Epson TM-U200 Printers
Before running any self tests, it is recommended that you clear any possible paper or ribbon jams.
RIBBON JAMS
Turn off the printer, open the printer lid, remove the ribbon and examine it to determine if the ribbon is damaged. While the ribbon is out of the printer, advance the ribbon manually using the ribbon advance knob on the ribbon cassette, as you advance the ribbon, inspect it for damage such as tears, creases, frayed etc. If the ribbon is damaged, replace the ribbon.
PAPER JAMS
Turn off the printer, open the printer lid and remove the paper roll & ribbon cassette.
** DO NOT PULL PAPER THRU THE PRINTER **
When removing the paper roll, tear the paper off behind the print mechanism (before it enters the printer) and line feed the remaining paper out. Loosen the screw that secures the print head cover (small metal plate with a black knob in the corner), remove the print head cover. This allows you to see possible paper jams or obstructions that may be causing a printer problem, carefully remove any debris that are found. You may at this point also power the printer on and watch what the print head does. The print head should cycle back & forth and settle on the left side. If it does not, turn the printer off, manually slide the print head all the way to the right (it will offer some resistance) and power the printer back on. If the print head jams, stutters or does not settle to the left side, replace with your backup printer. If you do not have a back up printer, call for service. Once you have determined if there are any obvious causes to the printing problem and made any corrections, reinstall the paper, ribbon and print head cover.
Notes: If you have multiple “same model” printers, don’t forget you have the ability to compare printers when trouble shooting. This is of great help to the untrained eye. You may also be able to “swap” printers to further diagnose the problem. This is especially true of the Epson Thermal printers as they all tend to be set up in the same manner.
REMOVING A PAPER JAM (IMPACT PRINTER ONLY)
This technique is recommended for impact printers ONLY (not thermal printers). In addition to the trouble shooting steps above; it is possible to have a paper jam that is not easy or possible to see. If the paper will not feed thru the printer, it is likely there is paper blocking it. Obtain a piece of material that is slightly smaller (not as wide) as your paper and approx. 10-12” in length. Most paper is 3” wide. This material must be stiffer than paper. Don’t use cardboard. Three ring binders are often covered with a plastic material that is ideal for this purpose. Create a strip by cutting a piece of plastic 10-12” long and almost 3” wide, insert the plastic strip into the same area where you would normally feed your paper and force the plastic strip thru the printer. Because the plastic material is stiffer than regular paper you can quite often “pop” the paper jam out or at least expose it so that you could remove it. Try it more than once, but if you can easily slide the plastic strip thru the printer several times than it’s possible there is no paper jam or you knocked it out and just can’t see it. When finished, reassemble the printer and perform a self test to check the printer.
When trouble shooting printer communications issues ALWAYS check your connections. Micros clients should ALWAYS disconnect and reconnect the printer communication cables when trouble shooting communications issues with printers.
Running the Self Test (Epson Printers)
Any time that you want to check the performance of your printer you can run the self test described below. This shows whether your printer is working correctly. This test is independent of any otherequipment or software. On occasion, the printer may have garbage in the print buffer, this self test will clear the print buffer.
Note: Be sure to install the ribbon cassette and the paper roll before you run the self test.
1. To perform the self test, hold down the [PAPER FEED] button while you turn on the printer with the power switch.
2. The printer prints the current printer settings and then the PAPER OUT light blinks to indicate that the printer is in the test printing standby state.
3. Press the PAPER FEED button to start the second part of the test, in which the printer prints a pattern using the built-in character set.
4. After the printer completes a certain number of lines, it prints the following:
*** completed ***
Then it enters the normal mode.
Note: If you want to pause the self test manually, press the PAPER FEED button. Press the PAPER FEED button again to continue the self test