Discuss the various aspects of heat press technology. Transfer paper, inks, plastisol transfers, vinyl cutters, printers, commercial usage, durability, suppliers, etc.
I have been using the epson 1280 with majic mix inks and bulk ink system. When it prints right it works great but every other time I use it, i have banding or some other problem with the inks.
Lately, sometimes, all of the colors are faded or show severe banding will comming out and then i get pools of ink left on the left side of the image.
I bought a brand new epson 1280 and after 5 min of messing with it, i got a PERFECT bright print. The very next one, the problem was back with pools of ink on the side. Then i tired printing something with little color and no ink showed up on the page, even from going through the printer and picking up excess ink left behind. Then i tried again and the whole image just has this dirty kind of look in the black like its smudged allmost around it.
I have tried messing with the height of the ink system. I put it at the level of the cartridges, and still had the problem. So now i put it back on ground level with the printer.
The transfer paper you use will affect your results. Some can handle a lot of ink without puddles ie Transjet II and IW Jet II. Other paper must have a very light coat of ink to work, ie Iron All and the paper with a red grid backing. Your print settings will affect the amount of ink output. Look for 360 dpi and plain paper settings. Puddles happen when more ink is put on the paper than it can absorb. A slight curl on the paper will cause it to drag an edge across the print head on the way out of the printer, leaving a black blob of ink. Just trim the edge off before pressing.
I had banding problems and clogging nozzles with Magic mix. I switched to transfer ink from The Paper Ranch and those problems went away.
I bought the 1280 package from alpha supply magic ink and all. a year ago it was the biggest waste of money never printed right tech never returned my calls now i use an epson cx700 w/jetpro transfers works great the 1280 sits collecting dust.
The epson 1280 will need the heads cleaned alot. Do a google search and you find out how to use coffee filters and distilled water to clean the head. I wouldnt use pigment ink with the 1280 heads...
Do a nozzle check followed by a head cleaning. If the black ink still isn't printing, draw a tall rectangle in your graphics program and fill it with black. Print the page at the highest resolution it will let you. If the black is still not printing, wait 1 hour and do another nozzle check ... it could just be an air bubble in your tubes (assuming you're using a bulk ink system). Don't do repetitive cleaning cycles or it will damage your print heads.
Had the same problem with the 1280. I have switched to the newer model the 1400 hoping I will not have so much problems. Still looking for a CIS System for the 1400.
One thing the Espon manual says is not leave the print off for more than a month. So once a month you should do a print in order to avoid clog heads.
Got the 1400 directly from Epson for $299 with free shipping. All other sites have it for 399 and up
I have three different epson printers (one is 1280, an R320 and a fax machine/printer combo). All have developed black ink problems...yes there may be something to using the machines regularly, but it is starting to look like Epson is having issues with black in heads. I recently bought a Canon large format printer...very nice.
epson 1280 bulk ink system problems 
