r2880 and head strikes

[Jeremy Payne]

I'm getting an annoying number of headstrikes using 13 x 19 inch Ilford Gold Fiber Silk on my 2800.

When I first got the printer, feeding the sheets was the issue - I got lots of jams using the manual rear feeder - but once they would go, they would print fine most of the time.

Now, I have the "feel" ... I can load the sheets without jamming almost ever time, but last night I tried 5 big sheets in a row and they all had strikes.  I tried bending the sheet back towards the machine a bit as you see suggested here and there, but that didn't seem to do it.

I'm sick of burning up this expensive paper on big prints with ugly head strikes ...

Any advice before I dive back in?  I need to start printing for an auction that is coming up.

[Alan Goldhammer]

I'm getting an annoying number of headstrikes using 13 x 19 inch Ilford Gold Fiber Silk on my 2800.

When I first got the printer, feeding the sheets was the issue - I got lots of jams using the manual rear feeder - but once they would go, they would print fine most of the time.

Now, I have the "feel" ... I can load the sheets without jamming almost ever time, but last night I tried 5 big sheets in a row and they all had strikes.  I tried bending the sheet back towards the machine a bit as you see suggested here and there, but that didn't seem to do it.

I'm sick of burning up this expensive paper on big prints with ugly head strikes ...

Any advice before I dive back in?  I need to start printing for an auction that is coming up.

You probably didn't decurl the paper enough.  I have the same printer and on occasion have that problem as well with 13x19 paper.  Part of the problem comes from storing the paper on edge with a less than full pack.  I found that lying the paper flat virtually eliminates the curl problem.  When you decurl you need to mildly roll the paper in both the long and short directions if you see curl present.  Just doing it in one direction may not help.  Also make sure to use the wide platten setting for this paper.

Hope this helps and good luck with the auction.

[Jeremy Payne]

You probably didn't decurl the paper enough.

Thanks, Alan!

The paper is actually perfectly flat and from a brand-new box that was just opened and had been laying flat since I bought it.  Weird.  I hadn't printed big sheets since my last box had run out - I had been successfully printing tons of 8x10s on Ilford GFS letter and had just opened the box last night to start the big prints going.

On the last three attempts, I was adding 'negative' curl to try and stop the strikes.  Seemed to actually help a bit, so maybe I need to apply more counter-curl ... but seems weird that this was never a major issue before.  I had strikes, but every now and then and many were times I forgot to change the platen gap to wide.

I am going to try again tonight - we'll see if anything changes.

[Mike Louw]

Thanks, Alan!

The paper is actually perfectly flat and from a brand-new box that was just opened and had been laying flat since I bought it.  Weird.  I hadn't printed big sheets since my last box had run out - I had been successfully printing tons of 8x10s on Ilford GFS letter and had just opened the box last night to start the big prints going.

On the last three attempts, I was adding 'negative' curl to try and stop the strikes.  Seemed to actually help a bit, so maybe I need to apply more counter-curl ... but seems weird that this was never a major issue before.  I had strikes, but every now and then and many were times I forgot to change the platen gap to wide.

I am going to try again tonight - we'll see if anything changes.

I get *many* head strikes on the edges of the paper with Harman Gloss FB Al on my Epson 3800, but not with the Matt Harman FB Mp papers, whatever the platen gap. The Gloss paper looks flat to me too. The weight of the Gloss is only slightly higher than the Matt (320 vs 310 gsm), but the Gloss actually feels thinner. Maybe it curls in the printer.....

[agavephoto]

I get *many* head strikes on the edges of the paper with Harman Gloss FB Al on my Epson 3800, but not with the Matt Harman FB Mp papers, whatever the platen gap. The Gloss paper looks flat to me too. The weight of the Gloss is only slightly higher than the Matt (320 vs 310 gsm), but the Gloss actually feels thinner. Maybe it curls in the printer.....

This is interesting as I get no head strikes on my Harman FB Al with my 3800 (both 8.5"x11"  and 13"x19" inch size. I live in the high desert, but my indoor humidity is, on average, 30-35%. I store it flat in the box(es), usually inside drawers. While not at home to check, I think my settings are for a platen gap of wide and the paper thickness at .4. I can check when I get home and either reply again or edit this post if I'm wrong.

[Jeremy Payne]

Ok .... I realized that I changed one setting since the last batch that worked perfectly.

Ilford recommends you using the "Epson Glossy Photo" media setting and that's what I was using last night and how I set it up in LR 3 beta.

I went back into the template in LR 2.6 and noticed that I had the media set to "Ultra Premium Luster".

Do you think that alone could explain the increase in head strikes?

[Mike Louw]

indoor humidity is, on average, 30-35%. I store it flat in the box(es), usually inside drawers. While not at home to check, I think my settings are for a platen gap of wide and the paper thickness at .4. I can check when I get home and either reply again or edit this post if I'm wrong.

Thanks for that, I'll try those settings. I'm in Dublin, Ireland where the humidity is much more than 35% :-). Maybe that's the issue?

[agavephoto]

Thanks for that, I'll try those settings. I'm in Dublin, Ireland where the humidity is much more than 35% :-). Maybe that's the issue?

Correction, my setting for Harman FB Al on the 3800 is for a platen gap of 'wider,' not 'wide.'

[Jon Shiu]

One solution that people have been using is to put a box about 1 inch high on top of the output tray. This helps keep the last part of the paper from levering up and having the head strike the last part. Good luck!

Jon

[NikoJorj]

Maybe it curls in the printer.....

I have recurrent head strikes problems with Ilford Gold Fibre on my R1800, mostly when I forget to set the head height to "thick paper" (a setting deeply hidden in the driver and not saved with other settings).
I also observed that this paper curls heavily when (over-)sprayed (Hahnemuhle protective spray).
That would make me think that some papers do curl under ink, in the printer ; that would also be in agreement with the fact that modifying inking parameters (media setting) does modify the head strike probability.

[Bill Koenig]

I just started to print on cut sheets of Harman FB AL 25x17 on my 3800. I set the thickness to 5 or 6,  gap to wider, use the manual load slot in the back, and so far haven't had any head strikes, but scratches from inside the printer can be a problem if your laying down a lot of ink. Setting the thickness to 6 seems to help when laying down a lot of ink. This helped when printing a night scene with dark sky's.