Help please if possible? Paper jam in Epson SC-P800

[alexweltlinger]

Hi guys,

New user to this forum, hope this is within the rules.

My partner & I recently got ourselves a P800. She printed a few images with it last week, all on A4 Canson etching rag. No problems, the prints came out beautifully.

Yesterday we tried to print again - same paper and doing everything exactly the same. But now we keep getting a paper jam message, even though the paper doesn't appear to be jamming - it comes out easily. Also, the paper is getting gauged on the back in the centre.

We've been hunting through guides and forums and can't find out why. There doesn't appear to be anything stuck in the gears, we've tried multiple times, turned it off and on and as far as we can tell, completed all the necessary maintenance steps.

Can anyone help please?

Thank you.

Alex.

[Mark D Segal]

Which paper feed did you use?

[alexweltlinger]

The manual feed. According to everything we've read, that's the correct way to do it.

And, as mentioned, for some reason, it's now not working when it was before.

[BobDavid]

It takes a bit of finesse to get the hang of using the regular sheet feeder for rag paper. I occasionally print onto Epson Hot Press Natural (lovely paper by the way). I am meticulous about making sure the bottom of the sheet is flat and snug. I use the tips of my fingers to ensure the paper is secure.

[alexweltlinger]

Yep, we're aware.

However, we've tried multiple times on multiple pieces of paper and we keep getting the same result.

Something else is going screwy.

[Mark D Segal]

Did you try using the manual feed from the back roll paper slot rather than the front? This could help. Also, I presume you are remembering to close the gray Front Fine Art feed tray only AFTER the sheet is loaded and the LCD message says you can. I mention this because paper gouging can happen if by inadvertence you make the mistake of closing before loading. If none of this helps, perhaps a call to Epson tech support would be in order.

[alexweltlinger]

Ok, so I had a chat to the print guru at our dealer - Luke @ Kayell Sydney - and there is a trick to make it feed in properly which works beautifully.

Hold the back tray slightly (push towards the back of the printer) so that it doesn't obstruct the incoming media while it's loading in. Then it loads perfectly.

So that's great.

However, now we have a communication error cropping up and tomorrow will have to reload the driver to lose the OS wifi protocol and arrrrrgh. Just want the damn thing to work already.

[Mark D Segal]

Yes, I've known what he's recommending from a long time ago, and after much experience with it found that it's not as reliable as doing what I suggested above.

Nor clear what you mean by "reload the driver to lose the OS wifi protocol". Anyhow, I think the most reliable way to assure communication between the printer and the computer is to connect it with a USB cable. Sounds old-fashioned, but it's rock-steady.

[alexweltlinger]

Sorry - was utterly fried when I wrote that. Long day and the kids were in destructor mode.

What I was advised was to reinstall the printer driver without MacPrint (or whatever the mac wifi protocol they try and foist on you is called) as that can muck up communication. We used a USB cable to connect and have just done a test print that worked perfectly.

So, hopefully, no more issues.

[Mark D Segal]

Ah - OK - that's the "Airprint" driver - yes, this thing screws-up more peoples's workflows than we'd like to believe, and it installs as the default. The default should be the Series driver. It's not clear to me whether this is an Apple or an Epson issue, or both, but whoever's issue it is, they should have addressed it and resolved it a long time ago.

[rdonson]

"AirPrint" is a plague that Epson provides free of charge. 

Great printers, not so great drivers, annoying driver installs. 

[Mark D Segal]

"AirPrint" is a plague that Epson provides free of charge. 

Great printers, not so great drivers, annoying driver installs.

Well, yes and no Ron. The Airprint driver serves a specific purpose so I for one wouldn't label it as a "plague". The precise problem with it is that it installs as the default, so for all those users that need the functionality of the Series driver, they will get tripped up. This is what needs to be fixed.

When you speak of annoying driver installs, what else do you have in mind? Apart from this Airprint business, I have found the driver install to be quite seamless, but I'm prepared to recognize that installing them for the past 17 years may have something to do with it. Using it of course is another matter - like so much other software, needs some concentrated study; but the manual isn't too bad on how to select the options for various purposes.