THANK YOU SO SO SO SO MUCH!!!!! I was about to give up on my ET-7750, I had just replaced the maintenance box, done a power clean and everything else in between and was still getting these awful black smudges that were wet and ended up getting black ink everywhere! I was trying to print stuff for my daughter's birthday next week, and was about to give up and pay to have them printed at a print shop. But this has COMPLETELY FIXED IT! You are an absolute legend, thank you so much for sharing this!!
Wow! My ET7750 is like new again. Kitchen paper and cotton buds have done the trick and a nozzle check performance came out absolutely perfect on the first attempt afterwards without any problem whatsoever. Many thanks to this man in the video and to anyone having smudge problems, give it a go but be careful and gentle when you do!!
Great video. I started printing important photos and the first print that came out was covered in black smudges (I had not used the printed in a bit). Worst I have seen in over a year. Was almost ready to send the printer flying across the room when I found your video. It worked like a charm and cleared the black smudges however in the process of doing this 3 other colours stopped printing fully. A print check did show that 3 colors were spotted and the prints were now missing colors. So here is how I finally fixed that. After 3 cleaning cycles there was some improvement but still the 3 colours were not printing fully (I have 5 ink colors for this model). I got this idea off of another video many months ago. I removed the cover to the top of my print head to expose the print tubes leading down to the print head. I grasped the tube for each color that was acting up and gave all three tubes some serious squeezes or pinches (as close to the head as possible) to try and force air or ink through the head to clear the nozzles. Restarted and bingo. All 5 colors were printing perfectly and thanks to you - no more black smudges. Oh and by the way, the printer forced me to repace the maintenance box before it would allow me to print again so I did that with no problems (it told me the maintenance box was at the end of its life cycle). So... thank you Yorkies Bits and Bobs and hopefully the tip I included on fixing my other colors not printing properly helps others as well.
Can I just tell you THANK YOU!!! I have literally been fighting with this printer for yeeeeears! I have tried multiple how to videos to clean. I still can't get the power cleaning setting to work despite following the "hold down power, ok and down button" after turning the unit off. But either way I have NO MORE black lines smearing all over my documents, photos etc! SO Happy! Thank you again for a wonderful video and I love the time stamps as well! Super quick to find just what I need!
Thank you oh so dearly for this video. I was at my wits end and was throwing away every other print, or every third print and thought it was something I couldn’t fix. Because of you, I’ve been able to successfully print out my sisters quinceañera invitations & now know how to fix this issue in the future. Thank you, thank you, thank you!
As helpful as your first video was I am glad you updated it. First, for your suggestion to unplug the machine in order to move the print head and also to focus on that 1 inch square black surface. That is clearly the spot that accumulates all of the excess ink as sits there under the print head when parked and soaks up all the spillage. If I just dab that area once a month with paper towel and get the bulk of the wet ink off of it I continue to get perfectly clean prints. I am trying you idea for the 'thick paper 'setting which does seem like a good idea in theory. Thanks, Bob! You're a good man and we all appreciate your valuable information.
Great video. I've looked at several videos to address my black ink streaks problem and this was the best one and easiest to understand for those of us who are intimidated. I was starting to consider just buying a different printer - but today I found this video and it was doable! Problem solved. Big thanks!!
i opened mine up and while this was not the problem, it did help me find the problem which was there was a big chunk of fur stuck to the print head dragging black ink all over the paper.
My ET-2750 was printing a chunk of smeared black ink in the top left corner for goodness knows how long. Thanks to your video, I've got it working the way it should!
Very helpful indeed. This has solved a problem that has caused me considerable difficulties from time to time and a lot of wasted quality card. The problem has occurred for me on other printers and eventually i got rid of them. The ET-7750 has been brilliant until the black marks started appearing on greetings cards I print for an art group. I had no idea of the existence of the mucky pad but the method has done the trick. Incidentally the printer drive on my iMac has a setting for thick paper but now I discover that it does not affect the setting on the printer itself. All sorted. Thanks, Bob!
YOU ARE AWESOME! My printer started leaking so much black ink and I had a sticker order to fill the next day. I was panicking but I’m SO GLAD I found your video. As soon as I cleaned it the ink leaks were gone in 2 prints. THANK YOU!!! SUBSCRIBED ✅
Fantastic. Sorted ink smearing and thickness of paper. Epson need to add tips like this. Straight forward when you know what to do. Brilliant. Thank you.
Thank you, Sir. I was about to throw out my L7160 due to all this smearing. Tried to clean several times but I wasn't able to access the “parking spot” fully. Now this “lobotomization” by unplugging the power cable worked flawlessly. Thank you again!
@@YorkiesBitsandBobs I had to do it again but was unsuccessful at pulling the plug at the time the cartridges were on the left. I solved it by initiating "Replace Ink Cartridges." That moved them to the left. Perfect.
I thank you immensely! I have the same Epson model and I wasted so much time intermittently nozzle and power cleaning for months, to no avail. The printer works like it is brand new.
Excellent video. I've been getting very frustrated with my Epson printer with ink smearing ruining many sheets of paper and not trusting the printer to print photos. I cleaned it as shown on the video and it's now working fine, I printed off an A4 high quality photo and it came out as though the printer was new. Thanks
Hi Yorkie! I just wanted to let you know that I was at my wits end with my ET-7750. It seems every time I try to print something there is some sort of issue. I did a power cleaning recently and then several head cleanings today before I turned to Google for advice. I found your video, did exactly as you illustrated and ... it worked! Thank you so much.
Great video! Resolved the problem straight away. Unbelievable that Epson don’t cover this in their support notes, just stuff about the print rollers. Maybe they’d rather charge us a fortune for repair. Once again , many thanks!
I did what you said and discovered that my smearing problem was being caused by a lot of DOG HAIR that was being dragged along by the printer head. Unbelievable, haha. Cleaned it out and it solved the smearing problem. Thanks for posting this video!
You are a real star I purchased a refurbished unit from Epsom for $400 and after about 9 months it started having black lines on photos. Many hours on the phone to Epsom later they agreed to replace with a brand new printer. 18 months later the same issue with the new printer. Did the cleaning as you showed and now absolutely perfect. As a bonus I still have the old printer as it worked fine with text, did the same with that and that is now perfect too. So a big thankyou. Just think of the money you could save Epsom to stop them having to replace units under warranty. Cheers from Canada Graham
omg i liked and subscribed because YOU SAVED MY LIFE by this tiny fix , I was frustrated and in a hurry because of the client's order and luckily found your video. Thanks a million.
Worked for me, I have had Epson printers for a long time and this has been a problem with almost all of them. The only reason i stick with them is the quality of prints is outstanding when they run good. This has given life back to a $750 printer. Cant thank you enough! Keep making video's this one is a gold mine to me!
Amazing, hours of googling and wondering if I need to buy some cleaning sheets, and your video has just shown me the exact issue I've been having AND it's solution!!! Thank you so much!
Thank you so much! This helps a lot with my printer problem. I oftentimes find my printing with smudges on each side and your video solved it. Have a great day always! 👍😊
Great tip. I've had this printer for two years now and after the first year I started to do this every couple of months when the smearing started to happen. I had replaced the maintenance box a couple of times thinking this was the issue but I just think that the ink draining system is not all that it's cracked up to be. Another thing I do while the print head has parked over to the left is to slide a folded piece of kitchen roll, cut to an appropriate size, under the print head to absorb any ink that has gathered there. I use a piece of thin stiff card with the kitchen roll folded over it.
I'd like to come back to you regarding this issue if I may. I've have been a keen amateur photographer for over sixty years now and since the digital era began I've used several printers and this ET-7700 is the best printer I've used yet, especially the low ink costs. The quality is fantastic and I'm a bit of a perfectionist. However, I do feel this ink draining issue lets this printer down. Do you have any further thoughts yourself as to why the waste ink doesn't drain through the pad.
@@literova I did read that the heads do not sit in the correct place when they return to the home position, I've not checked this out myself but it would explain the ink problem.
You can use the Ink Replacement option to move the print heads to the left of the device; however, you should still disconnect the power whilst doing the clean because they will move back after a minute or two of inactivity.
i used a que tip to get the chunks out of the sides that were there. fixed it thanks so much. i think doing the head cleaning a couple times to get rid of gaps contributed to the ink build up.
Perfect video Yorkie describing the exact solution to what I reckon must be an Epson design fault. Yes the paper thickness DOES make a difference but isn't the cause whatsoever, merely a symptom. As the paper comes under the head at the start of the print it is forced slightly upward by its curvature through the feed. Thicker paper, being stiffer, is brought closer to the print head carriage and the blobs of thick ink is rubbed off onto it. Very frustrating as this is usually your most expensive decent paper! There is an easy fix however.... My solution to this (after cleaning the foam pad), is to fold an A4 sheet of paper concertina style across the width, say in 10 sections. Then flatten it as much as possible so it will happily feed through the machine. Put the paper in the tray (or rear feed) and run it through by printing a page of fine text. The ridges in the paper will touch the printhead body and sacrificially scrub off the excess thick ink! No more expensive paper wasted! Epson used to actually have a similar feature on earlier models where it would ask you to put a sheet of previously folded in half paper through the machine. The maintenance routine would then feed the paper through and exercise the printhead over the ridge to scrub it free of loose ink! They could really do with bringing back that feature on this machine but that would admit there's an issue!
Thanks a lot. Had horrible black smudges when printing with my Epson XP-640. The print head was covered in thick black globs of ink. Once I cleaned them off printing was perfect! No more wasting ink with the print head cleaning which is addressing the wrong problem.
THANK YOU, THANK YOU!!!! I was wanting to throw my printer in the road and watch it smash to bits. It has never printed so well as before I watched your video.
(translate) Unfortunately, I have to print in a dusty space. And I couldn't try it recklessly because it was a my boss printer. But I secretly cleaned with hope. (lol) That was amazing!! Although regular head marks on the image edge have yet to be resolved. (The cause cannot be found.) thank you very much. This is a good video😊
Thanks, I’m making stickers with Cricut design space and having a bit of a problem on the left side of the paper in the beginning of the print, not necessarily smearing but not printing as nicely as the middle or right side. Didn’t realize their was a sticker paper choice so I’m going to give it a try. Thanks
Useful video, I found out how to do this the hard way too with my ET7750 A3 printer but I'm on the lookout for a mini vacume cleaner that will clear all the ink without applying pressure to the pad. I believe this is a design fault. I recommend getting the printer calibrated / profiled, although it's not a true high end photo printer it works even better after profiling especially with B+W.
Thank you so much for this video!! I was having this problem and the cleaning worked! I subscribed to your channel and so much appreciate this info. Thanks again.
The rollers are my issue, where the paper exits the printer. There are these small sharp wheels that leave dotted marks as the paper exits the printer. I feel like breaking them off. Without them, the paper seems to exit just fine, but I had to use my thumbs to press against the frame to make the wheels "not touch" the paper... if I break them off, it should solve my issue. Before I do that, wondering if there's another solution. I'm using glossy sticker paper, which is basically glossy photo paper with a literal sticker backing, no different than actual photo paper. Using the lowest glossy photo setting (not premium, not ultra) it still does this. Used plain paper settings, it didn't happen as not enough ink was "pooled" on the surface of the paper, although the prints aren't rich. Problem is, any other settings other than glossy photo will cause the black ink to scratch off, regardless of drying time (days, weeks, months, tested this). Glossy photo is the only setting that makes it so black ink does not scratch off. Not sure how that works.. Do you know if ultra photo glossy uses less ink than photo glossy? perhaps i have to use ultra? I didn't try it yet, but don't wanna risk dirtying the rollers again..
I don't know if the paper type makes much difference to how much ink it uses, but before you cut off the rollers I would advise you not to, have you watched this video th-cam.com/video/WXlyes-LkEo/w-d-xo.html
Bought a brand new ET 8550 yesterday. The parking spot of the print head is still pretty clean but I already have these smudges and blobs on every third print. :( I tried the thick paper setting and the first prints after that looked better. But the setting resets to NO everytime the printer is turned off. So one my use cases (my wife printing photos from her phone without having set up anything) does not work, because when she prints the printer turns on and thick paper is set to NO. Does anyone know how to persist this?
Hi ! I’m so glad I found this video. What is this party called? I removed it, and a spring from underneath came out and I have no idea how to put the spring back on or where it goes ☹️ please help
I had to comment this… So I’m watching this video and following step by step and getting angry because nothing is working and the photos keep coming out smudged and crappy, guess what was the issue?… my wife put the photo papers backwards so it was printing it on the wrong side 😑 ooooo the amount of Ink we wasted.
Just got the printer, Epson L18050 and I'm having this issue on some of my prints.. still clean I guess. I turn on "Thick paper and envelope" and somehow it prints ok. Hope that was the fix. if not, will have to clean the area you mentioned.
If you need to clean the heads because they are still blocked after running head cleaner try this th-cam.com/video/ySw66VRnggU/w-d-xo.html
THANK YOU SO SO SO SO MUCH!!!!! I was about to give up on my ET-7750, I had just replaced the maintenance box, done a power clean and everything else in between and was still getting these awful black smudges that were wet and ended up getting black ink everywhere! I was trying to print stuff for my daughter's birthday next week, and was about to give up and pay to have them printed at a print shop. But this has COMPLETELY FIXED IT! You are an absolute legend, thank you so much for sharing this!!
Thank you for the feedback belishnikof I'm glad I could help, I hope your daughter enjoys her birthday party
You solved weeks of anguish trying to fix this darned printer. Working perfectly now. Thanks much
Thanks for the feedback Mike
34 minutes on the phone with Epson got me nowhere. This video helped me fix it in seconds. Thank you so much
Thanks for the feedback dw4563 they do give you the runaround don't they
Wow! My ET7750 is like new again. Kitchen paper and cotton buds have done the trick and a nozzle check performance came out absolutely perfect on the first attempt afterwards without any problem whatsoever.
Many thanks to this man in the video and to anyone having smudge problems, give it a go but be careful and gentle when you do!!
Thanks for the comment russlegge895 glad my video helped you
Great video. I started printing important photos and the first print that came out was covered in black smudges (I had not used the printed in a bit). Worst I have seen in over a year. Was almost ready to send the printer flying across the room when I found your video. It worked like a charm and cleared the black smudges however in the process of doing this 3 other colours stopped printing fully. A print check did show that 3 colors were spotted and the prints were now missing colors. So here is how I finally fixed that. After 3 cleaning cycles there was some improvement but still the 3 colours were not printing fully (I have 5 ink colors for this model). I got this idea off of another video many months ago. I removed the cover to the top of my print head to expose the print tubes leading down to the print head. I grasped the tube for each color that was acting up and gave all three tubes some serious squeezes or pinches (as close to the head as possible) to try and force air or ink through the head to clear the nozzles. Restarted and bingo. All 5 colors were printing perfectly and thanks to you - no more black smudges. Oh and by the way, the printer forced me to repace the maintenance box before it would allow me to print again so I did that with no problems (it told me the maintenance box was at the end of its life cycle).
So... thank you Yorkies Bits and Bobs and hopefully the tip I included on fixing my other colors not printing properly helps others as well.
Wow!, thank you for the feedback Mark, and thank you for the tip for unblocking the ink heads
Can I just tell you THANK YOU!!! I have literally been fighting with this printer for yeeeeears! I have tried multiple how to videos to clean. I still can't get the power cleaning setting to work despite following the "hold down power, ok and down button" after turning the unit off. But either way I have NO MORE black lines smearing all over my documents, photos etc! SO Happy! Thank you again for a wonderful video and I love the time stamps as well! Super quick to find just what I need!
I'm glad it helped you, thank you for the feedback
Thank you oh so dearly for this video. I was at my wits end and was throwing away every other print, or every third print and thought it was something I couldn’t fix. Because of you, I’ve been able to successfully print out my sisters quinceañera invitations & now know how to fix this issue in the future. Thank you, thank you, thank you!
Glad it helped! and thank you for the comment and feedback
As helpful as your first video was I am glad you updated it. First, for your suggestion to unplug the machine in order to move the print head and also to focus on that 1 inch square black surface. That is clearly the spot that accumulates all of the excess ink as sits there under the print head when parked and soaks up all the spillage. If I just dab that area once a month with paper towel and get the bulk of the wet ink off of it I continue to get perfectly clean prints. I am trying you idea for the 'thick paper 'setting which does seem like a good idea in theory. Thanks, Bob! You're a good man and we all appreciate your valuable information.
Thank you PJ, I'm hear to help
I wish I could give this video an additional thumbs up every time I’ve used these tips to fix up my smudging printer. 👍🏽👍🏽👍🏽
Wow, thanks!
Great video. I've looked at several videos to address my black ink streaks problem and this was the best one and easiest to understand for those of us who are intimidated. I was starting to consider just buying a different printer - but today I found this video and it was doable! Problem solved. Big thanks!!
Thanks for the feedback Anne
I wish I could upload my 1st and 2nd attempt, so you can see the degree in which you helped me. It’s night and day! Thank you
Thank you Ti for the comment I'm glad to help, and I just gave you a thumbs up on one of your videos, just keep going babe
i opened mine up and while this was not the problem, it did help me find the problem which was there was a big chunk of fur stuck to the print head dragging black ink all over the paper.
I'm glad my video helped you and thanks for the feedback
My ET-2750 was printing a chunk of smeared black ink in the top left corner for goodness knows how long. Thanks to your video, I've got it working the way it should!
Thanks for the feedback James670 I'm glad I helped you
Thanks! I was about to go buy a new printer then tried this as a last ditch effort. Works beautifully now, the base was REALLY full of ink.
Thanks for the feedback, I'm glad it helped you to sort it out
Very helpful indeed. This has solved a problem that has caused me considerable difficulties from time to time and a lot of wasted quality card. The problem has occurred for me on other printers and eventually i got rid of them. The ET-7750 has been brilliant until the black marks started appearing on greetings cards I print for an art group. I had no idea of the existence of the mucky pad but the method has done the trick. Incidentally the printer drive on my iMac has a setting for thick paper but now I discover that it does not affect the setting on the printer itself. All sorted. Thanks, Bob!
Glad to help Andrew and thanks for the feedback
YOU ARE AWESOME! My printer started leaking so much black ink and I had a sticker order to fill the next day. I was panicking but I’m SO GLAD I found your video. As soon as I cleaned it the ink leaks were gone in 2 prints. THANK YOU!!! SUBSCRIBED ✅
Thanks for the sub and I'm glad it worked for you Cindy-gq7xi
I have an Epson ET-7700 US printer and your advice fixed my ink smearing problem. I appreciate you taking the time to make this video.
I'm glad it helped and thank you for the feedback
Fantastic. Sorted ink smearing and thickness of paper. Epson need to add tips like this. Straight forward when you know what to do. Brilliant. Thank you.
Thank you for the feedback
Thank you, Sir. I was about to throw out my L7160 due to all this smearing. Tried to clean several times but I wasn't able to access the “parking spot” fully. Now this “lobotomization” by unplugging the power cable worked flawlessly. Thank you again!
Glad I could help and thanks for the feedback
Brilliant! No more smears on my documents, tables, hands, clothes - everything. I will clean regularly as you advise. Thank you so much.
Glad to help and thank you for the feedback
@@YorkiesBitsandBobs I had to do it again but was unsuccessful at pulling the plug at the time the cartridges were on the left. I solved it by initiating "Replace Ink Cartridges." That moved them to the left. Perfect.
I thank you immensely! I have the same Epson model and I wasted so much time intermittently nozzle and power cleaning for months, to no avail. The printer works like it is brand new.
Thank you for the feedback superlani
Great video my printer was driving me mad with heavy smearing to my photographs followed your video and no more smears
Thanks for the feedback Ian, I glad it helped
Excellent video. I've been getting very frustrated with my Epson printer with ink smearing ruining many sheets of paper and not trusting the printer to print photos. I cleaned it as shown on the video and it's now working fine, I printed off an A4 high quality photo and it came out as though the printer was new. Thanks
Thank you so much, I'm so grateful I found your video. Finally I can print my photos with ease.
Thank you Felicia for the feedback
Hi Yorkie! I just wanted to let you know that I was at my wits end with my ET-7750. It seems every time I try to print something there is some sort of issue. I did a power cleaning recently and then several head cleanings today before I turned to Google for advice. I found your video, did exactly as you illustrated and ... it worked! Thank you so much.
Thank you for sharring lms196506 I'm gad it worked for you
Great video! Resolved the problem straight away. Unbelievable that Epson don’t cover this in their support notes, just stuff about the print rollers. Maybe they’d rather charge us a fortune for repair.
Once again , many thanks!
Thank you for the feedback
I did what you said and discovered that my smearing problem was being caused by a lot of DOG HAIR that was being dragged along by the printer head. Unbelievable, haha. Cleaned it out and it solved the smearing problem. Thanks for posting this video!
Thanks for the comment and info BDizzle
You are a real star I purchased a refurbished unit from Epsom for $400 and after about 9 months it started having black lines on photos. Many hours on the phone to Epsom later they agreed to replace with a brand new printer. 18 months later the same issue with the new printer. Did the cleaning as you showed and now absolutely perfect. As a bonus I still have the old printer as it worked fine with text, did the same with that and that is now perfect too. So a big thankyou. Just think of the money you could save Epsom to stop them having to replace units under warranty. Cheers from Canada Graham
Thank you for the feedback G C I am glad to help
omg i liked and subscribed because YOU SAVED MY LIFE by this tiny fix , I was frustrated and in a hurry because of the client's order and luckily found your video. Thanks a million.
Thank you for subscribing and for the feedback Ghofran Bokhari
Brilliant! Problem Solved. So happy to have "met" you...Thanks Yorkie!
Thank you for the kind comment
Worked for me, I have had Epson printers for a long time and this has been a problem with almost all of them. The only reason i stick with them is the quality of prints is outstanding when they run good. This has given life back to a $750 printer. Cant thank you enough! Keep making video's this one is a gold mine to me!
Thanks for the feedback Daniel
I have a Epson ET- 2850 and this video helped me clear up the smears. I don’t have an option for thick paper. Thanks so much form New York, USA
Hello New York and thank you for the feedback
Amazing, hours of googling and wondering if I need to buy some cleaning sheets, and your video has just shown me the exact issue I've been having AND it's solution!!! Thank you so much!
Glad it was helpful! thanks for the comment
Tried your solution to the black smears on my photos - worked a treat, thank you!
Thank you for letting me know that it worked for you.
I'm sooooo glad to have found you! This solved my problem after wasting hours with maintenance, and gobs of paper and ink. Thank you so much!
Glad I could help! and thanks for the comment
Thank you so much! This helps a lot with my printer problem. I oftentimes find my printing with smudges on each side and your video solved it. Have a great day always! 👍😊
Thank you for the feedback
Thank you so much!!! I cleaned it this way and then printed out perfect sheets!!
Thanks for the feedback, I'm glad to help
It worked! Thank you so much Bob! I've been struggling to eliminate the ink smearing for months & so happy I came across your solution!
Thanks for the feedback Kim
It worked like magic.. thanks so very much.
Really love the accent.. made the whole thing sound fun and not as scary as I anticipated
You're welcome!, Thanks for the comment and feedback
Great tip. I've had this printer for two years now and after the first year I started to do this every couple of months when the smearing started to happen. I had replaced the maintenance box a couple of times thinking this was the issue but I just think that the ink draining system is not all that it's cracked up to be. Another thing I do while the print head has parked over to the left is to slide a folded piece of kitchen roll, cut to an appropriate size, under the print head to absorb any ink that has gathered there. I use a piece of thin stiff card with the kitchen roll folded over it.
Thanks for the comment Literova and for the tip
I'd like to come back to you regarding this issue if I may. I've have been a keen amateur photographer for over sixty years now and since the digital era began I've used several printers and this ET-7700 is the best printer I've used yet, especially the low ink costs. The quality is fantastic and I'm a bit of a perfectionist. However, I do feel this ink draining issue lets this printer down. Do you have any further thoughts yourself as to why the waste ink doesn't drain through the pad.
@@literova I did read that the heads do not sit in the correct place when they return to the home position, I've not checked this out myself but it would explain the ink problem.
Brilliant. That problem was driving me crazy. Followed your advice. Problem solved! Thanks so much.
Thank you for the feedback, I'm only to happy to help
You can use the Ink Replacement option to move the print heads to the left of the device; however, you should still disconnect the power whilst doing the clean because they will move back after a minute or two of inactivity.
Thanks for the comment and info Simon
i used a que tip to get the chunks out of the sides that were there. fixed it thanks so much. i think doing the head cleaning a couple times to get rid of gaps contributed to the ink build up.
Thanks for the feedback Jillian
This resolved the issue with my ET-7700 immediately! Thank you!
Thanks for the comment bignuance I'm glad it helped
Thankyou so much. I love this printer when it's working well, but thought this was the end. So grateful for your help.
Glad it helped and thanks for the comment
Perfect video Yorkie describing the exact solution to what I reckon must be an Epson design fault. Yes the paper thickness DOES make a difference but isn't the cause whatsoever, merely a symptom. As the paper comes under the head at the start of the print it is forced slightly upward by its curvature through the feed. Thicker paper, being stiffer, is brought closer to the print head carriage and the blobs of thick ink is rubbed off onto it. Very frustrating as this is usually your most expensive decent paper! There is an easy fix however....
My solution to this (after cleaning the foam pad), is to fold an A4 sheet of paper concertina style across the width, say in 10 sections. Then flatten it as much as possible so it will happily feed through the machine. Put the paper in the tray (or rear feed) and run it through by printing a page of fine text. The ridges in the paper will touch the printhead body and sacrificially scrub off the excess thick ink! No more expensive paper wasted!
Epson used to actually have a similar feature on earlier models where it would ask you to put a sheet of previously folded in half paper through the machine. The maintenance routine would then feed the paper through and exercise the printhead over the ridge to scrub it free of loose ink! They could really do with bringing back that feature on this machine but that would admit there's an issue!
Thank you Vict20 for the comment and advice, I may try that
Thanks a lot. Had horrible black smudges when printing with my Epson XP-640. The print head was covered in thick black globs of ink. Once I cleaned them off printing was perfect! No more wasting ink with the print head cleaning which is addressing the wrong problem.
Glad it helped you Dr Beer and thanks for the feedback
I've used this method a couple of times now. Works great. Thanks
You're welcome!
OMG you saved me. No more smearing! Thank you!
Thanks for the feedback, I'm glad it saved you
Followed your directions, easy to do as Anne R. mentions, and all is well. Thanks YBBHT!!!
Thanks for the comment
THANK YOU, THANK YOU!!!!
I was wanting to throw my printer in the road and watch it smash to bits. It has never printed so well as before I watched your video.
I'm so glad I helped you sort out your printer and thank you for the feedback
(translate) Unfortunately, I have to print in a dusty space. And I couldn't try it recklessly because it was a my boss printer. But I secretly cleaned with hope. (lol) That was amazing!! Although regular head marks on the image edge have yet to be resolved. (The cause cannot be found.) thank you very much. This is a good video😊
Thank you for the comment YAZi
Thanks Bob. Worked like a dream
Thanks for the feedback and comment Simon
WOW! worked like a charm...only thing that does work to get rid of smudges! Thank you!!!
Tip: Q-tips work well too along with paper towels
@@DavidAddarioTheMosaicGuy Thanks for the feedback David
Thank you! ET2756 now working 😊 I’d tried all the machine options even powerhead cleaning 😅
Thanks for the feedback glad it helped
excellent, very simple and worked for me
Thanks for the feedback James
Thanks, I’m making stickers with Cricut design space and having a bit of a problem on the left side of the paper in the beginning of the print, not necessarily smearing but not printing as nicely as the middle or right side. Didn’t realize their was a sticker paper choice so I’m going to give it a try. Thanks
I hope it goes well for you
I have been having this issue with my printer and it really helped!! thank you so much
Thank you for the feedback
Thank you so much, this was my problem and now it's working great!
Glad it helped! Thanks for the feedback
Thank you so so much for this! Worked perfectly, there was so much ink on that pad
Thanks for the feedback and I'm glad to help
Thank you very much, for this video. It solved the issue I had with my printer.
Glad it helped and thanks for the feedback
Cheers Yorkie - many thanks for that, thats worked!
Thanks for the feedback Rob
Thanks Yorkie. It's worked great for me. No smearing after your tips. I'm happy for now i can print out my chrismas cards :-) Merry Christmas 🎅
Thank you for the comment and merry Christmas 🎄 to you
Thank you!!! Finally found someone with my printer.
Glad I could help!, Thank you for the feedback
Useful video, I found out how to do this the hard way too with my ET7750 A3 printer but I'm on the lookout for a mini vacume cleaner that will clear all the ink without applying pressure to the pad. I believe this is a design fault. I recommend getting the printer calibrated / profiled, although it's not a true high end photo printer it works even better after profiling especially with B+W.
Thanks for the comment Christopher
Thank you so much for this video!! I was having this problem and the cleaning worked! I subscribed to your channel and so much appreciate this info. Thanks again.
I'm glad to help and thank you for the subscription and the comment
It worked like a charm and so easy to follow! Thank you!
I am glad to help thank you for the comment
Incredible! It works perfect. Many thanks for this video.
Thanks for the feedback
Great video. This helped me solve my printer issue. Thanks very much.
Thanks Marty for the feedback
thank you so much, this def helped, still a tiny smudge but hopefully will get better or i will do it again. THANKS! :)
Thanks for the comment NewsFlash, hopefully, it will settle down, if it doesn't make sure you clean under the print heads as well
Thank you mate!!! You've saved my prints in Epson ET-7700.
Glad I could help! thanks for the feedback
The rollers are my issue, where the paper exits the printer. There are these small sharp wheels that leave dotted marks as the paper exits the printer. I feel like breaking them off. Without them, the paper seems to exit just fine, but I had to use my thumbs to press against the frame to make the wheels "not touch" the paper... if I break them off, it should solve my issue. Before I do that, wondering if there's another solution. I'm using glossy sticker paper, which is basically glossy photo paper with a literal sticker backing, no different than actual photo paper. Using the lowest glossy photo setting (not premium, not ultra) it still does this. Used plain paper settings, it didn't happen as not enough ink was "pooled" on the surface of the paper, although the prints aren't rich. Problem is, any other settings other than glossy photo will cause the black ink to scratch off, regardless of drying time (days, weeks, months, tested this). Glossy photo is the only setting that makes it so black ink does not scratch off. Not sure how that works.. Do you know if ultra photo glossy uses less ink than photo glossy? perhaps i have to use ultra? I didn't try it yet, but don't wanna risk dirtying the rollers again..
I don't know if the paper type makes much difference to how much ink it uses, but before you cut off the rollers I would advise you not to, have you watched this video th-cam.com/video/WXlyes-LkEo/w-d-xo.html
Thanks so much - solved problem instantly :)
Thanks for the feedback Lucy I'm glad to help
so hrlpfull, gunna try this now thanks
Let us know how you get on please
Works completely great, thank you!
You're welcome! Thanks for the comment Mastermind12358
thanks 😊 so easy and SO effective!! thanks for your informative video!
Glad it was helpful! Thanks for the comment
The only thing I can say is "It Worked". Thank you
Thank you for the feedback
Bless you for this video!!! It worked for me. Thanks so much!!
You're welcome! thanks for the feedback
Thank you so much!! This solved my problem 🙂Really useful
Thanks for such a informative video. You solved my problem. Excellent sir.
Thank you for the comment Kanwaljit and I'm glad to help
Bought a brand new ET 8550 yesterday. The parking spot of the print head is still pretty clean but I already have these smudges and blobs on every third print. :(
I tried the thick paper setting and the first prints after that looked better. But the setting resets to NO everytime the printer is turned off. So one my use cases (my wife printing photos from her phone without having set up anything) does not work, because when she prints the printer turns on and thick paper is set to NO. Does anyone know how to persist this?
Thanks, cleaned as shown prints great.
Thanks for the comment
Hi ! I’m so glad I found this video. What is this party called? I removed it, and a spring from underneath came out and I have no idea how to put the spring back on or where it goes ☹️ please help
What part are you talking about?
Brilliant thank you worked perfectly for me.
Thanks for the feedback elliluca9481 glad it helped
Thanks for posting 🙏🏾 got me going again!!
Thanks for the feedback
Thanks for this! I was about to chuck my printer out of the window 😂
Glad I could help! Thanks for the comment
Good video, thank you. And, great work identifying the issue and sharing your solution.
Thanks for watching and thanks for the feedback
It worked man thank u
You're welcome!
Great thanks very much.
Thank you for the feedback Sasha
thankyou very much
No thank you for the comment
You are a legend mate 🙏 thanks for this!
Glad it helped
I had to comment this…
So I’m watching this video and following step by step and getting angry because nothing is working and the photos keep coming out smudged and crappy, guess what was the issue?… my wife put the photo papers backwards so it was printing it on the wrong side 😑 ooooo the amount of Ink we wasted.
Lol yeah my wife has done that before
OHHHHHHH Buddy, CHEERS For this worked like a CHARM!
Thanks for the feedback
thank you sooo much! your video definitely helped
You're welcome! thanks for the feedback
finally a decent solution!
Thanks for the comment
Just got the printer, Epson L18050 and I'm having this issue on some of my prints.. still clean I guess. I turn on "Thick paper and envelope" and somehow it prints ok. Hope that was the fix. if not, will have to clean the area you mentioned.
Thanks for the information imoafaq and I hope it keeps working for you
Thanks Yorkie, it sorted mine
Thanks for the feedback
Thank you !! Works like a charm :)
You're welcome! Thanks for the comment
Great video
Thank you HMD for the comment