Power supply problemsSingle-sheet paper loading or feeding problemsContinuous paper loading or feeding problemsPrinting position problemsPrinting or printout quality problemsTroubleshooting
Most printer problems are easy to solve. Use the information in this section to find the cause and solution to any printer problems that occur.
Determine what type of problem occurred, and see the appropriate page listed below:
You can also use the self test feature to determine whether the printer or the computer is causing the problem. See Printing a Self Test for instructions.
To pinpoint communication problems, experienced users may want to use the printer's hex dump mode, described in Printing a 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 | |||||
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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 though you turned 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. | |||||
| The electrical outlet does not work. | Use a different outlet. | |||||
| The printer does not load single-sheet paper or does not feed it properly. | |
| Cause | What to do |
| Tractor feeding is selected. | Select single-sheet feeding. For more information, see Selecting a Paper Source. |
| The paper on the paper guide is positioned too far to the left or right for the paper sensor to detect that it is there. | Move the paper a little to the left or right. |
| Single-sheet paper is not loaded properly. | See Loading Single Sheets for instructions on loading single-sheet paper. |
| The paper thickness lever is not set correctly. | See Adjusting the Paper Thickness Lever. |
| Your paper is creased, old, too thin, or too thick. | See Paper and use new, clean sheets of paper. |
| The printer does not fully eject a single sheet. | |
| Cause | What to do |
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Your paper is too long. |
Press the Load/Eject button to eject the sheet. Make sure the page length of your paper is within the range specified for single-sheet. See Paper. Also check and adjust the paper size setting in your application or printer driver. |
| The optional cut-sheet feeder does not feed your single-sheet paper properly. | |
| Cause | What to do |
| The cut-sheet feeder is not installed properly. | Reinstall it as described in Installing the cut-sheet feeder. |
| Too many sheets are loaded in the cut-sheet feeder. | Load no more than 150 single sheets in the high-capacity cut-sheet feeder. See Cut-sheet feeders for more information. |
| You may have loaded the wrong type of paper in bin 2 of the double-bin cut-sheet feeder. | Use only the high-capacity feeder (bin 1) or the sheet guide for single-sheet multipart forms (only the type glued at the top of the forms), envelopes, and postcards. |
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The edge guides of the cut-sheet feeder are not positioned correctly. |
Align the left edge guide with the arrow mark, then move the right edge guide to match your paper's width. |
| There are only a few sheets of paper left in the bin. | Load more paper in the cut-sheet feeder. |
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Sheets of paper are stuck together. |
Remove the paper stack, fan it, and then reload it. |
| The printer does not load continuous paper or does not feed it properly. | |
| Cause | What to do |
| Single-sheet feeding is selected. | Select tractor feeding. For more information, see Selecting a Paper Source. |
| Continuous paper is not loaded properly. | See Loading continuous paper with the tractor for instructions on loading continuous paper on the tractor you want to use. |
| The paper has come off the tractor. | Reload the paper on the tractor as described in Loading continuous paper with the tractor. |
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The paper thickness lever is not set correctly. |
Set the paper thickness lever to match the thickness of your paper. See Adjusting the Paper Thickness Lever. |
| The paper supply is obstructed. | Make sure the paper supply is not obstructed by a cable or some other object. See Positioning your continuous paper supply. |
| The holes on the sides of the paper are misaligned. |
Check that the holes on the sides of the paper are aligned with each other. Also make sure the sprocket units are locked and their covers are closed. |
| The printer does not feed continuous paper back to the standby position. | |
| Cause | What to do |
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You did not tear off the printed pages before pressing the Load/Eject button. |
Tear off the printed pages at the perforation. Then press the Load/Eject button to feed the paper backward to the standby position. |
| Printing starts 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 tractor do not match the size of the continuous paper you are using. | Check the page length settings for the tractor using the printer's default-setting mode or the EPSON Remote! utility. See About Your Printer's Default Settings or Using the EPSON Remote! Utility. | |||||
| The top margin or top-of-form position setting is incorrect. | Check the top margin or top-of-form position setting in your application software. See Printable area. Adjust the top-of-form position in micro adjust mode. Be aware, however, that settings made in Windows applications override settings made in micro adjust mode. See Adjusting the loading position. | |||||
| 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. | |||||
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You moved the paper using the knob while the printer was on. |
Adjust the top-of-form position using the micro adjust feature. See Adjusting the loading position. |
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| The printer prints on or too far away from the perforation of your continuous paper. | ||||||
| Cause | What to do | |||||
| 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 tractor do not match the size of the continuous paper you are using. |
Check the page length settings for the tractor using the printer's default-setting mode or the EPSON Remote! utility. See About Your Printer's Default Settings or Using the EPSON Remote! Utility. |
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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. | |||||
| 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 Interface cards and your computer's 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. |
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| The printer makes noise, but nothing prints or printing stops abruptly | ||||||
| Cause | What to do | |||||
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The paper thickness lever is not set correctly. |
Set the paper thickness lever to match the thickness of your paper. See Adjusting the Paper Thickness Lever. | |||||
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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 Replacing the Ribbon Cartridge. |
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| The printout is faint. | ||||||
| Cause | What to do | |||||
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The paper thickness lever is not set correctly. |
Set the paper thickness lever to match the thickness of your paper. See Adjusting the Paper Thickness Lever. | |||||
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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 has gaps. | ||||||
| Cause | What to do | |||||
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The paper thickness lever is not set correctly. |
Set the paper thickness lever to match the thickness of your paper. See Adjusting the Paper Thickness Lever. |
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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 | |||||
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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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A line feed command is not sent to the printer at the end of each line of text. |
Turn on the auto line feed setting using the printer's default-setting mode or the EPSON Remote! utility so that the printer automatically adds a line feed code to each carriage return. See About Your Printer's Default Settings or Using the EPSON Remote! Utility. |
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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. | Turn off the auto line feed setting using the printer's default-setting mode or the EPSON Remote! utility. See About Your Printer's Default Settings or Using the EPSON Remote! Utility. | |||||
| The line space setting in your application software is incorrect. | Adjust the line space setting in your application software. | |||||
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The skip over perforation setting is on. |
Turn off the skip over perforation setting in the default-setting mode or the EPSON Remote! utility. See About Your Printer's Default Settings or Using the EPSON Remote! Utility. |
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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 are using the correct interface cable and that the communications protocol is correct. See your computer documentation. If you installed an optional serial interface card, also see Interface cards. | |||||
| The wrong character table is selected in your software. | Select the correct character table using your software, the default-setting mode, or the EPSON Remote! utility. The character table setting in your software overrides settings made in the default-setting mode or the EPSON Remote! utility. | |||||
| 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 set up correctly for your printer. See your application documentation. If necessary, install or reinstall the printer driver software. | |||||
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Software settings override settings you make using the default-setting mode, EPSON Remote!, 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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