I've searched all over the internet, tried fixing this problem several different ways, even tried different printers/ink, nothing works.

THis problem occurs on any epson r260/r280 printer, as I've used over 5 of them. Some with ciss systems, some with refillable cartridges, and some using the claria high rip off ink.


I use prodisc diamond inkjet printable cdrs, because so far, they are the only tru silver media side inkjet printable cds I've found. The epson printers print fine to these, for about 1 month (at the shortest) to about 5 months (longest one lasted) before this issue starts happening. Suddenly the printer will not print the black color correctly on the cd. It misses in spots, leaving a dark tan color where there was supposed to be black. It only happens about an inch from the top in a horizontal line, and about an inch from the bottom in a horizontal line. All other areas of the cd prints fine, and other colors will print 100% correctly to all portions of the cd. The only color that has this problem is black.

I also use those taiyo yuden watershield cds. When the printer is having the issue with the prodisc cds, it'll still print fine to the taiyo yuden cds. However this doesnt' mean that the prodiscs shouldn't be used, as I said, the printer will print fine on these cds for a month or so then it starts having this problem printing the color black on them. When you first get the printer, it'll print solid black. In about a month you start seeing small horizontal lines where the black color is, eventually it will stop printing black on these areas.

Well it's next to impossible to explain, so i'll just scan a cd and show you. I did this quickly and erased the areas that are fine

These cd printers have never done well with me either! I returned mine after misbleeds in the disks after just 30 disks! I now just use Memorex labels and stick them to regular disks. Never have had a problems since then. JMO

Since you report that the TY discs continue to print OK, seems like you have answered your own question. Personally, I wouldn't use Prodisc CDRs for anything. Your ink is not being absorbed by the coating, simply because it's a cheap and poorly applied coating. I doubt it has anything to do with the printer. the darker the image, the more ink has to be applied and absorbed. I assume that these discs also allow the ink to be wiped off easily even after drying. So the solution is to toss the Prodisc out and get some Ritek, Verbatim or TY.

Taiyo Yuden cds are overpriced, if you want to pay 50 cents a cd, go right ahead. They also have a green bottom, I want a silver bottom.

If the disc was so cheap and the surface didn't absorb the ink right, why would it do it correclty for 1 - 2 months and then stop? Doesn't make sense, it obviously isn't the disc. It does it with more than one disc, not just prodisc

Sorry I don't pay 50 cents a cd for anything

Could be just a bad batch of CD's maybe, like CDan said it could just be the
poorly applied coating on some of them. I ran into the same problem once or
twice with some DVD discs back a long time ago and if I remember correctly
it was with some Fuji branded and some Prodisc branded silver printable discs.
The would print just fine for a few discs and then they would like you said get
some brown-ish spots on them for a few prints then back to normal again while
everything else I used printed just fine.

You can believe it or not, but the image you posted and the symptoms you describe are pretty much guaranteed to be a media issue, and not the printer. There's a lot of options besides TY Watershield that will solve your problem, but there's nothing you can do to solve it if you keep using the same media. Basically, you need to get over the demand for "silver bottoms", cause they don't exist in quality media. Ritek is as close as you will come.

If you still need to prove this to yourself, get a small stack of printable Ritek and try printing the same label to both types, see how it comes out. TY printable CDRs are only 30 cents compared to the 20 cents you pay now, and they also happen to be the best CDRs you can buy. Once you start throwing discs away cause they don't print right or burn right, they're not cheaper any more.

^

There is no getting over the demand for silver bottom cdrs. I duplicate cds, artists want silver bottom cdrs. They have the option to use the taiyo yuden watershields which costs more but the demand for silver media side cds will always be there. They always burn right too, I have no complaints maybe 4 failures out of 1000 cds burnt.

It also does this on memorex cds, which has one with each epson printer. Why would they put a cd with their printer that wouldn't work with it? When the printer started doing this I went out and got one of the printable cds that come with the printer and it does the same thing.

same problem here?
i use moserbaer printable CD. it did print well for almost a month and then
horizonal lines and black colour issue appeared.

i have epson r230 printer.
i bet its not a problem of cd as same batch cd prints perfectly allright on my canon ip3000.
my printer prints very good on paper but problem is of cd printing.

i think there is some problem with mechanism of printer which keeps rolling cd while printing.

Yeah if you're having the same problem that I'm having then it definately is the printer at fault and not the media. I figured that if you took the media and printed it on a different printer it'd print fine.

I wrote epson technical support and they obviously do not read what you write to them. I told them everything that I did to try to fix the problem and the morons told me to repeat everything I just did obviously because they didn't read a word of what I said

Why do you think they only cost 99.00. You get what you pay for. Personally I think CDan has the right idea, even though the printer may be at fault here, pay the extra few cents and use premium media always.

for me, no other inkjet printable media except moserbaer is availabe in india.
@F0l2saken, update this forum if problem solved. i don't think epson people can understand this problem.

Will do man!