[Mark Feinstein]

Epson Printers

on: November 7, 2022 at 3:27 am

I’ve been printing with a P900 for several months now with beautiful results and no issues. Among its other virtues, the printer has been very quiet – I’ve normally heard just a whirring whine as the printhead moves, but that’s it. Tonight, however, I detect a new sound, a soft “graunch” (for want of a better description) each time the printhead moves to its right-side end position. I had just done a printhead alignment, and all the subsequent prints I’ve made seem perfect. Interestingly, perhaps, when I did test prints on light paper (Epson Ultra Premium Luster), the noise disappeared.  But it continues to occur with all my other heavier papers, 300+ gsm.  All were fed through the rear feed.  Nothing otherwise seems awry in the printing process. It’s conceivable that this is a sound that was always there, and I somehow filtered it out of my consciousness – but I don’t think so. Does anyone have a clue as to what might be going on (or whether it’s worth worrying about)?

• This topic was modified 1 year, 9 months ago by Mark Feinstein.

[Kevin Raber Silver Member Posts: 1324]

Re: Epson P900 mystery sound

Reply #1 on: November 7, 2022 at 10:01 am

You may want to manually set the platten gap a bit larger in the setting on the printer.  My P900 is still not set up at the new studio, otherwise, I would try to walk you through it.

Kevin Raber
Owner and Publisher of photoPXL

[Mark Feinstein Participant Posts: 5]

Re: Epson P900 mystery sound

Reply #2 on: November 7, 2022 at 4:48 pm

Thanks for the quick reply, Kevin! I called Epson Tech Support today – they suggested going into the Printer Settings menu and turning “Thick Paper” on. That seems to have done the trick. The noise disappeared even without re-adjusting the platen gap in individual ICCs. Why the problem didn’t occur until yesterday might be – I’d hypothesize – changes in temperature and/or humidity?

[Kevin Raber Silver Member Posts: 1324]

Re: Epson P900 mystery sound

Reply #3 on: November 7, 2022 at 6:53 pm

Good to know that solved it.  Hope you are enjoying the prints you are making.

Kevin Raber
Owner and Publisher of photoPXL

[Neil Rosenberg Participant Posts: 2]

Re: Epson P900 mystery sound

Reply #4 on: June 12, 2024 at 8:15 pm

My brand new SC-P900 is exhibiting what I think is the same noise.  I posted a YouTube video of it:

Epson is sending me a replacement, let’s see if this one has the problem.  I’ll report once I know.

[Mark Feinstein]

Re: Epson P900 mystery sound

Reply #5 on: June 13, 2024 at 12:40 am

Yes, that’s pretty much exactly the noise that mine made.  Per Kevin Raber’s suggestion and Epson tech support’s recommendation, I turned on the Thick Paper setting (in Printer Settings) for the heavier papers I often use. After a couple of runs with that setting or a larger platen gap in edited ICCs, the noise completely disappeared – whether Thick Paper was turned on or not.  Since my initial post a year and a half ago, I’ve haven’t encountered the noise even once with any kind of paper. Apparently, the printer cured itself, but I have no simple explanation for how it did it!  I hope your replacement is unproblematical.

• This reply was modified 2 months, 2 weeks ago by Mark Feinstein.

[Eric Brody]

Re: Epson P900 mystery sound

Reply #6 on: June 13, 2024 at 12:11 pm

Printers certainly do make some strange noises. I am on my third P900 (long story) but this one seems to be working well, albeit it’s relatively new.

I wish Epson would make the “thick paper” setting sticky. I actually placed a small label on my printer to remind me to set it each time I turn it on since it disappears when the printer is turned off.

I’d also look at paper thickness, not just weight. On the B&H website one can pretty easily check the thickness of various papers. The P900 wants papers over 0.5 mil to be fed through the front feed. Most of the papers I use are able to use the rear (top) feed on the P900. I’ll attach a spreadsheet I made for the papers I use and the P900 media settings for them as well as their thickness.

If you use non-Epson papers, in addition to the “thick paper” setting, (As Kevin suggested) I’d go into the Epson Media Installer and look at the platen gap setting and make sure it’s adequate. Printers really hate head strikes.

Best of luck. I agree, when it works well, the prints are lovely.

 

• This reply was modified 2 months, 2 weeks ago by Eric Brody.

[Neil Rosenberg Participant Posts: 2]

Re: Epson P900 mystery sound

Reply #7 on: June 13, 2024 at 1:40 pm

Thanks for the replies, but I’m wondering if there are two (or more) things at play here.  The noise I’m hearing seems to be emanating from the flexible ink pipe.  Looking at it, there’s a significant bend each time the print head moves left and right, particularly towards the far right.  I manually moved the pipe and could cause a similar “crunch” sound without the printer even being on.  I’m not sure what the “thick paper” setting does, but for this particular noise I don’t really see how that can have an effect.  Also, you have my curiosity, why did you have three of these beasts?

[Eric Brody Participant Posts: 72]

Re: Epson P900 mystery sound

Reply #8 on: June 13, 2024 at 6:33 pm

Hi Neil,

I agree, no idea what the “thick paper” setting does or why it behaves as it does. I was just going over all the things that most people don’t tell you about this printer. The only good discussion of the Epson Media Installer is by my hero Mark Segal on this website.

Here’s the story of my three p900’s. My first P900 worked well for about 8 months and then would not feed any paper thicker than Epson Premium Luster through the top (rear) feed. One of my favorites, Canson Platine was a huge problem. Epson replaced it with a refurbished one which worked well for about 6 months and then began smearing ink and also developed a problem with the front feed slider. Epson told me the one year warranty was from the date of the ORIGINAL purchase and would not replace the second one. I had, for a bunch of reasons, accumulated a significant quantity of P900 ink so decided to just get another, treat it with kid gloves (though I’m quite careful with my toys) and when the ink is gone, replace it with the new 5370 which as best I can tell, has the paper handling of the legendarily sturdy P5000 with the print head and ink switching of the P900. Assuming the P900 is working well at that point, I’d feel comfortable selling it.

Best to you,

Eric

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