Ink blobs near sides of pages Epson C88

[- Bob -]

I am having a problem with elliptical shaped ink blobs appearing at
the edges of my printed pages.

Here is a sample. Look at the left side:
http://users.rcn.com/uctraing/printproblems2.jpg


Note that I masked off the main content so that the ink blobs would be
obvious.

Take a look at the black blobs on the left side. These can occur on
the left or right. They always have roughing the same shape stretched
elliptical shape and pointed ends. They occur more often on the first
sheet printed - although today I got one on the second sheet with a
red/black tone rather than full black.

Other than this issue, the printer is stable with good quality. The
only issue I seem to have is that the heads need a cleaning fairly
often unless I am printing daily (Typical Epson pigmented ink issue).

Any ideas?

Thanks,

 

[measekite]

Are you now and have you always used Epson ink?

- Bob - wrote:

I am having a problem with elliptical shaped ink blobs appearing at the edges of my printed pages. Here is a sample. Look at the left side: http://users.rcn.com/uctraing/printproblems2.jpg Note that I masked off the main content so that the ink blobs would be obvious. Take a look at the black blobs on the left side. These can occur on the left or right. They always have roughing the same shape stretched elliptical shape and pointed ends. They occur more often on the first sheet printed - although today I got one on the second sheet with a red/black tone rather than full black. Other than this issue, the printer is stable with good quality. The only issue I seem to have is that the heads need a cleaning fairly often unless I am printing daily (Typical Epson pigmented ink issue). Any ideas? Thanks,

 

[Jan Alter]

The marks look strikingly similar to what I experienced with an Epson
500 many moons ago. I recall reading that it was a known issue with
this model (maybe others) that the printhead wouldn't cap properly when
it rested in the parking station. The result was that ink would ooze
down the side wall of the printer, onto the rollers and then onto the
paper itself as it passed by. In my case this was on the right side of
the paper, the side closest to the parked position of the printhead.
Now I can't say for sure that this is what's causing your smudges, but
do look inside your printer's output port with a flashlight at the wall
closest to the head parking station. Looking for possible oozing ink on
wall or rollers.

Since there was no solving the problem in my case, I would clean the
rollers and wall of oozing ink with a cotton swab and alcohol every now
and then. When I switched to Lexmark and then Canon printers the
problems were permanently gone.

-Taliesyn

I've seen this 'blobbing' with a number of C84, C86, and C88 printers.
It happens from time to time. After running a cleaning cycle and several
sheets of paper the problem has always dissipated. As far as what's causing
it I'm not at all sure. I would speculate that possibly a nozzle has gotten
partially clogged with dry ink and though it is partially open the ink gets
sprayed out and aimed off course. After a cleaning the jet gets thoroughly
opened and the blobbing goes away. I have found the problem is lessened by
using dye-base inks rather than the OEM pigment variety standard on these
models.

 

[Arthur Entlich]

Although there are a couple of causes I can think of, some of which
there isn't much you can do about, I can suggest two things that may help.

1) maker sure the cleaning station where the head parks is not filled
with ink due to a partially clogged drain or a disconnected vacuum tube
for more details email me at the address below for more complete
descriptions in my Epson cleaning guide (free of charge). Also see that
the ink wiper is clean.

2) Make sure the left side "spittoon" is clear of ink. This is a small
funnel/well on the left side of the printer which is supposed to drain
into the waste ink pads below via a small funnel hole at the bottom of
it. However, it tends to clog up and then fill with ink. f that
occurs, take a cotton swab and gently insert it into the ink pool and
try to clear the drain hole so the ink can drain, and then clean the
area with ammoniated window cleaner and alcohol mix. When this well
fills, the head tends to pick up a lot of ink from it and can drip it
onto the paper.

Art

To contact me:

e-printerhelp(at)mvps(dot)org

(at) = @
(dot) = .

 

[Jan Alter]

Those are good points I hadn't considered Art, especially the one where
the sponge may have accumulated a lot of dried ink. The printhead could
possibly pick up some debris as it passes back and forth along the sponge
area as the thickened waste ink gets softer when new ink gets dripped or
sprayed onto the old sludge.