Epson L805 sporadically leaves black 'dust'

[annies]

Hey there, I recently started getting mixed print results with my L805. It's just over 5 years old now, had gone through about 4 waste pad resets with another one imminent.
I first noticed this issue maybe two weeks ago but after a couple prints it stopped being an issue until just today, now it keeps happening print after print.

I attached a photo, as you can see there is some 'dust' like staining between dark/black images and it occurs randomly through the page, same print = different location. Lighter, colorful prints with fine black outlines don't stain this way, only images with a lot of black like this black haired girl on my photo.

I just completed a print head alignment and no changes there.
Running a print head cleaning cycle doesn't help either.

As a sidenote, I've had another issue with black appearing to mix with yellow for a couple of years already, however this happens only after an idle period. So if I print non-stop, there's no staining, but if I leave the printer idle for 10-15 mins, about 1/4 of the page prints a gradient of black over yellow and then it clears out. I usually print a yellow box before I start printing and that does the job for the session. I just wonder if this could be related and I've printed with an unadressed issue for too long and it's finally rebellion time.

I hope the photo is clear enough. I'd appreciate any input.

 

[Ink stained Fingers]

had gone through about 4 waste pad resets with another one imminent.

Did you replace as well the waste ink pads ? What is the total of the printed pages - as printed under the nozzle test print.

. A mix of the yellow and black ink happens typically in the printhead with a defect seal between the internal ink channels above the nozzle plate - there is nothing you can repair.

I'm not clear about the dust like staining - could it be that the nozzle plate is not cleaned sufficiently anymore - there is a rubber lip at the cleaning unit to wipe off the nozzle plate from underneath. It could be that this rubber lip is misplaced.