Printing double sided glossy paper

[Rob graham]

I have been used to printing on double sided glossy paper on my HP
Photosmart. But it broke, so I bought a newer one. I find this won't feed
double sided paper. Consultation with HP tells me that their printers won't
do this (apart from the fact that the one I had, did!).

So now I'm stuck without a printer and need one which will print good colour
photos and accept double sided paper as well.

Anyone know of a new model printer which will do this?

Rob Graham

 

[Arthur Entlich]

That's just plain weird (the response of HP, I mean). Did they explain
WHY the printer was designed not to feed double sided paper, and WHAT
mechanism was involved that wouldn't allow it?

Was it a new "feature" of the printer?

Were they claiming the paper was too thick, it didn't have the right
rear surface, was lacking the HP logo on back, or that they didn't make
the paper?

Something just doesn't add up here... although double sided paper may
cause some paper surface transfer to the rollers and lead to glazing and
slipping over time, requiring that the transport wheels be cleaned now
and again to allow for better loading, I cannot believe, nor have I ever
heard of, a printer would be specifically designed not to take double
sided paper.

Perhaps they misunderstood and thought you were asking about duplex
printing, where the printer can automatically print on both sides
without reloading the paper manually???

Art

 

[Burt]

I have been used to printing on double sided glossy paper on my HP
Photosmart. But it broke, so I bought a newer one. I find this won't feed
double sided paper. Consultation with HP tells me that their printers won't
do this (apart from the fact that the one I had, did!).

So now I'm stuck without a printer and need one which will print good
colour photos and accept double sided paper as well.

Anyone know of a new model printer which will do this?

Rob Graham

I don't know about double sided glossy paper, but I have printed both sides
of Epson glossy paper on my Canon i960. I would guess that any of the Canon
printers would do this as well. The Epson paper is only glossy on one side,
but the back side prints reasonably well. It has a faint repeat Epson logo
which is barely visible. Decent paper for holiday fold-over cards.

Take a few pieces of double sided glossy paper to your nearest big office
supply or computer store and have them put it through the test mode on
various printers to see if it works.

You might see if there is some sort of cleaning that can be done to the feed
wheels on the HP printer you own to give them a better grip on the glossy
paper. I've had to do that with a printer and a copy machine after some
months of use. The feed wheels may just be too smooth to grab the glossy
surface.

 

[Dan G]

Nearly all the Canon models are full duplex, and have 2 paper feeds to boot.

 

[Burt]

I'me not sure that the issue is duplexing. Sounds more like the feed wheels
can't get traction on the glossy surface.

 

[Dan G]

I'me not sure that the issue is duplexing. Sounds more like the feed wheels
can't get traction on the glossy surface.

Another common HP issue. The Canons, with the top feed, should avoid that
problem. I can feed 110# card stock through all mine, so glossy paper
shouldn't be any trouble.

 

[Rob graham]

That's just plain weird (the response of HP, I mean). Did they explain
WHY the printer was designed not to feed double sided paper, and WHAT
mechanism was involved that wouldn't allow it?

Was it a new "feature" of the printer?

Were they claiming the paper was too thick, it didn't have the right rear
surface, was lacking the HP logo on back, or that they didn't make the
paper?

I was discussing the problem with online real time chat with a technician.
He got me to try several things, none of which worked. It was only near the
end of the conversation that I mentioned the paper was double sided. Never
thought to mention it earlier because I didn't realise it was an
implication. Anyway, when he heard that he said HP did not suopport double
sided paper and ended the conversation.

Something just doesn't add up here... although double sided paper may
cause some paper surface transfer to the rollers and lead to glazing and
slipping over time, requiring that the transport wheels be cleaned now and
again to allow for better loading, I cannot believe, nor have I ever heard
of, a printer would be specifically designed not to take double sided
paper.

I know, it's very starange. I was told that HP Deskjets do it but not
Photosmarts.

Perhaps they misunderstood and thought you were asking about duplex
printing, where the printer can automatically print on both sides without
reloading the paper manually???

No, I don't think so. The problem seems to be that the rollers slip on the
paper. I imagine that the glossy 'bottom' side tends to grip what's under it
more than it would if it were not glossy, and so won't allow it to feed.

Rob

 

[Arthur Entlich]

In looking at some HP papers, I have noticed that some have a special
rough coating on the reverse side to the print surface, so maybe this is
a problem with their paper transport system. Seems a bit of a design
issue, if that's the case.

Art

 

[Rob graham]

You might see if there is some sort of cleaning that can be done to the
feed
wheels on the HP printer you own to give them a better grip on the glossy
paper. I've had to do that with a printer and a copy machine after some
months of use. The feed wheels may just be too smooth to grab the glossy
surface.

The printer is only just over a month old, so the wheels should be pretty
clean anyway!

Rob

 

[Rob graham]

Thanks for all these replies, folks. I've sent my HP back and got a refund
and am using an older Canon for a while. I'm looking hard at the new Kodak
printer which is due out in May. I shall await test results on this with
interest.

Rob

 

[Burt]

Not an issue of new and clean - there are cleaning solutions that not only
clean the wheels from accumulated dust and residue from the paper, but they
also create a slightly roughened surface (called "tooth") on rubber or
rubber-like transport wheels. Believe it or not, a technician used
cigarette lighter fluid to clean the wheels on paper transport of a
commercial copy maching I owned. After cleaning you could feel the lack of
smoothness of the wheel surfaces. I have seen posts on this NG about such a
solvent or solution.

By the way, who is to say that a device coming from the factory doesn't have
some sort of residue on these wheels that is left from the manufacturing
process.

 

[Burt]

Thanks for all these replies, folks. I've sent my HP back and got a refund
and am using an older Canon for a while. I'm looking hard at the new Kodak
printer which is due out in May. I shall await test results on this with
interest.

Rob

Don't overlook considering a newer Canon. I told you in a previous post
that I've printed on the back of Epson glossy paper with a Canon i960 as
well as an Epson ESC900

 

[Rob graham]

Don't overlook considering a newer Canon. I told you in a previous post
that I've printed on the back of Epson glossy paper with a Canon i960 as
well as an Epson ESC900

Sure. I have noted this.

Rob

 

[Rob graham]

Not an issue of new and clean - there are cleaning solutions that not only
clean the wheels from accumulated dust and residue from the paper, but
they also create a slightly roughened surface (called "tooth") on rubber
or rubber-like transport wheels. Believe it or not, a technician used
cigarette lighter fluid to clean the wheels on paper transport of a
commercial copy maching I owned. After cleaning you could feel the lack
of smoothness of the wheel surfaces. I have seen posts on this NG about
such a solvent or solution.

Yes. Sometrhing like that might have improved it. But I've sent it back now!

By the way, who is to say that a device coming from the factory doesn't
have some sort of residue on these wheels that is left from the
manufacturing process.

Certainly. It might.