3880 occasionally prints only on right side of canvas

Epson 3880 sometimes (3 times out of 6 times so far) prints only on approximately the right third of a 17" wide canvas. Not sure what is causing the problem, but I'd obviously like to prevent it. Any ideas?

The last time it happened (about 10 min ago), I was running low on one ink (~5%), but I don't recall that that was the case on the first two, which were several days ago. The printer has worked normally, both on canvas and paper, after the first 2 failure. And, I just successfully printed an image on 17x22 paper. I've never had the problem printing on paper.

On the attached image, I aborted the print when I noticed the problem. Two of the 3 failures started printing at 7.25" from the right edge of the canvas, but one started at about 7". The right side of the canvas is shown at the top in the attached image.

I had this problem until I taped a paper leader to the leading edge of the canvas. No problems since here is a link explaining how to do it. http://www.breathingcolor.com/blog/how- ... p-printer/

Hi Trevor,

Thanks for your reply. Actually, I did tape a 1" strip of photo paper to the starting edge of the canvas. I was never able to get the canvas to feed without it. No problems loading when using the paper leader. I did find that it was a good idea to square up the leader by trimming with the Rotatrim.

I don't understand how poor feeding technique would cause the printer to not print but a portion of the 16" width of the image.

I think if the edge is not square the printer can read the width of the paper/canvas incorrectly.

I'm pretty sure the leading edge is 90 degrees from the side. At least, to the best I can get it with the Rotatrim, which is pretty accurate. I do recall that end the paper leader was maybe a 1/32" from perfectly matching the long edge of the canvas. Do you think that is what's causing my problem?

The only thing I can think of is that for some reason the canvas isn't laying flat enough (sagging) Like I said I've not had the problem since using the taped paper feed. Perhaps others may have more info.

Thanks for your input. I suppose that could be a factor. The sheet I used today had been flat in at box for several days. It seemed pretty flat.

I just finished wasting another 17x23" sheet of BC Lyve canvas. A very helpful individual on another forum suggested checking the Print Preview option. Sounded like an excellent way to preview what the printer would print. You guessed it. The preview displayed the complete image, but only the right side of the canvas contained any image after printing was complete.

I don't have many 17x23 sheets of canvas left from the Trial roll. Anybody have additional suggestions?

Yes, Call Epson USA. Look in the manual for the special tech support number. When you buy one of the professional service printers you get their higher tier technical support. I'm sure they have seen this before...

Douglas if you do find what the problem is can you post the answer here, by the way you are using the rear feed aren't you?

I believe if the printer hardware sees that the media being loaded is physically narrower than what the printer driver was told by the printing app, then the printer lops off part of the image data. The idea is to avoid spraying ink all over the insides, if there's actually a narrower page in there.

As suggested earlier in this thread, it could be that the width sensors are flaking out. It might be a hardware fault, or possibly the canvas sheets and/or narrow leader strip are not triggering the sensors properly. If it's the latter, then a longer paper leader of decent weight and the full width of the canvas sheet may be enough to register the proper width and get things working again.

Thanks, EJ. I'll call.

Trevor: Yes, the rear feed.

Update: I just got off the phone with Epson printer support. (Thanks again EJ) The word is that the 3880 does not support the Breathing Color Lyve canvas. The tech explained that the canvas is too soft - cloth-like. He said the Epson canvas will work fine in the 3880 and will not even require a paper leader. He recommended Premium Satin Canvas (BH says it is discontinued) and Exhibition Satin Canvas. BH has 17x40 rolls for ~$90.

I'm curious if other folks have tried printing BC Lyve with a 3880.

I use the BC Lyve matte with a 300g leader paper. I had your problem until I used the leader paper.

Trev,

When you say leader paper, exactly what do you do in some detail. I tape a 1" strip of photo paper to the back side of the leading edge of the canvas and then trim it square to 1/2" with a Rotatrim. Is you paper leader considerably different than mine?

I have no problem feeding the Lyve canvas as long as I use the paper leader. Zero success feeding the canvas into the printer without the leader.

I want avoid confusing the problem of feeding the canvas into the printer with the problem I'm having - printing only about 7" of an image that should be 16" wide.

Royce,

Sorry, but I missed your comment above until now. It sounds like the width of the leader might be the explanation, as you suggest. I do not use a different leader with each canvas, but I square up the overhang each time with a Rotatrim. Therefore, the leader would get slightly shorter with each trimming. I have one more sheet of canvas cut to 17x23. I'm going to cut another leader and make it a couple of inches wide and try once more.

Personally I think the tech support is trying to feed you a line of BS. Myself and many others have and do use BC Lyve in both the 3800 and 3880 with no more problems than Epsons Canvas. They will always tell you to use THEIR products!

Randy,

Your thoughts did cross my mind.

Although my current n size=1, I just finished cutting a 2.5" strip of heavy photo paper and taped it to the bottom of my last 17x23 Lyve canvas and sent another try to the 3880. It is printing the full 16" as it should. So, thanks to Trev. Royce et. al. for your help.

I use 30mm wide strip exactly the same width as the canvas. The thicker the paper the better, I use 300g that way it gives the canvas a bit of rigidity. Just remember to resize the canvas in PS so the driver takes the paper leader into account.

Good show Doug, I thought that might be it. If the paper width sensor is a mechanical switch (rather than optical), it could be something about the weight or lay of the BC Lyve canvas that doesn't trip the switch properly. That's what a longer leader strip will do, in addition to getting picked up better by the feed rollers. Other than that "support" issue, yeah, the Epson official line about using only their media was a load of hooey. I don't print on canvas myself, but as long as you're okay using the leader to side-step the initial feed issues, you should be fine...

Royce, I don't know how good the show is, but I think my problem is solved, thanks to you and others on this forum. Thinking about the issue in hindsight, it would make sense for the printer to check to make sure the paper size in the printer matched the paper size designated by PS. I don't know how the printer checks the width, but it must need more than an inch of paper to make its decision. Interestingly, Trev says he uses a 30mm strip of paper, which is not much more than an inch. Until I know more, I'm going to keep cutting the paper leader to be at least 2" wide and 17" long.