Epson 1280 problem

[paul_sokal___dallas__tx]

For months, I've been getting beautiful color prints out of the

printer, but now areas that are out of focus lose all gradation and

appear mottled. The in focus subject looks fine. I've tried two

different carts and no change. Alignment and head cleaning did

nothing. It's worse with Kokopelli Glossy than with Kodak Pro

Glossy, but still a problem. It occurs with Epson Enhanced matte

too. I'm using custom profiles made with Monaco EZcolor and was

getting great results until now. Google search of previous postings

didn't help. Anyone seen this? Have any ideas? Thanks in advance

for your help.

[steven_clark]

As a troubleshooting tool you might try using Epson's profiles for the Enhanced Matte and see what happens. BTW you really aren't supposed to use Enhanced Matte with the 1280, it's supposed to be designed for pigment inks, in theory you should be using Matte Heavyweight instead.

[minicucci]

Hi Paul: Since it not possible for the printer to know what the infocus subject is, whatever

is happening is happening to the entire print. You are just noticing it more in the OOF

areas. First, are you using Epson carts? You should, especially on the 1280.

 

Do you have High Speed off? That can cause uniques alignment errors. My bet is that you

have some partial head clogs that are affecting certain colors. Run the head cleaning drill 3

times. Epson programs the machine to clean with increasing severity over three attempts

conducted in sequence. Don't do more than three. Run the head check and study the

colors with a loupe, using good paper, preferably HW Matte.

[minicucci]

And...have a look here http://www.mwords.co.uk/catalog/articles_info.php?

&articles_id=95. Everything you'll ever need to know about nozzle checks.

[bobmichaels]

As always, hate to insult your intelligence, but are you positive you haven't moved the print head adjustment lever to the higher position?

 

Unfortunately for you, I've never seen your problem in running several thousand sheets of EEM and a number of other higher quality rag papers as well through various 1280's. And I've printed on several glossy / semi gloss papers as well. The only thing I could think of that approximated your probelm was setting the print head alignment up beyond the minimum. And that was even with heavier paper such as HPR 318.

 

Forget the Epson recommendation to use HWM instead of EEM. That comes from the same company who tells you to only use genuine Epson ink. (while there are crappy 3rd party inks, there are also some better than Epson's)

[jtk]

If the problem began when you introduced Monaco profiles, you are suffering from Fancy Workflow Syndrome.

 

Go back to Epson defaults, eliminate everything non-Epson, do not fool with non-Epson dyes. If that looks good, reinstall the profiles and see if the problem returns. .

 

Seemingly the most common 1280 problems have to do with clogging due to CIS system/funky-ink issues.

 

Yes, Epson wants to sell you ink. What's wrong with that...considering that almost all non-Epson inks are inferior, and some even admit it in their ads?

 

Ask your question again here:

 

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/EPSON_Printers/?yguid=143584188

[paul_sokal___dallas__tx]

Thanks for all your thoughts, folks. The Monaco EZColor profiles WERE working just fine. I'm using Genuine Epson Inks. The head adjustment lever is at "0" position. High Speed is off. Following Steve's suggestion, I tried ColorLife Paper with the epson profile and it was okay, but when I tried the Epson Glossy prifle on glossy paper (not epson) it was just as bad. It occurred to me that this could relate to the new Epson drivers so I've tried to uninstall them but so far that's proved impossible. Following Epson's procedure doesn't remove the drivers from my computer because every time I reconnect the printer (USB), it automatically reinstalls their new driver and doesn't even give me the chance to install the original drivers. Going into printers properties and installing a new driver gives the same result. Maybe I'm getting paranoid, but I'm starting to wonder if Epson has figured out that they can create a driver that will only turn out decent prints on their paper with their ink. I'll try you other suggestions. Thanks for all you help folks.

[lad_lueck]

I think I remember reading the epson papers take more ink before saturating...