17x22 smudges near last inch of print?

I have a Epson 3800 and for some reason it started smudging near the very end of the print.
I am using Epson Luster 17x22 paper, printing a 16x20 on it.

The smudge is always in the same area, bottom left and is most noticable on medium-dark prints.
I thought it might be the new batch of paper but I have tried inserting the paper in each way
but I get the same results.

I have done both "Nozzle Check" "Head Cleaning" but it has not helped.
The Nozzle check showed no errors.

Any ideas?

Michael, you may be getting head strikes on the paper as the trailing edge of it passes underneath the print head towards the end of the print run. The bottom edge leaves the grip of the rear feed rollers at some point, and the 3800 doesn't have a vacuum system to hold the paper flat immediately below the head. The print head assembly will become contaminated with ink over time. Unless you actually disassemble it and clean off the outer surfaces, you can't avoid that fact. So if the paper has any tendency to lift or curl, the trailing edge can contact the head and get smudged with some of that ink as the head passes over the paper.

The usual thing is to try to prevent the head & paper from coming in contact with each other. Eric Chan's Epson 3800 FAQ has some notes on this, including increasing the platen gap, reverse curling the trailing edge of the paper sheet, etc. If it is head strikes causing the problem for your case you may be able to work around it.

http://people.csail.mit.edu/ericchan/dp ... headstrike

Royce,

Thank you so much for the detailed information and to the link.

I had the setting for Paper 17x22 > Print 16x20. So I then changed it to Paper 16x20 > Print 16x20 and it solved the problem. I guess I tricked it somehow but I have all the info you gave me saved.

THANKS!

I had similar problems but adjusted the platen gap and this solved the problem. For the Espon Exhibition Fiber paper I had to set the gap to the "widest" selection

Also spoke to an epson rep at ImagingUSA. He suggested running several "head Cleanings as there may have been some ink that was dried and did not get wiped away properly. After going through 3 head cleanings and literally 10 nozzle checks, the problem was solved. Now I have the platen gap set back to "normal"

THe rep also said that it is good to run "something through the printer every other day - a sample something with color and did not have to be a full page but something to get things moving......much less ink than several head cleans

Steve

Also spoke to an epson rep at ImagingUSA. He suggested running several "head Cleanings as there may have been some ink that was dried and did not get wiped away properly. After going through 3 head cleanings and literally 10 nozzle checks, the problem was solved. Now I have the platen gap set back to "normal"

THe rep also said that it is good to run "something through the printer every other day - a sample something with color and did not have to be a full page but something to get things moving......much less ink than several head cleans

Steve