9900 banding on platen gap wider

[jack777]

Hi
I have a problem with really thick papers like Cansons Baryta or Platine. When I print on sheets everything is fine, but when I print from rolls I have to set platen gap to wider because head smears the paper. And thats when I have a problem - a vertical banding in dark shades of grey occur. The banding is pretty subtle and less visible than for example clogged nozzle but still visible and annoying Got any ideas what to do? If I set platen gap to auto the banding will disappear but the head will smear the paper. There is a tool for setting feed in Epson Remote Panel however it's useless because you can't change platen gap settings in it...

[Ernst Dinkla]

A friend had an odd banding with a 11880. It did not disappear after several service checks but usually went away when the service man was around.  He observed another method of setting the paper choice that the service man used: calling the printer panel made paper choice in the driver instead of setting it manually in the driver. Since he uses that method he does not have the banding anymore. One way or another that solves the platen gap and banding issue. Looks like a flaw in the Epson software to me.  I have no Epson here so I describe it like I heard it. It may be to the point on your issue, it may be totally off ....


met vriendelijke groeten, Ernst

Try: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Wide_Inkjet_Printers/

[Farmer]

You can change the gap settings in the custom paper settings, but I wouldn't do that based on what you've said.

What you've said is that it works correctly on sheet paper of the same type with the gap set normally - that means that is the correct setting (probably as advised by the paper manufacturer).  The issue you have is that the rolls of that media have too much memory and are sitting up and striking the head.  So what you really need to fix is that issue, which may be solved by increasing the vaccuum setting (and then once the paper has fed enough it's own weight will hopefully hold it down more).  You may find the end of the roll worse/more difficult than the beginning.

[TylerB]

a fairly well known problem, and it occurs in the black channel. No vacuum settings fixed mine. In the driver you can set up a custom paper setting with it's attendant user adjusted platen gap setting that will then allow a new alignment that is saved with that media setting, and I'm told will be the fix. I can't do that because my RIP won't utilize those driver settings...
Tyler

[Sven W]

Usually Platen Gap set to Wide, helps to avoid head strikes on the Baryta. With the 9900.
Make also an auto head alignment before.

/Sven

[jack777]

I'm beginning to think that there is a problem with the printer. I have tried printing on another 9900 and like you said - platen gap wider is working fine with the baryta. There is virtually no banding and absolutely no head strikes. However on the other printer "wider" is not enough to prevent striking. I'm contacting epson support and wonder what they will tell.

[Shane Webster]

Have you tried or do you have your print settings on 2880/super-microweave?  I had banding with IGF on one of my printers and changing to that setting fixed the problem.

[TylerB]

I'm told the solution is to create a custom media setting for the particular paper using roll, using the platen setting required to avoid head strikes, and then completing a custom alignment that will be stored for use with that setting in the driver. The problem is a moire in the dot pattern of the K channel resulting from changing the gap, then the new alignment addresses that. Haven't tried it myself, I use a RIP not the driver.
Tyler

[fetish]

Adjusting platen gap is only half the solution which works half the time.
leaving it on auto and dialing in the paper thickness normally produces best print quality.

I did mention sometime ago that you can solve the headstrike problem by manually advancing the paper about 1.5 - 2 inches forward, so the leading edge (where most of the curl is) goes past the vacuum section. You'll need to do this for every fresh print.

I've never had a headstrike after I adopted this method.

For me this is a small sacrifice to make as opposed to pulling hair over headstrikes and clogged nozzles.