Epson 440 banding question

[MikeD]

Yes, I know it's an old printer and I should chuck it in the bin, but before
I do I would like to find out why the printouts have a faint banding effect.

The head alignment pattern and nozzle check are OK. The lines are spaced at
about 0.03" when printing at 720dpi, and they run in the direction of the
print head travel.

Is this caused by a problem (or limitation) with the paper feed, or
something else?

Thanks,

Mike

 

[Arthur Entlich]

Hi Mike,

When you say banding, do you mean these are areas where one or more
color ink appears to be missing, or that there is a line of extra ink?
Does the band or line ink extend beyond the image into the margins?

Are the bands or lines very distinct and of one color and seem about one
nozzle in thickness?

Is the problem all the way down the whole page? or only toward the top area?

If you could send me a 300 dpi scan of in high quality jpeg of:

1: your nozzle pattern (please edit the scan to just crop the nozzle
test display)

2: a 2" x 2" area showing the banding

Send them as attachments to my email address as shows in the header.

From your description, this seems like a reparable problem that can be
brought back to "good as new", but people use terms interchangeably, so
I prefer to see the defect, and I will get back to you with what can be
done to fix it.

Art

 

[MikeD]

Hi Mike,

When you say banding, do you mean these are areas where one or more
color ink appears to be missing, or that there is a line of extra ink?
Does the band or line ink extend beyond the image into the margins?

I'm looking at colour photos printed from either a digital camera or a
scanned original.
The bands are areas of missing ink which run across the entire image.
I acquired the printer as used, so don't know if it has always been like
that.

If you could send me a 300 dpi scan of in high quality jpeg of:

Thanks for the kind offer, I will respond tonight.

Mike

 

[MikeD]

Art

I followed your excellent instructions for cleaning my printer (much easier
with the top cover removed). I took a lot of congealed crud from the
cleaning pad and under the head. The print quality is now much improved, but
sadly the banding is still there. I think it must be a limitation of the
printer's design.

Interestingly, I printed off one of the "high quality" pictures that came
with the printer, and the banding was also there but much less noticeable. I
reckon Epson choose these images carefully to disguise the effect!

I'm now looking out for a used Color Photo 890, which seems to have the
features I want (unless of course you tell me they're no good...).

Many thanks for your help,

Mike

 

[Arthur Entlich]

Sorry to hear that the quality didn't improve as much as hoped. The 440
was the bottom model in their printer line and I suspect that over time
wear and tear may lead to inaccuracy in the paper path transport, which
may cause the banding.

I have not used the 890, and unfortunately Epson tends to have slightly
different numbers for the UK than for North America. I have used the
880 and have found it to be a very good 4 color printer.

Art

 

[Stephen.Mcclain]

I think its usually caused by a failing Printhead assembly or Mainboard
Assembly... the worst case is to replace the printhead...

There's another possibility that a build-up of dried ink, dust, dirt,
lint and hair that can sometimes cause the "Printhead Nozzles" to fire
crooked and that can cause a colored line to appear.
Try this one first:
http://www.inkrepublic.com/members/nozzle
or
http://www.inkjet-cartridges.co.uk/epson_tech_support.htm

But, generally speaking, cleaning will not usually help if it is a
hardware/parts problem.
good luck!

 

[kzza]

I had the same problem with my printer.

I got in contact with the guys at Cartridge Express, who talked me through
step by step, and my printer works like new now.

I would give them a ring. http://www.cartridgeexpress.net/