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Author Topic: Epson 3800 - incomplete paper feed  (Read 1673 times)

AFairley

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Epson 3800 - incomplete paper feed
« on: March 21, 2009, 08:49:52 pm »

I just set up a refurb Epson 3800. The paper is not feeding correctly using the auto sheet feeder. Printing will start OK, and the printer starts moving through the printer, but when the paper have moved through to within about 1-1/4" of the end of the sheet, it stops moving forward (you can see that it stops moving), although the print head is still making passes across it. When the printing stops, the paper is not ejected onto the output tray, when you pull it out you can feel it is still gripped by rollers somewhere. The result is a dark vertical band with pooled ink apparently where rollers were resting, and to the right of that, incomplete printing to the right edge of the print area. I have uploaded a scan of a 5x7 test that shows the result:
 


The image was set up to print centered on the paper. I'm printing from Windows CS3, OS is XP Pro SP3 if that makes a difference. Printer has the latest firmware. Test prints are on photo paper premium glossy.

I have had had the same result with 5x7, 8.5x11 & 13x19 paper, so it is not paper dependent. Same result with the driver that came with the printer (5.x) and driver downloaded from Epson's website (6.x). I tried increasing platen gap from normal to wide, it does not make any difference.

Is there a fix for this, or am I looking at having to exchange the printer? BTW, for a defective printer swap, does Epson expect me to pay the shipping to them?

Thanks for any and all help.

Alan
« Last Edit: March 22, 2009, 11:40:04 am by AFairley »
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AaronPhotog

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Epson 3800 - incomplete paper feed
« Reply #1 on: March 24, 2009, 12:16:25 am »

Sorry to see that nobody has replied.  I've never seen anything like this.  It looks like the paper just hangs up, and the printer is trying to advance and print, but it's stuck.  Did you look to see if there is a piece of shipping tape somewhere that didn't get pulled out of the machine?  Other than that, I'd recommend calling Epson and being very firm about this printer being unacceptable.  My limited experience with two refurbished "replacement" units (both of which I sent back) showed me that 1) they do not pack refurbished units like new ones and damage is likely, and 2) that they do not check to see if they actually work before sending them out.  My first one was smashed because of poor packing.  My second one wouldn't print at all until I ran it through about 4 complete cleaning cycles, and then it eventually overinked (as bad or worse than my first one).

It may be that you've found the problem for which the machine was returned to them in the first place.

Epson should pay for shipping.

Good luck and let us know what happens.

Aloha,
Aaron
« Last Edit: March 24, 2009, 12:27:33 am by AaronPhotog »
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Aaron Dygart,
Honolulu

AFairley

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Epson 3800 - incomplete paper feed
« Reply #2 on: March 24, 2009, 02:10:14 pm »

Thanks, Aaron.  Epson is overnighting a replacement unit and sending a prepaid return shipping label for the old one, the support person I spoke to was very nice and volunteered to do that without me pushing or even asking.  

The refurb did arrive with bubble wrap stuffed into the area where the printhead would travel, I suppose a piece could have torn off and gummed something up, but I can't see how that would cause the feed to stop right at the end with different sizes of paper, I suspect there a defective optical or mechanical sensor somewhere in there.

Epson does a lousy job of documenting the refurbs.  When I set it up it did not go through the long charging process, and the first nozzle check "printed" out with no ink at all laid down.  (Apparently I'm not the only refurb buyer this has happened to.)  This was fixed buy running a nozzle check on "auto" and letting the printer cycle and self-diagnose.  

One other gripe I had was that the printer shipped with old ink carts.  The printer data dump showed that one cart's expiration date (I assume the sell-by date) was this month, and two carts more were only two months away.  Because of my expected printing volume I will want to stretch cart use well past the 6-month recommended period, so I would have preferred carts that hadn't sat on the shelf as long.

So bottom line is Epson responded well to fix a problem that should not have occurred in the first place.
« Last Edit: March 24, 2009, 02:10:38 pm by AFairley »
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