R2400 Print Quality Problems

[Ghibby]

Hi all,

I've been using the Epson R2400 for about 18 months or so now and its produced some superb prints. However I have noticed recently that when printing A4 sized prints using the Best Photo setting that the print quality deteriorates for a band about of 10-15mm wide towards the end of the paper (about 30 mm from the back edge).

In terms of appearance this seems most obvious with saturated blue/purple and magenta colours (sunset sky tones in particular) The effect is that it looks slightly speckled in some areas and when looked at closely this goes across the width of the page through all the colour tones.  I have looked carefully and tested this a fair bit now.

I have found that by rotating the image upside down in photoshop that the effect can be reproduced on a different protion of the image but same location on the actual paper path through the printer. To me this suggest a hardware or driver issue not media or resolution dependant.

The effect occurs when the papers path is slowed down and print head movement cycles change briefly towards the end of page suggesting an alignment issue as the printer measuers the edge of the paper. Once these few passes are made print head movement returns to normal for the final 15-20 mm of paper travel and the print quality in this area is once again spot on.

The effect is almost entirely removed by using the Photo RPM setting although looking with a Loupe shows there is a slight change in dot distribution in the same area of the page.  It is not easily visible to the naked eye.  

Originally I thought my printer was faulty but I am sure now it is a problem other R2400 users will find they have as I feel it is driver related.  Having gone through my archive of prints, now aware of the issue, I see it appeared on some of the earliest prints made with this printer, always in similar blue/purple or magenta tones.  95% of my work is printed using Photo RPM and this is why I have only recently picked up on the problem

Anyone else experienced these issues. I am happy to supply a full res photo of an image to demonstrate this.  

Ben

[daws]

Only a guess, but your problem sounds as if it may be related to a paper-to-head-distance issue I've experienced on the 2400 with some papers. You might try opening the top of the printer during a print in progress and closely observe the paper as it approaches the point where the problem begins. Is the paper held firmly by the rear hold-down guide all the way through completion of ink laydown, or does it physically shift position relative to the heads?

[Angst]

I recently loaded the latest R2400 driver from Epson and saw the same thing: "print quality deteriorates for a band about of 10-15mm wide towards the end of the paper". Gray fog turned into bands of blue and pink. Arggh! and I was on PhotoRPM, not Best Photo (Velvet Fine Art, 720 dpi from Cs3). I did find an Epson tech note to use canned air to clean paper dust buildup on the rear sheet feeding wheels. I did that (didn't see any visible dust or buildup). Will let you know if and how I solve this one....
Angst