Black blots on paper.

I have a Epson Stylus R290 printer that is
starting to deposit black blots on paper and
printable DVDs.

I have always used Epson inks in it.

I used it in the XP and now Win7 op systems.

I have run all its diagnostics but still the
problem remains.

Peter

"Peter Jason" wrote:

> I have a Epson Stylus R290 printer that is starting to deposit black
> blots on paper and printable DVDs. I have always used Epson inks in
> it. I used it in the XP and now Win7 op systems. I have run all its
> diagnostics but still the problem remains.

I don't know your printer. If the heads are included in the cartridges
(as they are with many HP printers), did you try cleaning them? While
they recommend using just distilled water and a lintless cloth, I
usually employ isopropyl alcohol and a lintless cloth (i.e., cheap paper
towel, not the fuzzy kind). From what Epsons that I've seen, they do
not have heads in the cartridges. That means if the heads go bad and
cannot be fixed that you have to get a new printer instead of just
buying a new cartridge that includes the head. The manual for the Epson
printer should tell you how to clean the heads.

Another cause is a dirty roller. Clean the rollers with distilled water
to remove any deposits on them. Don't use isopropyl alcohol as that
dries them out (which shrinks them so they don't pinch as well) with
repeated use; however, you can use it once or rarely if the deposits are
stubborn to remove or have gotten particularly thick. You'll have to
turn the rollers to clean all around them. If the ink hasn't dried by
the time the paper hits the roller(s) then ink gets transferred onto
them. That means the ink that smudged onto the rollers will smudge back
onto the paper. This will happen at different spots on the same sheet
of paper (since the roller rotates faster than the paper being feed past
it) and also onto the next sheet of paper.

Diagnostics won't clean the heads AND clean the roller(s). Also, never
use cheap inks. They are often too "wet"; that is, they won't dry fast
enough and bleed too much into the paper.

Have you checked for dirty roller's? See if 'this link'
(http://www.inkjetmall.com/store/cone_ts/cleaning.htm) throws any
light.

One thing you could try is put it in ink changing mode, get a narrow
strip of kitchen towel, fold it two or three times in a thin strip then
after moistening it with warm, note: warm not hot water, then lay it
flat on the bottom and manually moved the head over strip a couple of
times. Remove the strip and try a print, this ought remove any hairs,
fluff or paper debris that can build up getting in line of fire of ink
from the nozzles and causing ink drips.

Another cause I guess could be ink leaking from the head.

'Have a look here'
(http://printerinkquestions.printcoun...rand/Epson.htm) before you
do anything, there just might be something in the link to help.

davy

On Sun, 19 Aug 2012 21:23:37 -0500, VanguardLH
<V@nguard.LH> wrote:

>"Peter Jason" wrote:
>
>> I have a Epson Stylus R290 printer that is starting to deposit black
>> blots on paper and printable DVDs. I have always used Epson inks in
>> it. I used it in the XP and now Win7 op systems. I have run all its
>> diagnostics but still the problem remains.
>
>I don't know your printer. If the heads are included in the cartridges
>(as they are with many HP printers), did you try cleaning them? While
>they recommend using just distilled water and a lintless cloth, I
>usually employ isopropyl alcohol and a lintless cloth (i.e., cheap paper
>towel, not the fuzzy kind). From what Epsons that I've seen, they do
>not have heads in the cartridges. That means if the heads go bad and
>cannot be fixed that you have to get a new printer instead of just
>buying a new cartridge that includes the head. The manual for the Epson
>printer should tell you how to clean the heads.
>
>Another cause is a dirty roller. Clean the rollers with distilled water
>to remove any deposits on them. Don't use isopropyl alcohol as that
>dries them out (which shrinks them so they don't pinch as well) with
>repeated use; however, you can use it once or rarely if the deposits are
>stubborn to remove or have gotten particularly thick. You'll have to
>turn the rollers to clean all around them. If the ink hasn't dried by
>the time the paper hits the roller(s) then ink gets transferred onto
>them. That means the ink that smudged onto the rollers will smudge back
>onto the paper. This will happen at different spots on the same sheet
>of paper (since the roller rotates faster than the paper being feed past
>it) and also onto the next sheet of paper.
>
>Diagnostics won't clean the heads AND clean the roller(s). Also, never
>use cheap inks. They are often too "wet"; that is, they won't dry fast
>enough and bleed too much into the paper.

I've only ever used the Epson inks, a a quick look
showed the rollers to be dry and clean. Anyway I
am taking it in to the fixit shop in a few days
for a free appraisal and if this is no good it
will be cheaper to buy a new one. It's done a lot
of work printing to DVDs.

"Peter Jason" wrote:

> VanguardLH wrote:
>
>> "Peter Jason" wrote:
>>
>>> I have a Epson Stylus R290 printer that is starting to deposit black
>>> blots on paper and printable DVDs. I have always used Epson inks
>>> in it. I used it in the XP and now Win7 op systems. I have run all
>>> its diagnostics but still the problem remains.
>>
>> The manual for the Epson printer should tell you how to clean the
>> heads.
>>
>> Another cause is a dirty roller. Clean the rollers with distilled
>> water to remove any deposits on them. Don't use isopropyl alcohol
>> as that dries them out (which shrinks them so they don't pinch as
>> well) with repeated use; however, you can use it once or rarely if
>> the deposits are stubborn to remove or have gotten particularly
>> thick. You'll have to turn the rollers to clean all around them.
>>
>> Diagnostics won't clean the heads AND clean the roller(s).
>
> a quick look showed the rollers to be dry and clean. Anyway I am
> taking it in to the fixit shop in a few days for a free appraisal and
> if this is no good it will be cheaper to buy a new one. It's done a
> lot of work printing to DVDs.

You'd be surprised what you might pickup on an isopropyl wetted
lintless paper towel that you run across the rotated rollers. My aunt
didn't see anything, either, but she sure ended up with some dirty
towels and, poof, the smudgies were all gone.

There were no instructions in the printer's manual on cleaing its
heads?

Both of the above cleaning techniques are easily performed by the owner.

On Tue, 21 Aug 2012 19:55:55 -0500, VanguardLH
<V@nguard.LH> wrote:

>"Peter Jason" wrote:
>
>> VanguardLH wrote:
>>
>>> "Peter Jason" wrote:
>>>
>>>> I have a Epson Stylus R290 printer that is starting to deposit black
>>>> blots on paper and printable DVDs. I have always used Epson inks
>>>> in it. I used it in the XP and now Win7 op systems. I have run all
>>>> its diagnostics but still the problem remains.
>>>
>>> The manual for the Epson printer should tell you how to clean the
>>> heads.
>>>
>>> Another cause is a dirty roller. Clean the rollers with distilled
>>> water to remove any deposits on them. Don't use isopropyl alcohol
>>> as that dries them out (which shrinks them so they don't pinch as
>>> well) with repeated use; however, you can use it once or rarely if
>>> the deposits are stubborn to remove or have gotten particularly
>>> thick. You'll have to turn the rollers to clean all around them.
>>>
>>> Diagnostics won't clean the heads AND clean the roller(s).
>>
>> a quick look showed the rollers to be dry and clean. Anyway I am
>> taking it in to the fixit shop in a few days for a free appraisal and
>> if this is no good it will be cheaper to buy a new one. It's done a
>> lot of work printing to DVDs.
>
>You'd be surprised what you might pickup on an isopropyl wetted
>lintless paper towel that you run across the rotated rollers. My aunt
>didn't see anything, either, but she sure ended up with some dirty
>towels and, poof, the smudgies were all gone.
>
>There were no instructions in the printer's manual on cleaing its
>heads?
>
>Both of the above cleaning techniques are easily performed by the owner.

I tried something else. I removed the black
cartridge and replaced it with another empty one
to see if the printer would behave differently. Of
course it refused to do anything because that
cartridge was completely empty. Then I put back
the full one and tried again and then it worked
perfectly....no smudges or spots at all. I can
only assume the cartridge before was not seated
properly. So I cancelled the trip to the fixit
shop until when & if it smudges again.

I have plenty of isoPropanol here for cleaning the
other printer we have, a "Samsung CLX-6210-FX"
that we use for printing reams of adhesive labels
in A4 size lanced to 8 by 75 x 105mm shipping
labels. This gave no end of trouble at first
because the traces of adhesive at the leading edge
of the A4 sheets was depositing on one of the
plastic guides just inside the entry slot. We
had the service people out none of who had a clue
and all said it was a "paper problem".
The sheets are very good quality and the labels
are polyester PET.
I found the offending guide, made of a transparent
plastic (hard to see) and sure enough it had a
build up of adhesive that was stopping the free
flow of paper. Routine cleaning with
isoPropanol ensures trouble-free operation. We
print 100s of labels all the time. The old
Seikosha printer was better though.