Banding problem with Epson SURELAB

[Anas BENJELLOUN]

Not sure there is such option, but if there is, try an automatic head alignment.

You're right, no such option. I guess on the Surelab (and probably on the Fuji dry labs as well) the printhead is automatically aligned

From your scanned patterns it looks like the "best" is the "2" or "4", in both Bi-D settings. Try adjusting it manually to that value.

How can you guess 2 or 4 ? In the manual, they say :
"Examine the printed patterns to find the pattern with the smallest gap from all columns and enter the printed pattern number"

 

[Łukasz]

This printer is claimed to have 6 inks and 12 channels in printhead. That means, every two channels are feed from same ink (colors are assigned to channels in mirrored sequence in order to allow full bi-di printing).

But it is hard to tell, if banding affects both or just one of two channels assigned to Cyan ink.

(To me alignment works OK)

Ł.

 

[Anas BENJELLOUN]

But how can one explain the width of the banding ?
Streaks seems to be way too larger than a headprint pass ...

 

[Smile]

If you got warranty and are not DIY type of user that can dissemble and then put back printer without user manual then the service is the only option for you.

That said if you never "dissemble and then put back printer without user manual" - you never learn.

 

[costadinos]

Have you tried printing with Bi-D disabled?
If that resolves the issue then it's most probably a head alignment problem.
If the problem persists it's probably something else.

I wouldn't suggest opening up such an expensive printer and looking for the tubes though.
Contrary to a DIY CIS system, the surelab was designed to work like that, it's rather improbable air or pressure differential in the tubes is what's causing the problem.

 

[Anas BENJELLOUN]

there's obviously no chance for me to open such a printer with no knowledge ...
My guess is an air trap/blockage on the tubes or the nozzles due to a tardive cartridges changes (even if it was warning me that ink levels became low).

As stated here : http://www.ebay.co.uk/gds/How-to-unblock-an-Epson-Printer-/10000000178305124/g.html

"Many people will ignore low ink reminders and run their printer until the black ink runs out or the colour prints are of a poor quality (missing colours etc). When this happens it is quite clear that the ink has been used, the tank is empty and the “nozzles” are now full of air. The copper chip can only “guess” the ink levels because nothing in the tank indicates true levels. In many cases the printer simply “counts” how many pages have been printed and then it will assume the tanks are empty. Sometimes it can get it wrong and the tank is simply printing fresh-air."

Can this really happens ?

 

[Smile]

I think this can be answered by experience of users of this printer. Chips only estimate ink usage.

 

[costadinos]

Are you actually using a refillable cartridge system? I had no idea one existed for these printers.
If you are running OEM cartridges, I seriously doubt they could run empty without the printer letting you know.
If there was air in the tubes you'd experience missing nozzles, not this kind of banding anyway.

Do try what I suggested above, I have several Epson printers of all sizes, and whether they run on cartridges or CISS, the type of banding you are experiencing usually resolves by proper head alignment.
Like I said before, try printing with Bi-d disabled and see if that helps.

 

[Anas BENJELLOUN]

you can't unfortunatelly disable the bi-d on the surelab
i guess the 'Standard mode' is a single pass and the 'Best quality' is the bi-d mode

The strangest thing is this banding only appears on plain/solide area/color (meaning fully inked) where cyan and magenta are envolved

 

[Łukasz]

Bi-directional printing is not same thing like multi-pass printing.

Bi-di means, that printhead will print while moving from purge pad to end position (first pass), and another time while returning (another pass).
Uni-di means, that printhead won't print while returning, so it make only one pass. It is 2x slower compared to Bi-di, but reduces chance of faulty alignment due to varying printhead to media distance.
Total number of passes necessary to make image on certain part of media is another story.

My interpretations of posted prints goes as follow:

1. Hi-Quality means using larger number of smaller droplets compared to Standard mode.
2. Hi-Quality is more affected by banding.
3. Piezo uses same nozzles to eject different droplet sizes.
4. 2 + 3 -> looks like nozzles are obscured, so smaller droplets are harder to eject compared to bigger droplets.

These are only speculations, let's hope problem will be solved without printhead replacement.

Ł.