Digital BW, The Print

I have been off line while traveling but I thought that this is worth
sharing. I have 3 1160¹s and could never figure out why some printed better
than others. I took one if for a tune up but still had the same fine banding
problem- even with alignment and perfect nozzle check. I took the printer
back and the repair person told me that I was nuts for demanding such
precision. I didn¹t want to pay for the repair and we got into it a bit.
After we calmed down he told me that what I wanted was very hard to achieve
because the metal rod that carries the print heads  and controls the
alignment only pivots from the right end and cannot be completely adjusted
without major surgery.

If you use the paper depth lever and then do a re-alignment you are tweaking
the bar from the right end only. The left end is stationary so you are
pitching the bar fore and aft. And this bar can sometimes be misaligned from
the factory and you will never get a good alignment.

The way to solve this problem is to take the cover off and you will see on
the left end of the bar( opposite side from where the carts rest) a geared
plastic housing that supports the bar. Undo the screws and move the bar one
or two teeth in one direction ( make a registration mark with a sharpie
before you move the gears ­ so you don¹t get lost as you will need to find
the true alignment by trial and error.)  tighten the screws and run another
head alignment and then print a test strip of an image that has given you
banding in the past. If it is now worse you went the wrong way.....

I did this to a printer that I was ready to toss and it now prints better
than any printer I have. It is a bit of a pain but I was really amazed at
how good a properly tuned 1160 can print.

Best 

Steve

> 
> 
> Can anyone tell me if "banding" - this may not be the correct term is
> either normal or fixable on an 1160? Specifically when printing black
> ink only, there are faint lines visible thoughout the print.
> 
> My print is a landscape orientation rotated 90 degrees, the striping
> follows the direction of the print head, and is only visible on close
> (no loup) inspection. On a 5X7 print the lines are invisible when
> held at arms length, very visible when held closer.
> 
> I am using Epson Photo Paper, Epson cartridge (new) have done 2 sets
> of 3 cleanings separated by an MIS purge print (which showed visible
> lines in black, magenta,and cyan, but yellow was fine.
> 
> I have tried printing in "automatic" mode and all variatios
> of "enhanced". The file goes to a print spooler file, which makes no
> difference. My computer is a 1.25GHz e-mac, i have been printing
> under OS 9 due to limitations of the printer software in OS X. My
> file sizes are 15MB jpegs from a Pentax DS, they print flawlessly on
> the 825. (I want bigger prints!)
> 
> If I print the same photo in color at the same resolution the print
> looks fine.
> 
> Have I got a problem or am I running into the limitations of black
> only on the 1160? I have also printed black only on an Epson 825 at
> 5760 dpi, the banding was there but only visible with an 8x loup.
> 
> Any sugestions?
> 
> Your input will be highly valued.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
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--
Steve Smith
photosmith@...
401-453-1596 




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