Epson 3880- Rollers Scoring Prints- Epson No Help

<p>I've had an Epson 3880 Graphic Arts Edition printer for a few years. It has been a good printer for me.</p>

<p>Recently, though, I've been making prints of fall leaves on a black background. The printer rollers are leaving fine, but quite pronounced, score marks on the surface of the prints, which are quite noticeable on the black areas of the print surface. While I don't think its a problem with the rollers being dirty, the rollers are well inside the printer and cannot be accessed.</p>

<p>I called Epson, and Epson is aware of the problem, which, I was told, is a long-standing one across whole its printer line. The problem dates back at least 15 years. </p>

<p>After talking to several people who were completely noncommittal about Epson providing any help, I finally wound up talking to a senior technical expert who said I could try slowing the paper's advance through the printer to give the ink more time to dry. I did that and it didn't help.</p>

<p>The senior tech guy also annoyed me by intimating that the problem was caused by my using Harman and Hahnemühle fine art matte papers. So I asked if I went out and bought Epson's high-end archival matte paper if he would warrant that I wouldn't have the problem. He said he wouldn't guarantee that I wouldn't have the problem.</p>

<p>Has anyone else experienced this problem? Other than getting Epson 17-inch paper- which I may bite the bullet and do- are there any other fixes? I'm out of ideas and I'm fuming at Epson for selling me a $1K+ printer while knowing it has this design flaw.</p>

<p>google '3880 pizza' </p>

<p>Seriously.</p>

<p>Howard, thank you for the tip. I'm using the front-loading technique, as one of the "pizza wheel" posts suggests, and it is getting rid of the scoring, as the paper doesn't pass through the same wheels. </p>

<p>The downside to front-loading the 3880 is that you can't use media larger than 16x20 inches. That isn't a problem for the 14x14 inch images I'm doing currently, but will be a problem for other images I need to print larger.</p>

<p>Have you checked the platen gap? I suspect you got advice from the technical people. I have a 3800 that was doing funky things with the Epson fine art paper that went away with widening the platen gap. </p>

<p>Steve, yes, I checked all settings. This is definitely a "pizza wheel" issue- fine score marks running the length of the print- involving the fine rollers prints normally pass through. Front-loading the paper immediately solved the problem, though I bought the printer to be able to make 16-inch wide prints on 17-inch-wide paper. Being limited to 16-inch wide paper is infuriating.</p>