Epson 9900 edge smudge issue

[Gond]

I did a search to see if this issue had been discussed and did not find such a post.

I use an Epson Stylus Pro 9900 nearly everyday for about a year.

Here's the issue:

I've noticed that when I bleed a photo to the complete 24 inches  I get some considerable (but sporatic) "brush-back" of ink up the left side of the paper (the paper-edge that falls in the middle of the machine.)  I sense that the foam pads that are located at that 24-inch mark are full and the head is somehow picking up some of that saturated foam ink and depositing it on my print on the heads return trip, but I am not a technician. Is this an issue anyone has had? I've been forced to rotate an image so it uses more paper from the roll rather than have it bleed to the edges. When the head isn't printing right to the edge (bleed) it doesn't deposit ink on the return trip. My guess is the head only uses those absorbent foam ink pads during a bleed, with out the bleed the head somehow doesn't use them and "stays clean"??  I dunno, I'm just guessing here, with no real knowledge of how it uses those pads.

Any "like" experiences? Or suggestions?  I've tried it using the driver in "bleed" mode, AND without telling it to bleed (with the same 24" print). I get the marks regardless. I was also wondering if it is possible if it has something to do with the vacuum maybe not holding the paper flat enough? But do I have to change the vacuum every time to the highest suction, or is there a way to force it to always be at it's highest suction by default. 

Lastly, the smudges don't always occur. Which has got me even more confused.

Hapless in NJ,
Gond

[Sven W]

Have you tried to open the Platen gap one or two steps?
Papers raise uneven quite a lot when soaked by inks. And the vacuum suction can have troubles holding the paper flat,
esp. at the front edge.

/Sven

[Gond]

@Sven W - I'll give it a try, I was afraid that there might be a quality loss as I back the heads off the paper, but then again, there's no worse "quality" than the smudges I'm getting presently. Thanks.

I'm still curious if anyone else is getting this issue, as we shouldn't have to widen the platen gap on Epson Luster & Glossy paper rolls to stop smudging, right?  I could expect the smaller core papers to cause a curl issue that might inhibit the vacuum and hit allow the heads to drag, but this is happening on a full roll (on a large core). The marks are a half inch to two inches in length, begin right at the papers edge and are staggered in varying lengths along that edge. They don't show up anywhere else on the print, not in the middle and not on the far side (right).

Thanks,
Dave

[BradFunkhouser]

The ink that's left behind on the pad eventually binds with dust and gets globby and sticky.  It's a mess.  Open the front cover and clean the pad with wet foam.  Or slide it down with your finger, then grab it and pull it up and out.  Swap a cleaner one into your heavily used location. 

[Gond]

@BradFunkhouser THAT is interesting, yep, my foam pad is pretty ratty. But I didn't know I could pop those out. It kinda makes the most sense to me. So it's sort of "hooked" in there? That's why the "slide down then up" (and out)? I'm unhooking it? Thanks. I only use the 24 and 44 inch rolls, so some of the other unused pads must be for odd sized sheets (or rolls I guess). I probably wouldn't miss one. They must sell these separately. I'll have to look into that too as this will probably come up again. I really do use this puppy every day.

[Gond]

Just thought I'd mention that I did swap the dirty flushing pads with a clean one. I was surprised how easy that was to do. The dirty one was saturated all the way down the length of the "wick" part. I looked up and found a cleaning kit that has these but says it is for a GS6000 (which had these flushing pad replacements), anyone know the cat number for a kit like this for the 9900? I'll let you know how this fix went after a few prints. Thanks for everybodies input, it hasn't been lost on me how important it is. I hope to return the favor as time goes on.

[Garnick]

On the 9900 there are certain roll sizes on which you can print borderless(with bleed).  They are as follows; 10",13",16",17",24",36" and 44".  If you measure out to those widths you will find that there are indeed extra pads in other locations that are never used.  Therefore it is quite safe to remove one of them and replace the one that is dirty to the point that it may be interfering with the return of the print head.  Once you have removed the dirty one I believe you can soak it in water or a cleaner of some sort, let it dry and reuse it if necessary.  A while ago I had a warranty service call for severe clogging issues with the 9900 and in a non related conversation the tech asked if I do much borderless printing.  I answered that I do occasionally and he suggested that it was not a good idea due to the issue you are referring to.  I have been printing on two 7600s for many years and a lot of it was borderless.  I have also cleaned the waste pads frequently and have never had the problem you have mentioned here.  Obviously the tech had seen these problems, especially with the 9900, so I think a replacement pad is in order. 

Gary