[tandami]

Re: The Best Printer For Heat Transfer

i need your help. I got an epson stylus photo 1280 from recommendations on this board. I know its good for heat pressing, but this printer seems to be a pain with cleaning the heads. I am constantly getting dotted lines of ink going through my designs, or I'll get banding that goes across. It's really frustrating. I'm using epson cartridges, not generic, and I still get these lines, even though I clean the printer heads. It gets better after cleaning, but the lines are still visible, though not as bad or as much, especially in the white areas of my design. What else can I do so I don't get these lines besides hitting the 'clean print head' button??
Any help would be sooo appreciated. Should I have it print at a different setting than just normal paper? Would that help?
Dee

 

[Tshirtwonderland]

Dee Lovely I also have the Epson 1280. I am using the magic mix inks and I am having the same problem. The only thing that keeps it from banding is when I use the printer on Photo Enhance. (standard) I was upset about using it because I felt I was wasting ink, but I realize I had to print things two and three times to get a good print, after the cleaning the heads. So I realized it is better to just print in Photo Enhance the first time and call it a day. If you have figured out a way to stop the banding in regular print mode let me know.

 

[Corys8646]

I also have the 1280 with the MM inks and spend quite a bit of time dealing with clogged print heads..

the best solutions I have come up with are:
1. turn the printer off when not using it (the heads will rest on the cleaning pad and help with the drying out)
2. Print every other day...if I am busy enough and print jobs daily, it runs smooth, if it sits for a few days it will dry up.
3. when you get a serious clog, put some distilled water on the cleaning pad and turn the printer off for a few hours, then turn it on and do a cleaning cycle, this will usually take care of it for me.

see this page for more info (great page)
http://www.inkjetreview.ca/Articles/clogged_epson_nozzles.htm

and use this tool
http://www.ssclg.com/epsone.shtml