Canon Large format printer spitting ink??

[retropeck]

Hi there,

I found this forum when researching canvas printing and it seemed a lot of people here have some good knowledge on printing.

I bought a second hand Canon W6200 imagePROGRAF 24" a year ago, I have been doing alot of canvas printing of my own work and prints for other people with it. A few months ago it started spitting dots of ramdom coloured ink over prints (between 2mm and 5mm dots) Canon came out twice to have a look and 1st just cleaned it out but the second time couldn't figure it out so ended replacing the print head for me! Couple of months down the line and its started again, and alot this time, however it is fine when I put photo paper through it..

I was wondering if canvas is too much for this printer (350gsm) but then I've managed to get a good few hundred prints out of it and now its got a new print head you'd think it would last a while?....

I also usually print at 300dpi, is this too much for canvas??

Anyones thoughts would be much appreciated.

Thanks,
Alex.

[bill t.]

You can get similar symptoms from the big Epsons.  Are you getting head strikes on the canvas?  Can you adjust the distance between the heads and the canvas, which on my 7800 can be done through the front panel buttons or the accessory program.

On the 7800 that is also a symptom of paper fiber accumulating on the heads, the worst source of such fiber is using the built-in cutter on anything except completely lint-free papers like RC.  Cutting canvas or rag paper with the built-in cutter is a no-no.  Very subtle head strikes on heavy papers can also cause such accumulations, could be that's what your getting from occasional hits on textural high spots.

[retropeck]

Thanks for the reply, I've never had any problems with head strikes but I am guilty for using the printers cutter on canvas. Will a simple head clean sort out all the paper fibers on the head or will I need to clean it manually?

I'm not sure if I can raise the head on the control panel but there are 3 manual height settings on the head itself which I have always had set to the highest...

Cheers,
Alex.