Luminous Landscape Forum

Raw & Post Processing, Printing => Printing: Printers, Papers and Inks => Topic started by: Jeremy Roussak on October 15, 2016, 01:44:27 pm

Title: 3800 pizza wheel marks
Post by: Jeremy Roussak on October 15, 2016, 01:44:27 pm
My aged but trusty Epson 3800 has just started putting pairs of fine dotted white lines on my prints. It's never done it before, and I'm using paper (GFS) and settings which haven't changed from last time I used it, or many many times before that. The only difference, come to think of it, is that I've moved from El Cap to Sierra on my Mac.

Is there a solution? Any suggestions gratefully received.

Jeremy
Title: Re: 3800 pizza wheel marks
Post by: graeme on October 15, 2016, 01:52:04 pm
This might be worth a try:

https://www.google.co.uk/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=1&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0ahUKEwiwgszar93PAhWB1RoKHdJFAPUQtwIIHjAA&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.youtube.com%2Fwatch%3Fv%3DHZqdM-1skEU&usg=AFQjCNH7HXrsHH5cPIrohrYpa-uSM6jRrQ
Title: Re: 3800 pizza wheel marks
Post by: Eric Myrvaagnes on October 15, 2016, 05:25:38 pm
Here are my highly practical suggestions, Jeremy:

1.   Get yourself a PC. The you won't ever have to worry about incompatibility between your software and various Apple OSs (of course, you'll have other headaches, but at least they'll be different ones.)

2.   Just stop by my house and take away my retired 3800. It has never produced any pizza wheel marks, ever. Of course it does need the black ink switch replaced, and it's about 3000 miles from where you live. But it has been a fine machine for me.

3.   Or give up, the way I did, and buy an SC P800.    :D

Good luck!

-Eric
Title: Re: 3800 pizza wheel marks
Post by: Arlen on October 15, 2016, 05:55:24 pm
I doubt it has anything to do with your operating system upgrade, Jeremy. I recently noticed the same thing on my 3880, on the same paper, but with a PC. I can only see them in very dark sections when the prints are held so that a strong light hits them very obliquely. I haven't tried to do anything about them yet, but there was a thread about it here on Lula a couple of months ago. You might check that out, and the solutions offered there:
http://forum.luminous-landscape.com/index.php?topic=112985.0
Title: Re: 3800 pizza wheel marks
Post by: Jeremy Roussak on October 16, 2016, 04:46:46 am
I too doubted it had anything to do with the OS, Arlen, but I thought I'd throw it into the mix. I noticed the problem when I printed a shot with large areas of near-black, but it's fairly easily visible even without oblique light. I'm pretty sure they're pizza wheel marks, as they appear dotted, unlike a scratch.

I've looked at the video you suggested, Graeme. I'll try the thick card approach. I doubt I need the liquid cleaner, as the springs look like springs, but I'll get some if simple card doesn't work.

Eric, I find your critiques of my photographs more helpful than your proposed solutions to my printer problems  ;)

Jeremy