Epson R300 banding on printable CD/DVD media.

[derodeo]

This is such a strange problem given that I have now seen this on TWO R300s and yet no one else seems to have the problem. The issue I have is a distinct perfectly straight 1/2" wide band (presumably from a roller) shows up approximately 1/2" in from the right hand side of EVERY inkjet printable CD/DVD I print. I took my first R300 back to Staples and showed them a DVD I printed. They immediately agreed that the printer was defective and exchanged it for a new one. The new one prints exactly the same defect! Photos on paper print great - it's only the disc media which have the roller imprint.

I've also contacted Epson technical support and they have no clue other than to exchange the printer. I've seen some excellent quality scans of discs printed on the R300 and they sure don't exhibit this problem. When I get a chance I'll provide a scan of a disc I've printed.

[The village idiot]

You might want to give 2 pictures, one of the entire disk, and one of a cropped close-up of the area in question.

[iooi]

Ok shot in the dark here, not a 300 owner but this springs to mind..
Could it be a drive roller that has moved during transit and just needs pushing back to the correct position or is there a lever for diffrent paper levels that needs to be raised up like on the 900 ????

[unloaded]

Well, since its happened to you twice, are you sure the media you are using is inkjet printable, not just "printable"? Also my printer pulls the caddy all the way in and then prints the disk on its way out, the rollers are on the backside of the print head so I don't see how they could mark the disc. Does yours print the same way? When you lower the caddy guide, do the front rollers with metal teeth raise up? Next time I print one, I'll watch the whole process very closely and see if I can spot anything else that might be happening to you.

peace.
unloaded

[derodeo]

The media I use (both CD and DVD) are inkjet printable and indeed print very nice pictures. Except there's a band down the right hand side that looks as if a strip of transparent tape might have been placed there. It's almost certainly a roller that is contacting the freshly inked surface. But it's not either one of the two rollers that act to hold down the tray mechanism - those are off to the side and can't contact the actual media. I'm disappointed Epson technical support can't tell me what might be happening.

Got to get my scanner up and running (not a simple task) and I'll post a picture.

[jtoolman2000]

The transport rollers contact the caddy and disk BEFORE the ink head prints so it can not touch the just printed surface, but only the not yet printed surface of the disk. Check to see whether there is any offending substance on the one roller that is marking the face.

[derodeo]

I can't see ANY roller that might contact the surface. Since it has happened on two brand new R300 printers, I can't see it being a problem with contamination. Anyway I've attached (or at least I'm tring to) a scan of a DVD cover. You should be able to clearly see the band on the right hand side of the image extending across Mr. Hanks forehead and the top of his nose. It looks as if a piece of transparent tape was placed on the disc. Because this image was rotated when printed, that band would have been perfectly straight up and down when it came out of the printer.

[iooi]

Just wondering if this isnt a printer problem and is something to do with the media you are using. Possibly a production fault. Or maybe in the way the disks have been handled.
I remember there was another post a while back about disks have a area printed that was not the same as the rest of the disk but dont know the outcome....

[derodeo]

But it occurs on 3 different types of disc media: Memorex CD-R and two "generic" DVD-R. All inkjet printable of course and the band is always in exactly the same location. Has to be the printer.

[The village idiot]

edit , you made you other post while I was typing, ignore most of this.



WOW that is strange. And this is the second printer that has done this right? Can you see anything different in the disks before you print them? Have you tried any other brand of disk in your printer? How about sticking a label on a disk, then sending it through the printer to see if it is the printer or the disks? You could try a paper cut out of a disk, but if it is some kind of odd pressure problem, that is going to show you anything. It would be best to try another brand of disk, maybe the printable CDRs from Memorex. Some Staples have them in stock, CompUSA should have them in stock, BestBuy might have them in stock, or atleast try putting a label on a disk and then printing on it.

Also you could make a note of which direction the disk is feeding into the printer, put a small make on the disks with a Sharpie, then make sure that mark always then points to a similar mark on the caddy. Then if you strange discolored area moves around the disk, you know it isn't the printer. Was the art work right side up, or turned to the side the almost 45 degrees that the printout is in relation to the discolored area? If it was right side up (or upside down) the discolored area should have been either parallel with the titles, or perpendicular to the titles. If the image was turned, then that whole theory gets thrown out.

[unloaded]

Very strange, the only roller that I see that looks to be same size and place as your mark, is the roller under the caddy. The third rubber roller from the left. The metal toothed rollers hit them when you put the caddy guide up. Can you tell if it looks like it might be a different size than the others? When you raise the caddy guide slowly, try to see if the metal roller hits that one, before the others engage. If its slightly bigger, it could be causing the print head to slightly rub in that area, causing the mark. Its really strange that you would get 2 like that, but it is possible. If they had a batch of oversized rollers in the production plant, and used a different hopper for each roller position, all the bad ones could turn up in the third from left position. Also if your first one was replaced by the same store, they could have came from the same production run..... It's kind of a stretch, but within the realm of possibility. BTW I'm assuming from the pics that the mark is straight and by the side of the disc closest to center of the printer.
Good luck figuring it out, keep us posted on what you find.

peace.
unloaded

[derodeo]

Thanks for the ideas guys. You've given me a few things yet to try. Epson tech support claims never to have seen such a thing but suggests I try the printer on another computer to elimate the possibility of communication noise (I'll do this tonight). The two printers I've had have serial #'s pretty close to each other so a production run error is possible. Though all the rollers look to be the same size.

I wonder if Staples will once again swap my printer for a new one - maybe after I use up all the ink

[The village idiot]

Good idea on the ink

Just guessing here, it could be that the caddy has a defect. If there was a spot where the plastic was thicker, then it could move the disk closer to the heads in just that one spot. If the printer has a manual thick media lever (envelopes, etc.) you could try moving that to the thicker setting ( the + setting) and see if the problem is reduced.

You could ask Epson if they will send you a new printer (ask for the R800 for the inconvenience ) and you will send this one directly to them so they can see the problem first hand! Even include a couple of the disks, both blank and printed.

[derodeo]

Well, I just tried the printer again on a different computer, using a different USB cable, using USB 1.1 instead of 2.0, using the printer drivers on the CD (previously I was using the current version from Epson's website). The result was the same banding problem! (Yes, I'm printing a different image each time I print a disc). Note, I've used 3 different inkjet printable media (Memorex CD-R and two generic DVD-R) and all the samples (about a dozen) I've printed exhibit the problem in about equal degrees of severity.

village idiot, there is a "thick paper" setting hidden somewhere deep inside the printer properties (hidden so well I can't find it right now) but it's not mentioned in the manual for printing discs. And besides, I wouldn't think a thickness problem wouldn't result in a straight 1/2" band on the same spot every time? The disc caddy looks fine (and its the 2nd one of those I've had too). Good idea about making a deal with Epson but they're already getting back my first defective R300 so I have little room to negociate

[The village idiot]

They still need to make it good though. If a couple more people have the same problem, this could REALLY hurt sales! They should atleast send another directly to you. It is the second unit with the same problem after all. Either that or the store you bought it from is going to have to eat it. You have a definite problem, and I'm sure this has now delayed at least one person from buying this model printer.

Even if you had to pay for the difference in price, the R800 would be worth it. From the review I posted a few days ago, it seem the printer takes care of lining up the disk before printing, that should remove the alignment problems that the 9XX series has. Plus it has the pigment inks that may reduce the rub-off when wet problems.

[XLR8]

I just purchased a R300 myself and in reading the manual it states to clean the rollers before printing CD's or DVD's. This is achived by loading/ejecting several sheets of blank paper through the printer before printing CD's or DVD's for the first time. I have done this myself but I have not printed to a DVD yet, they should be arriving soon, I will post results when they get here.

[derodeo]

I've done the cleaning procedure - the ejected paper sheets are perfectly clean as one would expect with a new printer. I've done the alignment procedure and neither printer needed adjustment. The latest from Epson tech support is that it must be an alignment problem and to adjust my print position. Sigh. If they could enlighten me as to precisly how the alignment procedure can be responsible for a perfectly symetrical 1/2" band on every disc I print, it might help.

I suspect it won't make any difference but I'd like to try printing a disc using something other than the Epson CD Print software I've been using. What other software can I use? Is there a Photoshop or Surething CD Labeler template that would work with the R300? Thanks.

[troyvcd1]

try nero to make your labels.

[derodeo]

Problem Solved! It was the Epson Print CD software. I just tried printing a disc using Nero Cover Designer (thanks troyvcd1) and for the first time, there was no banding. Nero Cover Designer is not as flexible as the Epson software and my first attempt is in serious need of realignment but it does print without banding. What a hassle. 5 different Epson tech support people replied to my e-mails but not one suggested it could be their disc printing software. Anyway, I can now pronounce the R300 as one darn fine printer. Shame about the software and the techs...

Thanks guys.

[iooi]

Nice to see you have solved your problem and i would never have guessed at software. Maybe a uninstall and reinstall would be worth a try or download the latest version from the epson site ?

[quadforce]

I too would be intrested in using a program besides epson print cd to print my labels.. anyone know of any that will work? also, anyone know where i might find some printable to the hub dvdrs?

[Redd]

Hmmm...I have not had this problem and I use the Epson Software. What version do you have?
My version is 1.20A

Late entry. A search of Epson.com shows no downloads of this software.

[XLR8]

I'm glad that's over with. I was getting worried if I was going to have the same issue when my IJ printables showed up. No need to sweat now.

[iooi]

Inyone know where i might find some printable to the hub dvdrs?

Beall seem to be the only printabe to the hub disks. Avaiable State side....
Redd/. ver 1.01E with my 900

[depressd]

I bought an R300M and have printed about four Dvd's. Two of the four show this banding issue. There are two distinct 1 1/2 inch strips that show one on the left and one on the right side of the printed cd. 3 of the Dvd's were printed with the Epson software. The other was using Acoustica Cd Labeler. The one using this software did not show the bands. However I did notice the quality of printing was of lesser quality. It seemed to cause pooling of the ink.

I am using 4x Bealls Printable. It's hard to capture the banding on my scanner. It doesn't seem to want to pick it up. But as described before, it's as if scotch tape was pulled off and left the residue behind. I'm going to try and use nero's program and see if that fixes the problem. Here is the pic of Acoustica's printing job








This one is printed with the Epson software and doesn't show the banding. It also produces a lot better results than Acoustica's software

[quasar1963]

Have had the R300 for several weeks now and had no problems with banding until last night when printing 4 discs. Noticed a distinct 1/2 inch vertical stripe/band on ither side of the disc. Did not notice this at all with previously printed discs. Have tried several different settings but they are all coming out now with the these 2 bands on either side. Help?

[gmatov]

I see you found it. Have you matched your software to the version mentioned above? He had a bad version and new version fixed him up.

Cheers,

George

[quasar1963]

Yeah, I initially had a problem with the driver (wanting to use mac os9 instead of osx.3) with their supplied software but they sent me a newer version of it that fixed that problem. After that fix, the discs still printed without this banding just fine until last night where I noticed this and am still having it occur.

[ozstar100]

Hi all,

I would suggest you contact Sure thing which is the best software around for CD's and DVD's they might have a way how you can set up a template for this.

I am watching here very carefully as I am about to buy the 310 here in OZ.
I use Sure thing so far for labels as well.

Please keep posting experiences.. Thanks

Oz

[depressd]

I'm using v1.20a of Epson's cd print software. Maybe I'll shoot epson an email and point them to this thread.