Help! Ink spot appearing after sublimation.

[pcwizme]

Thats really odd, its clearly due to ink on the paper, so theres only a couple of ways that can get there.

1) overspray, name says it all
2) its on the design but you didnt know (I doubt this but I have seen it on some designs I have bought online that have been selected and copied badly)
3) you spilt ink (not this one)

Why do I think it is these options? well the ink splots are around the design, they are not in the middle of nowhere, they are conforming to the design space so makes sense that it is printing in that area.

What I would do is print a square of each colour in a line and then see if from a clear image (delete the back ground make it purely the pure colours)
Presuming you have 4 colours on your epson then print square pure black , square pure cyan, square pure yellow, and square pure magenta. Then sublimate this and see if you get the marks, if you do its not the design, if you don't then its coming from the design. If its not coming from the design then overspray caused by an issue with the print head I would expect. at this point speak to epson / check their website for details etc....

if it is from the design (ie nothing on the test design) then it could be from the source of the design or from the software you are printing from or your print settings etc etc, but this is a lot more work to investigate so deep dive time!

[joe7906]

Ok, thanks so much for the advice! I will experiment with everyone's advice and hopefully update soon that the issue is solved. Thanks again!

[joe7906]

Thank you all again for your input. I've attached a few pictures. As you can see, the nozzle test doesn't look too good. I thought this was just because of using sublimation ink instead of normal toner, but apparently not. Is there anything I can do about this manually? I've already run the print head cleaning and the power cleaning and it doesn't seem to help. I experimented with a couple of mugs and the problem is persisting. I've attached a few pictures.
The first image shows the overspray (I'm guessing that's the problem at this point), even though this was printed at highest quality (presentation matte paper setting) just after a cleaning.
The second image is a mug I cooled in water right after it came out of the press. The overspray is more blue-ish, but still obviously very visible.
The third image is of the nozzle check.
What can I do about the overspray if the nozzle cleaning doesn't seem to be helping? I don't think I can complain to Epson because if I remember correctly their warranty is voided if you use sublimation ink? Is there anything I can do, hopefully other than purchasing a new printer?

[pcwizme]

How old is your ink?

[joe7906]

How old is your ink?

About a year.

[pcwizme]

im just wondering if it has gone off causing it to block the print heads and when you try and powerflush its just adding blockages.... I dont know though

[joe7906]

Problem Solved. Thank you all again for the input. I will post the link to the video that solved the problem. In the video he advertises a solution, but I just used hot water. The problem was overspray, however running the cleanings wasn't helping. I had to open the printer and manually clean the print heads. Thanks again.
Epson ET 2750 - How To Clean Printhead - Printer Error Solved - YouTube