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Author Topic: iPF8100 Ink Smudges  (Read 972 times)

mcmorrison

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iPF8100 Ink Smudges
« on: March 17, 2009, 01:32:13 pm »

Hello,

I have an iPF8100 that is now a few months over a year old, and that has seen light use. I have been happy with it and it has generally made flawless prints.

Today, I began seeing black smudges 1/4 to 1 inch long and 1/16 to 1/8 in wide, along the direction of paper travel, perpendicular to the direction of ink head travel. They are not solid black. There have been an increasing number of them in the two prints I made today. There are now 6 or more per square foot.

I can not find any feeder parts that are making this, and am currently hypothesizing that the head is dropping some ink onto the paper, and the ink is then being smudged along the paper travel direction as it moves. The length of the smudge varying with the amount dropped.

Has anyone seen this? Any thoughts?

Many thanks,

Michael Morrison
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mcmorrison

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iPF8100 Ink Smudges
« Reply #1 on: March 17, 2009, 03:11:06 pm »

Hello,

I think I got it.

I used the "replace cutter" command to bring the print head out. I ran some paper under the print head, and found some light inking—about what I might expect, but nothing heavy enough to cause the smudging I saw.

Next, I looked at the front of the ink carriage base, the part closest to the platen facing out. At  the bottom edge of the front face, were 4 or 5 accumulations of ink perhaps 3 mm top to bottom, 6 to 7 mm wide, and 1 mm deep (front to back). I used some PEC pads and a chop stick to clean this up.

The resulting prints are clean.

Best,

Michael Morrison
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