Head Strike with Roll Paper on P800

[drralph]

I have begun to experience mild head strikes with my Epson P800 when I get to the last half of a roll of Canson Baryta Photographique.  I have read the other threads on this topic, and am trying to adjust the platen gap and media thickness.  I changed the platen gap to wide, and media thickness to 0.4, and click save.  But when I open the advanced media control panel again, the settings are back to the default.  I have made these changes repeatedly, and they just won't stick.  Any ideas?

[Mark D Segal]

Yes, you need to create a new custom preset in the driver that contains the new platen gap and paper thickness settings and save that preset. If you don't, each time you open the driver it reverts to the previous (default) preset. For that particular paper I recommend setting thickness higher than 0.4. I would put at 0.6 or even 0.8. This does no harm to print quality and provides better assurance that head strikes won't happen. So create the new preset with the platen gap to Wide or Wider, whatever they allow, paper thickness to 0.6 or 0.8. Click on New Preset, give it a name that you will recognize and save it with those new settings established. After you save it, go back into the paper settings to make sure they were retained.

[drralph]

Perfect, Mark.  I knew you would have the answer.  I will try to print again Friday, and see if it helps.

[Mark D Segal]

Hope it works for you. Do keep us informed.

[drralph]

I created a new preset with wide platen gap, and set media thickness to 0.8 mm as advised.

Not sure it was a great idea, but I also cut several sheets from what remained of the roll, and put them in my de-curler for an hour.  I couldn't get one of these cut sheets to feed through the front fine art feeder, because the leading edge still had a bit of curl.  So I fed it from the back as if it were roll paper. 

The first print stopped an inch or two from completion.  The led screen still said "printing", but nothing was happening.  Error messages, but it was unclear what the error was (!).  One ink cartridge read low but not out.  I tried to change it, but got an "invalid command".  In retrospect, I'm wondering if the printer thought the roll was finished.

So I ejected the incomplete print, and started over.  The sheet was 36" long, but in the settings I made it 30" (image 25").  This time it printed successfully.  No head strikes, and proper borders on both ends.

I still have perhaps 10 feet on that roll, and am in a quandary about what to do with it.  I have to get the rest of my upcoming show printed, and have a fresh roll in waiting, which I believe will work fine.  My de-curler will only handle about 5'.  Ideas?

[Mark D Segal]

Can you simply print from the roll without cutting the paper into sheets? (Make a roll preset for the dimensions you want.)

[drralph]

The roll remnant is so curly, I was reluctant.  But I will give it a try with the new settings.  I'm sure it would be much easier.  The cut sheet method was laborious.

[unesco]

For that particular paper I recommend setting thickness higher than 0.4. I would put at 0.6 or even 0.8. This does no harm to print quality and provides better assurance that head strikes won't happen.

Just a short note, that paper thickens option does NOT change the physical distance between paper and printhead. This can be only done by changing platen gap from standard do wide in P800 settings.

[Mark D Segal]

Just a short note, that paper thickens option does NOT change the physical distance between paper and printhead. This can be only done by changing platen gap from standard do wide in P800 settings.

Correct that head strikes are primarily avoided using the correct platen gap setting, but setting both the platen gap and the paper thickness appropriately assists with better print quality.

[drralph]

Using a fresh paper roll and the new driver settings, performance improved but was not perfect.  I did several prints without a problem, but then got another head strike.  I noted it early, and aborted the print in progress, and started a fresh print with the bad one still dangling.  The next one was fine.  I'm not sure what to expect as I get farther into this roll, as the problems seem mostly with the more tightly curled last 20 feet of the roll.  It would be more than inconvenient to have to remove the roll, decurl as much as possible, then reinstall for each print.

[Mark D Segal]

Instead of Canson Baryta Photographique perhaps it would be useful to try Epson Legacy Baryta, or Ilford Gold Fibre Silk to see whether the problem persists. That would help to isolate whether the issue is with how the printer handles particular papers, or with the printer generally. If the former you can then settle on the paper that works best in the printer. A number of these papers are similar enough in output appearance and other characteristics to be virtually interchangeable.

[unesco]

(...) I did several prints without a problem, but then got another head strike. (...)

This is typical behavior for this printer. It does not have vacum suction for paper and any heavier media (e.g. fine arts, barytas) will cause such a strikes from time to time. Often platen gap --> wide helps, but not always. I only use roll paper with standard PE base media, like pearls or coated cheap matt. For fine art, I use sheets or from roll but manually straightened.