Message
Re: [QuadtoneRIP] Calibration print banding -- Epson 3800 fixable?
2016-04-11 by rdeloe1@...
This printer was lightly used in a small lab. It has made 781 prints. My sense is that it was too much printer for the people that bought it. They didn't do any maintenance, and then the LM head starting acting up. At that point they probably pushed it aside. It's only ever had Epson OEM inks in it, but they've clearly been sitting around for ages; some of the cartridges that came with the printer are dated 2009, while the newest spares are 2012.
Your guess that there might be particles and other gunk in the dampers sounds very reasonable.
I did all tests at 2880 dpi UniDirection, and just tried it with the QTR 8ink file in Calibration mode.The banding is even more obvious than on the smaller default calibration chart. For comparison, I did the same test on my Artisan 1430. It doesn't show any noticeable micro-banding.
Interestingly, on a nozzle check the LM channel on the 3800 always shows exactly the same 3 missing lines. I thought that usually means that there's something stuck to the outside of the head, rather than coming down the line. Is this relevant? Does it change your hunch?