DSF

I have this printer for sublimation and am generally very pleased with it. However, I occasionally find spashes of black ink in the prints. It appears on the top left hand corner of the paper on both A4 & A3.

I can deal with it by running a nozzle test on plain A3 paper but would like a permanent cure.

Any suggestions would be appreciated.

Ray

Hi Ray, this is something we experience too. Just on the corner of the page, looks like it's catching. It's not a big issue for us as we don't use the areas near the corner. But I'll be following this thread.

Hi Dan,

Thanks for the response, I'm hoping I've solved the problem now.

Firstly, it seems that whilst it gives great results, S-Race sub paper tends to curl. (Strangely I haven't found this problem with their A3 paper). I bought some Subli-Versa from Ink Experts and this does not curl but didn't solve the problem. Next I tried some paper from Amazon called A-Sub. I chose this as it is slightly heavier weight. This is, without doubt the best I've found so far I went for a few days without issues - then it happened again.

Next there was a lightbulb moment. Perhaps the printer was laying down too much ink - a pretty obvious possible cause really!

I was using "Epsom Matt" paper setting with quality "High". I have now set it to plain paper and retained the "High" setting and am getting the best results I've ever had in terms of crispness of image and colour rendering. So far, no more splashes!

Also, I purchased a few sheets of plain A3 paper and run these through without printing to pick up stray ink but none has appeared as yet.

What paper and settings are you using?

I hope this helps you.

Ray

Paper: We only use the Subli-fabric from Inkexperts, and occasionally their subli-style for aluminium.
Settings, like you, are "plain paper" + high. With the high speed box unticked.

It does definitely clear up after a nozzle clean. For how long, I'm unsure. I'll have to check. It's no biggie for us at the moment. We don't even bother trimming it off. I put a sheet of baking paper on the platen, items on top, so no ink spreads anywhere. I imaging for things like t-shirts etc, this wouldn't work, so would become quite an inconvenience.

Sometimes cutting a small piece off the corner diagonally can help this, I've seen that work where it's caught on the lower corner as it's gone through. I'm not sure you'll be happy with print results lowering to plain paper setting though.

I have the "High Speed" box ticked.

Hey Ray, we get this issue with our Subli-Fabric HR paper, as you have experienced with the SRace it does have a tendency to curl. This is because Subli-Fabric and SRace are high release papers. They are quite thin but also have a high moisture content so curl and wick with ambient air temperature. You don't get this issue with other papers like A-Sub, our Subli-Style, Subli-Versa and others. Naturally they don't release as much ink but do solve issues with curling and catching on the corners.

Most users of our HR paper trim the edges (which is something we advise anyway as the edges can be dirty from guillotining / trimming when the paper is converted from jumbo rolls to sheets) this removes any unwanted ink marks or splashes if they're near the corners or edges of the paper.

Glad you appear to have resolved it.

Alex

I find in damp or humid weather it is best to keep any open packets of S;race in a ziplock bag. Throw in some silica packets if you have any.

Rarely get a problem with freshly opened boxes of paper.

pw66;142349 wrote:I find in damp or humid weather it is best to keep any open packets of S;race in a ziplock bag. Throw in some silica packets if you have any.

Rarely get a problem with freshly opened boxes of paper.

Good tip that PW66

Hi,

I have the same printer. I use a S-Race paper for fabric and Ink Experts 120gsm A4 Subli-Style for ceramic. I just o have the same problem when I bought the printer and I realised the paper I used was very thin and that is why I go the ink marks.