Epson Behaving Badly.... (1400 printing skewed films)

[Itsa Little CrOoked]

My beloved (and dead reliable) Epson 1400 is kicking out skewed films every so often. It has cost me time and headaches.

I used to just print, shoot, and off to the press. Bitten multiple times, now every multi color film goes to the light box. Not a LOT of them, but too many wind up in the trash.

I'm going to call Richard at Cobra Inks later, but I often find a quick answer on this stuff right here.

Any ideas? (And no, buy a Direct To Screen is not an option. Save it.  )

Thanks!

Stan

PS  I do have a spare on the shelf, and perhaps now is the time. I also have a 4800 I picked up, but don't have any refillable carts yet.

[Sbrem]

another Epson then. Look for used 4800 or even a 3800 (that's what we have) 4800 will do rolls, 3800 sheets only...

Steve

[Itsa Little CrOoked]

Update:

I unplugged the best Epson I've ever owned Tuesday and sadly gave it away. It was not only printing skewed films, but often not picking up films to feed at all. B'Bye my old friend...

On another thread, I stated I'm installing a 4800 soon but it will take some fiddling. That, and I had a new in box 1400 on the shelf. So I set it up and it ALSO was printing skewed films, and not always picking up. At this time I should point out I have a DITTO multi sheet feeder attachment for the 1400 from the same organization that markets AccuRip.

Here is what I discovered. I got a couple of boxes of film that aren't quite squarely cut. I removed the Ditto (which is slightly restrictive at the point of feeding) and boom!  Perfect films!  Even the whackadoodle ones feed just fine, with the DITTO removed. I guess it just wasn't allowing the print feed mechanism to get aligned in preparation for printing. Now, the registration is within a rounding error of perfection.

So.  I will replace the DITTO on the next shipment of film, and see if it works okay. In the mean time, I'm going to start fiddling with my 4800.  A CTS/DTS is not in the cards for this low volume shop at the present time. When I start running about double the screens per day, then we'll see about that....

And it looks like I've given away a perfectly good (but high mileage) 1400.


Stan

P.S.  From another thread I'm watching carefully. I met LuckyFlyinROUSH from KCMO while at a seminar last week. He graciously demo'ed his I-Image. EYE POPPING, I'd say! So I'm not saying never, but I just need to grow our volume a bit. 

Here is what he wrote just this evening.


Re: What's it worth?
« Reply #24 on: Today at 09:20:18 PM »

    Quote

If I lost this machine in a fire...it would be replaced immediately. I'll never go back to film. Was it worth the 62k...I'm a cheap ass so I'll say no. It's just a damn over sized printer... 62k is kind of crazy if you think about it

It has however in my mind paid for itself already (6 months). The output my shop has seen from pre-I-Image to now has been over double, especially on our small runs days. Majority of smaller runs 36-200. 2-6 colors mostly.  This is partially due to we never used tri-lock before. For instance today on one press we printed
2054imp 61 setups 28 jobs...

We run a tight ship. So tight that I'll even go in and burn screens so my guys can stay on the presses. If I believe that I am worth XXX$ per hour as I bring in all of the work to make the company tick.....etc then the I-Image has paid for itself.