HP Designjet 500, 800 Belt Replacement & Calibration

[@GaryOrr-h5n]

We just purchased a new belt. The tech wanted almost $650 labor to replace it. Instead we got the new belt from LPS and followed the video and did it! Works perfectly. We cleaned inside and wiped everything and all went to plan. Never could have done it with the great video...

[@sax0520]

UNbelievable!!! I never would have imagined I could salvage my very elderly and neglected plotter. And there is absolutely no way I would have even tackled it without Bob and my excellent IPS belt. The original was literally hanging on by a thread. I marked every single removed part and referred to this excellent video many times in many places. My plotter’s sweet voice now sounds normal, and the calibration was perfect. I’m so happy! Now if I can just find ink when I need it. These plotters are known workhorses and deserved to be used and kept out of landfills. Thank you, thank you!!!!!

[@miriamschwamm3938]

So cool Bob effectively ! Just on the way to change the thing on my beloved plotter with his help and even if HP doesn't support anymore this series. :)

[@almanavoz]

I would like to thank you so much for providing us with this tutorial, you saved our lives, I'm I Portugal and the belt in our plotter broke about 6 years ago, a time were we were going through a financial disaster in Portugal, we opened our little copy shop, and have struggled for 10 years, the only time until today thank God that we had problems with our plotter, was with the belt, the technicians estimated a total of over 600€ more or less the same as dollars for changing the belt and labour! It was around Christmas time and we used it quait a bit, we had no way to fixed it there was no financial means, so my husband was looking for what the error of the plotter meant,and I came across this lifesaving video, and we took a chance and ordered the parts and we only spent around 70€ and becouse we could not afford to close the store so my husband could fix it, i toke it upon myself to fix it! He was taking care of costumers and i was in the background fixing the plotter, so i would play this video see what you were doing pouse it, and do the same in the plotter, and so it took me a good part of 10 hours to fix it, with play and posing every few seconds I was able to fixed it and it never broke down againg, this is the best piece of equipment that we own, its 12 years old and it works brilliantly!!! So today 12 of June 2020 I was going through old emails and came across the link for this video, and becouse I dint think of doing it before I would like to take this moment and tell you our story and to thank you so very much for your selflessness to take time to make this video, you are a greatest part of our success becouse without the plotter in the month of December we would not have been able to make it, because we print allot of fotos for families to give each other's as Christmas presents, again thank you, thank you so so very much, God bless you and your family we will allways be grateful to you.

[@Discoveryquest]

Bought the printer for $100.00 in a garage sale. Replaced belts on a 450 before but reluctant on this one. With the video, instructions and tools provided I was able to complete the belt replacement successfully. Tricky part for me was the encoder strip. I found it easier with another person on the other side pushing the metal tension. Important to clean the brass and plastic belt pulleys.Great video. Thanks!

[@LPSshowsyouhow]

Awesome!

[@timhaddock7438]

Thanks Bob. I bought a used 500 24 inch and was experiencing rattling and lots of noise as the printhead moved left and right. Your video gave me the confidence to take the machine apart and clean the inside of all the sticky gunk that had built up over the years. It works perfectly now. You can read all the tutorials and manuals you like but you can't beat someone who knows what they're doing actually showing you how it's done. Top man!

[@fpeccini]

I followed along with this video to replace the 5-year-old belt that had split lengthwise in my hp500. Start to finish took about two hours with the LPS belt in hand, which included about a half hour cleaning a good bit of the belt residue from both pulleys. What impressed me most about the presentation were the little tricks throughout that could not have possibly been conveyed by the most graphic service manual. Without a doubt, much frustration was avoided. Thanks for the attention to detail!

[@Mileslewis27]

Bob you rock! Still helping people fix their plotters in 2020!!!!!!!! I would like to buy you a beer!

[@miriamschwamm3938]

Yess Bob rocks !!!! Still helping in 2024 in Alsace France ! :)

[@gaioiago]

Dear Bob, we are three italian architects.Your tutorial is been very helpful. Thank you very much. Kind regards

[@PutnamJct]

Thank you for this video. I bought a replacement belt from you awhile back and put it in today. The previous belt I put in was a cheap $7 knockoff that lasted a whole year. After having the cutter get stuck on me one time too many this morning, I decided it was time to tear the 500 down and put your belt in. Problem solved. Hands down your step by step instructional video is the most comprehensive "how-to" I've used on any subject. Many kudos to you for doing this. Thanks Again.

[@LPSshowsyouhow]

Thank you for the kind words. I'm happy you're machine's running!

[@davidingram5336]

One thing he did not mention in the video, but is mentioned in the written instructions - and I learned the hard way. Before you slide out the service tray you need to lift the carriage lock. I didn't and as a result broke mine. Had to order a replacement from them and am now waiting for that part. Not a big deal, but annoying.

[@kazysvarnelis8494]

I bought the LPS computing kit based on this video. You can get a $15 belt, but how long it will last or whether it will even work (some of them have incorrect striping on them) is highly questionable. Everything in the LPS kit was high quality. I had to call up Bob to ask him a couple of questions and he promptly returned my call and solved my problem. I highly recommend.

[@eastie-us]

I purchased the "belt replacement kit", watched this video and in about 3 hours had a working machine. I spent about 1/2 the time cleaning the debris out of the old machine including scraping the "goo" out of the drive side of the belt. Thanks for the help!

[@garyjackson8384]

Great tutorial on replacing the belt! Very easy to follow - camera work and verbal instruction were spot on! I did discover that I bought a cheap belt ($5) and it had the ribs all the way around the inside but used it anyway. The only thing that I forgot to do was to plug the 'service station' power cable back in. This resulted in a error code after powering up the plotter that indicated the service station needed to be replaced. After plugging the cable in and rebooting, everything was okay. Thanks again for a great video!

[@R86Quad]

After watching this video, I purchased the kit as well as an extra belt and installed today.......... VERY easy process and the machine is back up and running smoothly.

[@johnfleetwood8605]

Bought the entire kit even though I had my own tools. I just wanted to get everything I needed in one box for a quick fix. I DID! If I had a question, I just came back to this video and checked. This is a good deal, and the good Mr. Wert should be congratulated.

[@archrick1]

Bob, a few months back I saw your video for the 5500 and asked if you would tape one for the 500/800. Tonight after dinner I logged on and saw this video posted and was very happy to finally purchase 2 kits from LPS to repair both my 500 and 800. These kits are exactly what a novice such as myself need and the USA manufactured belt sealed the deal for me. We look forward to our shipment from LPS and thank you!

[@cougarcaterwaul4289]

As with 2 years ago, again this video has helped me tremendously! We had another one of these plotters called in with a completely chewed up belt. Your video saved me again! (Just wish customers would listen when we tell them where to purchase the belt). Double thanks!! 😁😀

[@LPSshowsyouhow]

You're welcome!

[@MrJulio2002]

I wanted to thank you because thanks to your tutorial I repair my plotter hp 500 as the nearest service to my city is 700km, cmpre online timing belt which came in two days and the third already had the 500 hp plotter running without any problems many thank you very much!

[@johnfrancis2227]

Thank you Bob. This was very helpful indeed. If I could add two minor details. 1) When fitting the new belt to the carriage, there is a 'hidden' lipped channel inside the belt holder. Make sure the belt slots in there. 2) When removing the LHS cover, beware of the Power Switch, which catches - be careful not to damage it. Obviously, remember this when re-assembling.

[@grantrichards4950]

Thanks guys! This was my first belt replacement on plotter. The belt on my customers HP500 24" was shedding chunks and part of the belt was just the stringy fibers. 1.5 hours, 15 minutes of which was cleaning rubber out of the motor pulley. I watched the video twice before going to my customer's site and only had to reference the manual twice. Great training!!

[@jaburch7941]

This is an excellent instructional video, clear and detailed, you saved my employer big bucks by enabling me to replace this (really pretty inexpensive) belt myself. Bob Wert, you're one knowledgeable dude! Thank you!!!

[@LPSshowsyouhow]

Thank you for your kind words!

[@l0ckcr4ck3r]

Great vid Bob!... heres some trivia for you... The media advance calibration should be done on Genuine HP stock AND match the profile selected in the menu. The Cal is actually calculating the amount of rotation, down to just a few minutes of arc, that the platten roller needs move in order to position the TOP surface of the paper to eliminate horizontal banding. It has an LUT in the firmware of media thicknesses for each of the preset profiles. If its done on some random piece of 3rd party media, thats not exactly the same thickness as the selected profile... well it updates the calibration and throws of every other profile thats stored on there. The other option is just to get the end user to calibrate on what they use all the time, selecting the profile they usually use. That way they are sure to get great prints on what they use every day. Hardly anyone actually pays HP prices for their production media on a 500/800 ;)

[@patwmachen1180]

I just want to say "Thank you" Bob and LPS Computer! The original HP belt did deteriorate all over the place! Lol. I ordered this kit and along with this wonderful how-to video, I was able to take the plotter apart, replace the belt and reassemble the plotter. It works beautifully! Good Job!!

[@LPSshowsyouhow]

Same to you!

[@VTHTECH]

Just did this procedure, worked perfectly, no issues.

[@ps2727]

Bob Just finished the belt replacement. Your video is simply wonderful! Makes an otherwise difficult job easy. Thanks for the instruction and making the repair kit available Paul

[@LPSshowsyouhow]

Happy to help!

[@jeffbower8516]

Thank you for your instructions. Ordered LPS belt 2 weeks ago, and followed along with your video and got it going in about 1.5 hours [also took some time to clean out broken pieces of old dry-rotted belt, etc.]. I had already cleaned the service station a few months prior and didn't have any problem opening this unit up to do the work. I had a service station error ( I think it was 21:15 or something like that). The station motor was unable to turn due to dried up ink goo on the larger black wheel. It took a little over an hour, but just kept cleaning that wheel over and over until all the goo was off. Then, the well was able to spin. The error was gone. Just thought I'd add that, since I know this unit is expensive. It can be cleaned up. Also, good idea to wear some gloves when doing this.

[@gleemon]

Great tutorial! Works great! My school was going to survey this printer since it was beyond our "service age." $40 part from your site and about an hour of work on my part and it's back in service!

[@JohnMichael23inSD]

Thank you so much! The kit saved us over $300 in repair costs and I couldn't have done the replacement without the video. Very thorough and complete.

[@TheTopJimmie]

I am so happy I came across this video tutorial. I was just about to replace my belt from one of the ones you mentioned but the kit you described made perfect sense to me as to why it is needed. I ordered one right away. Thank you for your knowledge and for helping me avoid a mistake!

[@LPSshowsyouhow]

You're welcome, Jimmie!

[@bkingk8]

This is one of the best tutorial videos i have seen, excellent work.

[@drtbizozamohammedlee9906]

Thanks for

[@Wiseacre79]

Wanted to thank you for taking time to make and post this video. It really helped us at our office. We really appreciate it.

[@syedimtiazali9933]

It's a beautiful and effective video 🌷🌹🌷

[@carlhuber9030]

Great Video Bob! The best step by step video for replacing the belt. I really appreciate the time you took to do the video.

[@PaoloMarcelli]

Hello :) could you please tell me what type of screws are used to hold the stand parts together? What head do the screws have? And what head do the screws that connect the stand to the plotter have? Thank you!

[@ZenITM]

Great Video!!!You made it easy to replace the belt on our Designjet 500. We ordered the kit from you and it had everything we needed for a successful installation. I don't think we would have attempted it without this awesome video!!! Thanks

[@LPSshowsyouhow]

You're welcome!

[@concept-verde]

Hello Bob, thank you very much for your explanation to change the belt. Without your detailed instructions it would be almost impossible to get around here and disassemble the printer everything correctly and also reassemble. So my DJ 800 has a new life - thanks again and greetings from Austria/Europe -Thomas-.

[@domusinc11]

I saved a hp-500 machine from being dumped just because of the belt. with this video and $12 new belt from Amzaon i saved the machine in 3 hour of a Sunday afternoon. good job and great quality video.

[@alexaneuman]

Thanks Bob. Nice presentation. Most important part was having the Torx #8 screwdriver. Something you normally only need once or twice in your life. When you have to replace a belt on a Designjet.

[@StanIsbell]

PRINT HEAD CARRIAGE WOULDN'T "JUST SLIDE OUT!" I struggled to find why it kept 'hitting something' and wouldn't leave it's place behind the right end housing. FINALLY...notice the frayed belt looping around the far left metal rotating spindle had one strand of the worn out belt catching and holding the belt, keeping the carriage from leaving its place. What a 'dirty trick!' Scissors cutting through the whole belt freed everything!!

[@josephflocco1255]

Excellent video. Instructions are perfect. Not a simple job to take a whole machine apart, but the guidance was great. Take your time you will be successful. I used a pair of long needle-nosed pliers to get that belt tension pully to pop back into place, by squeezing the ends and I possibly avoided breaking the plastic tabs as may happen when prying with a screwdriver.

[@chriscurry4375]

yep that's what I did too. I happen to have a pair of thin ones I had from a electronics repair kit.

[@sprout3455]

Another great video. I managed to follow your instructions (clear, slow and easy to pause before you fall behind) and I've fixed my Designjet 800 first time, no issues. Thanks a lot!

[@christinemoghadam7313]

Great video and service Bob. I ordered the belt kit on Monday and had arrived the next day. My old belt was spitting out rubber! Note: If you are doing this yourself, clean out the idler and the driver pulley teethes. Best, NM

[@LPSshowsyouhow]

Good advice! Thanks for watching, and thanks for your business!

[@sharongilsteider3886]

Very Nice detailed video - myself & my 15 year-old intern was able to follow this & everything went very smoothly!! Thank you!!

[@Randomcrappycomments]

Thank you for putting it back together again, with lots of tips and techniques. This is the most complicated maintenance I've ever performed and this vid made it possible. Thanks so much.

[@juanpablo-vn1xo]

this saved me a fortune and worked perfectly....brilliant tutorial, really easy to follow and everything explained in perfect detail so even a novice can do it....my old belt was torn to shreds so was desperate to be changed, works perfect now....MANY, MANY THANKS KIND SIR!

[@LPSshowsyouhow]

Happy to help. :)

[@ilvsurfin]

searched around and got the answer,. Putting it out there for others who might have the same problem reattaching the encoder strip on the left side. "per HP- If your unit is 42" you will need someone to push on the metal plate (on the right) when installing the left side. You will not be able to pull the encoder strip and screw in the set screw on the left side at the same time. There's too much tension. Someone needs to push on the plate with their finger." YES IT WORKS. .

[@pmgodfrey]

Thanks so much for the tutorial. I purchased my belt from you guys and just installed it on my 800PS today. Gave it a good cleaning while I was in there. It's perfect and quiet now with no more shedding of the belt on my paper!

[@pmgodfrey]

And now the belt is shot after light use. It's shredding like the OEM one. I honestly power this printer up like five times a year and do a couple of large blueprints.

[@phempa]

Thank you kindly for this video! Made this job much easier. The instructions that were included with the belt kit weren't as clear and seem to have been missing a few steps, so I ditched 'em for the video. Thanks again!!

[@MrMarkTarver]

Bought the Cheap belts from Amazon, Thank you for posting this video - I ordered your Kit and will not be using the belt I bought on Amazon. This was a very informative and well done "How To" appreciate you posting it and pointing out the difference between the belts!

[@zanebrave9237]

Great video. I inherited an HP jetdesign 800 24inch this year and am using it for film positives for silkscreen. The only problem I have is the film roll ends are too big for the spindles so I bought an adapter which goes onto the spindle end blue end. Do I need two of them or is one good for the job?

[@tobleronecp]

Just finished to replace the belt. One of the best explained presentation ever saw. Many thanks.

[@TheTattooandy]

This video helped so much, I was looking for a video on how to replace the trailing cable, and didn't want to break the print head assembly while taking it apart.. I couldn't find any vids directly relating to the trailing cable, but this video he all the info I needed.

[@franzkarlvj]

Wooow Big Big Big thanks

[@LPSshowsyouhow]

No problem!

[@wrek]

Thanks for this tutorial, this plotter does a very specific job for my company, we've tried other plotters in other offices but this HP 500 is the only one that'll do the trick. I've had some Canon basic training from their field engineers but never done anything for plotters, easy when you know how but pro tips like when to remove the encoder strip, how to clean it etc are always very welcome. Old Carriage belt was down to the string, it had completely perished/failed That said, I'm not sure why this video has 300,000 views!?

[@eddyrichardchanlatte683]

Hi, I'm Eddy an HP certified technician living in Haiti. I have some trouble to replace a carriage belt on an HP Designjet 5500. I have viewed this video several times to see if if I missed something, but I still have this problem: The new carriage belt is too short and cannot fit to the path. We have bought this belt from LPS after viewing this video. Please let me know if it we have to get a new one or if there is a way to fit this one. 

[@joeblackburn2966]

Step by step instructions were perfect. Couldn't of gone any better. Our department was very thankful for your expertise for this video. Couldn't of done it without you. Thanks Again!

[@kpsspa]

This was great! Very detailed and easy to follow. 1 step was missing very important to plug green wire back into the service station. Thanks! I could not have done it without you!

[@TheJpopus]

Thanks so much on your various tips as the install progressed. Got it all installed and worked perfectly. I originally ordered the cheap over seas belt but viewing your install and took your advice on the belt and ordered from your company. Glad I did as this is alot of work. Couldn't have done it properly without your video !

[@LPSshowsyouhow]

Awesome!

[@brianhoerner8235]

Bob, Good timeless video, just changed the belt, had a small issue but took off and realigned the service station 3 times and good to go!!! Thanks bub!

[@prepar3dextrem997]

Hi Bob, thanks for the amazing detailed instructions. My first change of the Belt from my Designjet 500 42" was an immediate success. But i need 2 hours. Lol. Thanks for this super tutorial.

[@LPSshowsyouhow]

You're quite welcome!

[@muddermucker1]

Bob thank you for this video. Best tutorial I've ever used to make repairs. Plotter up and running!!!

[@LPSshowsyouhow]

Awesome!

[@JimFisher101]

Thanks again. I think I've done three of these belt replacements on different plotters, but I use the video every time.

[@DiseloconDetallescom]

Thank you for your videos, they are very helpful for many of us. I am looking for the drivers for the HP DesignJet 500 Plus 24 printer but I can only find the drivers. Could you send me the link or the drivers for this printer? I would really appreciate it.

[@brandoncornelius6541]

Great video. Thanks so much. I have replaced the belt with your company's belt. While performing the calibration I am still getting an 81:01 error. All seems good with belt.... Checked it twice. Cleaned drive motor gear. Wiped encoder strip as you instructed. Right before the error the carriage seems to skip/bump a tad as it is sliding right. Any ideas on what could be wrong?

[@dalepickard4468]

Hello Bob, Let me add my thanks to those below. While the machine was apart I cleaned the service station and spittoon. Also, crud that built up on the back of the metal frame that the carriage slides on.....They wanted to sell me a new plotter... HA!

[@DavidDeVillers2112]

Thanks very much, Bob! The kit was just what we needed, although our "encoder strip" got misaligned when we put it back together the first time. It would not allow for the carriage to "find home." A second try fixed it right up. Thanks for the video and the affordable repair kit!

[@doncain9664]

Just replaced my belt from you and this Video was amazing, just printed out my first 10 blue prints. Thank you for taking the time to put this up.

[@user-lj3tx4dz8y]

seriously best video ever. i never would have been able to do it without!

[@LPSshowsyouhow]

Well, thank you kindly!

[@ecleary26]

Bought the kit and couldn't have done it without this video. And yes, my 10 year old printer works like it's brand new!

[@emei06]

Thank you for posting this. I just finished replacing the belt and encoder strip. You did a great job explaining all the steps. I also bought parts from your store! Thank you so much!

[@shelby50411]

Great video..just replaced my severely torn up designjet 500 belt...just like other people mentioned...cleaning the gobbed up rubber off of the motor pulley was not easy...very gummy and hard to clean off .and all the belt shreddings..throughout entire printer ..was not a fun job...but happy its done....thanks bob....

[@MadebyKarenM]

What do you do if the piece at 15:52 breaks? Bought a used machine nd that piece was in place but already broken

[@DesolatorMagic]

This was incredibly helpful! Your camera work and instructions were fantastic and I successfully changed it out. Thanks!

[@Rizashi]

Thank you for making this video and sharing where to buy the belt! Really helps us keep our trusty printer to continue on for a few more years!

[@CraigZimmerman-sn8sf]

Thanks so much, used your videos and parts to keep this HP designjet 500 running, very thorough step by step instructions

[@ArtyTheGreat]

Thank you so much for this instructions! It saved me a lot of time and money sending plotter to repair service.

[@pedrovision6987]

12:20 ... "...it's a good idea not to lose the pulley, you may want to use it again later..." I did this belt replacement a number of years ago WO this video...I remember thinking "if this machine ever works again, it will be a miracle" ...(it did work again!!) Great video, really took me down memory lane!! I miss my DJ 500... Interesting to note this video has 522,068 views...

[@christaylor6861]

Great stuff, Bob. Ordered the belt from you guys and another manufactured out of China and yours is much better quality. She's back up and running.

[@couleursamies]

Bobさん、とても良いビデオでした。言葉が理解できなくても丁寧に説明して頂いていることがよくわかる内容でした。とても助かりました。ありがとうございました。

[@LPSshowsyouhow]

どういたしまして。

[@sgartner]

Excellent! I didn't feel at all comfortable with the written instructions, but this video made it easy.

[@chrisdb4278]

Thanks for posting. A really invasive surgery just to change the belt. I'm pretty handy and it took me about 2 hours.

[@dharavasu807]

This worked great. Took me 4 hours, but got it together and it all works like new! thanks!!

[@ricardoperez8879]

i know this video is old but i was wondering what kind of paper do you use for this HPDesignjet500? It appears to be glossy. I have this machine an i was unaware it could print on glossy

[@grassoft]

Hi Bob, nice video. I have a customer with the same problem and plotter, how much do you charge for replacing a belt?

[@LPSshowsyouhow]

We're not in the service business anymore. We sold our service division a couple years ago, in favor of providing repair parts and tech help online.

[@brianpurcell1638]

Thanks for this video.I have had this plotter so long i'm replaceing the belt for the second time.Thanks for the parts to.

[@arthurcapelle1927]

Vielen Dank, war sehr hilfreich!

[@Megateri0]

thank you very much sir! i replaced the belt on my DJ500 after 16.000mq following your instruction step by step. You save me!!! THZ!!!!

[@jimmpest6]

Hello. Good tutorial. However, what about if I have a generic 24" carriage belt? How do I aligned it, if it does not have a mark on the belt?

[@aaronspence3472]

Fantastic video, one of the best tutorial videos I've seen on KZbin. Also the little aside about the guy that used to work for you that "had a problem" at 30:35. Hilarious! Thanks again!

[@danielhjames]

Hi Bob, thanks for the great video! On the Designjet 500 Plus we have, the captive screw on the printheads is a Torx #9. This is just as well, because we do not have a Torx #8 bit here :-)

[@mortenhartvigkristiansen7760]

Thank you! The instructions that came with the belt were useless, luckily your video filled in the (massive) gaps

[@bendel4370]

Merci beaucoup, grâce à vous j'ai pu réparer ma machine après onze ans d'utilisation ... Elle est comme neuve maintenant !!!

[@CREMASTUBE]

Are the optimal belt compatible , or better than the original ?

[@ScottGlass]

Thank you, Bob. You saved me hours of solo figure it out work. Your tutorial was phenomenal. And your little trick with the Encoder Strip was great. Thank you again.

[@mrssjo]

Bob, you are a master of your craft........ Mesmerizing and again quite beautiful work.

[@ElhamAhmed-c9w]

GREAT DEAR SIR but what if the horizontal lines are not straight after replacing the belt

[@rafiqbhutta4773]

Dear Sir, I have hp designjet 500 plotter I want to ask you that which size carriage belt I use for print A0 paper roll. Pls help thanks

[@masterprintersupport2799]

The best printer that HP ever made

[@calamity15khz47]

Thank you so much for doing this video. So well explained on all the critical steps and straight to the point. I have my Designjet back in order.

[@LPSshowsyouhow]

Thanks for your kind words. Glad you're up and running.

[@AdoraFischer]

Many thanks for your video, it is the second time I replaced the belt, thanks Bob

[@rafaelbombardiere2959]

Man, you rock. You're the MAN!!! Thank you so much, people like you make me believe in the power of the internet communities. Thank you man I love you!!!!