Epson 1280 w/niagara bulk feed is "banding"

D-76 · Jul 18, 2007

I've cleaned the nozzles several times and the test looks fine. Colors look good as well, but visible horizontal lines are driving me nuts. Could this be a software issue?

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

jstuedle · Jul 19, 2007

I doubt that it's a software problem. We have a Fast-Tee jet Tee shirt printer with a bulk system. It uses an Epson 2200 engine for its foundation. We have problems with ink drying in the print head if we don't use it daily basis. We use textile ink on that system, but we also use 2 2200's for photo's. A trick I found when the cleaning cycle does not work, is to remove the print head and soak in something with ammonia to cut the caked on or dried up ink. We fill a small Tupperware dish with Windex and soak the submerged print head for about 48 hours. This has worked without fail when one or the other of the three printers clog up. The biggest reason they clog is air gets in the print head, the second is time idle between prints. With the bulk system air is the biggest culprit. Hope this helps.

Malks · Jul 19, 2011

I was having banding problems with my Epson 1280, too. I had printed a photo in JPEG format (on Super A3 heavy matte paper) and it was just fine. I converted it to a TIFF thinking I might get slightly better quality. Wrong! I had banding - blue lines across the paper, top to bottom. On a hunch, I changed the file back to a JPEG and the banding disappeared. I have NO idea why a TIFF file would cause banding. Anyone have a clue why a TIFF would come out this way? My problem is apparently solved, but I'm just curious.

This doesn't make a lot of sense to me, but

molested_cow · Jul 19, 2011

It's pretty common for the 1280. I had mine since 2003 and just sold it earlier this year. I think it comes with old age because I remember printing on my friend's newer 1280 and the prints were fine.

That said, the 1280 is by far the best purchase in my life so far. It went through the extensive abuse through college ( we had to make wall-size presentations every week for multiple classes), saved me a ton of money and kept on marching on. When I sold it, there was definitely a sad moment, but I haven't needed to use a printer at home since I just print stuff at work.