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epson 740: ink smearing paper (w/ pics)

D

DJFuji

Diamond Member
My Epson 740 has recently started to smear ink on one of the rollers, creating a black streak on almost every page i print. I cleaned off the roller, but as soon as i do, the printer somehow gets ink on there again the next cleaning cycle or paper printed. Don't know what to do.

This image shows the roller that is being sprayed with ink each time. The printing mechanism passes over it, pauses for a second, and when it moves away, i see ink all over the roller.

The printing mechanism also likes to arbitrarily leave huge horizontal streaks on the page while it's printing. I'm thinking that maybe i got a bad cartridge or something. I've cleaned the print heads 8 times and there isn't much improvement. I dont know how to take out the black ink cartridge when it isn't empty, though.

Any ideas?
 
I suspect you have a leaking cartridge. I suggest discarding both of your ink carts, and replacing them immediately. You can get black OEM carts HERE for about $1.00 each, and color OEM carts HERE for about $1.60 each.

To remove the ink carts before they are empty, hold the Paper Feed button down for 2+ seconds. The carriage will move to the center and stop, allowing you to remove/replace carts. Press paper feed once again to return the printer to normal.

Once you have the carts removed, carefully use an alcohol soaked rag to clean around the ink needles that penetrate the bottom of each cartridge.

Carefully clean the ink from the printer roller by using cotton swabs or small pieces of rag soaked in alcohol. Use the paper feed button to gradually advance the roller, allowing you to reach all the way around it. You can also get some thick sturdy card stock, wrinkle it up a bit and moisten it with alcohol, then run it through the paper path a several times to get any ink that may have accumulated in unreachable areas.

Feel free to PM me if the problem persists after these steps.

Good luck!
 
Originally posted by: gsaldivar
I suspect you have a leaking cartridge. I suggest discarding both of your ink carts, and replacing them immediately. You can get black OEM carts HERE for about $1.00 each, and color OEM carts HERE for about $1.60 each.

To remove the ink carts before they are empty, hold the Paper Feed button down for 2+ seconds. The carriage will move to the center and stop, allowing you to remove/replace carts. Press paper feed once again to return the printer to normal.

Once you have the carts removed, carefully use an alcohol soaked rag to clean around the ink needles that penetrate the bottom of each cartridge.

Carefully clean the ink from the printer roller by using cotton swabs or small pieces of rag soaked in alcohol. Use the paper feed button to gradually advance the roller, allowing you to reach all the way around it. You can also get some thick sturdy card stock, wrinkle it up a bit and moisten it with alcohol, then run it through the paper path a several times to get any ink that may have accumulated in unreachable areas.

Feel free to PM me if the problem persists after these steps.

Good luck!
Click to expand...

Thanks for the tips. I actually replaced the cartridge right after I posted my original post because i figured i had nothing to lose. I had a few spare cartridges around that i bought cheap. Turned out that's what the problem was. There's no longer any leaking ink, though print quality is still not perfect. The print carriage does like 5 or 6 lines of text at a time, and the last line sometimes has lines in it. I guess that's not too bad considering the printer is 5-6 years old, though...
 
If you still notice some banding after replacing the ink cartridges, try running the cleaning cycle (hold down ink button for 2+ seconds) at least 4-5 times. If there is still banding, try this:

If you look inside of the printer on the far right-side, you will notice an ink sponge on which the print head rests. Move the carriage to the center (hold down paper feed for 2+ seconds), and carefully place about 5 drops of alcohol on this sponge. Using a clean papertowel, gently press down onto the sponge to immediately soak up the 5 drops alcohol. Repeat this twice to cleanse the sponge. Add a final 5 drops of alcohol to the sponge (leave it wet), then return the printer to normal by pressing the paper feed button. Perform 2 or 3 cleaning cycles after you are done.

To avoid printer damage, ONLY perform this cleaning procedure immediately after installing new cartridges.

Properly maintained, these printers last a long time.. 🙂

Hope this helps!
 
Originally posted by: gsaldivar
If you still notice some banding after replacing the ink cartridges, try running the cleaning cycle (hold down ink button for 2+ seconds) at least 4-5 times. If there is still banding, try this:

If you look inside of the printer on the far right-side, you will notice an ink sponge on which the print head rests. Move the carriage to the center (hold down paper feed for 2+ seconds), and carefully place about 5 drops of alcohol on this sponge. Using a clean papertowel, gently press down onto the sponge to immediately soak up the 5 drops alcohol. Repeat this twice to cleanse the sponge. Add a final 5 drops of alcohol to the sponge (leave it wet), then return the printer to normal by pressing the paper feed button. Perform 2 or 3 cleaning cycles after you are done.

To avoid printer damage, ONLY perform this cleaning procedure immediately after installing new cartridges.

Properly maintained, these printers last a long time.. 🙂

Hope this helps!
Click to expand...

gsaldivar, you're awesome. thanks for all your help. I'll give that a shot and see how it turns out...
 
Originally posted by: gsaldivar
If you still notice some banding after replacing the ink cartridges, try running the cleaning cycle (hold down ink button for 2+ seconds) at least 4-5 times. If there is still banding, try this:

If you look inside of the printer on the far right-side, you will notice an ink sponge on which the print head rests. Move the carriage to the center (hold down paper feed for 2+ seconds), and carefully place about 5 drops of alcohol on this sponge. Using a clean papertowel, gently press down onto the sponge to immediately soak up the 5 drops alcohol. Repeat this twice to cleanse the sponge. Add a final 5 drops of alcohol to the sponge (leave it wet), then return the printer to normal by pressing the paper feed button. Perform 2 or 3 cleaning cycles after you are done.

To avoid printer damage, ONLY perform this cleaning procedure immediately after installing new cartridges.

Properly maintained, these printers last a long time.. 🙂

Hope this helps!
Click to expand...

Ok well i ran the cleaning cycle and printed the nozzle check diagrams 5 times and 2 out of the 5 times i see these VERY LIGHT vertical ink smears like the carriage dripped ink on the rollers again.

But the lines on the nozzle checks never really all printed correctly. Each page had a few lines that were missing on the black side only. Since i just put this new cartridge in recently, can i perform the alcohol cleaning you described above? Or do i have to wait until this cartridge is used up and do it on next one?
 
The alcohol cleaning should definitely improve your print quality - especially clearing up any missing lines in the nozzle check test.

While your ink carts are still FULL, I recommend doing this immediately.

Anytime you remove carts from the Epson 740, always be sure to install FULL cartridges when you are done (you should be OK carefully reinstalling carts you very recently installed). When you remove the ink carts on the Epson 740, the internal ink counter is reset. Running the Epson 740 on empty ink carts will cause permanent damage to the printhead. This is the reason for warning against removing and reinstalling half-empty carts. 🙂
 
Originally posted by: gsaldivar
The alcohol cleaning should definitely improve your print quality - especially clearing up any missing lines in the nozzle check test.

While your ink carts are still FULL, I recommend doing this immediately.

Anytime you remove carts from the Epson 740, always be sure to install FULL cartridges when you are done (you should be OK carefully reinstalling carts you very recently installed). When you remove the ink carts on the Epson 740, the internal ink counter is reset. Running the Epson 740 on empty ink carts will cause permanent damage to the printhead. This is the reason for warning against removing and reinstalling half-empty carts. 🙂
Click to expand...

Gotcha. Will it still be ok though because i've run about 6 cleaning cycles and printed off a few pages? I heard that cleaning cycles uses a LOT of ink...

I have another ink cartridge i can use if that's going to be a problem. At $1-2 each, i can afford to waste one. =)

Thanks again.
 
Gotcha. Will it still be ok though because i've run about 6 cleaning cycles and printed off a few pages? I heard that cleaning cycles uses a LOT of ink...
Click to expand...

You should be fine reinstalling those.
 
Originally posted by: LiLithTecH
This may be of help with the carts.
Works 1000% better than Epson's Monitor
and gives a lot more control of the printer.

SSC Service Utility for Epson Stylus Printers

If you have Epson's Ink Monitor installed, uninstall before
installing this utility.
Click to expand...

hm. I uninstalled the epson status monitor and installed the SSC Utility. But it can't communicate with my printer at ALL. I'm using standard winXP drivers (USB), but don't think that's a problem. I rebooted, and still the same thing. Any ideas?
 
I am using it with a Stylus Photo 700 and it preforms
flawlessly using WinXP SP1.

I had previously used it with Stylus 800, 400, 3000.
Under Win9x and 2k.

All hooked up through LPT ports to Intel Print Server.


Did you SELECT your Printer from the CONFIGURATION Tab
in SSC and then Reboot?
 
Yes, I installed it and rebooted - twice. I'm using XP with a SC740 connected by USB. Software looks great, though. I'll try it again later with the printer connected to a USB 1.0 bus instead of the 2.0 bus I have it connected to now.

Thanks for the heads-up - I didn't even know this software existed until you mentioned it. 🙂
 
Originally posted by: LiLithTecH
I am using it with a Stylus Photo 700 and it preforms
flawlessly using WinXP SP1.

I had previously used it with Stylus 800, 400, 3000.
Under Win9x and 2k.

All hooked up through LPT ports to Intel Print Server.


Did you SELECT your Printer from the CONFIGURATION Tab
in SSC and then Reboot?
Click to expand...

hm...gsaldivar and i are both using USB ports...could that be an issue?
 
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