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Problem Solver
Power supply problems
Most problems you may encounter while operating your printer have simple solutions. Use the information in this section to find the source of and solution to printer problems that occur.
You can also use the self test to determine whether the printer or the computer is causing the problem. See Printing a Self Test for instructions on printing a self test. To pinpoint communication problems, experienced users may want to use the printer's hex dump mode described in Printing Hex Dump.
To clear a paper jam, see Clearing Paper Jams.
| The control panel lights come on briefly, but then go off and stay off. | ||||||
| Cause | What to do | |||||
| The printer's voltage rating does not match the voltage of your electrical outlet. | Check the printer and the outlet voltage ratings. If the voltages do not match, unplug the printer immediately and contact your dealer. | |||||
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| The printer does not work and the control panel lights are off even when you turn on the printer. | ||||||
| Cause | What to do | |||||
| The power cord is not properly plugged into the electrical outlet or your printer. | Turn off the printer, and make sure the power cord is firmly plugged into the electrical outlet and the printer, if necessary. Then turn on the printer. | |||||
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The electrical outlet does not work. |
Use a different outlet. |
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| The printer does not load continuous paper or does not feed it properly. | |
| Cause | What to do |
| Continuous paper is not loaded properly. | See Loading Paper onto the Front Tractor or Loading Paper onto the Rear Tractor for instructions on loading continuous paper with the tractor you want to use. |
| The wrong tractor may be selected. |
Check if the correct tractor arrow is lit on the Tractor Select indicator.
If the wrong tractor is selected, be sure paper is loaded to the standby position on the tractor you want to use. Then press the Front/Rear button to switch to that tractor. |
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The printer may be out of paper. |
Load paper onto the tractor. The tractor arrow on the Tractor Select indicator should be green. |
| The printer does not feed continuous paper to the standby position. | |
| Cause | What to do |
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You have not torn off the printed pages before pressing the LF/FF Load button. |
Tear off the printed pages at the perforation. Then press the LF/FF Load button to feed the paper backward to the standby position. |
| When you switch between front and rear tractors, the paper jams or the printer does not feed the paper back to the standby position. | |
| Cause | What to do |
| The printer may have reverse fed too many pages. | Use the tear off feature to tear off the printed document or any excess paper so that the printer needs to reverse feed only one page. Then press the Front/Rear button to switch tractors. |
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You may be trying to switch tractors when labels are loaded in the printer. |
Labels jam when they are fed backward, so always remove any labels loaded in the printer before you switch tractors. To remove labels loaded in the printer, tear off the fresh supply below the tractor and press the LF/FF Load button to eject the remaining labels. |
| When you switch between front and rear tractors, the printer does not load paper onto the selected tractor. | |
| Cause | What to do |
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The printer may be out of paper. |
Load paper onto the tractor. The tractor arrow on the Tractor Select indicator should be green. |
| Your printing appears too high or low on the page. | |
| Cause | What to do |
| The paper size setting in your application software or printer driver does not match the size of the paper you are using. | Check the paper size setting in your application or printer driver. |
| The printer's page length settings for the front or rear tractor do not match the size of the continuous paper you are using. | Check the page length settings for the front or rear tractor using the printer's SelecType mode. See Changing the settings in the SelecType mode for details. |
| The top margin or top-of-form position setting is incorrect. |
Check and adjust the margin or top-of-form position settings in your application software. See the printable area specifications in Printable area.
You can also adjust the top-of-form position using the buttons on the control panel. However, settings made in Windows applications override settings made with the control panel. See Adjusting the top-of-form position for details. |
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The printer driver settings you want to use are not selected in your software. |
Choose the correct printer driver setting from the Windows desktop or in your application before printing. |
| The printer prints on (or too far away from) the perforation of your continuous paper. | |
| Cause | What to do |
| The tear-off position setting is incorrect. | Adjust the tear-off position using the buttons on the control panel. See Adjusting the top-of-form position for details. |
| The printer you want to use is not selected in your software. | Choose the correct printer from the Windows desktop or in your application before printing. |
| The paper size setting in your application or printer driver does not match the size of the paper you are using. | Check the paper size setting in your application or printer driver. |
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The printer's page length settings for the front or rear tractor do not match the size of the paper you are using. |
Check the page length settings for the front or rear tractor using the printer's SelecType mode. See Changing the settings in the SelecType mode for details. |
| The printer is on but it doesn't print. | ||||||
| Cause | What to do | |||||
| The interface cable is broken or twisted. | Check that the interface cable is not broken or twisted. If you have another interface cable, replace the cable and check whether the printer works correctly. | |||||
| The printer is not connected directly to your computer. | When you use a printer changer, printer buffer, or a extension cable, the printer does not print correctly due to the combination of these devices. Make sure that the printer works correctly when it is connected to your computer without these devices. | |||||
| The printer driver is not installed correctly. | Check that the printer driver is installed properly. If necessary, reinstall the printer driver. | |||||
| Paper is jammed or the ribbon or guard mechanism is stuck. | Turn the printer off, open the printer cover and remove the jammed paper or things that are stuck. | |||||
| The USB setting is incorrect. | Confirm the USB setting is correct. See Correcting USB Problems for details. | |||||
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The printer is hung-up (stopping in abnormal situations). |
Turn the printer off and wait for a while. Then, turn the printer on again, and start printing. |
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| The printer does not print when the computer sends data. | ||||||
| Cause | What to do | |||||
| The printer is paused. | Press the Pause button to turn off the Pause light. | |||||
| The interface cable is not plugged in securely. | Check that both ends of the cable between the printer and the computer are plugged in securely. If the cable is connected correctly, run a self test as described in Printing a Self Test. | |||||
| Your interface cable does not meet the printer and/or computer specifications. | Use an interface cable that meets the requirements of both the printer and computer. See Electronic and your computer documentation. | |||||
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Your software is not properly set up for your printer. |
Select your printer from the Windows desktop or in your application. If necessary, install or reinstall the printer driver software as illustrated in the Start Here. |
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| The printer makes noise, but nothing prints or printing stops abruptly. | ||||||
| Cause | What to do | |||||
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The ribbon has too much slack, the ribbon has come loose, or the ribbon cartridge is not installed properly. |
Remove any slack in the ribbon by turning the ribbon-tightening knob, or reinstall the ribbon cartridge as described in the section under Replacing the Ribbon Cartridge. |
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| The printout is pale. | ||||||
| Cause | What to do | |||||
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The ribbon is worn out. |
Replace the ribbon cartridge as described in Replacing the Ribbon Cartridge. |
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| The printout is faint. | ||||||
| Cause | What to do | |||||
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The ribbon is worn out. |
Replace the ribbon cartridge as described in Replacing the Ribbon Cartridge. |
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| Part of the printout is missing, or dots are missing in random positions. | ||||||
| Cause | What to do | |||||
| The ribbon has too much slack, the ribbon has come loose, or the ribbon cartridge is not installed properly. | Remove any slack in the ribbon by turning the ribbon-tightening knob, or reinstall the ribbon cartridge as described in Replacing the Ribbon Cartridge. | |||||
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The ribbon is worn out. |
Replace the ribbon cartridge as described in Replacing the Ribbon Cartridge. |
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| Lines of dots are missing in the printout. | ||||||
| Cause | What to do | |||||
| The print head is damaged. | Stop printing and contact your dealer to have the print head replaced. | |||||
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| All the text is printed on the same line. | ||||||
| Cause | What to do | |||||
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No line feed command is sent at the end of each line of text. |
Turn on the auto line feed setting using the printer's default-setting mode so that the printer automatically adds a line feed code to each carriage return. See Changing the settings in the SelecType mode for details. |
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| The printout has extra blank lines between lines of text. | ||||||
| Cause | What to do | |||||
| Two line feed commands are being sent at the end of each line of text, because the printer's auto line feed setting is on. | Turn off the auto line feed setting using the printer's SelecType mode. See Changing the settings in the SelecType mode for details. | |||||
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The line space setting in your application software is incorrect. |
Adjust the line space setting in your application software. |
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| The printer prints strange symbols, incorrect fonts, or other inappropriate characters. | ||||||
| Cause | What to do | |||||
| Your printer and computer are not communicating correctly. | Make sure that you use the correct interface cable and that the communications protocol is correct. See Electronic and your computer documentation. | |||||
| The wrong character table is selected in your software. | Select the correct character table using your software or the SelecType mode. The character table setting in your software overrides settings made in the SelecType mode. | |||||
| The printer you want to use is not selected in your software | Choose the correct printer from the Windows desktop or in your application before printing. | |||||
| Your application software is not configured correctly for your printer. | Make sure that your application software is configured correctly for your printer. See your application documentation. If necessary, install or reinstall the printer driver software as illustrated in the Start Here. | |||||
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Software settings override settings you make using the default-setting mode or the control panel buttons. |
Use your application software to select the font. |
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| Vertical printed lines are not aligned. | ||||||
| Cause | What to do | |||||
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Bidirectional printing, which is the printer's standard printing mode, is out of alignment. |
Use the printer's bidirectional adjustment mode to correct this problem. See Aligning Vertical Lines in Your Printout. |
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| The perforation cutter is installed and the printer does not feed continuous paper properly. | |
| Cause | What to do |
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The perforation cutter's connector is not plugged securely into the printer. |
Turn off the printer then check the perforation cutter connector. |
| The perforation cutter is installed and the paper is not cut properly. | |
| Cause | What to do |
| The printer driver setting is not set correctly. | Select the paper source you want to use in the printer driver. |
| You didn't set the Auto cut mode. | Set the Auto cut mode to On. However, any setting made in the driver overrides the auto cut mode setting. |
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You don't set the page length to match your paper. |
Set the Page length for Rear tractor or Page length for Front tractor to match your paper. |
| Paper jams, does not feed smoothly. | |
| Cause | What to do |
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The perforation cutter is not correctly installed. |
Remove the perforation cutter and then reinstall it, making sure the mounting notches and pins fit together properly. See Installing the pull tractor for instructions. |
| Cannot configure the network interface or cannot print from the network. | |
| Cause | What to do |
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The printer settings or network settings may be wrong. |
First, check to see if you can print a status sheet, as described in the manual for the Print Server that you are using. If you can print a status sheet, check the network settings; otherwise, set the interface mode of the printer's control panel to Auto.
Check whether or not print jobs from other computers are being printed through the network.
When the print job is executed, the printer or your computer may have a problem. Check the connection between the printer and your computer, settings on the printer driver, and settings of your computer. When the print job is not executed, network settings may be incorrect. Ask your network administrator for help. |
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| Version NPD1014-01, Copyright © 2005, SEIKO EPSON CORPORATION |
