Epson 3800 smudging boarders

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Archive 2012 · Epson 3800 smudging boarders

jim allison
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p.1 #1 · Epson 3800 smudging boarders

I hope someone might be able to help me with a problem with my Epson 3800 printer. It has served me flawlesly since the day it came out. However it has started to smudge the white boarders of my prints. I called epson and they told me to adjust the patten gap wider. I did that
and it did not help. They instructed me to take it in for service, but the closest service station is over 100mile drive and no one could give me an estimate of the cost. Epson said that it was most likey an accumulation of old ink and the heads and that it would require "maintanence"
Is there someone out there who has experienced this problem and been able to fix it themselves? I would really appreciate any advice from an experienced owner!
Thanks,
Jim Allison

Jan 24, 2012 at 10:28 PM

kdphotography
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p.1 #2 · Epson 3800 smudging boarders

Sometimes you may experience a smudge of ink if the media is not laying flat---or there is a pronounced curl. Even with vacuum assist on the upper series printers, you can see this.

Try adjusting for paper thickness and the platen gap.

If it is an accumulation of ink, you can try a moistened paper towel, folded over several times---slide it under the head. Release the head and move the carriage over the towel until clean. Repeat with a clean moistened towel. Park the head/carriage when done.

Jan 24, 2012 at 11:40 PM

jim allison
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p.1 #3 · Epson 3800 smudging boarders

Thank you very much for taking the trouble to reply.I already adjusted the platten gap and that didn't help. I think it must be accumulated ink on the heads. I will glady try your suggestion. I have never accessed the heads.The dam printer has never even burped before. How do you get to the heads. An inquiring mind would like to know. I really want to thank you for responding!
Best regards,
Jim

Jan 25, 2012 at 12:12 AM

howardm4
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p.1 #4 · Epson 3800 smudging boarders

you dont have to 'access' the heads. in the printer driver, select 4 or 5 for paper thickness and 'wider' for the gap (on the control panel, you can get 'widest'.

humidity could be slightly curling the edge of the paper (and some paper is much worse than others).

Jan 25, 2012 at 12:16 AM

J4644
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p.1 #5 · Epson 3800 smudging boarders

Jim,

You can turn the unit on and when you see the printhead start to move (from it's position on the right) to the left, pull the power cord out and you will see that the head will be somewhere in the middle and free to move. Then, as suggested, place a moistened folded up paper towel in the trough where the printhead runs over. Now physically move the printhead over the paper towel to clean the under surface of the printhead.

Jim

Jan 25, 2012 at 02:01 PM

jdrenda
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p.1 #6 · Epson 3800 smudging boarders

^ I had the same problem with my 3800 and I call Spectraflow in Sacramento and that is what they recomended is cleaning the print head with a damp paper towel and that took care of the problem.John

Jan 25, 2012 at 02:46 PM

kdphotography
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p.1 #7 · Epson 3800 smudging boarders

Jim,

I know it can be quite unsettling to be digging around inside your printer, but sometimes the maintenance/cleaning techniques simply just sound more difficult than they really are. And *gentle* common sense goes without saying here.

Here's a more detailed write-up on cleaning the head----scroll down to the appropriate section. http://shopping.netsuite.com/s.nl/c.362672/it.I/id.118/.f

I think it's worth a try as I bet a true Epson service call would probably cost more than the printer is worth now.

ken

Jan 25, 2012 at 03:37 PM

jim allison
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p.1 #8 · Epson 3800 smudging boarders

Thanks guys! I'm not very mechanical and I must admitt messing around with the inside of this machine is intimidating to me. Nevertheless, I followed your suggestions and it works fine now.
In better times I would have jus up dated to a 3880 as this printer has been such a workhorse and that would have been the natural progression. I'm happy I can keep this baby chugging along for a while more.Thanks guys!!
Jim

Jan 25, 2012 at 04:00 PM

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