Problem when printing on A2 paper (Epson SC-P800)

[Wawe]

Hi,

I'm facing a strange problem trying to print on an A2 paper using my Epson SC-P800.

I first tried printing and the print area was reduced to about a two thirds of what I had specified. Here's a picture of the results from this error, which I encountered twice.



On a third try, I tried readjusting the mechanical paper holder in the area where the paper is inserted and it looked like the problem would be solved. I managed to get the printer to print the image to the entire area specified (no specifications changed compared to the first two tries).



However, upon more close inspection of the print, I noticed that there was were some strange white lines in only one part of the image. They resemble a bar code, as if something inside the printer had just very slightly scratched the image.



Prior to printing, I ran the Nozzle Check and as there were some missing lines, I had to run the Head Cleaning as well a couple of times.

To better diagnose the source of the problem, here's some information that might be relevant:

I'm using the original inks that came with the printer. I've managed to successfully print an A2 image with the same inks in the printer on the same paper.

Any help on the issue would be highly appreciated as the Epson support that I've already contacted wasn't able to help at all and offered a repair service for about twice the price that I originally paid for the printer.

Thanks in advance!

[Mark D Segal]

Not enough information to be helpful.

What paper were you using?
What were your driver settings (in Page Set-Up and Printer Settings)?
What software were you printing from and what print settings in that software?
Which paper feed were you using in the P800?

Your picture with the stripes indicates head strike.

[howardm]

Per my DPR response to the same inquiry...............

The partial image problem *may* get solved by power cycling the printer and/or reinstalling the driver.  That has worked for me on my 3880.

The second problem is indicating that the printhead is actually scraping the surface so you need to:

increase the 'platen gap' in the driver (possibly also setting the paper thickness in the driver to something higher)

and/or

verify that the paper is actually pretty much flat and not curled (on edges or middle) or raised in some way

[Wawe]

Thanks for your answers!

@Mark D Segal,

I'm printing on Canson Infinity Baryta Prestige 340gsm with settings specified by the software I'm using to print (Photoshop). I fed the paper using the normal top feeding option (I guess that's what it's called but not sure).

@howardm,

If the scraping is caused by the printhead, wouldn't the issue present itself all over the image and not just in one area, the damage covering maybe 2-5 % of the print area?

Thanks again, all help is much appreciated!

-Wawe

[Mark D Segal]

OK - that paper is too heavy for the top feed. You should be using the Front Fine Art feed. That could be the cause of your problem but not necessarily. Epson advises that feeding such heavy paper through the top feed could eventually damage the mechanism, so I would suggest you stop doing that.

A head strike can happen to only a small area of the paper surface if that area happens to be a bit uneven and you are perilously close to "striking range" because of wrong paper settings in the driver. You didn't mention your driver settings, even though I suggested you provide them so we can begin to diagnose the problem correctly. Canson paper is not Epson paper, and you can only specify Epson papers in the driver's Media Type. If the Media Type selected in the Epson driver is for a lighter thinner paper than that Canson Prestige, the platen gap and the paper thickness settings could be too low for the Canson media. Use a wide platen gap and thicker paper setting in the P800 driver and see whether that solves the problem.

[Wawe]

Thanks, I appreciate all the help and advice! I was travelling for the past week and only now had a chance to try fixing the printer problem again after a while.

I first tried Front Fine Art feeding the paper instead to see if that helps (although I’ve successfully printed to the same paper – to the best of my recollection with the same settings – using top feed option).

At first, I had difficulties feeding the paper using the Front Fine Art option as the paper didn’t seem to easily go into its place. It was as if something was preventing it from curling a little bit to reach all the way to the back. However, lifting the paper a little bit while pushing it in its place helped with this and the feeding finally worked this way, too. I googled the problem and noticed that this is a design property of the printer, or that at least many have had the same problem.

Yet, also with this alternative feeding mechanism the head strikes persisted. What’s worse, some smallish black flakes (like dry ink or something that I could blow off of the paper) could be found pretty much randomly around the print. Also, with the first try using front feed option, there were dark smudges about an inch of where the print area starts, after which the white head strike patterns started:



I also tried manually adjusting the paper thickness (the default setting with Premium Luster, suggested to be used with this paper by Canson, was 3 and I tweaked it to 4, whatever that means) but all that seemed to fix was the dark smudges. There still were head strikes all over the paper and black flakes as well. Also, in the very edges of the paper there were some tiny multi-color stains.

What was common to all the problems I noticed is that they don’t start until the printer has printed about an inch of the picture. Therefore, I thought that could it be that the whole problem has something to do with the mechanism that moves the paper forward as the printing progresses?

@Mark D Segal, I’m not sure what driver settings you mean and where I could see them. I’m happy to provide that information if you think it might help.

[dgberg]

Did you set the platen too wide?

Mark's previous response to paper settings with this paper

Re: Epson P800: Paper Thickness and Platen Width for Canson Prestige 340 gms
« Reply #1 on: June 25, 2018, 10:10:40 PM »
ReplyQuote
Set the thickness to 4 or 5 and change the platen gap to Wide. This is much thicker paper than Epson Premium Luster.
Mark D Segal (formerly MarkDS)

[Mark D Segal]

Dan, I don't know that I reported anything to the moderator - perhaps a mistaken click; there would have been no reason. And no, setting the platen gap to Wide should not cause ink to splatter or smudge. I've never seen this, nor have I seen reports of it.

Wawe, on the substance of the issue: the image shown is definitely a head strike which means the platen gap should be manually set to wide and the paper thickness to 5 if 4 isn't fixing it. Then save these settings as a preset for that paper. If the settings are not saved and the media type remains Premium Luster, the driver will automatically revert to the default settings for Premium Luster. The Front Fine Art feed can be tricky for feeding the paper. Instead of feeding it through the front, follow Epson's loading instructions exactly, except for where you feed the paper: instead of feeding it from the front tray, feed it through the roll feed slot in the back and push-pull it through.

[dgberg]

Mark,

I did't even see the logged part, was just reporting your paper/platen settings and that 5/wide should fix the issue.

[Mark D Segal]

No problem, just wanted to clarify that whatever showed-up there (I see it's now removed) was an accident of some kind and not intended. All's well.

[Wawe]

Thanks again for your help, much appreciated! This is an extremely frustrating problem for a printing newbie like myself, and I've already wasted a lot of expensive paper in troubleshooting, too.

I'll try setting the platen gap to wide and paper thickness to 5 manually next and report back then.

However, I'm a little skeptical about the solution as I've printed before with the same printer and even the same ink set to the exact same paper (from the same package) without manually changing any settings (i.e. just selected Premium Luster as instructed by Canson). So, is it possible that something's changed with the printer meanwhile? Any ideas what would've changed and how? The printer has not been moved since I've last used it for this same paper type in the same size successfully about six months ago.

Also one thing that might have some effect but is probably a far-fetched potential reason as well: the inks are somewhat old and might be already past their best before date. In addition, some of the colors are running low. Nonetheless, to me, it seems unlikely that this is causing the problem since there's no problem with Nozzle Check pattern and I've also printed a sample image without any smudging, head strikes or any other issues to a significantly smaller A4 paper as a test just before trying to change the thickness option.

[Mark D Segal]

Ink age or colours running low would not cause this problem. It looks like a mechanical problem that appropriate paper settings should be able to fix. After experimenting with several thickness settings above 4 for the paper those marks still appear, call Epson ProGraphics tech support for advice. It's free.

[mcbroomf]

...... The printer has not been moved since I've last used it for this same paper type in the same size successfully about six months ago.
.....

What is the humidity in the room the printer is kept?  You're in Finland so I assume it's pretty cold outside.  This kind of paper buckling which is the cause of the head strikes may differ depending on how dry the paper is, and 6 months ago in the summer I'd guess the humidity was quite high/normal.

[dgberg]

To add to Mike's comment the deeper you get into that roll the more /tighter curl you may have.
Thick paper like that the widest platen setting is where you start.

[Mark D Segal]

If I remember correctly the P800 only has Standard and Wide settings for platen gap. So in addition to choosing the highest platen gap the driver provides, setting high paper thickness would be important as well.