How to Remove the "Pizza Wheels" from the Epson 3000

Instructions for other Epson printers
On the Left is an image of the "pizza wheel" roller that Epson uses in their Ink-jet printers. Above is an example of the tracks across a printed image. Epson has a reputation for extremely high quality prints with less cost than traditional high-end ink-jets used by service bureau. Most people using Epson products use them for personal or business applications that require accurate color, but longevity is not an issue. Most people care more about color than the paper it is printed on. The OEM Epson papers provide Excellent color fidelity but begin to fade rapidly due to the high acidity of the paper. Many People wish to use paper other than the standard Epson paper for better longevity. i.e. archival watercolor papers. Some archival papers function in the Epson printers without problem, but some of the thicker, textured paper used for fine art printing do not. Epson built the "pizza wheels" into their printers to keep the paper moving straight along the feed path and also to minimize warpage, about half are mounted on springs and half are fixed into place. Unfortunately the wheels that are fixed are not designed to allow for thicker paper than the Epson OEM paper. When thicker paper is fed through the printer, after the ink is laid down by the print head it passes the "pizza wheels" and they leave tracks down the paper. Some go away after a week or so, but if the ink was still wet enough, the wheels will track it on the paper, and light areas of your prints will have lines of dots across them every few inches.

It is possible to remove these wheels easily and without damaging your printer or effecting print quality. Here are step-by-step instructions for removing the "pizza wheels" so you can print with index paper and thicker art paper with your Epson. The instructions are for the Epson Stylus 3000, preferred for it's large 17"x22" printable area and economy of ink. It is recommended that you leave the wheels on the outermost, upper plastic pieces as they are in the margins and will be sufficient to keep the paper on track.

Click on the thumbnail to see the larger image, use the "back" function to return to this page.
In case it's hard to tell, this is a view of the area where the print head passes back and forth. Most people should be familiar with it because when you're waiting for a print, you lift up the cover with the "EPSON StylusCOLOR 3000" logo on it so you can see it printing, and contain your boredom. You'll also want to remove the translucent, darkened cover and the paper tray cover so the procedure will go easier. First, take a small flat-head screw driver and push down the small tab on the white upper platic pieces.
While pressing down, use another flat head screw driver to push the plastic piece forward.
Remove the first, small, screw driver once you have pushed the plastic piece forward a little, otherwise it will prevent you from pushing the plasic piece forward.
Pop out the plastic piece all the way.
Repeat the same procedure for the lower plastic pieces.
One issue on the lower pieces: once you have pushed them out a little, you will need to push the end closest to you down because it will be pressing against the metal assembly and will not come out.
Use normal pliers to remove the "pizza wheels" from the sides, do not remove the center, spring-loaded wheels.
Repeat for the lower pieces
The lower pieces also have a third wheel which is the one that causes the majority of the tracks across the paper, idealy use needle-nose pliers to remove it, otherwise, just use the small screw driver.
Notice the difference between the Upper and Lower finished pieces. The lower ones are longer.
Replace the lower pieces.
Replace the upper pieces, be sure to line the tabs up over the metal, just like the lower plastic pieces.


Now try printing. We tested the printer with Arches Watercolor Coldpress before and after we removed the wheels, judge for yourself! The upper image is before we removed the wheels, lower is after. This is at 1111% (11X) so you can see the tracks, even in the printed area.



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