Things That Go Bump In The Night

Busy giclée printers who burn the candle at both ends had better keep their sleepy eyes open for things that go bump in the night, like print heads and art papers. This can be what happens when you don't...



This nasty accident could have been an expensive one requiring the replacement of the print head, but I was lucky. It happened when I started printing on an 11 X 17 inch sheet or Hahnemuhle Photo Rag Ultra Smooth, a 305 gram art paper requested by one of our artist customers at Vashon Island Imaging.

I never suspected that I would have a problem with Hahnemuhle paper hanging up in the printer, I mean they have such a great reputation. So I loaded the new stock and was out of the printing room when I heard some odd noises coming from the Epson 9880. By the time I got there the paper was crumpled up inside the printer and the machine had quit printing (thank goodness).

This was hardly the first heavy weight art paper we had run through the trusty Epson. At Vashon Island Imaging we try to stay in Epson's range whenever possible to avoid precisely this kind of problem. The closest Epson equivalent is their Ultra Smooth Fine Arts Paper which is slightly heavier at 325 grams. Actually it is more like a light card stock than 'paper'. However USFAP sheets lie flat and Hahnemuhle Photo Rag Ultra Smooth sheets do not.


The Hahnemuhle sheets curl up at the ends by about 1/4 inch which is enough for them to hang up on the Epson 9880 post-print guide assembly instead of passing under and through it. As a result the paper started to 'accordion fold' and the print head crashed into it.

Part of the fix is to reverse the curl so that it is downward instead of upward. That allows the paper to pass under the guide correctly. Use your fingertips to do the curl reversal. Start in the center with a very flat, wide curl and a light touch. Gradually tighten the diameter of the curve's arc as you sweep your fingertips back and forth. Be careful not to bend to much to fast which could make a fold instead of a curl. Work the paper gently and smoothly and you'll feel it get limp and start to relax. Ahhhhhhh.



The paper doesn't have to reverse curl that much but the curl should be distinct and noticeable, as pictured below.



The second part is to adjust the platen gap of the printer manually. I know, the software is supposed to do that. But remember, this is Hahnemuhle that we are talking about here, not Epson. It may be that the Hahnemuhle profile doesn't trigger the platen gap adjustment in an Epson 9880... or it could be voodoo. In either case, it doesn't hurt to make sure that the platen gap is set correctly, eh?

Here are the platen gap settings for the Epson 9880:



Here's hoping you never bump into this problem.