Impact printer quality problems

Question 1

Consistently added or light characters

Answer 1

Cause: Worn out printer ribbon
Solution:
1. See if you can adjust the print head to be closer to the ribbon.
2. Replace the ribbon with a new, vendor- recommended ribon

Question 2

Print lines that go from dark to light as the print head moves across the page

Answer 2

Cause: Printer ribbon-advance gear slipping
Solution: Replace the ribbon- advance gear or mechanism.

Question 3

A small, blank line running though a line of print

consistently

Answer 3

Cause: Print head pin stuck inside the print head
Solution: Replace the print head.

Question 4

A small, blank line running through a line of print

intermittently

Answer 4

Cause: a broken, loose, or shorting print head cable
Solution: secure or replace the print head cable.

Question 5

a small, dark line running through a line of print

Answer 5

Cause: print head pin stuck in the out position
Solution: replace the print head

Question 6

Printer making printing noise, but no print appears on the page

Answer 6

Cause: worn, missing, or improperly installed ribbon cartridge
Solution: Replace the ribbon cartridge correctly.

Question 7

Printer printing garbage, such as garbled characters

Answer 7

Cause: Cable partially unhooked, wrong driver selected, or bad printer control board (PBC)

Question 8

Laser printer voltages

Answer 8

Pin 1: +5V
Pin 5: -5V
Pin 9: +24V
A. If one of the pins are not working then replace fuse
B. If all don’t work remove all optional hardware and test again.
C. If it still doesn’t read replace the DC power supply.