Digital BW, The Print

A strange problem with a 1270 printing color

A friend send me this looking for help.  Apparently this problem has 
persisted through several ink carts.  Any help would be appreciated.


Here is what is going on with my Epson 1270 Printer. I have just called
Epson Technical Support and they have never heard of this problem and 
have no idea what to do. The guy suggested I send a detailed email to 
tech support at Epson.com. I will do that, but in the meantime, maybe 
someone esle has encountered this very strange problem.

I bought an Epson 1270 printer in September of 2000. I have only used 
Epson inks and Epson papers intended for the 1270. The problem is that 
with glossy or semi-glossy surfaces, the print comes out of the printer 
looking fine, but within 5 minutes, it fades drastically before your 
eyes, goes flat and is about 1 or 2 stops lighter than when it came out 
of the printer.

At first I thought I had a bad batch of paper, but then I tried many 
other packages of various papers and it has happened on all of them. 
The Heavyweight Matte Paper looks great. The only glossy surface I have 
been able to print on without it fading is the cheap Epson Glossy Photo 
Paper.

The papers I have tried that fade within minutes are Epson Premium 
Luster Photo Paper, Epson Premium Glossy Paper and Epson Premium 
Semigloss Paper.

This problem has been happening since I first used my printer. 
Unfortunately the warranty is long expired. I got so frustrated that I 
just avoided using anything but Matte paper, but don't want to continue 
to be limited by only one paper surface.