Luminous Landscape Forum
Raw & Post Processing, Printing => Printing: Printers, Papers and Inks => Topic started by: dannybirchwood on February 05, 2014, 05:57:56 am
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Hi All
I am hoping someone can point me in the right direction on this. Its probably better explained in pictures, which I will attach.
Nozzle check is perfect head alignment looks like it could be the problem. I am completely new to all this look for someone to help and hopefully I can return the favour one day.
Looks ghosting ? like registration out if it was off set printing.
Printer is new to me have i been ripped off ??
Image examples are from the screen file (what is should look like) and other of what it is printing.
Thanks in advance
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What paper, profile, etc. Matte ink or photo ink. It appears you are printing off the image also, at least on the left edge of the shot.
I would suggest going back a step, and try a color test pattern, make one or there are several published on the web and see if you get the same error. Or just try a solid color. The carry over seems to be magenta and blue.
Has this happened before? and what software solution are you printing from? When this type of thing happens, I feel you have to back off to see where you can get a good print. It's a lot easier to trouble shoot from a simple test image, if that works, then slowly work back to the image at hand.
Going back to your images, it's almost like the ink is bleeding over during the print, and that may point to the inkjet receptor coating. That's why I asked the paper being used. If it's just traditional watercolor paper, you may not be able to use it as it does not have a proper coating.
All your checks point to a printer working fine within it's limits.
Paul Caldwell
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Hi Paul2660
Thanks for your response. I am printing from PS CS6 onto Hahnemuhle Etching Paper.
I have also changed the paper to epson cold press natural and still the same results.
What do you mean in image ?
ok I will try and get a print test page and try that this afternoon. Regards happened before I brought the printer just over a week ago the prints were amazing until I ordered epson cold press natural ran one print and it was perfect after that every print has been like this.
The box the paper came in look old and dusty (maybe paper too old coating gone off) however it does it going to to german etching !
damp room maybe ?? It doesn't feel damp and i had ran a epson 4900 in same office for 8 months and it was fine.
driving me mad
Attached is a head alignment which looks strange to me see what you guys think
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OK,
You are definitely running off the paper, clearly seen in the head alignment shot as patterns are shadowing past the right margin. I can't tell if this is head strikes, or excessive ink build up, (which doesn't seem right with such a new printer). But I don't think it software but a hardware issue.
The only thing I can think of is platen gap, moving it to widest, then wider and see if you make a print where you don't run past the correct printed area.
You actually may need to open a ticket with Epson, and send them that shot of the head alignment.
Paul
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Thanks again Paul
The printer is new to me (second hand) but it has not done a lot of work. I will try what you have said as soon as i can will keep you posted. Is there somewhere I can send images to Epson to see what they say ??
Any pointers on this are appreciated. I do wonder if i should try and align the head in service mode and see what happens.
I just don't want to make it worse.
How can it change and mess up so fast !
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Hi Danny,
This sort of looks like a printer driver gone south(corrupted). It seems that the driver is forcing the printer to print in areas outside the actual image area, or alignment area. It doesn't appear to to be head strikes, since the head alignment segments are quite well defined outside of the allotted area. Albeit, quite light and "ghostly" as you described. This may not produce any positive results, but I really think it's worth a try. Delete the printer driver from your system, but do it properly so that there are no bits or pieces of it left. If the file is corrupted, deleting and re-installing should solve the problem. This is not a time consuming procedure and once you have re-installed the driver and made a print you will know immediately if it has solved anything. Also, make sure you have the latest driver for your OS and perhaps check the printer's firmware version and update that if necessary. Once you've done this let us know if there are any changes. And, let us know which system you are running, Mac or PC and the OS version as well.
Gary
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Not sure where you located, but if in the U.S. you will have to open a call with Epson. They will assign a tech but if you are out of the base 1 year warranty, then any fixes will require a service call. The support person you work with should allow you to email them a picture of the pattern you have showing the ink printing off the edge of the actual print. This support is not via a 1-800 number but you should not have to pay for the phone support. Epson only provides the 800 number for printers under warranty and those with preferred support (warranty extensions).
Paul
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+1 on the printer driver removal and reloading. Good idea. I did not suggest it since as I understand it the alignment pattern is controlled by the printer in firmware not the driver, as it's run from the menu screen of the print. I have only run it from the printer LCD panel. You may be able to run this from the driver on the PC/MAC under the printer properties selection.
Paul
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Thanks again for all the comments and thoughts.
I have been in an online chat session with Epson and advice was. (Just to keep you updated)
Print from somewhere different other than PS
Delete and reinstall driver (as you have kindly suggested)
Change paper
I have tried all this once so the next step of advise was to have a Epson engineer out it seems the print head has come out of line. Anyone else had this or any experience with this ?
I am going to go through all of todays advise and try it all again step by step and try printing solid blocks and test images
Thanks everyone
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Thanks again for all the comments and thoughts.
I have been in an online chat session with Epson and advice was. (Just to keep you updated)
Print from somewhere different other than PS
Delete and reinstall driver (as you have kindly suggested)
Change paper
I have tried all this once so the next step of advise was to have a Epson engineer out it seems the print head has come out of line. Anyone else had this or any experience with this ?
I am going to go through all of todays advise and try it all again step by step and try printing solid blocks and test images
You mentioned that you purchased the printer used. Did you see it in operation before the purchase and did it appear to be printing properly then? Also, concerning this from Epson "I have tried all this once so the next step of advise was to have a Epson engineer out it seems the print head has come out of line." -- how was the printer transported to the present location, and was carriage locked before the transport? Other than the standard alignment procedure on these printers, the only way I know of for the print head to "come out of line" is mechanically. There are several screws that hold the print head in place once positioned in the carriage. There are also screws that are used to adjust the head once installed. If the carriage wasn't locked in place before transport that may have caused the problem. Strictly a guess, trying to eliminate as many variables as possible here Danny. As you well know, these machines are a beast to move and the slightest bump could cause issues if not properly handled. I hope some of your tests will show some positive results.
Gary
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Thank Gary
Yes test prints were made before I brought the printer and nozzle check was done. Strange thing to me is I transported the printer about 2 miles down the road, yes it was tight getting it in but we were also extremely careful. We did have to tilt it to get it in.
when first installed it worked perfectly and I ran about 10 prints off with no problem. I changed paper to epson cold press natural and now all this has happened. Changed paper back but still the same. I have re ran alignment this evening and change gap but nothing changes a thing.
I didn't know you could lock the carriage when transporting ?? how is this done ??
image attached.
I have been reading a service manual and a field service manual (why two beyond me) so i have printed a CR Head slant adjustment (this is adjusted with screws GARY think this is what you were referring to) and it strangely prints perfect !!!
There is also a PF Slant Adjustment
Note: The print head slant adjustment (PF) adjusts the Print Head's "heel / toe" parallelism (for each color, Nozzle 1 and nozzle 360 are equal distance for the media).
this is done by software and then adjusted by a level. Hmm Tempted to see if i can get hold of a service disc what do you all think ?
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If you did park the head it's very possible damage did occur during the move. Head realignment on the 7900 is not an easy task and requires special software only Epson has. Takes about 4 to 5 hours of repair tech time.
Search out the Massive post by Eric G on this site somewhere in all the pages of posts he talks about this. Eric has his own website now I don't have the link now but will get later tonight.
Might try reaching out to Eric as he is very knowledgeable of this printer.
Paul
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Hi Paul
That would be great if you could I am still finding my way around. When you say park the head what exactly do you mean ? it was sat over the the far right capped and shut down before moving is there another procedure for moving ?
If it was damaged in the move wouldn't it have been doing it from the first print ? or will it have worked loose.
I have seen service software for $39.99 from 2manuals.com would this be the software to do it ?
If i have to pay for someone to come out then I have to but I would love to try and do this myself as after buying the printer funds are a little tight.
thanks
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these look like ink build up on head/headstrikes to me. If not careful during transporting you can get ink in places you don’t want it.
If you try to clean the head (lots of threads and other info about that), I recommend a micro fiber cloth and distilled water only. Windex can kill the head.
You will most likely have missing nozzles if you clean the head as water will get pulled back into the nozzles, so to a nozzle check and might need to do a couple of cleans.
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these look like ink build up on head/headstrikes to me. If not careful during transporting you can get ink in places you don’t want it.
The thing that steers me away from the "head strike" scenario Wayne is the fact that in the original shot of the head alignment pattern there seemed to be evidence that the pattern was printed beyond the actual image area. Had it been a head strike I believe there would have simply been smudges instead of a clearly "printed" pattern, albeit much lighter than the actual alignment pattern. At least that's what I'm seeing. However, the composite image does show evidence of smudging, possibly due to a head strike at some point. Most interesting, but I still have no concrete notion of what might be causing this. If it is indeed a head strike situation that would seem to indicate a platen gap problem I believe, but I think I remember that the gap had been adjusted with no improvement. At this point I'm at a loss for further suggestions I'm afraid.
Gary
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Hi
Gary yes i have tried all platen gaps available. Tonight I have tried to manually adjust the printhead from the field service manual and I seem to be getting closer ?? Don't i ??? I am attaching images of prints from tonight.
This all seems very strange to me. If it was damaged while moving in or build up of ink from moving it wouldn't this have been happening from the first print ??
Anymore thoughts, comments. Thanks again for all your help guys
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Have you seen this post "lines in 11880 print" does it not look similar ? to my first image ?
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The thing that steers me away from the "head strike" scenario Wayne is the fact that in the original shot of the head alignment pattern there seemed to be evidence that the pattern was printed beyond the actual image area. Had it been a head strike I believe there would have simply been smudges instead of a clearly "printed" pattern, albeit much lighter than the actual alignment pattern. At least that's what I'm seeing. However, the composite image does show evidence of smudging, possibly due to a head strike at some point. Most interesting, but I still have no concrete notion of what might be causing this. If it is indeed a head strike situation that would seem to indicate a platen gap problem I believe, but I think I remember that the gap had been adjusted with no improvement. At this point I'm at a loss for further suggestions I'm afraid.
Gary
Yes, it does look strange to be a head strike. I’ve seen this before, but unfortunately I just can’t quite remember how it was resolved. You said you reinstalled the drivers, but I haven’t seen what OS you are running. This can be one cause, and just reinstalling drivers often isn’t enough ... sometimes you need to wipe out all existing traces of Epson drivers before reinstalling new ones. I know how to do this on a Mac, not on a Windows box.
Couple of other things to check. Be sure the encoder strip is seated correctly and doesn’t have any smudges on it. It’s a thin clear plastic strip, open the door and look above the print head. While it looks like it’s clear it is actually has thousands of lines on it. To clean it use a lint free cloth and some de-natured alcohol. finger prints, Smudges, lint, etc on this can cause some pretty weird stuff because the printer no longer can track correctly horizontally. Pay attention to how it’s attached and the guides it goes in.
You might check to see if the printer needs a firmware upgrade. If not, I think there is a way to force a firmware update to reinstall the current firmware (or even go back a version). This doesn’t seem too likely but worth a shot.
unfortunately this may indeed be a board failure as well.
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Just to give you all an update I have had an engineer out and this has been confirmed as the print head.
The print head has been cleaned but still no joy. Does anyone have any idea where I can pick a New/Second hand print head from ?
thanks
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You can buy a print head from Epson new around 1.2 to 1.5K US. After what you have been through, I would not consider a used one. I for sure would not use an off brand.
Epson will sell you the head. What they won't sell you is the software to re-align it. Go here:
http://vimeo.com/59559486 (http://vimeo.com/59559486)
Watch the video, contact Eric. You have to have the software to recalibrate the head. It's PC based also. Hope you have a PC laptop if not try to borrow one.
Eric has spent hundreds if not thousands of hours tearing apart his 7900. His post on the 7900 on this site is epic and hold the record for max number of views and number of responses.
Eric's site:
http://myx900.com/oh-no-unclearable-clogs-try-this/ (http://myx900.com/oh-no-unclearable-clogs-try-this/)
Reach out to Eric, he is very helpful.
Epson's cost for the head replacement is around 2500 to 2700 US. 6 to 8 hours of work from DT tech. replacement is good for 90 day warranty only.
Paul C.
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Why do we have to suffer so much with these machines the moment they start to behave?
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No complaints here with my HP Z's, 7.5 and 5.5 years old. From a giant company that may be in a mess but at least the printers print and maintenance on them never delivered long threads. Parts available to the user. Of course I had to pop in several heads (about 15 now) for the 12 original ones. Replaced two belts following a precise instruction video made by another user and replaced a head carriage PCB following the free service manual. Two black ink channels are always available. No nervous nozzle check rituals in the morning, just print. And yes sometimes a print gets lost due to too much confidence in the machines. Canon has similar machines. The big difference is that thermal head nozzles are cheaper and the companies know the heads do not last for ever so the user should be able to replace them.
--
Met vriendelijke groet, Ernst
http://www.pigment-print.com/spectralplots/spectrumviz_1.htm
January 2014, 600+ inkjet media white spectral plots.
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I agree it can be a mess, however if out of warranty you can get a lot done by watching the Video's that Eric created. They are straight forward and easy to follow. On the 7900 unless you lose the main board, it pretty much comes down to:
1. Head replacement and realignment, the later being much harder and requires special software
2. Damper replacement, again a lot of digging to get to them, and they are fragile but it can be done
3. Wiper replacement, which is about a 10 second task and anyone can do it.
If you blow the main board, then I am not sure if it's worth a replacement since so much has to be reprogramed to the printer.
I referenced Eric's website in one of my previous posts.
Paul C.
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Hey
Just to give everyone a update. This is what has happened so far since.
Epson support only provide a fixed price fix which is £1200.00 thats to do anything even if they do not change a part. If i was not so worried about my printer I would have laughed at the conversation. I won't post it on here because its too long but if anyone wants a laugh let me know its actually unbelievable service in the UK. They will no sell me a print head, they have to come out in fact no parts are available here in the uk.
So we decided to remove the print head, clean it up as they was tons of ink over the bottom of it. Fitted it back into the printer and ran a normal cleaning cycle. Ran a print and guess what, prints perfect.
Next day re loaded a roll of cold press natural...... that was in the printer when it went wrong..... Guess what printing exactly the same as before what a mess. Quickly stopped the print ran a power cleaning cycle on all colours. Loaded some german etching paper ran a print and its perfect.
Epson paper has been the problem the whole time it cause a dirty print head that could not be cleaned no matter how many cleaning cycles.
even Epson support said it was head alignment.
So after a engineer call out ! Hours of trying to work this out it turns out to be a roll paper with a dodgy coating !!!! How annoyed !!! Compensation ??