Epson LQ-680, LQ-680Pro Getting to Know Your Printer

Getting to Know Your Printer

Your EPSON® LQ-680/LQ-680Pro 24-pin dot matrix printer provides high-quality printing and great performance in a compact design.

Features include:

❏The ability to handle a wide range of paper types, including continuous paper, multipart forms with one original and up to five copies, labels, single sheets, envelopes, and postcards

❏High-speed printing of up to 413 cps (characters per second) at 10 characters per inch

Your printer also comes with printer driver software, the EPSON Status Monitor 3 utility for Microsoft® Windows® 98, 95, 2000 and NT 4.0, that lets you check the status of your printer quickly and easily, and other software. In addition, many other options are available to suit your individual needs.

Getting to Know Your Printer 1

Contents

24-PinDot Matrix Printer User’s Guide Page DECLARATION of CONFORMITY We: EPSON AMERICA, INC Located at: 3840 Kilroy Airport Way Page Contents Chapter 2 Paper Handling Paper source and paper types Setting the paper release lever (LQ-680) Setting the Paper Source button (LQ-680Pro) Adjusting the Paper Thickness Lever Page Chapter 5 Troubleshooting Power supply problems Single-sheetpaper loading or feeding problems Continuous paper loading or feeding problems Printing position problems Appendix C Specifications Appendix D Customer Support Information For Users in the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland . D-4 Glossary Index Control Panel Buttons and Lights Getting to Know Your Printer Important Safety Instructions Note for German-speakingusers: Print Head Caution Symbol ENERGY STAR Compliance For United Kingdom Users Use of options Safety information wWarning: Important: If you have to fit a plug: Warnings, Cautions, and Notes Warnings Cautions Notes Setting Up the Printer Unpacking the Printer Note: Choosing a Place for the Printer Note for French-speakingusers: Page Assembling the Printer Attaching the paper guide Plugging in the Printer 1.Make sure the printer is turned off w Warning: Connecting the Printer to Your Computer Page Installing or Replacing the Ribbon Cartridge EPSON recommends the use of genuine EPSON Ribbon Cartridges (S015016) 2.Open the printer cover by gently lifting up the notch on the both sides Page Page Page Installing the Printer Software Installing the printer software in Windows 98, 95 2000, or NT Follow the steps below to install the printer software in Windows 98, 95, 2000, or NT 4.0: If you wish to make a diskette version of the printer software on your Installing the printer software in Windows 3.1 or NT Page For DOS programs Paper Handling Selecting a Paper Source Paper source and paper types The table below shows which paper source to use for each paper type Setting the paper release lever (LQ-680) Setting the Paper Source button (LQ-680Pro) Adjusting the Paper Thickness Lever Page Using Continuous Paper Positioning your continuous paper supply Loading continuous paper with the tractor Page Page Page Page Using the tear-offfunction Using the Tear Off button Using auto tear-offmode Removing continuous paper Using Continuous Multipart Forms Using Overlapping Multipart Forms (LQ-680Pro) Using Labels Never feed labels backward with the Using Single Sheets ❏See Appendix C for detailed single-sheetpaper specifications Page Page Using Single-SheetMultipart Forms Using Envelopes Using Postcards Card mode is available only when the paper thickness lever is set to ❏Use postcards only under normal operating conditions Switching Between Continuous Paper and Single Sheets Switching to single sheets To switch from continuous paper to single sheets, follow the steps below c Caution: Switching to continuous paper Using Micro Adjust Adjusting the loading position Page ❏Pressing the LF/FF [D] button moves the loading position After you set the loading position, press the Adjusting the tear-offposition Adjusting the printing position Using the Printer Software About Your Printer Software Using the Printer Driver With Windows 98 or Accessing the printer driver from Windows applications Page Accessing the printer driver from the Start menu Changing the printer driver settings Using the Printer Driver With Windows Page Accessing the printer driver from the Control Panel Changing the Printer driver settings Using the Printer Driver With Windows 2000 and NT Page Page Page Using the Printer Driver With Windows NT 3.5x Page Page Page Printer Driver Settings Overview The printing settings are shown below The monitoring settings are shown below 3-18 Using the Printer Software Using the EPSON Remote! Utility Installing EPSON Remote Accessing EPSON Remote Using the EPSON Status Monitor 3 Utility Setting up EPSON Status Monitor Monitoring Preference 3. The following settings are available: Click the Default button to revert all items to the default settings Accessing EPSON Status Monitor Changing Printer Settings From the Printer’s Control Panel Selecting a Built-InFont and Pitch About Your Printer’s Default Settings settings, see “Changing default settings” on page 4-4 Changing Printer Settings From the Printer’s Control Panel Page Page Page Page Changing default settings Page Troubleshooting Using the Error Indicators 5-2 Troubleshooting Page Problems and Solutions Power supply problems The control panel lights come on briefly, but then go off and stay off wWarning: Single-sheetpaper loading or feeding problems The printer does not load single-sheetpaper or does not feed it properly The printer does not fully eject a single sheet The optional cut-sheetfeeder does not feed your single-sheetpaper properly Continuous paper loading or feeding problems The printer does not load continuous paper or does not feed it properly The printer does not feed continuous paper back to the standby position Printing position problems Printing starts too high or low on the page cCaution: Page Printing or printout quality problems The printer does not print when the computer sends data The printer makes noise, but nothing prints or printing stops abruptly The printout is faint The printout has gaps Part of the printout is missing, or dots are missing in random positions Lines of dots are missing in the printout The print head is damaged Stop printing and contact your dealer to have the print head replaced All the text is printed on the same line The printout has extra blank lines between lines of text Vertical printed lines are not aligned Clearing Paper Jams Aligning Vertical Lines in Your Printout Printing a Self Test You can print a self test using either single sheets or continuous paper To perform a self test, follow these steps: Printing a Hex Dump Page Enhancing Your Printer With Options Cut-SheetFeeders Two cut-sheetfeeders are available for use with your printer: You can install the high-capacity cut-sheetfeeder by itself The For detailed paper specifications, see Appendix C Installing the cut-sheetfeeder A-3 A-4 A-5 Loading paper from the cut-sheetfeeder A-6 Loading paper from the high-capacity cut-sheetfeeder A-8 A-9 A-10 Loading paper from the second-bin cut-sheetfeeder A-12 Switching to continuous paper Switching to single sheets Loading paper manually from the paper guide A-14 Roll Paper Holder Installing the roll paper holder A-15 A-16 Loading a roll of paper A-17 Removing roll paper A-18 Optional interface cards 300, 600, 1200, 2400, 4800, 9600, 19200 bps Enhancing Your Printer With Options A-19 Installing an interface card A-20 A-21 A-22 Cleaning and Transporting the Printer Cleaning the Printer B-2 Transporting the Printer B-3 B-4 Specifications Printer Specifications Mechanical C-2 C-3 Electronic C-4 C-5 Electrical Check the label on the back of the printer for the voltage of your printer Environmental Paper Temperature Ordinary single sheets: front and cut-sheetfeeder entry Single-sheetmultipart forms: front and high-capacity cut-sheetfeeder entry C-7 Envelopes: front and high-capacity cut-sheetfeederentry Postcards: front and high-capacity cut-sheetfeeder entry Roll paper: rear entry with optional roll paper holder C-8 Continuous paper (standard and multipart): rear entry C-9 Continuous paper with overlapping multipart forms (LQ-680Proonly): rear entry Labels: rear entry C-10 Printable area C-11 C-12 C-13 Safety approvals CE marking C-14 Command Lists EPSON ESC/P2 control codes C-15 IBM 2390 Plus emulation control codes C-16 Customer Support Information Contacting Customer Support D-2 For Users in North America To speak directly to a technical support representative, dial: (562) (905) Before you call, please have the following information ready: For Users in the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland D-4 D-5 For Users in Australia D-6 For Users in India D-7 For Users in Malaysia For Users in Singapore D-8 For Users in Hong Kong D-9 For Users in the Philippines D-10 Glossary 2Glossary Page Page Index IN-2 IN-3 Printer Parts