QTR-Quadtone RIP

I’m at some risk of contributing something totally irrelevant because I have not been following this thread.  If that’s the case, my apologies.

There is a micro banding issue (an acknowledged bug) with QTR that pops up at the beginning and end of a print when the paper leaves a margin of less than ~1 inch; it is not related to the quality of the nozzle check.  (The lines, which require a loop to see, run parallel to the print head direction.) Some people successfully attach a leader that gets around this problem.

If this is the problem alluded to here, the test is easily performed by printing with a larger margin.

In addition, it has been my experience with the R2400 and the R3000 is that this kind of micro banding, curiously, occurs somewhat less than 100% of the time.  Whether this problem applies to the Epson 3800 is a question to be considered.

HFL

From:  <QuadtoneRIP@yahoogroups.com> on behalf of "rdeloe1@... [QuadtoneRIP]" <QuadtoneRIP@yahoogroups.com>
Reply-To:  <QuadtoneRIP@yahoogroups.com>
Date:  Monday, April 11, 2016 at 9:57 AM
To:  <QuadtoneRIP@yahoogroups.com>
Subject:  Re: [QuadtoneRIP] Calibration print banding -- Epson 3800 fixable?

 
 
 
 
   

Walker, thanks for the clarification re head alignment diagnostics. That's good to know.  

This printer was lightly used in a small lab. It has made 781 prints. My sense is that it was too much printer for the people that bought it. They didn't do any maintenance, and then the LM head starting acting up. At that point they probably pushed it aside. It's only ever had Epson OEM inks in it, but they've clearly been sitting around for ages; some of the cartridges that came with the printer are dated 2009, while the newest spares are 2012.

Your guess that there might be particles and other gunk in the dampers sounds very reasonable.

I did all tests at 2880 dpi UniDirection, and just tried it with the QTR 8ink file in Calibration mode.The banding is even more obvious than on the smaller default calibration chart. For comparison, I did the same test on my Artisan 1430. It doesn't show any noticeable micro-banding.

Interestingly, on a nozzle check the LM channel on the 3800 always shows exactly the same 3 missing lines. I thought that usually means that there's something stuck to the outside of the head, rather than coming down the line. Is this relevant? Does it change your hunch?