Epson 9900 Vertical Banding/Ripples/Cockles

[del_pscc]

We have been printing large format prints on Epson Exhibition Canvas Matte for several months without problems.  In late July, however, we began to notice vertical banding, which showed up at first on a couple of prints but got worse as time went on.  It has been impossible since then to print acceptable images at the required sizes.  Smaller images have not shown problems.

We are printing from Photoshop CS6 on Mac OS X 10.7.4, using Epson media, Epson ink, the latest available Epson profiles and drivers, and of course our Epson 9900 printer.  The problems showed up on Epson Exhibition Canvas Matte but also -- even worse -- on Epson Enhanced Matte (paper).

We have been working on this problem with Epson since early August.  After trying many adjustments in printing parameters on dozens of test prints, service technicians examined the prints and printer and were stumped.  They could clearly see and reproduce the problem but had no solution.

We arranged last week to have test files printed on another 9900 -- they did NOT show banding/rippling as ours had.

At this point we are desperate for a solution, as we are 3/4 of the way through printing for a large exhibition and have no way to move forward.  Any assistance or advice will be most appreciated.

A Photoshop CS6 psb file, together with iPhone shots of the front and back of prints on both Epson Exhibition Canvas Matte and Epson Enhanced Matte (paper) have been uploaded to the following website, along with screenshots showing all of the parameters used to make these prints:

<http://www.baileylabovitz.com/9900/>

Thanks,

Dave.

[Paul2660]

Based on the shots you posted, I think I know what you are seeing, it's pressure marks from the rollers.  There is really no fix for this either.  I went through a long drawn out battle with Epson over this on my 9880's.  My 9900 still makes the marks but they fade out over time.  But I wanted to check, to the marks run in line with the rollers on the platen? i.e the running length of the canvas? or do they run with the side to side motion of the head?  Mine run in the direction of the running length.

Did you just start noticing these?  My printers always made them on canvas.  You will still see what I call etching on the back of RC paper.  If these are what I think, you should be able to map them against the actual rollers on the platen. 

On my 4th 9880, I finally was able to print on canvas and not get these marks so harsh.  However it skewed so badly that I really couldn't make a long print on it so Epson did a buy back and I purchased the 9900.  Epson made it very clear to me that there was no way to replace the platen in the printer.

It seems that there is a bit of a manufacturing variance on this issue since as you pointed out, some printers do it worse than others. 

The real key is do the marks show up after you stretch the canvas?  Mine most times did not after about 1 week or so.  But it was also very dependent on the canvas I used.  I switched over to Breathing Color Chromata White and or Lyve which were a bit stiffer and the marks were less noticeable.

Sorry not have better news.
Paul

[del_pscc]

Paul --

Thanks for your insight.  The marks we're seeing run vertically as the canvas moves through the printer.   They look the same and appear in the same places on every print, but don't show up at all if we just print on the right hand side (facing the printer).  And they are more or less the same spacing as the small pressure rollers, but don't precisely line up with them.

The marks/indentations do moderate with time, but they don't go away.  We haven't tried to varnish and stretch the bad prints so I don't know whether they'd smooth out with stretching.  That will take a few weeks, which I don't have.  When I get back to town I intend to print some more uniform fields so I can try to rule out ink density variations.  I've also been looking for a good test image to print.

Unfortunately, we're most of the way through printing a show, and all the prints need to match in terms of texture and finish.  Otherwise I'd consider changing horses, either canvas or printer.

Thanks,

Dave.
 

[Paul2660]

I believe the reason you don't see them when you only use the right side (facing the printer), is that the suction is different.  I had the same problem on my 9880's.  The suction load is different depending on the width of paper used (and I have been told media) i.e. more suction for canvas than paper.  Epson tired to replace my logic board and suction fans on the 9880 that had this by the worst but it didn't help. You can back down the suction from the control LCD, but this only stays in effect as the paper is loaded.  This still might help since the 9900 needs so much canvas/paper to load.  The lesser amount of suction will cause a bit of trouble getting the paper started but you should be able to get it through. 

One note, since I received my 9900, this same problem has given me fits on glossy paper.  You can see the same exact issue.  I so far have only found one glossy RC paper that I can print on that has the effect to a minimum, Moab Lasal Glossy 270w.  Lexjet's esatin glossy is the best but I tend to get hairline scratches when I use it on the 9900.  Lexjet is 300W and just thick enough to get scratched.

My 1st 9880 was a new printer, during the 4 years I used 9880's I went through 3 replacements.  The 2nd and 3rd were refurbished units which by far had this problem much worse than my 1st Epson.  I finally asked for a "new" machine on the 4th and Epson agreed.  As I mentioned earlier it did not have the pressure problem anywhere as bad, however it skewed the prints off the pape (more than likely a suction issue again).  Epson and I agreed to a buy back after I escalated up the ladder.  Overall I can't complain about Epson's support as they did try for over 2 months to fix the issue and eventually gave me a fair market deal on a new 9900. 

I am not sure which media settings you are using, (canvas vs WCRW or something else).  You might try a different media setting and see if you can get the marks to show up less.  However media setting does also effect the amount of ink the printer puts out.  I only mention this as it will effect a profile.  Example if you created a profile with WCRW and then use that same profile on a media setting of canvas, you may or may not get the same result.  There is a lot of fine tuning being done by the driver/media setting. 

Paul

[del_pscc]

After a lot more tests and the passage of time, it appears that most of our vertical banding problem was traceable to 3 specific rolls of Exhibition Canvas Matte from two different production lots.  Two newly-acquired rolls of Exhibition Canvas Matte show minimal banding, and what there is disappears within 24 hours.  This is comparable to the performance we had previously seen, over many rolls and months, in which we had no noticeable banding.

That's the good news.  The bad news is that the new canvas is different in weight, texture,and color from what we've grown used to.  It might as well be a different material.  It's also very different from roll to roll.  So I guess it's like color film and paper used to be -- buy in quantity and store it in the freezer.  But in this case, there's apparently no way to buy in quantity and be assured that all rolls come from the same production lot.

Dave.