Epson 9800 Ink smuges at start of print

[Pacific Image Works]

I'm still getting used to this Epson 9800 so your patience, opinions and info from you experienced printers is very helpful.
About every 6th print my 9800 leaves a "skid mark" of ink, like a 6 year old. Sorry for the analogy. It is outside of the print area. It looks as though an ink buildup on the head gets wiped off on the paper. I recently did a head cleaning, but shortly after I got another "skid mark". Though this is outside of the print area, unless I can trim it off, it renders the print a reject.
I'm printing on Hahnemuhle Fine Art Pearl, 250gsm. Do I need to adjust the platen gap? If so, how is that done.
Printing from a Mac G4, OS 10.4.11.
Thanks in advance for any advice.

Craig

[Craig Murphy]

I'm pc.  I get to pick the platen gap off of the Printer Properties page when setting up the parameters to print.  Where is that all located with MAC.  I have an issue with my 9800 leaving little dash marks on the outside border sometimes.  I called Epson and was told to move the head off its parking spot then to put a damp water only wet cloth over the pad and let it sit there for 1/2 hr or so to wick up ink.  Tech said sometimes this helps because a nozzle is picking up ink from there.  I still do notice it once in a while.  Might do it again.

[bill t.]

On 98's that have seen a lot of use you get ink and general muck buildup on and around the heads that is not removed well by normal cleaning, after while it can start marking the prints.

One solution is to moisten a paper towel, fold it in thirds.  Fold an 8.5x11 sheet of paper in half as a thin support, wrap about 1" of the folded paper around the back of the paper support, with the pressure bar released shove the towel + sheet down into the paper path, towel side out.  Oh, the printer should be powered down.  Engage the presssure lever.  Now press down on the blue thingy near the heads to release the carriage and drag it back and forth across the towel a few times.  What a lot of gunk!  Release the bar and push the towel a little further in.  Release the lever, push the towel in a little more, repeat dragging, more gunk!  Keep going until the black gunk starts to give way to colored ink.  Usually takes one towel change for severe cases.   Needs some practice not to snag the towel which should be folded neatly and flat.  Also clears mega-clogs pretty well.  Also check your Paper Thickness setting especially if you are using thickish paper.

[Pacific Image Works]

Thanks for the suggestion.
1. By the "pressure bar" do you mean the paper release lever?
2. I don't know where to check the "paper thickness setting" or "platen gap.

Any help here?

Craig

On 98's that have seen a lot of use you get ink and general muck buildup on and around the heads that is not removed well by normal cleaning, after while it can start marking the prints.

One solution is to moisten a paper towel, fold it in thirds.  Fold an 8.5x11 sheet of paper in half as a thin support, wrap about 1" of the folded paper around the back of the paper support, with the pressure bar released shove the towel + sheet down into the paper path, towel side out.  Oh, the printer should be powered down.  Engage the presssure lever.  Now press down on the blue thingy near the heads to release the carriage and drag it back and forth across the towel a few times.  What a lot of gunk!  Release the bar and push the towel a little further in.  Release the lever, push the towel in a little more, repeat dragging, more gunk!  Keep going until the black gunk starts to give way to colored ink.  Usually takes one towel change for severe cases.   Needs some practice not to snag the towel which should be folded neatly and flat.  Also clears mega-clogs pretty well.  Also check your Paper Thickness setting especially if you are using thickish paper.

[bill t.]

Thanks for the suggestion.
1. By the "pressure bar" do you mean the paper release lever?
2. I don't know where to check the "paper thickness setting" or "platen gap.

Any help here?

Craig

Yes, the paper release lever.

File->Print->Page Setup->PaperConfig...

The number next to "Paper Thickness" should be set to 6 or 7 for canvas, maybe 2 or 3 for normal papers.  It is in 0.1mm, so a "6" is 0.6mm.  You can actually measure the paper with a machinists caliper.  On papers with texture look closely at a printed sheet to see if the tops of the texture "peaks" are being flattened by the heads, that will lead to major clogging problems.  Heavy art papers and canvas vary quite a bit in thickness from batch to batch, most normal papers are pretty consistent.

Under "Platen Gap" choose "Wider" for heavy art papers and canvas, "Normal" for RC papers.

Both the "Paper Thickness" and the "Platen Gap" will change back to their defaults whenever you change the media settings, so you need to check them once in a while.

For more info on the paper towel cleaning method check the "Epson Wide Format" forum on Yahoo groups.

[gtojon]

I was having the same issues & was told to set the platten gap & tried the folded over paper towel, but those were only very temporary.  Epson finally replaced the head & all dampers .... never had a problem after that : )

Good luck : )

I'm still getting used to this Epson 9800 so your patience, opinions and info from you experienced printers is very helpful.
About every 6th print my 9800 leaves a "skid mark" of ink, like a 6 year old. Sorry for the analogy. It is outside of the print area. It looks as though an ink buildup on the head gets wiped off on the paper. I recently did a head cleaning, but shortly after I got another "skid mark". Though this is outside of the print area, unless I can trim it off, it renders the print a reject.
I'm printing on Hahnemuhle Fine Art Pearl, 250gsm. Do I need to adjust the platen gap? If so, how is that done.
Printing from a Mac G4, OS 10.4.11.
Thanks in advance for any advice.

Craig