Epson R2880 - Printing head touches paper

[rhadorn]

I am using the printer for about one year now, printing on PermaJet Portrait White and Ilford Gold Fiber Silk. Format: A4 and A3+.

For the second time now, stripes appear on the print and ink blotches appear at some places. Obviously, the print head touches the paper, it is actually audible during the printing process.

The first time this happened, som 9 monthes ago, the problem disappeared after 2-3 weeks.

The other day, the phenomenon appeared with the first sheet from a new box (A4), so it is possible the paper reacts to a change in humidity. To check this, I started a print on an A3+ sheet from a box which is open for several months now and on which I made good prints: the head makes stripes on that one, too.

I am now searching for another explanation than the humidity differential. Does somebody have an idea?

Thanks in advance.

Reto

[Colin Southern]

Not sure if this helps or not, but I've had issues with paper absorbing moisture - I've even had to discard part of a roll because of it.

These days I run a dehumidifier 24x7 in the studio and haven't had a problem since.

I run an Epson 7800 which has a printhead gap adjustment, but it has an auto mode and I've never had to adjust anything. Lines through the print are usually a sign of blocked jets - so it might pay to do a nozzle check to see if that sheds any light on the subject. I occasionally get smudges on the two corners of the canvas where it's first put intot the machine, but it's always on the white 1 inch border I use to staple the canvas, so it doesn't cause any problems.

[Geoff F]

I'm not using that printer, but currently printing with a R1900.

I'm afraid that all of my previous printers, Epson and Canon, have died from the same symptoms which you describe. Banding on prints, spots of ink, particularly black which can also appear in the unprinted margins. The waste ink soak up pads become saturated.

Initially it affects just the first print of the day and running through with soft plain paper can temporarily solve the problem but it eventually returns.

All of my printers have developed similar print head problems withing 2 years of relatively moderate home use.

So if cleaning the nozzles doesn't work I fear the worst for your printer.

I sometimes get scratches on my prints and closing up the catcher tray so that the paper falls away as it emerges instead of the middle slightly buckling upwards from resistance between the leading edge and the catcher tray does help. But I think your problem is more serious.

[RobO]

I'm not using that printer, but currently printing with a R1900.

The waste ink soak up pads become saturated.

Hi All

I use a very much cheaper Epson A4 printer with 3rd party inks for proofing and get the ink pad problem from time to time. I can reset the printer with some software I found on the internet, free. The pad, when needed can be chaged on mine, by taking it to the Epson fast service centre - it costs me about £25 for a clean and reset and new pad - HeyPresto !! Good as new and off we go for loads more proofs .

http://www.epson.co.uk/Service-centres

I hope that helps a little.

Regards

Rob

[PruPrice]

Hi
I work for a company that sells printers and fine art papers. The problem you describe could be as simple as feeding the paper through the wrong slot! The R2880 is a great printer for all papers including Canvas and rarely has problems.

Make sure that you use the right paper feed slot for the paper type;
normal gloss/semi-gloss/ basic matt and plain papers should always go through the top feed slot under the lid. Everything else such as canvas and fine art papers need to be loaded in the Manual-Roll/rear slot (NOT the flat feed slot at the bottom of the printer). There is a plastic panel supplied in your original box which drops onto the back of the printer. Epson don;t tell you anything about it but it works a treat!

That rear slot works best because a) it has a wider feed gap than the top slot and so the head does not rub on papers edges (unless you have an excessive curl!)
b) it has two pickup rollers to keep the paper straight.

Hope this helps!

[Geoff F]

Just another thought.

On a few occasions I have had problems with static in the paper, which can cause unexpected lines and spotting. The answer was simply to 'earth' the paper on a metal part of the printer before printing.

Many years ago I was a commercial general printer and we always had problems printing with litho machines during misty or thundery weather. Earthing the paper with that old fashioned metal Christmas tinsel helped. Hence me remembering that at this time of the year.

[rhadorn]

Thanks to all for supporting my efforts at solving that stupid problem.

It is definitely not a nozzle problem. The stripes are soft scratches on the surface of a rather sensitive paper; I can hear the the head on the paper - clogged nozzles are silent. The cause is probably a bow or curl in the paper.

I took a few sheets out of the box to let them acclimate to my working room and yesterday I started new tests. The stripes are still there.

I thought that the bow could be caused by a roll that would not further the paper rapidly enough to the output tray, so I made a essay holding the paper and drawing a little bit on it while it came out. The end of the print was fuzzy because the printer does not hold it strongly at the end of the process, but there were no stripes anymore.

The next sample I made with a 2,5 cm soft surfaced object on the output tray to avoid that the paper hangs down: full success, there were no stripes anymore. Retrospectively, I think this is a variation on the solution proposed by Geoff F. So the problem could be caused by a bow caused by the weight of the paper hanging over the output tray, before it rests on it.


Now, this is only half of the solution. The A3+ sheet I tested seems to come out very high over the output tray, so I had to hold it during the whole printing process. As soon as I let it go, I heard the soft noise of the head on the paper.

And there is that other change in the behavior of my printer: it does not deliver the sheets fully after printing; I have to draw them out. Do the rolls stop too early? I fear something is displaced in the printer (which is full of self-controlling mechanisms I cannot influence directly). Maybe I opened the front lid for printing Cd's at the wrong time or something like this. Maybe the paper does not follow the right way although I always put the sheets of fine art paper in the manual feed at the rear.

I will contact EPSON.


Reto

[Dave Humphries]

Hi Reto,

What you are describing, especially in the last two paragraphs, certainly doesn't sound right.

Just in case this helps, have you tried completely disconnecting the power cord (and USB cable), for say 30 seconds?

This will be different from just switching it off with the button/switch provided, and is more likely to make it's internal processors re-boot 'from cold'.

It may help.

One last thought; I assume it is on a level and stable surface, and is not tilted?

Cheers,

[KGB]

Hi given your experience would you buy the HP9180, Canon 9500 or the EpsonR2880. I have trialed the HP for a few months but am not convinced, moved away from Epson after bad experiences with blocked heads on 2 desktop photo printers 2000P and R800. I have read many reviews and cannot decide, I would go for the Epson if it wasn't for the previous head problems. Any advice greatly appreciated