Epson P953A Diagnosing the Problem

Diagnosing the Problem

Troubleshooting printer problems is best handled in two easy

steps: first diagnose the problem, then apply likely solutions

until the problem is fixed. The information that you need to

diagnose the most common problems is provided by the

printer’s control panel lights and by t he Status Monitor 2

(Windows 95 only) and the StatusMonitor (Macintosh only)

utility. In addition, you can determine whether a problem lies

with the printer itself or with the computer by performing a

printer operation check.

In “Problems and Solutions” later in this chapter you can find

causes and solutions to specific printer problems. Use the

information presented in this chapter to pinpoint the source of

your problem, then apply the recommended solutions until the

problem is solved.

Error indicators

You can identify many common printer problems with the

lights on the control panel. If your printer stops working and

the lights are on or flashing, use the following table of panel

light patterns to diagnose the problem, then follow the

recommended corrective measures.

LComoro-W

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A5 size Chapter 8

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8-2 Troubleshooting

Contents

Main Page Where to Find Information Color Ink Jet Printer Users Guide Declaration of Conformity ii Contents iv Page vi Page Page Safety Instructions Important Safety Instructions A few precautions 2 Page E NERGY S w 4 S Safety information For United Kingdom Users c Page Chapter 1 Getting to Know Your Printer Printer Parts and Control Panel Functions LComoro-W 1-2 A5 size Chapter 1 12-12-97 DR, pass 0 Buttons E A B S P System Requirements When using your printer with a PC 1-4 When using your printer with a Macintosh Applicable computer models (as of July 1, 1997) Interface cables Environment Options and Consumable Products Options 1-6 Interface cables Consumable products Ink cartridges EPSON special media 1-8 Chapter 2 Getting Started Unpacking the Printer 2-2 Choosing a Place for the Printer Using a printer stand Attaching the Paper Support 2-4 Plugging in the Printer Installing the Ink Cartridges Page Page 2-8 Page R 2-10 Connecting the Printer to Your PC Installing the Printer Software in Your PC 2-12 Installing in Windows 95 or Windows NT 4.0 2-14 Installing in Windows 95 (using plug-and-play) 2-16 Page Installing in Windows 3.1 2-18 Page Using Your Printer on a Network With Windows 95 2-20 Page With Windows NT 4.0 2-22 Page Note for Windows NT 4.0 users: 2-24 Connecting the Printer to Your Macintosh Installing the Printer Software in Your Macintosh Installing the printer software 2-26 Printer software components Serial Driver Package 2-28 2.0 and Profiles Using the Chooser to select your printer 2-30 Page Page Chapter 3 Starting to Print Loading Paper 3-2 Page 3-4 Printing With Windows 3-6 For Windows 95 and 3.1 users: Printing With a Macintosh 3-8 Page Page Chapter 4 Using the Printer Software for Windows The Printer Software Accessing the Printer Software 4-2 From Windows applications From Windows 95 or Windows NT 4.0 From Windows 3.1 4-4 Making Changes to Printer Driver Settings Using the Automatic Setting Using the Predefined Settings 4-6 Page Customizing the Print Settings 4-8 Saving your settings Making the Media Type Setting 4-10 Page Modifying the Printout Style (Windows 95 & NT 4.0) Using the Orientation feature (Pa per menu) 4-12 Ulsing the Layout menu Proportional Printing Print Layout (for Windows 95) Watermark 4-14 Using EPSON Printer Utilities EPSON Status Monitor 2 (for Windows 95) Nozzle Check 4-16 Head Cleaning Print Head Alignment Printer and Option Information 4-18 Speed & Progress (for Windows 95) DMA Transfer 4-20 Checking Printer Status (for Windows 95 and 3.1 ) From Windows 95 (Progress Meter ) From Windows 3.1 (Despooler) 4-22 Understanding the EPSON Spool Manager From Windows 95 From Windows 3.1 Using EPSON Status Monitor 2 (for Windows 95) 4-24 Printer icon Printer Name Status Job Count Printer Status window 4-26 Making monitoring settings 4-28 Installing the Status Monitor 2 utility Getting Information Through Online Help Accessing help from your application 4-30 Accessing help from Windows 95 or NT 4.0 Accessing help from Windows 3.1 Using the Printer Software for Macintosh The Printer Software Making Changes to Printer Driver Settings 5-2 Using the Automatic Setting Media Type 5-4 Ink Using the Predefined Settings Advanced Photo 5-6 Photo Text/Graph PhotoEnhance2 Economy Text 5-8 Customizing the Print Settings Print Quality SuperFine - 1440 dpi Fine - 720 dpi Page MicroWeave High Speed Flip Horizontal 5-12 Finest Detail Color Adjustment Page PhotoEnhance2 5-14 Page Saving your settings 5-16 Using your saved settings Changing the Paper Size Paper Size Orientation 5-18 Rotate by 180 degrees Reduce or Enlarge Defining a Custom Paper Size Modifying the Printout Method and Style Fit to Page 5-20 Watermark Print Layout Print Order 5-22 Using EPSON Printer Utilities EPSON StatusMonitor Configuration Nozzle Check 5-24 Head Cleaning Print Head Alignment Controlling Background Printing 5-26 Chapter 6 Printing on Special Paper Choosing Special Paper and Other Media 6-2 Transparencies Glossy Film Printing on Special Paper 6-3 R A5 size Chapter 6 12-12-97 DR, pass 0 About special media cleaning sheets Loading Special Paper and Other Me dia 6-4 Page 6-6 Loading Envelopes Loading Transparencies 6-8 Chapter 7 Maintenance and Transportation Replacing an Ink Cartridge 7-2 Page R 7-4 Page 7-6 R Cleaning the Printer 7-8 Transporting the Printer Page Chapter 8 Troubleshooting Diagnosing the Problem Error indicators 8-2 P B S A Problem and Solution E Comoro-W Status Monitor Printer operation check 8-4 Page E 8-6 Problems and Solutions Power supply The lights come on briefly but then go off and stay off. w The printer does not work and the control panel lights are off. Operation 8-8 The P power light is on but nothing prints. Nothing prints and the control panel lights are on or flashing. The printer sounds as though it is printing, but nothing prints. The printer operation check prints well, but nothing prints from within an application program. 8-10 Color documents print out in black and white. Printing starts too high or too low on the page. Print speed is not what you expect. 8-12 Something on the page is wrong or missing. The print head moved to the ink cartridge replacement position unexpectedly. R The New Hardware Found screen appears even though the printer software has already been installed. Paper handling Paper does not feed properly from the sheet feeder. 8-14 E S The printer loads more than one sheet at a time. Ejected paper is wrinkled. Paper does not eject fully. E 8-16 Paper feed or paper jam problems occur frequently. Printing quality The printed image has gaps or faint areas. The printed image is blurred. The printed image is smeared. 8-18 w White horizontal lines appear in the printed image. Vertical printed lines do not align. Printing quality is not what you expect. 8-20 Colors are different from what you expect. Colors are not very vivid. 8-22 Photographic images look grainy or rough. Printer utilities The Status Monitor window does not appear when you are using Windows 95. 8-24 When you clean the print head using the Head Cleaning utility, the output quality does not improve. Increasing the Print Speed Using DMA transfer (for Windows 95) 8-26 Page 8-28 Uninstalling Printer Software (Windows 95) Cleaning the Print Head Using the Head Cleaning utility 8-30 For Windows users: Page For Macintosh users: 8-32 Using the control panel R Aligning the Print Head For Windows users: 8-34 For Macintosh users: Ink Cartridge Problems E 8-36 Page E 8-38 Contacting Customer Support For United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland users Enquiry Desk Customer Support 8-40 Faxon Epson EPtec - Bulletin Board S ervice For Australian users EPSON FAXBACK EPSON Bulletin Board System 8-42 Internet URL http://www.epson.com.au Your Dealer For Singapore users For Hong Kong users Internet home page Electronic bulletin board system Technical Support Hotline For Philippines users Appendix A Tips for Color Printing Basics of Color Properties of color A-2 Synchronizing monitor colors and printer colors Tips for Color Printing A-3 Process of color printing Dithering A-4 Error diffusion Image Resolution and Image Size Tips for Color Printing A-5 A-6 Basics of Color Documents Know WHO your readers are and WHAT your purpose is Tips for Color Printing A-7 Know WHEN to use color Decide WHERE color will most benefit your document Know WHY you are using color Know HOW to select colors A-8 Appendix B Specifications Technical Specifications Printing B-2 Paper Specifications B-3 B-4 Specifications B-5 Ink cartridges B-6 Mechanical Specifications B-7 Electrical Environmental B-8 Initialization Hardware initialization Specifications B-9 Software initialization Safety approvals B-10 Interface Specifications Parallel interface Specifications B-11 Foward channel Reverse channel Serial interface B-12 Glossary Glossary 1 2 Glossary 3 4 Glossary 5 Page Index A IN-1 E R cleaning, 1-3, 8-33 D E IN-2 F G S IN-3 L A B O P IN-4 Q R IN-5 S T U IN-6