Tire tracks????

[ignatiusjk]

I just purchased a Epson 3800 printer I I'm noticing an annoying problem. I'm getting these "tire track" looking marks on the image area.I'm using 5x7 paper and printing 4x6 images and the marks are only on the image area itself not on the border and are in a straight line. Any answers??? Please don't tell me this is a big problem. It looks like the rollers just need cleaned but like I said it's only on the image area.

[Gary Beasley]

Sounds to me you have the settings wrong for the paper and are putting too much ink down on the paper. Barring that there should be a part in the printer properties menu you can set a longer drying time for that ink and paper combo.

[Kuzano]

Also a problem if using non specified paper.

[sanking]

Sounds like the dreaded "Pizza Wheel Disease". This happens most often on smooth papers and is often associated with images that have a lot of shadow density where the ink deposit is thick. The pizza wheel pick up the ink before it dries and roll it onto the rest of the paper as it feeds through.

I am surprised that you are having this problem with the Epson 3800. I have not seen it with my 3800 even when printing digital negatives on overhead transparency material. The problem will most likely go away if you use a matte type paper, or any of the lustre or semi-gloss papers specified by Epson.

Sandy King



I just purchased a Epson 3800 printer I I'm noticing an annoying problem. I'm getting these "tire track" looking marks on the image area.I'm using 5x7 paper and printing 4x6 images and the marks are only on the image area itself not on the border and are in a straight line. Any answers??? Please don't tell me this is a big problem. It looks like the rollers just need cleaned but like I said it's only on the image area.

[xavier deltell]

You must configure the thickness of the paper

[Bill L.]

Having several cats, I've seen very nice abstract patterns running down the print that were left by bits of cat fur in the rollers near the print heads. It would be worth a try looking for dust, lint, etc in the rollers.

Cheers!
Bill

[ignatiusjk]

Thanks, I played with the printers menu's and I do think I had the printer on the wrong paper type. I was using glossy paper,I can't stand matte.

[paradoxbox]

The actual cause of the problem is that the pinch rollers of the printer are imprinting the paper before the ink sprays onto it, which changes the way the ink hits it and also the way light reflects off of the image in that area. Making sure you're using the correct profile/paper type will alleviate the problem as long as the printer is mechanically functioning correctly.

[ljsegil]

I had a similar problem when I first started using my 3800. I found a solution was to set the platen gap (under the paper configuration menu) to wide rather than the default setting of auto. I now do this for all paper types, matte and glossy, whenever I print, and have not seen the problem recur. If this is not an optimal setting for some papers I have not been able to detect a decrement in the printer's performance as a result. There may be better ways around the problem, but this is simple and has worked for me.
Good luck,
Larry