ink marks/spots on paper, MP980 - any ideas

[jimbo123]

i've been working on trying to get rid of these ink marks that come out on my MP980, see attached pic and PDF

have tried:
- new print head
- bottom plate cleaning (found under Maintenance)
- roller cleaning (found under Maintenance)
- Cleaning
- Deep Cleaning
- manually wiping down the eight white rollers inside while the spin during power up
- manual wiping down anything else i can get do without taking it apart

any ideas ?

thx

J

i know my gray cart needs to be replaced, but for now looking to solve the ink mark issue

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• Active Printers: MP830, MP980, PRO-100
• Stored Printers: MP830, IP4500, MX700, MX860, MX870
• Method: German Durchstich Method
• Ink: Hobbicolors and OCP
• Misc: Squeeze bottles - so much easier than syringes

 

[Ink stained Fingers]

Do these spots show up as well when you print plain text ? or a 'blank' page ? Do they show up always at the same horizontal location ? Do they keep their vertical distance ?

 

[jimbo123]

just tried plain paper print, came out there as well, not as pronounced but still there

they come out on the same vertical line, top/down

spaced slightly less than 1" apart from top to bottom

J

------------------------------------------------------------------------------
• Active Printers: MP830, MP980, PRO-100
• Stored Printers: MP830, IP4500, MX700, MX860, MX870
• Method: German Durchstich Method
• Ink: Hobbicolors and OCP
• Misc: Squeeze bottles - so much easier than syringes

 

[Ink stained Fingers]

I would assume that a roller is spreading the ink, there should be several rollers from pickup , turning the page and feeding it into the print area, and there are exit rollers. With the fixed distance from the side you may be able to identify that spot. and by dividing 1" by 3.1 you should get a hint about the diameter of that roller. Did you print something with black, images, bold big letters recently double sided which may have transferred some ink onto the rollers ?

 

[The Hat]

I would be inclined to look to your purge unit and wiper blade, there maybe a gap in the wiper blade or a build up of ink on it or a hair sticking up somewhere in and around the purge unit area. !

Also have a good look at either end of the platen for any foreign body’s that might be sticking up high enough to make contact with the moving head..

 

[martin0reg]

Like The Hat my first thought would be the purging unit when there are ink spots on the prints.
But besides you should know that printing without ink will relliably burn that nozzle row...