Epson 3800 Ink Smudges on print

[Dave Gurtcheff]

Hello all: I am a 78 year old Amateur. I have a very special project I am doing and heavy weight paper best suits the project. I chose Ilford Gold Fiber Silk, as I love this paper for B&W work. It reminds me of my darkroom days. The latest prints I made with the heavy weight paper have heavy ink smudges on the leading edge of the paper. I am including three snap shots of the problem. I also tried making a print today on Epson Ultra Premium Luster, 13"x19" size, and there are no smudges! So it must have something to do with paper thickness. I might add that I have used the Gold Fiber Silk in the past, and never had a problem, however my 3800 is rather ancient, and it, along with my Epson 7890 survived Hurricane Sandy. We were homeless for 6 months and our home had no power and no heat, so both printers were subjected to long continuous spells of freezing weather. Needless to say when we moved back home, both printers had big time ink nozzle clogs. Much wasted ink later I did get them both up and running, but the 3800 may be on it's last Hurrah. Any suggestions to fix the smudge problem? I could use the lighter weight paper, as, so far, that has not been a problem but the project would be superior with the heavier paper.

A second query: If I decide to replace my 3800 with a 3880, will the 3800 maintenance tank fit a 3880 (I have a brand new one still boxed)? Am I correct that the 3800 inks, with the exception of Vivid Magenta, are useable on the 3880? Any problem of removing all the partially used 3800 inks and using them for the 3880 initial ink charges?. And finally, are the included inks with a new 3880 full cartridges, or only partly full?
Thanks for your help...this is a great place.
Dave Gurtcheff
Beach Haven, NJ
www.modernpictorials.com

[howardm]

it's certainly possible that the paper is buckling slightly under the influence of humidity etc etc.

Try a print w/ thickness set to 4 and 'Wider' or Widest on platen gap.

Everything except the Magenta and Light Magenta from the 3800 is transferable to the 3880  (you need a different
software driver though too).  Yes, the cartridges on a 3880 are the full 80mL size.

[Dave Gurtcheff]

Thank you Howard. Now I need to find out how to set the platen gap. Have never done that before. Another question: I have down loaded a ton of paper profiles for the 3800....some for rather exotic papers. I assume they will not work with a 3800, and I will need to find and down load specific profiles for the 3880?
Thanks again
Dave

[howardm]

Thank you Howard. Now I need to find out how to set the platen gap. Have never done that before. Another question: I have down loaded a ton of paper profiles for the 3800....some for rather exotic papers. I assume they will not work with a 3800, and I will need to find and down load specific profiles for the 3880?
Thanks again
Dave

The platen gap and paper width adjustment is on some page/tab of the printer driver.  On the Mac, it's under Paper Handling.
put a fresh sheet of paper on a big table and see if you can see any curling or buckling.  Also, on large sheets, you REALLY need
to pull the output tray out all the way (and up) so the paper has something to rest on instead of hanging.

Do yourself a favor and just download the profiles of the papers you actually have and will be using.  It's easy to get lost in a
sea of useless profiles.  That's correct, you want 3880 profiles if you're printing to a 3880. 

[Eric Myrvaagnes]

Dave,

If you are on a Windows machine, on the main printer preferences panel (where you specify paper, etc.), there is a button on the right called "Paper Config." That takes you to all the settings of paper thickness, platen gap, etc.

[Dave Gurtcheff]

Thank you Howard and Eric.
Dave