Epson 4000 roll paper alignment

[BillHorne]

I'm printing via QImage on an Epson 4000 using rolls of Epson's enhanced matte paper. With typical image sizes of 13.25" x 17.75" on a User Defined sheet of 17" x 20", I am having trouble maintaining straight margins. Most prints emerge from the printer slightly skewed and the console says "paper not straight" and I have to realign it between each print.

The paper is as snug on the roll spindle as I can get it. Is adjusting the paper suction the answer? Any ideas appreciated ;-)
thanks,
Bill Horne
Wells, BC Canada

[Tim Gray]

I'm printing via QImage on an Epson 4000 using rolls of Epson's enhanced matte paper. With typical image sizes of 13.25" x 17.75" on a User Defined sheet of 17" x 20", I am having trouble maintaining straight margins. Most prints emerge from the printer slightly skewed and the console says "paper not straight" and I have to realign it between each print.

The paper is as snug on the roll spindle as I can get it. Is adjusting the paper suction the answer? Any ideas appreciated ;-)
thanks,
Bill Horne
Wells, BC Canada
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same print setup as you - 4000 and QI

I've had the same issue and what seems to help is to feed the paper out normally, then hold the center of the paper and add tension rolling the paper away from the roll.  You shouldn't be able to move the paper left or right. keep holding the center and snap the feed lever back to normal position.  Also make sure that the leading edge is perfectly square.  If not, you can feed the paper in perfectly parallel and still get a not straight error.

[BillHorne]

same print setup as you - 4000 and QI

I've had the same issue and what seems to help is to feed the paper out normally, then hold the center of the paper and add tension rolling the paper away from the roll.  You shouldn't be able to move the paper left or right. keep holding the center and snap the feed lever back to normal position.  Also make sure that the leading edge is perfectly square.  If not, you can feed the paper in perfectly parallel and still get a not straight error.
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Thanks, I'll give this a try ;-)
Bill

[BillHorne]

I tried the centre tugging and tightening method and though not 100% perfect, it's a great improvement in overall alignment. Thanks again.

[Farmer]

You may also want to consider having someone clean the printer for you (or do it yourself if you're up for that sort of thing).  A 4000 must be a few years old, so it's possible that you have some slipping when the paper is bring pulled through or even some wear on the rollers or some detritus causing it to pull one way more than another.

This is in addition to following the suggestion from Tim, which is important to ensure that it's loaded straight to begin with.