Epson P800 - Banding Issues

[maloneyphoto]

Hello everyone -

I purchased a New Epson P800 off of ebay (important to note because it is not under warranty), and I have printed pretty successfully with it, however, I have had intermittent issue with banding that has caused me alot of wasted time and frustration.

Whenever I print bigger than 11x14, I get banding. I print with Hahnemuhle Phot Rag Baryta mostly, but I have run into the issue with other papers as well.

The first time it occurred Epson support eventually solved it by having me change media type to Premium Glossy - worked like a charm

Now it is happening again, and I have tried pretty much everything I can think of (Media type, platen gap, quality settings, speed adjustment, ink saturation, Roller cleaning, nozzle checks and cleaning, head alignement etc)

I even suspected that it might be an issue with one of the Pizza wheels, so i tried printing it as poster board to disengage those, same issue.

I have reached out to epson again, but was wondering if anyone knew how to fix this or if i should just get epson to take it back and work on it. I do have squaretrade protection on it so not all hope is lost

Thanks!

[Paul Ozzello]

It almost looks like some nozzles temporarily stopped firin. Was your nozzle pattern clear before and after?

Nice pic by the way - can we see the whole image?

[maloneyphoto]

Thanks for responding, the nozzle check is clear, it’s weird that it only occurs on larger prints

Full image attached - thank you!

[David Sutton]

It doesn't look like banding, more like a mechanical issue with the printer/paper combination. For example head strike caused by the paper expanding under too much ink load.

[maloneyphoto]

That makes more sense given it’s in the exact same spot every time. Should I reduce the ink load or try to get it fixed? I can’t imagine no one has successfully printed on HFA photo rag with these printers

[Paul Ozzello]

You could try increasing the platen gap.

[maloneyphoto]

I have tried setting that to wide (the only other option I have besides standard) to no avail

[BrianWJH]

Looks like paper debris or similiar caught in the vertical paper path, the fact that it always appears in the same location points to something caught in the platen area.

Brian.

[maloneyphoto]

is this something i could clean out myself? or try to?

[BrianWJH]

Epson did have cleaning sheets, not sure if they are still available, canned air might help just keep it away from the printhead area, it looks like the issue is on the left side area anyway.

Other than that maybe a visit to an Epson service centre.

Brian.

[David Sutton]

That makes more sense given it’s in the exact same spot every time. Should I reduce the ink load or try to get it fixed? I can’t imagine no one has successfully printed on HFA photo rag with these printers

You could reduce the ink load and look for a printer setting that increases the time between each pass of the print head to allow for drying.
However, if it's in the same place each time BrianWJH's suggestion its most likely the one to work on. Try a web search for possible cleaning solutions or make a call to Epson.

[maloneyphoto]

the nearest epson service center is about 4 hrs away from me, but i have a local printer/computer repair shop. do you think they might be able to clean it out? or confirm it needs to go to epson?

[BrianWJH]

As the printer is not under Epson warranty then I would see if you can exercise the SquareTrade cover, the solution to the problem may be just a simple clean of the platen area or it may need disassembly to fix, obviously disassembly will be more expensive to do.

Check with SquareTrade cover conditions before using a local non Epson service centre to make sure you don't void any cover.

Brian.

[BobShaw]

Whenever I print bigger than 11x14, I get banding. I print with Hahnemuhle Phot Rag Baryta mostly, but I have run into the issue with other papers as well.

The first time it occurred Epson support eventually solved it by having me change media type to Premium Glossy - worked like a charm

So not sure what is happening as to whether it is banding or a mechanical issue and I can't see much in your photo.
However both being an issue when you print larger and being fixed when you change media suggest a banding issue.

Changing the media type is not a solution. You are changing inks from MK to PK and also changing the profile. It could be something to do with MK ink switching or the MK cartridge having air or leaking.
Hahnemule Photo Rag prints at 1440 x 720 DPI whereas Premium Glossy will print at 2880 x 1440 so that probably would reduce banding, but is not a solution.

[Paul Ozzello]

You could try increasing the platen gap.

Really like the water tower.

Can you open the printer while it's printing to see if it's occurring before during or after it gets printed?
Have you also tried changing the feed path from the feed tray to the rear or the front?

[maloneyphoto]

Thank you so much!

I have not tried to watch yet - will do that once i get more paper thats large enough to have the issue occur

Ive tried the feed tray, front, but have not tried the rear yet

Im not sure how i would load it from the rear, but i have tried using the poster board trick where you disengage the pizza wheels - same issue

[maloneyphoto]

Really like the water tower.

Can you open the printer while it's printing to see if it's occurring before during or after it gets printed?
Have you also tried changing the feed path from the feed tray to the rear or the front?

I tried watching and its really hard to tell. I think i see some of it as it is being printed, but it is extremely pronounced once its exists the printer. It really seems to line up with the pizza wheels