Designjet 1050c Ink Tube Assembly 

The following experience from a Designjet 1050c 1055cm user is typical of the issues associated with a ink tube assembly wearing out.

With no error messages and without warning, black ink has suddenly started leaking all over the paper and rollers.

It appears to be coming from the printhead because, as the carriage travels away from the printhead cleaners, ink pours down across all the printhead cleaners and halfway across the width of the paper.

My first thought was to replace the printhead and the cleaner. But then I noticed something strange.

With the printheads removed, there appear to be some sort of o-rings or "seals" inside metallic "receptors" into which the printhead "spindle" or "needle" inserts into the carriage.

It's very sticky but, surprisingly, isn't coated with ink. None of the "receptors" for the color printheads in the carriage look like this.

Also, this may happen:

One of the faults the HP 1050c Designjet printer, is that they tend to leak ink due to a cracked gasket down the left hand side of the printer, from the tube system, where the ink cartridges insert. The tube is a push-lock fitting, similar to the plastic pipes on a new central heating system.

The ink tube assembly is worn out and needs replaced.

Here is the youtube video demonstrating how to remove the covers and the ink tube assembly.