. The static charges on the media result in fuzzy lines, "over-spray" and ghosting.

Yet another issue we have experienced with our printer is UV lamp overheating. The printer has numerous fans on the case to help keep the UV lamps cool. One fan was added after the printers first began shipping. At our most recent service call, the UV lamp assembly was replaced. So far so good, but it has only been two days.

Seems HP has bought themselves a bag of problems (HP just purchased Colorspan).

Has anyone out there experienced similar problems? We are considering sending ours back.

10-20-2007, 04:29 PM	#1
rexm3 Junior Member Join Date: Oct 2007 Posts: 2 Printer: HP Designjet 5000 & Colorspan 5465UV	Colorspan 5400 UV Series Problems We have owned our Colorspan 5465 for about a month now and are just getting it up and running for production purposes and putting it through its paces. Its falling flat on its face. While the support staff at Colorspan have been very nice, the 5400 series from Colorspan has design issues. Even though the printer is specified to handle rigid material up to 1" thick, we cannot get ours to print on anything thicker than 1/4". The printer has a problem feeding sheet goods. It will not even feed 1/2" thick FomeCor. We just had a service technician for two days and they have given up. Another issue the printer has is static electricity. While they designed in ionizers to help dissipate static electricity on the media, they do not work well. The only real solution is to slow the printer print speed or pause the print head between passes. That is hardly a solution in a production environment on a machine that was sold as fast and versatile. Another suggested solution from Colorspan is to reduce the head height. While this helps some, it increases the risk of head strikes on the media - an expensive risk. The static charges on the media result in fuzzy lines, "over-spray" and ghosting. Yet another issue we have experienced with our printer is UV lamp overheating. The printer has numerous fans on the case to help keep the UV lamps cool. One fan was added after the printers first began shipping. At our most recent service call, the UV lamp assembly was replaced. So far so good, but it has only been two days. Seems HP has bought themselves a bag of problems (HP just purchased Colorspan). Has anyone out there experienced similar problems? We are considering sending ours back. Last edited by rexm3 : 10-22-2007 at 12:19 AM.