Epson 3800 splatter marks

[shaun]

My epson 3800 is throwing out some black ink deposits in the leading edge RH corner as well as others on the leading edge that look like roller marks. This is mostly on A5 cards which have a bit  of a wave that I have straightened out as best I can. Called epson who talked me through some things and they think it may need a new print head as it looks like it is throwing out too much ink. The print head cost means i'm as well with something new. Did the youtube cleans I found with no difference.

Any advice would be appreciated if others have had this issue.

Thanks Shaun


 

[howardm]

have you tried using some super-flat RC paper to see if the issue is A5 card/media related?  Have you played w/ the Platen Gap setting (and maybe also thickness adjustment)?

[Some Guy]

Have you gone through the entire head cleaning, capping station, and its wiper too?

Mine had an issue where the old ink in the capping station on the two pads had gummed up a bit and it wasn't draining into the maintenance tank via the pump.  When I squirted some head cleaning fluid onto the two pads, one drained and turned white, but the other just pooled up like a swimming pool of ink and wasn't draining through the pad at all.  Ink was likely piling up on it and then sticking to the underside of the print head later when it parked on top of it.

Took a lot of head cleaner before it began draining again and was pure white again.

While fussing with the above, I also parked the head on a 1" wide rolled up Bounty paper towel soaked with cleaner while I fiddled with the capping station and its draining issue just to clean it off.  Also, I wiped off the rubber gasket around it and the rubber wiper too.  Used a small piece of 1/8" (size?) brass tubing from the hobby shop and cut a Q-tip in half and shoved it in the end so the tubing was a long holder to get in there.

I've also soaked a heavy rag paper at one end with alcohol and ran it through the transport a few times to clean off the rollers.  Epson used to sell cleaning sheets but I haven't seen any for a while.

The 3880 that was making the marks, I also noticed that the capping station rubber gasket has hardened over time compared to another newer one.  Might be these rubber things dry out and the seal isn't good and why the ink in the pads dries up leading to clogged pads, and then head clogs become present if it dries out there too.  Just my theory though.

I'll mention I did tear into mine completely some months ago when it broke the carriage to print head mechanism due to a head strike on some edge curled paper.  The corner of the frame around the head had a blob of ink (like syrup) and appeared to be a hair or fiber stuck there in the frame that I needed tweezers to pull free.  Could be hair, paper fiber, or maybe some stray fiber off the capping station too.  Couldn't have gotten to it without pulling the head off and flipping it over to see it.

Good luck with whatever you try.

SG

[shaun]

Tried using a3 flat paper with same result.

Some Guy,

   I was a bit more persistent and now both pads are white. Cleaned under carriage and now I got one clean print. The second attempt though had a couple of black marks at the opposite end i.e. last bit printed. I now need a couple of ink carts before I can go any further.

If I do a bit more cleaning how do I know if this will solve the issue or if the print head needs replacing? I would rather not purchase additional ink if I have to go with a new printer.

Thanks
Shaun

[Some Guy]

One never knows with these things.  Too bad we cannot easily see under the print head to examine if some glob is hanging on to it.

I do have one issue I noticed with one of my Canon printers in that it streaks prints badly.  I switched to some RC based glossy paper and the profile loaded was for some rag (Not a fan of Canon's paper labeling numbers/system!).  The surface was flooded with ink when it came out, so much so I could hold the paper up and watch the ink run down the page.  Ink messed up a lot of plastics in the transport and it needs a through cleaning now.  It really is a mess and will streak even weeks later (I would think the ink would have dried, but it is still messy!).  I don't use that printer as much though so it's sort of neglected with the mess inside.

Chalk that one up to me not switching to the correct profile that may have limited the amount of ink being put down.  I pulled the same stunt on a Epson once when I had QTR's setting at full open and got a flood of ink out of it too.

SG

[shaun]

Thanks for taking your time to help. Got it up and running ok now, what a relief.

Shaun

[Conner999]

As SG details, dirty wipers and a loaded capping station leads to a messy print head that can lead to what you were seeing - plus random ink drops on larger sheets.
It is utterly amazing how soaked with ink the capping station can become and how gunked-up and filthy the wipers. A syringe with a long needle,  some long cleaning 'q-tip' style cleaning sticks (avail from B&H) and some Windex (with ammonia) used 10 mins every once and awhile can make a huge difference avoiding issues.

Glad it worked out.

[Rhossydd]

A very late addition to this thread, but there are few others about this issue anywhere else. Both my 3800 and a friend's 3880 have suffered this issue in the last three months, so still a live issue.

I have found two videos on how to clean the 3800/3880 which are very helpful;
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ocoX1WJbJPM
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iKzxAm9QtWo

[Richard.Wills]

Rather than cotton buds, I find these very useful - designed for cleaning solvent printers, but very good for capping stations. https://signgeer.com/surface-prep/cleaners/precision-swabs .I tend to start off by wrapping them with https://signgeer.com/surface-prep/lint-free-polyester-cellulose-wipes-in-static-shielding-bag-pack-150, cut down with a sharp blade to a suitable size. Both are lint free, so don't tend to leave tails.

As Rhossydd links in the first video, Inkjet mall are the vendors of magical information and supplies - I love Piezo flush for Making Epson printers feel whole again.
https://shop.inkjetmall.com/about-piezoflush
https://shop.inkjetmall.com/PiezoFlush
Buy a mid size bottle, 40 bucks and it comes with swabs and syringe.