Genicom 3600 manual Environmental Problems, Electrostatic Discharge ESD

Troubleshooting 4

To check for communications problems

1.Check the cabling from the printer to the host system.

2.Check the interfacing of the devices that are communicating with the printer.

3.Check the printer for proper electrical operation of the serial communications port.

4.Test to see that the host system is not overrunning the printer’s input buffers.

5.Check to see that the data string being sent to the printer contains the correct information.

Environmental Problems

Symptoms associated with environmental problems are printing garbage, resetting, or total lockup. One way to discover if the problem is environmental is to see if the problem goes away when the printer is moved to a new location. If it shows up in a printer recently moved from another area, the problem is probably environmental. The following is a discussion of different types of environmental problems.

Electrostatic Discharge (ESD)

ESD can cause failure or weakening of affected components. Typically, ESD occurs when a person with a large electrical potential unintentionally discharges that potential by touching the conductive surfaces of the equipment. Static charge is created through friction from people walking, conveyor belts, paper moving through a printer, and wheelchairs. The solution is to reduce the charge by grounding and by employing prevention measures such as antistatic bags for ICs and PCBs, grounded antistatic mats, antistatic spray for carpeting, antistatic clothing (no wool), antistatic wax for tile floors, conductive floor materials, air ionizers, and antistatic cleaners for plastics. To further protect against ESD, use shielded cable for interface cables, and tie the shield to metal backshells at both ends of the cable. Do not connect the shield of the cable to the chassis ground or signal ground of the interface (metal backshells will be tied to the chassis).

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