Pages: [1] 2   Go Down

Author Topic: Epson P9000 prints lines despite clean test pattern  (Read 1708 times)

larkis

  • Sr. Member
  • ****
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 330
    • My photography blog
Epson P9000 prints lines despite clean test pattern
« on: July 29, 2022, 05:49:39 pm »

I have noticed on a particular set of images that my printer is printing brighter lines in certain tones. I have done a cleaning cycle and the test pattern looks clean without any gaps while the prints still produce this effect. I have scanned two sets of prints that show the issue. One was done with advanced black and white mode set to neutral, the other is a test pattern printed from photoshop.

If anyone has any ideas what this could be, I would greatly appreciate any tips/clues I can get.

deanwork

  • Sr. Member
  • ****
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 2400
Re: Epson P9000 prints lines despite clean test pattern
« Reply #1 on: July 29, 2022, 06:57:17 pm »

You did a head alignment at the speed in which you are printing?

If this is bidirectional try unidirectional.

If you haven’t shaken the ink carts do that.

Finally, I often see that kind of banding when the inks are very low.

Also clean the capping station and wiper blade and blow any paper dust from the carriage area.

Finally if the platen gap is set too wide that can happen.

That’s all I can think of.

John
Logged

larkis

  • Sr. Member
  • ****
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 330
    • My photography blog
Re: Epson P9000 prints lines despite clean test pattern
« Reply #2 on: July 29, 2022, 07:25:10 pm »

One of my inks is low (cyan) but  not the green which is at half, and so is the LK. Not sure if this issue is on those nozzles or if the problem is elsewhere but only shows up on the LK and green... Not sure why it shows up in the advanced BW photo mode...

larkis

  • Sr. Member
  • ****
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 330
    • My photography blog
Re: Epson P9000 prints lines despite clean test pattern
« Reply #3 on: August 06, 2022, 11:04:38 pm »

I have done another test (after cleaning wiper blade) and the issue still persists on the two channels in question. When I print at 720x1440 vs 1440x2880 the gaps appear bigger. Would this not rule out ink being low if the pattern is this consistent ?

Also, notice the start and end of the page, those two areas don't have any gaps. Is this some clue anyone here has seen before ?

deanwork

  • Sr. Member
  • ****
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 2400
Re: Epson P9000 prints lines despite clean test pattern
« Reply #4 on: August 06, 2022, 11:37:32 pm »

Yea I think so. Looks like an alignment problem. Try running the head alignment again at the resolution you print from. If it were me I’d print unidirectional and compare to bidirectional and look at both using 1440 and 2880.

Do you have a paper advance calibration option with this printer? If so that should be done.



I have done another test (after cleaning wiper blade) and the issue still persists on the two channels in question. When I print at 720x1440 vs 1440x2880 the gaps appear bigger. Would this not rule out ink being low if the pattern is this consistent ?

Also, notice the start and end of the page, those two areas don't have any gaps. Is this some clue anyone here has seen before ?
Logged

larkis

  • Sr. Member
  • ****
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 330
    • My photography blog
Re: Epson P9000 prints lines despite clean test pattern
« Reply #5 on: August 06, 2022, 11:58:04 pm »

Will check tomorrow about the paper advance. Would bad alignment only effect two channels an nothing else ?

deanwork

  • Sr. Member
  • ****
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 2400
Re: Epson P9000 prints lines despite clean test pattern
« Reply #6 on: August 07, 2022, 09:52:02 am »

That’s possible. Have you tried printing out of another imaging app, like say Lightroom. If you don’t have it you can download a trial version for free. In my experience, this is the kind of thing that happens when dampers get clogged, but you say you are getting perfect nozzle checks.


You should post this on the Epson group for more attention.

 https://groups.io/g/EpsonWideFormat/messages





Will check tomorrow about the paper advance. Would bad alignment only effect two channels an nothing else ?
« Last Edit: August 07, 2022, 09:56:00 am by deanwork »
Logged

datro

  • Full Member
  • ***
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 231
Re: Epson P9000 prints lines despite clean test pattern
« Reply #7 on: August 07, 2022, 11:19:55 am »

In my experience, the problem you are seeing relates to paper feed.  The give-away for me is that the top and bottom 1 inch or so look fine.  If you've ever watched your paper feed closely during a print, you'll see that at the very beginning of a print the head moves back and forth several times progressively laying down ink but there is is NO paper movement.  Only after the first inch or so of the image does the paper feed mechanism start to advance the paper after each pass.  The same thing happens at the very end of the print.  This behavior is designed into the Epson driver (at least on the 9900 and P9000) and relates to how the head and driver software work together to lay down ink.

Which media are you using?  Does the problem occur on different media?  If it occurs on some media but not on others, or if there is noticeable difference in severity on different media, then I think it is definitely a paper feed issue.  Also it would be useful to know if you are printing on roll or sheet.

For the media that shows the problem, I would first create a custom paper type using the printer panel; go through the full set of adjustments as part of making the custom paper type, especially the "paper thickness" and  "paper feed adjustment" settings.  Print an image now using the custom paper type to see if you have made any improvement.  You might also want to do a UNI alignment using the same media, but I think the issue is more likely to be paper feed adjustment than alignment.

Logged

larkis

  • Sr. Member
  • ****
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 330
    • My photography blog
Re: Epson P9000 prints lines despite clean test pattern
« Reply #8 on: August 07, 2022, 01:46:26 pm »

I’m using ilford smooth perl and the issue also happens on the standard epson smooth matte paper.

Maybe i’m misunderstanding how the paper feed works, but how would all the colors be fine besides two if the feed has an issue. Would it not effect the whole printout?

datro

  • Full Member
  • ***
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 231
Re: Epson P9000 prints lines despite clean test pattern
« Reply #9 on: August 07, 2022, 01:59:14 pm »

Maybe i’m misunderstanding how the paper feed works, but how would all the colors be fine besides two if the feed has an issue. Would it not effect the whole printout?

Ah, OK it looks like I missed that critical piece of info in my quick reading of the thread and the last set of pictures.  Sorry.  Yes, if it is indeed just two colors, then something else is amiss.

Can you post a good image of your nozzle check output?

Logged

JRSmit

  • Sr. Member
  • ****
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 922
    • Jan R. Smit Fine Art Printing Specialist
Re: Epson P9000 prints lines despite clean test pattern
« Reply #10 on: August 07, 2022, 03:27:12 pm »

In my experience with several scp7000/9000 printers, if this consistently occurs at beginnen of print. It is the head starting to fail.
Logged
Fine art photography: janrsmit.com
Fine Art Printing Specialist: www.fineartprintingspecialist.nl


Jan R. Smit

larkis

  • Sr. Member
  • ****
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 330
    • My photography blog
Re: Epson P9000 prints lines despite clean test pattern
« Reply #11 on: August 07, 2022, 05:25:15 pm »

Ah, OK it looks like I missed that critical piece of info in my quick reading of the thread and the last set of pictures.  Sorry.  Yes, if it is indeed just two colors, then something else is amiss.

Can you post a good image of your nozzle check output?

This is the nozzle check pattern (printed today).

deanwork

  • Sr. Member
  • ****
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 2400
Re: Epson P9000 prints lines despite clean test pattern
« Reply #12 on: August 07, 2022, 05:46:22 pm »

Did you say your ink carts have a lot of ink in them? This is exactly what I see with monochrome inks in my Epson when the ink carts get low. It has to do with pressure . But it’s more severe with third party carts that for me need to be at least 1/3 full to avoid banding.





This is the nozzle check pattern (printed today).
Logged

larkis

  • Sr. Member
  • ****
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 330
    • My photography blog
Re: Epson P9000 prints lines despite clean test pattern
« Reply #13 on: August 07, 2022, 06:08:54 pm »

Did you say your ink carts have a lot of ink in them? This is exactly what I see with monochrome inks in my Epson when the ink carts get low. It has to do with pressure . But it’s more severe with third party carts that for me need to be at least 1/3 full to avoid banding.

This is my current ink status, i'm waiting on an order of new ink which should arrive this week. The vivid magenta despite being low seems to print fine. I will be swapping the Light Black and Green (the two offending colors) to see if that will do anything. I never had to replace inks at that level since i got the printer so the pressure thing is new to me.

I have also included the head alignment pattern the printer produces when in auto mode (this happens Bi-2, through 4). Is that area I have marked a clue ? I will post after i swap that ink when the new cartridge arrives this week.

deanwork

  • Sr. Member
  • ****
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 2400
Re: Epson P9000 prints lines despite clean test pattern
« Reply #14 on: August 08, 2022, 11:44:48 am »


I would run the alignment at unidirectional and try printing at 1440 and 2880 just to see what happens.

If you are not getting proper alignment and paper advance the uni printing may allow you to print without banding.



This is my current ink status, i'm waiting on an order of new ink which should arrive this week. The vivid magenta despite being low seems to print fine. I will be swapping the Light Black and Green (the two offending colors) to see if that will do anything. I never had to replace inks at that level since i got the printer so the pressure thing is new to me.

I have also included the head alignment pattern the printer produces when in auto mode (this happens Bi-2, through 4). Is that area I have marked a clue ? I will post after i swap that ink when the new cartridge arrives this week.
Logged

datro

  • Full Member
  • ***
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 231
Re: Epson P9000 prints lines despite clean test pattern
« Reply #15 on: August 08, 2022, 06:19:05 pm »

Some additional thoughts on this issue...

@larkis:  You mentioned that your scanned color test images were printed using Photoshop, which implies you are printing using the Epson driver.  I'm not sure of the source of your test image, but it is unlikely that the color bars are actually being printed with just a single ink channel, even after trying to tweak the RGB values in Photoshop to approximate a single Epson ink color.  The only way I know of to actually tell the printer to print using a single ink is to use QTR or a RIP that allows ink channel control directly.  (BTW, are you using Epson inks/carts or something else?)

So given the above we should not exclude the possibility that other ink channels could be contributing to the problem in your "light gray" and "green" bars in the Photoshop print. Looking at your nozzle check JPG (it's a bit hard to judge this on a computer monitor) both LK and GR appear to be OK, but I do see what could be a deflecting nozzle in the Vivid Magenta (about 2/3s down from the top).  I would get a good loupe and take a detailed look at the VM pattern to make sure everything is clean.  If not, I'd recommend clearing that up before trying other things to solve the banding in your gray and green bars.  It wouldn't surprise me if there is some VM in your light gray bar, but probably less likely in the green bar.  Even in ABW mode Epson uses magenta and cyan to make the prints more neutral, so that could explain why you are seeing the issue in ABW (though less pronounced).  Anyway, I think it's worth double checking all the nozzle patterns with the loupe, especially the VM.

Apart from the above, the only other thing I can think of here is that there could be some ink starvation going on in certain dampers in your Ink Selector.  If all other possible remedies fail, then replacing the Ink Selector might be worth considering.
Logged

larkis

  • Sr. Member
  • ****
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 330
    • My photography blog
Re: Epson P9000 prints lines despite clean test pattern
« Reply #16 on: August 08, 2022, 10:29:24 pm »

Thank you for the extra info. I did get fresh LK and Green inks today and the streaks are still there. I will give the VM a closer look bit i do need to figure out how to print with a single channel. What is QTR and which rip allows for single channel printing ?

The streaks appear in Lightroom and photoshop printing and all my i ls are Epson, i have never used 3rd party inks.

larkis

  • Sr. Member
  • ****
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 330
    • My photography blog
Re: Epson P9000 prints lines despite clean test pattern
« Reply #17 on: August 08, 2022, 10:32:30 pm »

Also, I have requested access to the epson groups.io group but have no access yet. Now sure if anyone here knows how long it takes to get approved.

datro

  • Full Member
  • ***
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 231
Re: Epson P9000 prints lines despite clean test pattern
« Reply #18 on: August 09, 2022, 10:32:49 am »

...What is QTR and which rip allows for single channel printing ?

To be clear, I'm not recommending you pursue trying to print color bars of individual ink channels using QTR or a RIP.  I was only observing that it was incorrect to assume that your color bars were being printed with just a single ink channel, and therefore getting caught in the assumption that somehow the problem was exclusive to just the GR and LK ink channels.  I don't think the investment in time or money would be justified to try printing "dedicated ink channel" color bars using QTR or a full-blown RIP at this point.

(To answer your question:  QuadToneRIP (QTR) is a shareware software tool for B&W printing on Epson printers by users who want to print with dedicated gray inks, either OEM Epson or from other suppliers.  It bypasses use of the standard Epson driver.  It is not intended for anything having to do with color printing.)

Let us know what you find after a detailed review of the nozzle check print, especially the VM.



Logged

larkis

  • Sr. Member
  • ****
  • Offline Offline
  • Posts: 330
    • My photography blog
Re: Epson P9000 prints lines despite clean test pattern
« Reply #19 on: August 09, 2022, 06:32:40 pm »

I have done 3 nozzle checks, doing a clean at each one until I arrived at the 3rd wedge in the image below. As you can see, that bright initial line still happens at the start of each print if there is some of that LK or green being used. I also attached the printer status sheet (printed today). I have also installed the latest firmware.

Pages: [1] 2   Go Up