Epson R3000 prints have large number of black streaks

InkjetMall Customer Support Printer Maintenance & Cartridges
1

I am using an Epson Stylus Pro R3000. I am printing using Lightroom running under Windows 10.
I develop a large number black streaks or smudges on the left side of print. See attached. They are mostly horizontal about 1/2 inches long and about 1/16 inch wide. There are some vertical streaks which very in length. They are rather consistent.

I did the following to try to clean and clear out the problem:

  • I used PiezoFlush to clean the capping station, print heads and wiper blade - twice
  • I did nozzle cleanings through the printer driver and I included an attachment of the nozzle check
    = the nozzle cleaning sometimes delays the streaking for as much as one picture but usually less
  • I tried setting the Platen Gap to wide and paper thickness to 11 mm but this had no impact

At this point I am stuck. Do I replace the capping station or the whole nozzle assembly?
Are there any less drastic measures?

Thanks for any help you can give me,

Larry

2

This looks like you have so much gunk stuck in your cleaning assembly pad that it’s soaking your print-head and then the printhead drags the excess ink against the paper.

The first thing to do is to clean the cleaning assembly. I suggest also getting a waste ink bottle http://shop.inkjetmall.com/Small-format-waste-ink-kit.html as this issue often crops up when the internal waste pads in the printer are full or near full.

best,
Walker

3

Since day 1 with my new R2000, IJM carts and PZ inks, I have had a similar problem occasionally. If I leave the printer for a couple of days, doing only nozzle checks daily, the first print will often have similar streaks. They appear in the first few inches of the print and then disappear. My assumption is that one of the carts must leak a little and then stop as they do not drain. My solution is to do an ink separation print before doing anything serious.

4

This looks like the infamous clogged damper problem. Try inserting a cart of Piezoflush into the black position. Use the QTR calibration program flush/print the black onto some cheap photo paper. Continue printing black tests until the black comes out pink. Allow the Piezoflush to sit in the black line and heads for a few days (printing standard test patterns and doing head cleanings during that time, are OK). After a few days, when no more black shows in the printhead test, reinsert the black ink cart, and use the QTR to prime the line, just as before. Hopefully, this should cure the problem.

[QUOTE=lmbruns;11939]I am using an Epson Stylus Pro R3000. I am printing using Lightroom running under Windows 10.
I develop a large number black streaks or smudges on the left side of print. See attached. They are mostly horizontal about 1/2 inches long and about 1/16 inch wide. There are some vertical streaks which very in length. They are rather consistent.

I did the following to try to clean and clear out the problem:

  • I used PiezoFlush to clean the capping station, print heads and wiper blade - twice
  • I did nozzle cleanings through the printer driver and I included an attachment of the nozzle check
    = the nozzle cleaning sometimes delays the streaking for as much as one picture but usually less
  • I tried setting the Platen Gap to wide and paper thickness to 11 mm but this had no impact

At this point I am stuck. Do I replace the capping station or the whole nozzle assembly?
Are there any less drastic measures?

Thanks for any help you can give me,

Larry[/QUOTE]

5

I installed waste ink bottle and seems to be working. I am still having streaking now even with test pattern prints. See attached (excuse my spelling). I also noticed in the test strips that the black (left most pattern) is missing lines and they show up over writing the yellow (right most pattern)?? What would cause this?

I ordered a black Piezofill cart to flush the black. I am not sure what the QTR calibration program is and where to find it.

Thanks for your help,
Larry