Epson 300 User Manual

®

EPSON

LX-300

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval
system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, mechanical, photocopying, recording,
or otherwise, without the prior written permission of Seiko Epson Corporation. No patent
liability is assumed with respect to the use of the information contained herein. While
every precaution has been taken in the preparation of this book, Seiko Epson Corporation
assumes no responsibility for errors or omissions. Neither is any liability assumed for
damages resulting from the use of the information contained herein.

Neither Seiko Epson Corporation nor its affiliates shall be liable to the purchaser of this
product or third parties for damages, losses, costs, or expenses incurred by purchaser or
third parties as a result of: accident, misuse, or abuse of this product or unauthorized
modifications, repairs, or alterations to this product, or (excluding the U.S.) failure to
strictly comply with Seiko Epson Corporation’s operating and maintenance instructions.

Seiko Epson Corporation shall not be liable against any damages or problems arising from
the use of any options or any consumable products other than those designated as
Original Epson Products or Epson Approved Products by Seiko Epson Corporation.

Epson and Epson ESC/P are registered trademarks of Seiko Epson Corporation.

Epson Connection is a service mark of Epson America, Inc.

General Notice: Other product names used herein are for identification purposes only and
may be trademarks of their respective owners. Epson disclaims any and all rights in those
marks.

Copyright © 1995 by Seiko Epson Corporation
Nagano, Japan

User’s Guide

Edge guides

Power switch

Paper supports

Paper guide

Paper-release

lever

Paper-feed

knob

Control panel

Printer cover

Print head

Sprocket unit

Paper-thickness lever

Paper support

Roman

Sans Serif

Draft

Draft Condensed

Tractor

Lights

12

Micro Adjust

Buttons

Paper Park

3sec

The color samples used on the cover were printed using the LX-300 printer.

Lotus, 1-2-3, and Freelance Graphics are registered trademarks of Lotus
Development Corporation.

Light

PauseLF/FFFont

FCC Compliance Statement

For United States Users

This equipment has been tested and found to comply with the limits for a Class B digital
device, pursuant to Part 15 of the FCC Rules. These limits are designed to provide
reasonable protection against harmful interference in a residential installation. This
equipment generates, uses and can radiate radio frequency energy and, if not installed and
used in accordance with the instructions, may cause harmful interference to radio or
television reception. However, there is no guarantee that interference will not occur in a
particular installation. If this equipment does cause interference to radio and television
reception, which can be determined by turning the equipment off and on, the user is
encouraged to try to correct the interference by one or more of the following measures.

❏ Reorient or relocate the receiving antenna
❏ Increase the separation between the equipment and receiver
❏ Connect the equipment into an outlet on a circuit different from that to which the

receiver is connected

❏ Consult the dealer or an experienced radio/TV technician for help.

WARNING

The connection of a non-shielded equipment interface cable to this equipment will
invalidate the FCC Certification of this device and may cause interference levels which
exceed the limits established by the FCC for this equipment. It is the responsibility of the
user to obtain and use a shielded equipment interface cable with this device. If this
equipment has more than one interface connector, do not leave cables connected to unused
interfaces.

Changes or modifications not expressly approved by the manufacturer could void the
user’s authority to operate the equipment.

For Canadian Users

This digital apparatus does not exceed the Class B limits for radio noise emissions from
digital apparatus as set out in the radio interference regulations of the Canadian
Department of Communications.

Le présent appareil numérique n’émet pas de bruits radioélectriques dépassant les limites
applicables aux appareils numériques de Classe B prescrites dans le règlement sur le
brouillage radioélectrique édicté par le Ministère des Communications du Canada.

ii

Where to Get Help for

United States Users

Epson America provides local customer support and service
through a nationwide network of authorized Epson dealers and
Service Centers.

Epson also provides the following support services through the
Epson Connection

❏ Assistance in locating your nearest Authorized Epson Reseller

or Service Center

❏ Technical assistance with the installation, configuration, and

operation of Epson products

❏ Sales of the
❏ Epson technical information library fax service
❏ Product literature with technical specifications on our current

and new products

❏ Sales of ribbons, supplies, parts, documentation, and

accessories for your Epson product

❏ Customer Relations

SM

at [phone]:

ESC/P® Reference Manual

iii

For United Kingdom Users

Epson product guarantee

Under the law, goods sold must comply with their description and
must be of merchantable quality and fit for their purpose or
correspond with any sample.

This guarantee does not affect the seller’s legal obligation or the
rights of the consumer in the “consumer transactions” under any
Statute, including Sections 12 to 15 of the Sales of Goods Act, 1979.

All Epson Products, other than OEM products, are fully
guaranteed against faulty operation or performance for a period of
ONE YEAR from date of purchase by the user of the product.

All claims under this guarantee MUST be supported by evidence
of purchase, normally the bill of sale invoice, and it is the
responsibility of the claimant to furnish such proof. Epson (UK)
Limited does not issue or operate any form of guarantee
registration card.

Claims are made by the user returning the product to the supplier
from whom it was purchased or, if this is impractical, to any
Epson supplier who also handles the same product. In the event of
any difficulty, users are requested to contact the Service
Co-ordinator Manager at Epson (UK) Limited.

Epson (UK) Limited, or Epson Appointed Distributors, will at
their discretion repair or replace part or all of the product to
provide, in their judgement, a satisfactory performance of the
product consistent with its age and apparent usage.

This guarantee covers the cost of both the parts and labour
required to correct any malfunction of the equipment, but
specifically excludes: wear and tear, consumables, physical
damage due to incorrect use or misuse and damage or faulty
operation due to unauthorized and inexpert repair.

iv

The guarantee is restricted to the performance of the product
alone, and Epson (UK) Limited does not accept responsibility for
any consequential loss or damage, nor claimed or implied
performance, when the product is used in any combination with
other equipment or program software.

Product guarantee may be invalidated as a result of excessive or
inappropriate use, use in an adverse environment or in conditions
outside the specifications or if the product has been subjected to
unapproved modifications.

The guarantee does not cover visits to the user’s premises or the
repair or commissioning of the product on site.

Use of options

Epson (UK) Limited shall not be liable against any damages or
problems arising from the use of any options or consumable
products other than those designated as Original Epson Products
or Epson Approved Products by Epson (UK) Limited.

Safety information

Warning: This appliance must be earthed. Refer to rating plate for
voltage and check that the appliance voltage corresponds to the supply
voltage.

Important

: The wires in the mains lead fitted to this appliance are

coloured in accordance with the following code:

Green and yellow — Earth
Blue — Neutral
Brown — Live

As the colours of the wires in the mains lead of this appliance may
not correspond with the coloured markings identifying the
terminals in your plug, proceed as follows:

The green and yellow wire must be connected to the terminal in
the plug which is marked with the letter E or with the earth
symbol (

) or coloured green or green and yellow.

G

v

The blue wire must be connected to the terminal in the plug
marked with the letter N or coloured black.

The brown wire must be connected to the terminal in the plug
marked with the letter L or coloured white.

If damage occurs to the plug, replace the cord set or consult a
qualified electrician.

Replace fuses only with a fuse of the correct size and rating.

vi

Contents

Introduction

Features . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0-1

Finding Your Way Around . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0-2

Warnings, Cautions, and Notes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0-2

Important Safety Instructions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0-3

Chapter 1

Unpacking the Printer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-2

Choosing a place for the printer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-3

Assembling the Printer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-4

Installing the paper-feed knob . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-4

Attaching the paper supports . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-5

Installing the ribbon cartridge . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-5

Plugging in the printer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-9

Running the Self Test . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-10

Connecting the Printer to Your Computer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-13

Using the parallel interface . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-13

Using the serial interface . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-15

Setting Up Your Software . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-16

Microsoft

Using non-Windows software . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-18

Chapter 2

Using the Control Panel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-2

Lights and buttons . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-2

Selecting fonts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-4

Printing on Single Sheets . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-5

Loading single sheets . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-5

Getting the results you expect . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-6

Setting Up the Printer



Windows

3.1 and all Windows programs . . . . 1-17



Using the Printer

Adjusting the loading position . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-5

vii

Printing on Continuous Paper . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-7

Printing with the push tractor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-7

Switching back to single sheets . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-11

Printing with the pull tractor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-11

Printing on Special Paper . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-15

Adjusting the paper-thickness lever . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-16

Multi-part forms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-17

Labels . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-17

Envelopes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-18

Changing the Printer Settings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-19

Printer setting descriptions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-22

Character spacing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-22

Shape of zero . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-22

Skip-over-perforation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-22

Character table . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-23

Auto line feed . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-23

Page length . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-23

Auto tear off . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-23

Tractor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-23

Interface . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-24

Bit rate, parity bit, data length, and ETX/ACK . . . . . . 2-24

Installing and Using Options . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-24

Cut-sheet feeder . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-24

Pull Tractor unit . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-28

Roll paper holder . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-29

Color upgrade kit . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-31

Chapter 3 Troubleshooting

Problems and Solutions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-2

Power Supply . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-2

Power is not being supplied . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-2

Printing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-3

The printer does not print . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-3

The print is faint or uneven . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-4

Dots are missing in printed characters or graphics . . . . . . . 3-4

Printed characters are not what you expected . . . . . . . . . 3-5

The print position is not what you expected . . . . . . . . . . 3-5

viii

Paper Handling . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-6

Single sheets do not feed properly . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-6

Continuous paper does not feed properly . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-7

Options . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-8

When you use the cut-sheet feeder, the paper does not feed

properly . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-8

Switching between the cut-sheet feeder and the push tractor

does not work properly . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-9

Using the pull tractor with the push tractor, continuous paper

does not feed properly

With color upgrade kit installed, printer doesn’t operate

properly . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-10

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-10

Appendix

Printer Specifications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . A-2

Printing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . A-2

Paper . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . A-3

Mechanical . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . A-6

Electrical . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . A-6

Environmental . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . A-7

Safety approvals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . A-7

Interface Specifications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . A-7

Parallel interface specifications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . A-7

Serial interface specifications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . A-8

Serial pin assignments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . A-8

Printer Settings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . A-9

Command Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . A-10

Sending printer commands . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . A-10

Using the command summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . A-10

Printer operation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . A-11

Data control . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . A-11

Vertical motion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . A-11

Horizontal motion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . A-12

Overall printing style . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . A-13

Print size and character width . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . A-13

Print enhancement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . A-13

Word processing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . A-14

ix

Character tables . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . A-14

User-defined characters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . A-15

Color printing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . A-16

Graphics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . A-16

Index

x

Introduction

Features

Your Epson® 9-pin dot matrix printer offers these outstanding
features:

❏ High-speed printing. Print up to 220 characters per second

(cps) in 10-cpi draft mode.

❏ Quiet operation. You’ll notice the benefit of quiet printing in

your work environment.

❏ Simple control panel. Three buttons and three lights give you

fingertip-access to most printer functions.

❏ Two built-in interfaces: parallel and EIA-232D serial.
❏ Detachable push and pull tractor. Feed continuous paper with

ease and print on single sheets without removing the
continuous paper supply.

❏ Compact design. This printer fits neatly into available space in

your home or office.

❏ Longer printable area. Print up to 66 lines on A4-size or

62 lines on standard letter paper.

®

❏ IBM

In addition, you can get custom results with the following options:

❏ Color Upgrade Kit (C83208

❏ Pull Tractor (C80030

2380 printer emulation mode.

) adds visual interest to printed

✽

documents by switching to a color ribbon cartridge.

) for printing continuous paper and

✽

multi-part forms (used in the pull-tractor position in
conjunction with the standard tractor in the push tractor
position).

Introduction 1

❏ Roll Paper Holder (#8310) uses 81⁄

used by telexes and similar machines. This option is not
available in some countries.

)

❏ Cut-sheet feeder (C80637

single-sheet bond paper automatically.

loads up to 50 sheets of

✽

-inch or 21.6-cm roll paper

2

Finding Your Way Around

This manual provides fully illustrated, step-by-step instructions
for setting up and operating your printer.

❏ Chapter 1 describes how to unpack, set up, test, and connect

the printer to your computer. Be sure to read this chapter first.

❏ Chapter 2 includes information on how to get the printing

results you want, how to install options, and how to maintain
your printer.

❏ Chapter 3 offers simple tips on solving printing problems. If

printing results are not what you expect, or the printer doesn’t
work properly, turn here for help.

❏ The Appendix covers the printer’s specifications and lists

programming commands.

❏ An index at the back of the manual helps you find information

on specific topics quickly.

Warnings, Cautions, and Notes

Warnings

must be followed carefully to avoid bodily injury.

w

Cautions

must be observed to avoid damage to your equipment.

c

Notes

contain important information and useful tips on the operation of

your printer.

2

Introduction

Important Safety Instructions

1. Read all of these instructions before you set up your printer.

2. Follow all warnings and instructions marked on the printer.

3. Unplug this printer from the wall outlet before you clean it.
Use a damp cloth for cleaning and do not use liquid or aerosol
cleaners.

4. Do not use your printer near water or spill any liquid on it.

5. Do not place the printer on an unstable cart, stand, table, or
other surface that may allow the printer to fall.

6. Do not block any slots or openings in the cabinet. These are
provided for the ventilation necessary to ensure reliable
operation and protection from overheating. Placing the printer
on a bed, sofa, rug, or other similar surface may block the
openings. Also, do not place the printer in a built-in
installation, such as a bookcase, unless proper ventilation is
provided.

7. Never place the printer near or over a radiator or heat register.

8. Use the type of power source indicated on the label. If you are
not sure of the type of power available, consult your dealer or
local power company.

9. This printer may be equipped with a plug having a third
(grounding) pin, which fits only into a grounding-type outlet.
This is a safety feature. If you are unable to insert the plug into
the outlet, have an electrician replace your obsolete outlet. Do
not defeat the purpose of the grounding-type plug.

10. Do not put your printer where the cord will be walked on.

Introduction 3

11. If you use an extension cord, make sure that the total of the
ampere ratings on the products plugged into the extension
cord does not exceed the extension cord’s ampere rating. Also,
make sure that the total of all products plugged into the wall
outlet does not exceed 15 amperes.

12. Never push objects of any kind into your printer as they may
touch dangerous voltage points or short out parts that could
result in a risk of fire or electric shock.

13. Except as specifically explained in the user’s manual, do not
attempt to repair the printer yourself. Opening or removing
those covers that are marked “Do Not Remove” may expose
you to dangerous voltage points or other risks. Refer all
servicing in those compartments to service personnel.

14. Unplug this printer from the wall outlet and have it repaired
by a qualified service person under the following conditions:

A. When the power cord or plug is damaged or frayed.

B. If liquid has been spilled into it.

C. If it has been exposed to rain or water.

D. If it does not operate normally when the operating

instructions are followed. Adjust only those controls that
are covered by the operating instructions since improper
adjustment of other controls may result in damage and
will often require extensive work by a qualified technician
to restore the printer to normal operation.

E. If it has been dropped or the cabinet has been damaged.

F. If it exhibits a distinct change in performance, indicating a

need for service.

4 Introduction

Chapter 1

Setting Up the Printer

Unpacking the Printer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-2

Choosing a place for the printer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-3

Assembling the Printer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-4

Installing the paper-feed knob . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-4

Attaching the paper supports . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-5

Installing the ribbon cartridge . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-5

Plugging in the printer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-9

Running the Self Test . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-10

Connecting the Printer to Your Computer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-13

Using the parallel interface . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-13

Using the serial interface . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-15

Setting Up Your Software . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-16

Microsoft Windows 3.1 and all Windows programs . . . . . . 1-17

Using non-Windows software . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-18

1

Setting Up the Printer 1-1

Unpacking the Printer

Your printer box should include these items.

Printer

Printout guide

Paper-feed knob Paper supports

Ribbon cartridge

In some locations, the power cord is attached to the printer.

Caution:

There are several versions of this printer designed for different

c

voltages, and it is not possible to change the voltage. If the
label on the back of the printer does not show the correct
voltage for your country, contact your dealer.

1-2 Setting Up the Printer

Power cord

Choosing a place for the printer

When selecting a place to set up your printer, choose a safe,
convenient location that provides the following:

❏ A flat, stable surface
❏ Adequate room around the printer to allow easy operation

and maintenance. Make sure it’s close enough to the computer
for the printer cable to reach.

❏ Place the printer where you can easily unplug the power cord.
❏ Moderate environmental conditions. Select a cool, dry area

and protect your printer from direct sunlight, excessive heat,
moisture, or dust.

❏ Appropriate power source. Make sure you use a grounded

outlet; do not use an adapter plug. Avoid electrical outlets
controlled by timers or wall switches; an interruption in
power can wipe out the information in your computer or
printer memory.

If you place the printer on a stand, follow these guidelines:

❏ Use a stand that supports at least 10 kg (22 lb).
❏ Never use a stand that tilts the printer. Always keep it level.
❏ Provide enough clearance below the stand and between the

legs so your continuous paper flows smoothly.

❏ Place cables so they do not interfere with paper feeding;

secure them to a leg of the stand if possible.

Setting Up the Printer 1-3

Assembling the Printer

Follow the steps in this section to get your printer up and running.

Installing the paper-feed knob

The first step in assembling the printer is installing the paper-feed
knob.

1. Insert the knob into the hole on the printer’s side and rotate it
slowly until it slips onto the shaft.

2. Push firmly on the paper-feed knob until it fits against the
printer case.

1-4 Setting Up the Printer

Attaching the paper supports

You should install the paper supports before you begin using the
printer.

1. Raise the paper guide. Hold one of the paper supports and push
the tips into the notches on the edge guide.

2. Repeat for the other paper support. Lower the paper guide.

Installing the ribbon cartridge

Before installing the ribbon cartridge, make sure the printer is not
plugged into an electrical outlet.

Setting Up the Printer 1-5

1. Open the printer cover to the upright position, then pull it up
to remove it.

Warning:

w

2. Slide the print head to the middle of the printer.

Never move the print head while the printer is turned on; this
can damage the printer. Also, if you have just used the
printer, let the print head cool for a few minutes before you
touch it.

1-6 Setting Up the Printer

3. Turn the ribbon-tightening knob in the direction of the arrow to
remove any slack from the ribbon so it is easier to install.

4. Insert the ribbon cartridge into the printer as shown; then press
both sides of the cartridge firmly to fit the plastic hooks into
the printer slots.

Setting Up the Printer 1-7

5. Use a pointed object, such as a ball point pen, to guide the
ribbon between the print head and ribbon guide. Turn the
ribbon tightening knob to help feed the ribbon into place; it
should not be twisted or creased.

6. Slide the print head from side to side to make sure it moves
smoothly.

7. Re-install and close the printer cover.

When the printing becomes faint, you need to replace the ribbon
cartridge. To remove the old ribbon cartridge, first move the print
head to the center of the printer. Then remove the cartridge by
lifting the posts on the either side and taking it out of the printer.

1-8 Setting Up the Printer

Plugging in the printer

1. Make sure the power switch on the printer is turned off. It is
off when the

2. Check the label on the bottom of the printer to make sure the
voltage required by the printer matches that of your electrical
outlet.

c

N side of the switch is pressed down.

Caution:

If the rated voltage and your outlet voltage do not match,
contact your dealer for assistance. Do not plug in the power
cord.

3. If the power cord is not attached to the printer, connect it to the
AC inlet on the printer.

4. Plug the power cord into a properly grounded electrical outlet.

Setting Up the Printer 1-9

Running the Self Test

The built-in self test function demonstrates that the printer is
working properly. You can run the test with either continuous
paper or single sheets; this section describes the easier way, with
single sheets.

1. Make sure the printer is turned off and the paper-release lever
is pushed back to the single-sheet position. Raise the paper
guide upright.

Caution:

c

1-10 Setting Up the Printer

You should use paper at least 210 mm or 8 1/4 inches wide to
run the self test; otherwise, the print head prints directly on
the platen.

2. While holding down the LF/FF button, turn on the printer. The

PAUSE light flashes.

3. Slide the left edge guide until it locks in place at the guide
mark. Next, adjust the right edge guide to match the width of
your paper.

Setting Up the Printer 1-11

4. Slide a sheet of paper down firmly between the edge guides
until it meets resistance. The printer loads the sheet
automatically. Press the
to print.

Caution:

c

Always close the printer cover while the printer is printing.
The printer cover helps the paper feed.

PAUSE button, then the printer begins

5. To stop printing temporarily, press the

6. To end the self test, make sure the printer is not printing. Press

LF/FF to eject the sheet; then turn off the printer.

Here is part of a typical self-test printout:

Note:

If the self test did not print satisfactorily, see Chapter 3. If it prints
correctly, go on to the next section.

1-12 Setting Up the Printer

PAUSE button.

Connecting the Printer to Your Computer

Your printer includes both a Centronics®-compatible parallel
interface and an EIA-232D serial interface. Before you begin, place
the printer upright, as shown below. (This makes it easier to
connect the cable.)

Connect your computer to the desired interface as described
below.

You can connect a cable to both interfaces; the printer switches
automatically to the appropriate interface when it receives data.

Using the parallel interface

You need a shielded, twisted-pair cable (not longer than
2 meters—6 feet) to use the parallel interface.

Setting Up the Printer 1-13

1. Turn off both the computer and the printer. Plug the parallel
cable connector securely into the printer’s parallel interface.
Squeeze the wire clips together until they lock in place on
either side of the connector.

2. Guide the interface cable through the slot on the side of the
printer so that it does not block the paper supply as shown in
the illustration on page 1-16.

Note:

If there is a ground wire at the end of the cable, attach it to the
ground connector at the right of the interface.

3. Plug the other end of the cable into the computer’s parallel
interface. (If there is a ground wire at the end of the cable,
attach it to the ground connector at the back of the computer.)

1-14 Setting Up the Printer

Using the serial interface

1. Turn off both the computer and the printer. Plug the serial
cable connector securely into the printer’s serial interface.
Tighten the screws on either side of the connector.

Note:

If there is a ground wire at the end of the cable, attach it to the
ground connector to the right of the interface.

Setting Up the Printer 1-15

2. Guide the interface cable through the slot on the side of the
printer so that it does not block the paper supply.

3. Plug the other end of the cable into the computer’s serial
interface; then tighten the screws on either side of the
connector. (If there is a ground wire at the end of the cable,
attach it to the ground connector at the back of the computer.)

4. Use the Printer Setting mode to change the baud rate, parity bit,
data length, or ETX/ACK if necessary. See “Changing the
Printer Settings” in Chapter 2.

Setting Up Your Software

Most software lets you specify the type of printer you use so that
you can take full advantage of the printer’s features. Your software
probably provides an installation or setup section that presents a
list of printers.

1-16 Setting Up the Printer

Microsoft



Windows

If Windows is installed on your computer system, follow the steps
below to install the right driver for your printer. Your printer will
work correctly for all your Windows programs, such as Word for
Windows, Lotus

If Windows is not already installed on your system, run the
Windows setup program as described in the documentation that
comes with the program. Follow steps 4 through 10 below when
you reach the section about choosing a printer.



3.1 and all Windows programs



1-2-3 for Windows, and CorelDRAW.



1. In the

2. Double click the

3. Choose the

4. From the list of printers box, select

Main window, double click the Control Panel icon.

Printers icon.

Add>> button.

Epson LX-300. If LX-300 is

not available, select

Epson JX-80 if you plan to use color or

Epson LX-810, LX-850, or LX-800 if you do not plan to use

color.

5. Choose the
insert a diskette.

6. If necessary, insert the diskette required.

7. Choose the

8. Select the appropriate resolution.

9. Choose the

10. Highlight
the button labeled

Install button. A dialog box may instruct you to

Setup button.

OK button.

Epson LX-300 (or the printer you added) and click

Set As Default Printer.

11. Click the

Close button.

Setting Up the Printer 1-17

Using non-Windows software

Most application programs let you specify the type of printer you
use so that the program can take full advantage of the printer’s
features. Many programs provide an installation or setup menu
that presents a list of printers.

To take full advantage of your printer’s features, choose LX-300
from the list of printers. If the LX-300 is not listed, choose the first
available printer from the following list. If you plan to use color,
you must choose either LX-300, JX-80, or EX-800. The other
printers cannot use color.

LX-810/850 JX-80
LX-800 EX-800
LX-80/86 Any FX printer
FX-850 Epson printer
FX-86e/800 Draft printer

If your software does not list the LX-300, you may want to contact
the software manufacturer for an update.

1-18 Setting Up the Printer

Chapter 2

Using the Printer

Using the Control Panel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-2

Lights and buttons . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-2

Selecting fonts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-4

Printing on Single Sheets . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-5

Loading single sheets . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-5

Getting the results you expect . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-6

Printing on Continuous Paper . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-7

Printing with the push tractor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-7

Switching back to single sheets . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-11

Printing with the pull tractor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-11

Printing on Special Paper . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-15

Adjusting the paper-thickness lever . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-16

Multi-part forms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-17

Labels . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-17

Envelopes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-18

Changing the Printer Settings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-19

Printer setting descriptions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-22

Installing and Using Options . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-24

Cut-sheet feeder . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-24

Pull Tractor unit . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-28

Roll paper holder . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-29

Color upgrade kit . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-31

2

Using the Printer 2-1

Using the Control Panel

Roman

Sans Serif

Draft

Draft Condensed

12

Micro Adjust

Paper Park

3sec

You can control simple printer operations—such as line feeding,
form feeding, loading and ejecting paper, and selecting
fonts—with the buttons on the control panel. The control panel
lights show the printer’s status and the current font.

Lights and buttons

PAUSE

light

The orange

PAUSE

light is on when the printer stops printing.
Each time you turn on the printer, the light flashes briefly and the
beeper sounds four times. When the printer is out of paper, the
light flashes and the beeper sounds three times. The light also
flashes when you can tear off the last sheet at the edge of the
printer cover.

The

PAUSE

light goes on and the beeper sounds five times if an

error occurs.

PauseLF/FFFont

FONT 1 and FONT 2 lights

The green

FONT

lights, 1 and 2, indicate the current font setting.

For more about selecting fonts, see page 2-4.

FONT button

Press the

FONT

button during normal operation to cycle through

the printer fonts listed on the control panel. When you press the
button, the

FONT

lights change to indicate your current selection.

For more about choosing a font, see page 2-4.

2-2 Using the Printer

If you hold down the FONT button while you turn on the printer,
you enter the Printer Setting mode, where you can change many
of the printer’s settings. For more about printer settings, see
page 2-19.

button

LF/FF

During normal operation, you can press this button briefly to feed
paper line by line. Hold it down to load a single sheet, or to
advance continuous paper to the next top-of-form position. You

can also press

If you want to make sure the printer is working correctly, you can
also use this button to run the self test. To start the self test, hold

down the
complete instructions, see page 1-10.

LF/FF button while you turn on the printer. For

to eject a page.

LF/FF

PAUSE

PAPER PARK

MICRO ADJUST

button

Press the PAUSE button to stop the printer temporarily during
printing or the self test. Press it again to resume activity.

Press the
paper backward to the paper-park position. See “Printing with the
push tractor.”

Feeds paper forward or backward to adjust the loading position.
See “Adjusting the loading position.”

FONT and LF/FF buttons together to feed continuous

Using the Printer 2-3

Selecting fonts

Roman

Sans Serif

Draft

Draft Condensed

12

Micro Adjust

Font

Pap

To choose one of the four internal fonts listed on the control panel,
press the

(

O) to show the current selection. Press the button repeatedly to

FONT button. The two font lights come on (N) and go off

cycle through all of the available selections; then stop when you
reach the desired font.

Your selection stays in effect until you change it again or turn off
the printer. However, any font choices you make with your
software will cancel your control panel selection. The table below

shows how the

Font

Epson Roman (NLQ)

Epson Sans Serif (NLQ)

FONT lights appear for each selection.

FONT
Lights
1 2 Sample

N N

N O

Epson Draft

Epson Draft condensed

= on O = off

N

2-4 Using the Printer

O N

O O

Printing on Single Sheets

You can use the paper guide to print on single sheets with a width
of 182 mm (7.2 inches) to 257 mm (10.1 inches).

Note:

You can install an optional cut-sheet feeder to load up to 50 sheets
automatically. See page 2-24 for details.

Loading single sheets

You load single sheets as shown in “Running the Self Test” in
Chapter 1. For normal use, turn on the printer without pressing
any other buttons. When the printer receives data, it begins to
print.

Adjusting the loading position

If you want to adjust the position where printing begins on the
page, follow these steps (these instructions also work when using
the pull or push tractor):

1. With paper loaded, hold down the PAUSE button until the
printer beeps once and the FONT lights begin to flash.

2. Press the LF/FF button to feed the paper forward, or press the
FONT button to feed the paper backward. (Press either button
as many times as necessary until you reach the desired
position.)

3. To complete the adjustment, press the PAUSE button or send
data from your computer.

Using the Printer

2-5

Getting the results you expect

When you print on single sheets, you may notice that the printer
prints the first page of your file correctly, but then prints too low
on the next page, or that it prints the last few lines from one page
onto the next. This happens because single sheet handling differs
slightly from continuous paper handling.

It’s easy to adjust the printer so that you get the right results.
Simply change some of the settings in your software program as
described below.

1. When you install a software program, it normally asks you
what printer you are using. Make sure you choose the correct
printer. See Chapter 1 for instructions.

2. Many programs have an option that you can use to set the
maximum lines-per-page. If you are using standard
8 1/2

× 11-inch paper, set the lines-per-page to 61.

Note:

To find the right lines-per-page setting for paper that is not
8 1/2

× 11, create a test document using your software program. Set

your top and bottom margins to 0 and then create a file of numbered
lines from 1 to 66. When you print your file, notice the last number
printed on the first page. This is your maximum lines-per-page
setting.

3. If your program doesn’t have a lines-per-page setting, try
decreasing the top margin or increasing the bottom margin, or
both, until you get the results you want.

4. You can also try adjusting the form length setting. For a
standard 8 1/2
10 inches.

5. Some programs let you indicate whether you are using single
sheets or continuous paper. Make sure you choose single
sheets.

2-6

Using the Printer

× 11-inch page, try setting the form length to

Printing on Continuous Paper

Your printer can handle continuous paper with a width of 101 mm
(4.0 inches) to 254 mm (10.0 inches). Depending on where you
position the tractor, you can use it as a pull tractor or a push
tractor. These guidelines can help you decide where to position
the tractor:

❏ Do you want to switch between printing on single sheets and

continuous paper without removing the paper supply? Will
you tear off continuous paper sheet-by-sheet? Use the tractor
in the push tractor position. (The printer comes with the
tractor installed in this position.) See the following section.

❏ Are you printing on labels, multi-part forms, or other

documents that require a precise print position? Use the
tractor as a pull tractor. See page 2-11 for instructions.

Printing with the push tractor

When using the push tractor, it is a good idea to set the Auto tear
off feature in the Printer Setting mode to on. See “Changing the
Printer Settings” on page 2-19. Here’s how to load continuous
paper using the push tractor:

1. Make sure the printer is turned off. Remove the paper guide
and place the paper-release lever in the continuous paper
position.

Using the Printer 2-7

2. Release the sprocket units by pulling the sprocket locks
forward.

3. Slide the left sprocket unit using the scale on the printer as a
guide. The printer prints to the right of the position marked 0.
Push the sprocket lock lever back to lock it in place. Then slide
the right sprocket unit to match the width of your paper, but
do not lock it. Move the paper support so it is midway
between the sprocket units.

10

2-8 Using the Printer

5

0

4. Make sure your paper has a clean, straight leading edge. Open
the sprocket covers. Fit the first holes of the paper over the
sprocket pins and then close the sprocket covers. Slide the
right sprocket unit to remove any slack in the paper and lock
it in place. Now the paper is in the paper-park position.

5. To separate the incoming paper from the printed paper, attach
the paper guide by holding it horizontally and fitting its
notches over the printer’s mounting posts as shown below.
Then slide the paper guide toward the front of the printer
until you feel it click.

Using the Printer 2-9

6. Slide the left edge guide to the center until it stops at the guide
mark. Then slide the right edge guide to the opposite guide
mark.

7. Turn on the printer.

8. Make sure the printer cover is closed. Press the LF/FF button to
feed the paper to the loading position. When the printer
receives data, it begins printing automatically.

9. When you finish printing (the printer receives no data for three
seconds) the printer feeds the perforation of the continuous
paper to the edge of the printer cover so that you can tear off
the last sheet. The

PAUSE

light flashes.

Note:

❏ Set the Auto tear off feature in the Printer Setting mode to on.

Otherwise, the printer does not feed the perforation to the edge of the
printer cover.

❏ If the perforation and the edge of the printer cover do not match,

adjust the paper position by following the steps in “Adjusting the
loading position,” while the

PAUSE

light is flashing.

2-10 Using the Printer

When you send more data, the paper automatically feeds back to
the loading position. If you want to change the position where
printing begins on the page, follow the steps on page 2-5 to adjust
the loading position.

Switching back to single sheets

To switch to single sheets, press the FONT and LF/FF buttons at
the same time; the printer feeds the paper backward into the
paper-park position. Then, follow the steps in “Loading single
sheets.”

Caution:

c

Always tear off paper before back-feeding; back-feeding too
many sheets can cause a paper jam.

Printing with the pull tractor

To load continuous paper using the pull tractor, you must move
the tractor to the pull tractor position, as described in steps 1
through 3 below. If your tractor is already installed in this
position, make sure the printer is off and skip to step 6.

Caution:

c

1. Turn the printer off; then remove the paper guide. Pull the

When using the pull tractor, set the Auto tear off feature in the
Printer Setting mode to off; otherwise the paper may jam.

paper-release lever forward to the continuous paper position
as shown in the illustration on page 2-7.

Using the Printer

2-11

2. Squeeze the tractor’s lock tabs gently and pull the tractor away
from the printer. Remove the printer cover.

3. Lift the tractor forward to the mounting slot at the top of the
printer and tilt it into place as shown below. When you push
the tractor onto the posts, you should feel the notches snap
into place.

2-12 Using the Printer

4. Release the sprocket units by pulling the sprocket locks
forward.

5. Insert the paper into the paper slot as shown below and pull it
up. Position the paper using the scale on the printer as a
guide. The printer prints to the right of the position marked 0.

0

5

10

Using the Printer 2-13

6. Slide the left sprocket unit so that its sprockets match the
position of the holes in the paper and lock the unit in place.
Then slide the right sprocket unit to match the width of your
paper, but do not lock it. Move the paper support midway
between the two sprocket units.

7. Make sure your paper has a clean, straight leading edge. Open
the sprocket covers. Fit the first holes of the paper over the
sprocket pins and then close the sprocket covers. Slide the
right sprocket unit to remove any slack in the paper and lock it
in place.

2-14 Using the Printer

8. To separate the incoming paper from the printed paper, attach
the paper guide. Hold it horizontally and fit its notches over
the printer’s mounting posts. Then slide the paper guide
toward the back of the printer until you feel it click.

9. Slide the left edge guide to the center until it stops at the guide
mark; slide the right edge guide to the opposite guide mark.

10. Attach the printer cover and adjust the paper position with the
paper-feed knob. Turn the knob until the perforation between
pages is just above the print head. Then turn on the printer.

11. Make sure the printer cover is closed. When the printer
receives data, it begins printing automatically.

If you want to change the position where printing begins on the
page, press LF/FF to advance the page to the next top-of-form
position, and then follow the steps on page 2-5 to adjust the
loading position.

To eject the paper, tear off the paper entering the printer; then
press the

LF/FF

button to feed the paper forward.

Printing on Special Paper

In addition to printing on single sheets and continuous forms,
your printer can also print on a wide variety of paper types,
including multi-part forms, labels, and envelopes.

Before printing on special paper, you need to change the paper
thickness setting.

Caution:

c

When printing on multi-part forms, thicker-than-normal paper,
labels, or envelopes, make sure your software program settings
keep the printing entirely within the printable area. Printing
past the edge of these papers can damage the print head.

Using the Printer

2-15

For multi-part forms and labels, you should not print any closer
than 0.5 inch or 13 mm from either side of the paper. For
information on the printable area of envelopes, see the Appendix.

Adjusting the paper-thickness lever

The paper-thickness lever lets you specify the correct setting for
your printing material. It is factory-set for standard office paper.
Here’s how to change the setting for special papers:

1. Turn the printer off and open the cover. The paper-thickness
lever is on the left side of the printer. The numbers next to the
lever indicate the thickness setting. For normal use, the lever
should always be set to position 0.

2

3

2. Use the table below to select the appropriate paper thickness.

Paper type Lever position

Standard paper (single sheets or continuous) 0

Multi-part forms

2-sheet
3-sheet

Labels 1

Envelopes 18 to 22 lb 2

24 lb 3

2-16 Using the Printer

0
1

3. Close the cover. When you finish printing, move the
paper-thickness lever back to position 0.

Multi-part forms

You can use the built-in tractor to print on carbonless multi-part
forms of up to three parts (one original plus two copies). Before
you print on the forms, set the paper thickness lever as described
in the previous section. These tips will help you get good results:

❏ Load multi-part forms with the tractor only, not in the

cut-sheet feeder or paper guide. For instructions, see “Printing
on Continuous Paper” on page 2-7.

❏ Use only multi-part forms that are joined by spot gluing and

that are free of wrinkles and waves. Never load multi-part
forms joined by metal staples, tape, or continuous gluing.

❏ If you need to adjust the loading position, use your software

program or change the loading position as described on
page 2-5.

❏ When you use side-crimped multi-part forms, the copies may

not align with the original. If this happens, raise the paper guide.

Labels

You must use the tractor as a pull tractor to print on labels. Keep
these tips in mind:

❏ Choose labels mounted on a continuous backing sheet with

sprocket holes made for use with a tractor. Do not print labels
as single sheets, because the shiny backing sheet almost
always slips a little.

❏ You load labels the same way you load continuous paper,

except that the paper thickness lever should be set to 1. See
page 2-11 for loading instructions.

Using the Printer 2-17

❏ Because labels are especially sensitive to temperature and

humidity, use them only under normal operating conditions.
Make sure the printing stays entirely within the printable area.
(See the Appendix for specifications.)

❏ Don’t leave labels loaded in the printer between jobs; they curl

around the platen and may jam when you resume printing.

❏ To remove the labels from the printer, tear off the fresh supply

LF/FF

at the rear of the printer; then press
remaining labels out of the printer.

Caution:

Never feed labels backward through the printer; they can easily

c

peel off the backing and jam the printer. If a label does become
stuck in the printer, contact your dealer.

to advance the

Envelopes

You can feed envelopes individually using the paper guide.

❏ Before loading an envelope, set the paper thickness lever to 2

or 3. See page 2-16.

❏ To load an envelope, follow the steps in “Running the Self

Test” on page 1-10. Insert the wide edge of the envelope into
the printer first, printable-side down. When you insert the
envelope between the paper guides, push it firmly and hold it
until it feeds into the printer.

❏ Use envelopes only under normal temperature and humidity

conditions.

❏ Make sure the printing stays entirely within the printable area.

The print head must not go past the left or right edge of the
envelope or other thick paper. (See the Appendix for
specifications.) It’s a good idea to print a test sample using a
normal single sheet of paper before you print on the envelopes.

2-18

Using the Printer

Changing the Printer Settings

Your printer has internal settings that control simple functions
such as the page length and character set. These settings take effect
each time you turn on the printer, so they are also called default
settings.

Because the factory printer settings are designed to meet the needs
of most users, you probably will not need to change them. See
“Printer Settings” on page A-9.

Note:

Because software settings always override the printer’s default settings,
use your software program to control the printer, if possible. See your
software documentation for more information.

If you cannot use your software program to change the printer’s
settings, you can use the Printer Setting mode. Here’s how:

Caution:

c

Use paper at least 210 mm (8 1/4 inches) wide for single sheets
or 240 mm (9 1/2 inches) for continuous paper; otherwise the
print head prints directly on the platen.

Also make sure you have enough sheets of paper because the
printer prints several pages of help text.

1. Turn off the printer; if you use continuous paper, make sure
the paper is loaded correctly.

Using the Printer

2-19

2. Hold down the FONT button while you turn on the printer.

If you are using single sheets, insert a sheet of paper. The
printer automatically loads the paper and prints out a table
of languages from which you can choose. You can print
instructions in English, French, German, Italian, or Spanish,
as shown in Table A below.

Table A

FONT Lights
1 2 Language

O N

O F

N O

N N

N F

F = flashing, N = on, O = off

English

French

German

Italian

Spanish

3. To choose a language, press the FONT button repeatedly until

the

FONT

lights match your desired selection. For example, to

choose Spanish, press the

FONT button until FONT 1 is on and

FONT 2 is flashing.

4. Press the

LF/FF to select the language. The printer prints the

current settings in the language of your choice, and then stops.

5. Press the

FONT

button now to print help text that guides you
through the operations. (Once you are experienced with the
Printer Setting mode, you can skip this step by pressing

LF/FF

instead.) The printed instructions include submenu tables that
list all of the settings you can change and show you how the
control panel lights appear for each selection. After printing is
finished, go on to step 6.

6. At this point, you are in Table B. Press the
move through the printer settings listed in Table B, and notice
how the control panel lights change to indicate your position.

2-20 Using the Printer

FONT

button to

Table B

FONT 1
light

FOO

FNO

OFO

NFO

FFO

FON

FNN

OFN

NFN

FFN

OOF

FOF

NOF

NNF

FONT 2
light

PAUSE
light Setting

Go to
Submenu

Character spacing Table C

Shape of zero Table D

Skip-over-perforation Table E

Character table Table F

Auto line feed Table G

Page length Table H

Auto tear off Table I

Tractor Table J

Interface Table K

Bit rate Table L

Parity bit Table M

Data length Table N

ETX/ACK Table O

Software Table P

FNF

F = flashing, N = on, O = off

Auto carriage return Table Q

For example, if you want to change the Interface setting, press

FONT

until

FONT 1

is on,

FONT 2

is flashing, and the

PAUSE

light is on. The printer beeps once each time you press the

button while in Table B.

FONT

7. When you reach the setting that you want to change, press
the

PAUSE

button once. The printer automatically enters a
submenu table for that setting. For example, if you choose
Interface and then press

PAUSE

, you enter Table K.

Using the Printer 2-21

8. See the appropriate table in your printed instructions. Press

the FONT button to move through the settings in the table. The
printer beeps twice each time you press the FONT button
while in a submenu table.

9. When the control panel lights match your desired setting,

press the PAUSE button to make your selection. The printer
saves the new setting and returns to Table B.

10. Repeat steps 6 through 9 for each additional setting you want
to change, or skip to step 11 to exit the Printer Setting mode.

11. When you are finished, turn the printer off. Any settings you
have made remain in effect until you change them again.

Printer setting descriptions

This section describes all the settings available in the Printer
Setting mode.

Character spacing

When you select 10 cpi, the printer prints 10 characters per inch
(cpi). When you select 12 cpi, it prints 12 characters per inch.

Shape of zero

The printer prints the zero character with a slash (0) when the
setting is on, or no slash (0) when the setting is off. The slashed
zero allows you to easily distinguish between an uppercase “O”
and a zero when printing such items as program lists.

2-22 Using the Printer

Skip-over-perforation

When you turn on this feature, the printer skips over the
perforations of continuous paper, providing a 1-inch margin
between the last line printed on one page and the first line printed
on the next. Because most software programs set their own top
and bottom margins, you should use this feature only if your
program does not provide them. This feature does not affect
single-sheet paper.

Character table

Character tables contain the characters and symbols used in
different languages. Your printer includes a wide variety of
character tables. See the Appendix for specific characters.

Auto line feed

When the auto line feed feature is on, each carriage return (CR)
code is accompanied by a line feed (LF) code. If your printed text
is unexpectedly double-spaced, set this feature to off. If text lines
print on top of each other, set it to on.

Page length

This option is available only when you use continuous paper with
the tractor. You can set the page length to 8.5, 11, 12, or 70/6 (the
length of A4 paper) inches.

Auto tear off

When you use continuous paper with the push tractor, this feature
advances the paper perforation to the tear-off position where you
can easily tear off the printed pages. When the printer receives
data, it automatically reverses the paper to the top-of-form
position and starts printing, so you can use all of the next sheet.
When you use the tractor to print on labels, set this feature to off.

Using the Printer 2-23

Tractor

When you use the tractor as a pull or push tractor, leave this
option set to Single. If you install an optional tractor and use both
tractors as a push-pull tractor, set it to Double.

Interface

When this feature is set to Auto, the printer determines which
interface is receiving data and switches to that interface until the
end of the print job (when no data is received from the selected
interface for the amount of time specified). You can specify either
10 seconds or 30 seconds.

Set this option to Parallel only if you want the printer to ignore
data from the serial interface or to Serial only if you want the
printer to ignore data from the parallel interface.

Bit rate, parity bit, data length, and ETX/ACK

These options are available only when the interface is set to Serial.
See your computer manual for the appropriate settings.

Installing and Using Options

Cut-sheet feeder

The optional single-bin cut sheet feeder (C80637✽) handles up to

50 sheets of standard bond paper ( 82 g/m
reloading. Follow these steps to install the cut sheet feeder:

1. Make sure the printer is turned off. Remove the paper guide.

2. If the tractor is installed in the pull-tractor position, remove it
and re-install it in the push-tractor position.

3. Make sure the paper-release lever is in the single-sheet position.

2-24 Using the Printer

2

or 22 lb) without

4. Hold the cut-sheet feeder in both hands and press on the latch
levers. Fit the notches in the cut-sheet feeder over the
mounting posts on the printer. Releasing the latch levers locks
the cut-sheet feeder in place.

5. Slide the left paper guide so it is aligned with the triangle mark.
Next, slide the right paper guide to roughly match the width
of your paper. Slide the paper support midway between the
paper guides.

Using the Printer 2-25

6. Pull the paper-set levers all the way forward until the paper
guides retract and lock open to allow for paper loading.

7. Take a stack of paper and fan it. Next, tap the side and bottom
of the paper on a flat surface to even up the stack.

Caution:

c

Do not use envelopes, multi-part forms, carbon paper, or
labels in the cut-sheet feeder.

8. Insert up to 50 sheets of paper along the left paper guide.

9. Adjust the position of the right paper guide so that it matches
your paper’s width. Make sure the position of the guide allows
the paper to move up and down freely.

10. Push the paper-set levers back to clamp the paper against the
guide rollers.

11. Remove the paper supports from the edge guides. Insert the
two stacker supports packed with the cut-sheet feeder into the
holes on the edge guides.

2-26 Using the Printer

12. Attach the paper guide to the cut-sheet feeder as shown below.

View from above

Release tab

Release tab

13. Open the printer cover. Place the printout guide in the middle.
Close the printer cover.

14. Slide the left edge guide to the center until it stops at the guide
mark. Then slide the right edge guide to the opposite guide mark.

Using the Printer 2-27

Note:

To remove the paper guide from the cut-sheet feeder, press both
release tabs and pull out the paper guide.

You can easily switch between continuous paper and cut-sheet
feeder operation. See “Switching back to single sheets” in
Chapter 2 for details.

Note:

When you print several pages of continuous paper, fold the first printed
page forward at the perforation after the perforation emerges from below
the printer cover. This helps the printer feed the printed pages properly
and prevents paper jams.

Pull Tractor unit

An additional pull tractor (C80030✽) is available as an option.

You can improve the performance of continuous paper handling
by using two tractors at the same time. This is especially useful
with continuous pre-printed forms, multi-part forms, and labels.
When you use two tractors, set Tractor in the Printer Setting mode
to Double. See page 2-23 for more information.

1. Make sure the paper-release lever is pulled forward to the
continuous-paper position. Install the built-in tractor in the
push-tractor position. Install the optional tractor in the
pull-tractor position.

2. Load continuous paper on the sprocket units of the push-tractor.
(See “Printing on Continuous Paper” on page 2-7.)

3. Turn on the printer. Hold down the
one page.

4. Release the sprocket lock levers of the pull tractor and adjust
the sprocket units to match the width of the paper. Be sure
that the sprocket units on both the tractors are aligned so that
the paper is not crooked.

2-28

Using the Printer

LF/FF button to feed paper

5. Open the sprocket covers. Fit the holes of the paper over the
tractor pins of the sprocket units and adjust the sprocket units
as necessary. (See “Printing on Continuous Paper” on
page 2-7.) Close the sprocket covers.

6. If there is slack in the paper between the push and pull tractors,
turn the knob on the right side of the pull tractor to remove
the slack.

7. See that the paper is not crooked or wrinkled and lock the
sprocket units in place.

8. Re-install the printer cover and the paper guide.

Roll paper holder

The optional roll paper holder (#8310) allows you to use your
printer with 8.5-inch roll paper like that used with telex machines.
To use the roll paper holder, follow the steps below. This option is
not available in all countries.

1. Turn off the printer and remove the paper guide.

Using the Printer 2-29

2. Position the roll paper holder beneath the printer as shown
below. Fit the two holes in the base onto the two positioning
pegs on the bottom of the printer.

3. Push the paper-release lever to the single-sheet position.

Caution:

Be careful to avoid dropping the roll paper holder when lifting

c

the printer. Only the printer’s weight holds it in place.

4. Cut the leading edge of the roll paper straight across. Slide the
roll paper holder shaft through the center of the paper roll.

5. Set the shaft and paper roll onto the roll paper holder. Orient
the roll so that paper feeds from the bottom of the roll. Then
turn on the printer.

6. Bring the leading edge of the paper up over the paper path
guide for single sheets and insert it into the printer path for
single sheets until you feel resistance.

2-30 Using the Printer

7. Install the paper guide. Slide the left edge guide to the center
until it stops at the guide mark. Then slide the right edge
guide to the opposite guide mark.

Color upgrade kit

The optional color upgrade kit (C83208✽) includes a color ribbon

cartridge and a motor unit. Here’s how to install the kit:

1. Turn off the printer and remove the printer cover. Slide the
connector cover on the printer and pull it out as shown below.

Using the Printer 2-31

2. Install the motor unit in the right hand corner of the printer,
with the gear facing the center of the printer. Push it down
firmly to fit the metal pins into the slots.

3. Insert the motor unit plug into the connector on the printer.

4. Slide the print head to the middle of the printer; then slide the
plastic part on the color ribbon to the center of the cartridge.

2-32 Using the Printer

5. Turn the ribbon-tightening knob in the direction of the arrow
to remove any slack in the ribbon.

6. Insert the ribbon cartridge into the printer as shown; then press
both sides of the cartridge firmly to fit the plastic hooks into
the printer slots.

7. Turn the ribbon-tightening knob to help feed the ribbon into
place; it should not be twisted or creased.

8. Replace the printer cover.

Using the Printer 2-33

After you install the color ribbon cartridge, run the self test as
shown on page 1-10.

If the top or bottom edge of the characters in the self test are a
different color from the rest, adjust the ribbon angle. Check the
characters printed in red. If the top edge is blue, move the color
ribbon adjustment lever forward. If the bottom edge is yellow,
move the lever backward. Then print another self test to check
your adjustment. Repeat this process until the ribbon is properly
adjusted.

Note:

When you print using the color ribbon, the print speed is reduced.

To switch to the black ribbon, remove the color ribbon as shown in
the manual that comes with the color upgrade kit; then install the
black ribbon as shown on page 1-5.

You do not have to remove the motor unit.

2-34 Using the Printer

Chapter 3

Troubleshooting

Problems and Solutions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-2

Power Supply . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-2

Power is not being supplied . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-2

Printing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-3

The printer does not print . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-3

The print is faint or uneven . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-4

Dots are missing in printed characters or graphics . . . . . . . 3-4

Printed characters are not what you expected . . . . . . . . . . 3-5

The print position is not what you expected . . . . . . . . . . . 3-5

Paper Handling . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-6

Single sheets do not feed properly . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-6

Continuous paper does not feed properly . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-7

Options . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-8

When you use the cut-sheet feeder, the paper does not feed

properly . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-8

Switching between the cut-sheet feeder and the push tractor

does not work properly . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-9

Using the pull tractor with the push tractor, continuous

paper does not feed properly . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-10

With color upgrade kit installed, printer doesn’t operate

properly . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-10

3

Troubleshooting 3-1

Problems and Solutions

Most problems you may encounter while operating your printer
have simple solutions.

You can check the operation of your printer using the self test. See
“Running the Self Test” on page 1-10. If the self test works
properly the problem probably lies in the computer, the software,
or the interface cable. If the self test does not work, contact your
dealer or qualified service person for assistance.

Note:

If you are an experienced user or a programmer, you can print a
hexadecimal dump to isolate communication problems between the
printer and computer. To print a hex dump, turn off the printer. Next,
hold down the
Then send data from your computer. The printer prints all the codes it
receives in hexadecimal format.

LF/FF

and

FONT

buttons while you turn on the printer.

Power Supply

Power is not being supplied

The lights on the control panel do not go on.

Check that the power cord is properly plugged into the electrical
outlet.

If the electrical outlet is controlled by an outside switch or
automatic timer, use a different outlet.

Plug another electrical device, such as a lamp, into the outlet to
determine whether the outlet is operating properly.

3-2

Troubleshooting

The lights come on briefly and then go off. The lights stay off even
when the power is turned on again.

Check that the printer’s voltage rating matches the voltage of your
electrical outlet. If the voltages do not match, unplug the printer
and contact your dealer immediately. Do not reconnect the power
cord to an electrical outlet.

Printing

The printer does not print

The PAUSE light is off but nothing is printed.

Check that the software is installed properly for your printer, as
described on page 1-16. Check the software’s printer settings.

Check both ends of the interface cable. Make sure the cable meets
both the printer and computer specifications.

The PAUSE light is flashing and the printer beeps three times.

The printer may be out of paper. Load paper in the printer.

The printer sounds like it is printing, but nothing is printed.

The ribbon cartridge may not be installed properly. See page 1-5.

The ribbon may be worn out. Replace the ribbon cartridge.

Troubleshooting 3-3

The printer makes a strange noise, the beeper sounds five times, and
the printer stops abruptly.

Turn off the printer and check for a paper jam, a ribbon jam or
other problems. Let the printer cool. Then try to print again. If the
printer still does not print correctly contact your dealer.

The beeper sounds five times and the PAUSE light comes on.

An error has occurred. Turn off the printer and turn it on again. If
the

PAUSE

there is no jam, contact your dealer or a qualified service person.
(If an error occurs when you switch between single sheets and
continuous paper, make sure the paper-release lever is in the
correct position.)

light stays on, check for a paper jam or ribbon jam. If

The print is faint or uneven

Printed characters have parts missing at the bottom.

The ribbon cartridge may not be installed properly. See page 1-5.

The printout is faint.

The ribbon may be worn out. Replace the ribbon cartridge as
described on page 1-5.

Dots are missing in printed characters or graphics

A line of dots is missing in the printout.

The print head is damaged. Stop printing and contact your dealer
to have the print head replaced.

3-4 Troubleshooting

Dots are missing in random positions.

Either there is too much slack in the ribbon or the ribbon has come
loose. Re-install the ribbon cartridge as described on page 1-5.

Printed characters are not what you expected

The typestyles or characters you sent with your software did not print.

Check that the software is correctly configured for your printer.
For instructions, see page 1-16.

The font selected on the control panel does not print.

Your software may be overriding your control panel setting.
Check the font setting in your software program.

The print position is not what you expected

Printing starts too high or too low on the page, or the bottom part of
one page is printed at the top of the next page.

See “Getting the results you expect” on page 2-6.

Also, it is possible to turn the platen to make minor adjustments to
the loading position for the current page only. (Do not turn the
platen if you are printing labels.)

Page length does not match the length of the paper.

Check the page length set by your software and adjust it if
necessary.

Troubleshooting 3-5

If you are using continuous paper, change the page length in the
Printer Setting mode. See “Changing the Printer Settings” on
page 2-20.

Regular gaps occur in the printout.

One-inch skip-over-perforation may be set. Set
skip-over-perforation to off in the Printer Setting mode. See
“Changing the Printer Settings” on page 2-20.

Paper Handling

Single sheets do not feed properly

Paper does not feed.

Continuous paper may be left in the printer. Remove the
continuous paper. Set the paper-release lever to the single-sheet
position. Insert a new sheet.

Move the paper a little to the left.

Paper feeding is crooked or the paper jams.

Turn off the printer and pull out the paper. Insert a new sheet
straight into the paper guide. Make sure you’re using the right
type of paper. See the paper specifications in the Appendix. Make
sure the printer cover is closed.

Paper does not eject completely.

Use the

Make sure the printer cover is closed.

LF/FF button to eject the page.

3-6 Troubleshooting

The paper may be too long. Use paper that is within the specified
range. See the paper specifications in the Appendix.

Continuous paper does not feed properly

The tractor does not feed the paper.

Check that the paper-release lever is pulled forward to the
continuous-paper position. If not, turn off the printer, move the
lever, and turn it on again.

The paper may have come off the tractor. Reattach the paper to the
tractor.

Paper feeding is crooked or the paper jams.

The position of your paper supply may be preventing it from
feeding straight. Make sure the paper supply is not obstructed.

Make sure that your paper supply is positioned within 1 meter
(3 feet) of the printer.

Make sure the printer cover is closed.

Make sure the edge guide postions are correct. Position the edge
guides at the diamond-shaped guide marks.

Check that the holes on the sides of the paper are aligned with
each other. Also, make sure the sprocket units are locked and their
covers are closed.

Check that the paper size and thickness are within the specified
range. See the paper specifications in the Appendix.

When you use side-crimped multi-part forms, the copies may not
align with the original. If this happens, raise the paper guide to
keep the printing position accurate.

Troubleshooting 3-7

The paper does not eject properly.

The page may be too long. Tear off the fresh supply of paper and
eject the page from the printer. Use only paper that is within the
specified length range described in the Appendix.

When you switch between single sheets and continuous paper, the
beeper sounds five times and the

You may have tried to change the paper-release lever position
while paper remained in the printer. Return the paper-release
lever to the previous position and eject the paper. Then change the
paper-release lever position.

PAUSE light comes on.

Options

When you use the cut-sheet feeder, the paper does not feed properly

The paper does not feed.

The cut-sheet feeder may be incorrectly installed on the printer.
Re-install it as described on page 2-25.

Make sure the paper-release lever is pushed back to the
single-sheet position.

You may have loaded too many sheets in the cut-sheet feeder’s bin.

Paper may be jammed near the print head. Look for a paper jam.

Make sure the edge guide positions are correct. Position the edge
guides at the diamond-shaped guide marks.

There may be only one sheet left in the bin. Add more paper.

3-8 Troubleshooting

Two or more sheets feed at one time.

You may have loaded too many sheets in the cut-sheet feeder’s bin.

You may have forgotten to fan the stack of paper before loading it
into the bin. Remove the paper and fan it.

The paper feed is crooked.

The paper may be old or creased. Use only new, clean sheets of
paper.

There may be too much paper in the stacker.

Make sure that the paper guides are set correctly and that your
paper is the proper size and quality. See the Appendix for paper
specifications.

One page of printing has spread to two pages.

Check that the page-length setting and lines-per-page setting in
your software are correct. See “Getting the results you expect” on
page 2-6.

Switching between the cut-sheet feeder and the push tractor does not work properly

The desired paper type does not load.

The paper-release lever may not be in the proper position. Pull the
lever forward to load continuous paper or push the lever back to
load single sheets.

Troubleshooting 3-9

Using the pull tractor with the push tractor, continuous paper does not feed properly

Paper feed is crooked or the paper jams.

The pull tractor and push tractor sprockets are not aligned
correctly. When using both tractors, be sure that the sprockets on
both are positioned evenly.

The paper may have too much slack. Adjust the position of the
sprockets to take up any slack along the width of the paper.
Remove slack lengthwise by rotating the paper-feed knob.

The paper may be caught on the edge guides. Make sure that the
paper guide is installed over the paper and that the edge guides
are positioned correctly.

With color upgrade kit installed, printer doesn’t
operate properly

The lights on the control panel do not go on.

Did you install the motor in the color upgrade kit? Follow the
instructions on page 2-32.

The desired color or certain characters are not printed.

Your software program may not be properly set up for color
printing. Use the program’s setup (or install) procedure to check
the printer setting and adjust as needed.If your software program
is capable of sending control codes, select the color using the ESC r
command. (See the “Command Summary” in the Appendix.)

The ribbon cartridge may not be installed properly. See Chapter 2.

3-10 Troubleshooting

Appendix

Printer Specifications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . A-2

Printing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . A-2

Paper . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . A-3

Mechanical . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . A-6

Electrical . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . A-6

Environmental . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . A-7

Safety approvals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . A-7

Interface Specifications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . A-7

Parallel interface specifications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . A-7

Serial interface specifications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . A-8

Printer Settings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . A-9

Command Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . A-10

Sending printer commands . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . A-10

Using the command summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . A-10

Printer operation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . A-11

Data control . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . A-11

Vertical motion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . A-11

Horizontal motion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . A-12

Overall printing style . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . A-13

Print size and character width . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . A-13

Print enhancement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . A-13

Word processing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . A-14

Character tables . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . A-14

User-defined characters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . A-15

Color printing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . A-16

Graphics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . A-16

Appendix A-1

Printer Specifications

Printing

Print method: 9-pin impact dot matrix

Print speed: Draft, 264 characters/second at 12 cpi

220 characters/second at 10 cpi
NLQ, 53 characters/second at 12 cpi
44 characters/second at 10 cpi

Printing direction: Bidirectional logic-seeking for draft text.

Unidirectional for graphics, NLQ text, bit
image, and color printing.

Line spacing: 1/6 inch, 1/8 inch, or programmable in

increments of 1/216 inch.

Paper feed speed: 79 ms per 1/6-inch line; 2.78 inches/second

with continuous feed

Printable columns: 80 characters at 10 cpi

96 characters at 12 cpi
137 characters at 17 cpi
160 characters at 20 cpi

Buffer: Approximately 4KB

Download memory: Memory capacity for 6 NLQ and 6 Draft

user-defined characters

Character fonts: Epson NLQ Roman

Epson NLQ Sans Serif
Draft
Draft Condensed

Character tables:

Europe One italic and 14 graphics character tables
Other countries One italic and 8 graphics character tables

Character sets: 13 international character sets

Color printing (optional):

Method Print ribbon shifting
Ribbon color Black, Magenta, Cyan, and Yellow

A-2 Appendix

Paper

Single sheets (CSF):

Width: 182 to 216 mm (7.2 to 8.5 inches)
Length: 210 to 364 mm (8.3 to 14.3 inches)

Thickness: 0.07 to 0.12 mm (0.0028 to 0.0047 inches)
Weight: 64 to 91 g/m

Single sheets (manual insertion):

Width: 182 to 257 mm (7.2 to 10.1 inches)
Length: 182 to 364 mm (7.2 to 14.3 inches)
Thickness: 0.065 to 0.14 mm (0.0025 to 0.0055 inches)
Weight: 52 to 90 g/m

Continuous paper:

Width: 102 to 254 mm (4 to 10 inches)
Copies: Three sheets (one original plus two copies)
Thickness: 0.065 to 0.25 mm (0.0026 to 0.0098 inches)

Weight: 52 to 82 g/m

2

(18 to 24 lb)

❏ Use 90 g/m

2

(24 lb) paper only under
normal temperature and humidity
conditions.

2

(14 to 24 lb) paper under

normal conditions.

❏ Use 90 g/m

2

(24 lb) paper only under
normal temperature and humidity
conditions.

total

40 to 58 g/m

2

(14 to 22 lb) for one sheet

2

(12 to 15 lb) per sheet in

multi-part forms

❏ Use only two- or three-part carbonless

multi-part forms fed with the tractor.

❏ When using side-crimped multi-part

forms, raise the paper guide to keep the
printing position accurate.

❏ When using the push tractor, the

printing position for the last page may
not be accurate because the page comes
off the tractor.

Note:

Use recycled paper under normal conditions only. If ribbon consumption or paper
jamming increase, use a higher grade of paper.

Appendix

A-3

Labels:

Size: 102 to 254 mm (4 to 10 inches) width for

backing sheet

63.5 × 23.8 mm (2.50 × 0.94 inches)
minimum for a label

Thickness: 0.07 to 0.09 mm (0.0028 to 0.0035 inches) for

backing sheet

0.16 to 0.19 mm (0.0063 to 0.0075 inches)
total

Weight: 64 g/m

2

(17 lb) for label only

❏ Use only continuous type labels and use

them only with the tractor.

❏ Use labels only under normal

temperature and humidity conditions.

Envelopes:

Size:

No. 6 166 × 92 mm (6.5 × 3.6 inches)
No. 10 240 × 104 mm (9.5 × 4.1 inches)

Thickness: 0.16 to 0.48 mm (0.0063 to 0.019 inches)
Weight: 45 to 90 g/m

2

(12 to 24 lb)

❏ Use envelopes only under normal

temperature and humidity conditions.

Roll paper (optional—not available in some countries)

Width: 213 to 219 mm (8.38 to 8.62 inches)
Diameter: Up to 127 mm (5.0 inches)
Thickness: 0.07 to 0.09 mm (0.0028 to 0.0035 inches)
Weight: 52 to 64 g/m

2

(14 to 17 lb)

A-4 Appendix

Printable area:

Single sheets and envelopes

A

A The minimum top margin is 5.3 mm (0.2 inches).
B The minimum left margin is 3 mm (0.12 inches).

The minimum right margin is 3 mm (0.12 inches).
However, the maximum printable width is 203 mm (8 inches).

C The minimum bottom margin is 9.0 mm (0.35 inches).

B

B

C

Continuous paper

A

B

C

A

B

A The minimum top and bottom margins above and below the perforation

are 9 mm (0.35 inches).

B The minimum left and right margins are 13 mm (0.51 inches).

The maximum printable width is 203 mm (8 inches).

A

B

Appendix A-5

Mechanical

Paper-feed methods: Friction

Push tractor
Push-pull tractor (with optional pull tractor

unit)

Pull tractor (C80030✽)
Cut-sheet feeder (option C80637✽)
Roll-paper holder (option #8310)

Ribbon: Black ribbon cartridge (#8750)

Life expectancy at 14 dots/character:
3 million characters
Color ribbon cartridge (S015073)
Life expectancy at 14 dots/character:
Black, 1 million characters
Magenta, Cyan, 0.7 million characters
Yellow, 0.5 million characters

MTBF: 4000 power-on hours

Print head life: 200 million strokes/wire (black)

100 million strokes/wire (color)

Dimensions and weight: Width: 366 mm (14.4 inches)

Depth: 275 mm (10.8 inches)
Height: 132 mm (5.2 inches)
Weight: Approx. 4.0 kg (8.8 lb)

Electrical

120 V model:

Rated voltage AC 120 V
Input voltage range AC 103.5 to 132 V
Rated frequency range 50 to 60 Hz
Input frequency range 49.5 to 60.5 Hz
Rated current 1.0 A
Power consumption Approx. 30 W (during self-test printing in

220-240 V model:

Rated voltage
Input voltage range AC 198 to 264 V
Rated frequency range 50 to 60 Hz
Input frequency range 49.5 to 60.5 Hz
Rated current 0.5 A

A-6 Appendix

Draft mode at 10 cpi)

AC 220−240 V

Power consumption Approx. 30 W (during self-test printing in

Draft mode at 10 cpi)

Environmental

Temperature: Operation 5 to 35°C (41 to 95°F)

Storage −20 to 55°C (−4 to 131°F)

Humidity: Operation 30% to 80% without condensation

Storage 5% to 85% without condensation

Safety approvals

Safety standards:

US model UL1950 with D3, CSA22.2 No.950 with D3
European model EN 60950 (TÜV, SEMKO, DEMKO,

NEMKO, SETI)

RFI:

US model FCC part 15 subpart B class B
European model Vfg 243 (VDE 0878 part 3, part 30)

EN 55022 (CISPR Pub. 22) Class B

Interface Specifications

Your printer is equipped with an EIA-232D serial interface and a
Centronics-compatible parallel interface. The printer switches
automatically to the appropriate interface when it receives data.

Parallel interface specifications

The parallel interface has the following characteristics.

Data format: 8-bit

Synchronization:

Handshaking: BUSY and

Signal level: TTL compatible

Connector: 36-pin 57-30360 Amphenol connector or

STROBE pulse

ACKNLG signals

equivalent

Appendix A-7

Serial interface specifications

The serial interface has the following characteristics.

Bit rate: 300, 600, 1200, 2400, 4800, 9600, 19200 bps

(selectable)

Word length:

Data format 7 or 8-bit (selectable)
Start bit 1 bit
Parity bit 0 or 1 bit (selectable)
Stop bit 1 bit (transmitting), 1 bit or more (receiving)

Synchronization: Asynchronous

Handshaking: DTR protocol, XON/XOFF protocol

ETX/ACK protocol (selectable)

Parity check: Odd, even, or no parity bit (selectable)

Connector: EIA standard, 25-pin, D-SUB, female

connector

Serial pin assignments

The following table lists the serial connector pin assignments and
describes their respective interface signals.

Pin No. Signal Direction Description

Protective Ground (FG)

1

Transmitted data (TXD/SD)

2

Received data (RXD/RD)

3

Request to Send (RTS/RS)

4

Clear to Send (CTS/CS)

5

Signal Ground (SG)

7

Reverse Channel

11

Data Terminal Ready

20

(DTR/ER)



Out

In

Out

In



Out

Out

Printer’s chassis ground

Printer has transmitted serial data

Printer has received serial data

Always positive

Ignored

Return path for data control
signals

Connected to Pin 20

Positive when the printer is ready
to accept data, and negative
when the printer is not ready

A-8 Appendix

Printer Settings

The table below lists the printer settings that you can change from the
control panel. Underlined options indicate the factory default settings that
take effect when the printer is initialized (some factory default settings
may vary by country). To change a setting, see “Changing the Printer
Settings” in Chapter 2.

Function Options

Character spacing

Shape of zero

1 inch skip-over-perforation On,

Character table US model:

Auto line feed On,

Page length

Auto tear off On,

Tractor

Interface

Serial I/F bit rate 300, 600, 1200, 2400, 4800,

Serial I/F parity bit

Serial I/F data length 7 bit,

Serial I/F ETX/ACK

Software

Auto carriage return On,

10 cpi, 12 cpi

0, 0 (with slash)

Off

USA Italic, France Italic, Germany Italic,
UK Italic, Denmark Italic, Sweden Italic,
Italy Italic, Spain 1 Italic, PC437, 850, 860,
861, 863, 865, BRASCII, Abicomp

All other models:
USA Italic, France Italic, Germany Italic,
UK Italic, Denmark Italic, Sweden Italic,
Italy Italic, Spain 1 Italic, PC437, 850, 852,
853, 855, 857, 866, 869, 437 Greek, ISO
Latin 1T, ISO 8859-7 Code MJK, Mazovia,
Bulgaria

Off

11, 12, 8.5, 70/6, 5.5, 7, 17, 14, 8, 6, 4, 3.5, 3
inches

Off

Single, Double

Auto (10 sec. wait), Auto (30 sec. wait),
Parallel, Serial

9600, 19200 bps

None, Odd, Even

8 bit

Disable, Enable

ESC/P, IBM 2380

Off

Appendix A-9

Command Summary

Sending printer commands

Most actions your printer performs are controlled by your software.
Software commands instruct the printer to print in a particular typeface,
feed the paper a certain amount after printing each line, start printing on a
particular place on the page, and so on. The commands your printer
recognizes are listed in this command summary.

Some software programs let you send these commands yourself. How
you format commands depends on the software you are using. Some
software programs accept only the decimal format, while others let you
type in ASCII characters. (Some programs don’t let you insert printer
commands at all.) In addition, your software probably specifies certain
punctuation you must use to enter the command. The software manual
should explain the required format and punctuation.

Using the command summary

The following section lists and describes all the commands by topic. If a
command has no parameters, it is merely listed. If it has parameters, they
are explained. The parameters are indicated by lowercase italicized letters,
usually n. The examples below show how the parameters are indicated.

ESC @ is a command with no parameters.

ESC U 1/0 is a command that uses 1 to turn the feature on and 0 to turn it
off.

ESC K n1 n2 is a command with two parameters.

ESC D nn is a command with a variable number of parameters.

For further information about using printer commands, see the
comprehensive ESC/P Reference Manual published by Epson.

A-10

Appendix

Printer operation

ASCII Dec. Hex. Description

ESC @ 6440Initialize Printer
DC1 1711Select Printer
DC3 19 13 Deselect Printer
ESC s 1/0 115 73 Turn Half-Speed Mode On/Off
ESC 60 3C Select Unidirectional Mode (one line)
ESC U 1 /0 85 55 Turn Unidirectional Mode On/Off
ESC 8 56 38 Disable Paper-Out Detection
ESC 9 5739Enable Paper-Out Detection
BEL 7 07 Beeper

Data control

ASCII Dec. Hex. Description

CR 13 0D Carriage Return
CAN 2418Cancel Line
DEL 127 7F Delete Character

Vertical motion

ASCII Dec. Hex. Description

FF 12 0C Form Feed
ESC C n 67 43 Set Page Length in Lines

n = Number of lines

ESC C 0 n 67 43 Set Page Length in Inches

n = Number of inches

ESC N n 78 4E Set Skip-Over-Perforation

n = Number of lines
ESC O 79 4F Cancel Skip-Over-Perforation
LF 10 0A Line Feed
ESC 0 48 30 Select 1/8-inch Line Spacing
ESC 1 4931Select 7/72-inch Line Spacing
ESC 2 50 32 Select 1/6-inch Line Spacing
ESC 3 n 51 33 Select n/216-inch Line Spacing
ESC A n 65 41 Select n/72-inch Line Spacing

Appendix

A-11

ASCII Dec. Hex. Description

ESC J n 74 4A Perform n/216-inch Line Feed
VT 11 0B Tab Vertically
ESC B nn 66 42 Set Vertical Tabs

Up to 16 tabs entered in ascending
order; last n should be 0

ESC b c nn 98 62 Set Vertical Tabs in Channels

The c selects a channel for the vertical
tabs, which must be between 0-7

ESC / c 47 2F Select Vertical Tab Channel

Horizontal motion

ASCII Dec. Hex. Description

ESC l n 108 6C Set Left Margin

n = Left margin column

ESC Q n 81 51 Set Right Margin

n = Right margin column

BS 8 08 Backspace
ESC e 0 n 101 65 Set Horizontal Tab Increments

n = Horizontal tab interval in spaces
(n

< 21 at 10 cpi, 25 at 12 cpi, or 36 in

condensed modes)

ESC e 1 n 101 65 Set Vertical Tab Increments

n = Vertical tab interval in lines

ESC f 0 n 102 66 Horizontal Skip

n = Number of spaces to skip

ESC f 1 n 102 66 Vertical Skip

n = Number of lines to skip
HT 9 09 Tab Horizontally
ESC D nn 68 44 Set Horizontal Tabs

Up to 32 tabs entered in ascending

order; last n should be 0

A-12

Appendix

Overall printing style

ASCII Dec. Hex. Description

ESC x n 120 78 Select NLQ or Draft

n = 1: NLQ

0: Draft

ESC k n 107 6B Select NLQ Font

n = 0: Roman

1: Sans Serif

ESC ! n 33 21 Master Select

To find the value of n, add together
the numbers of the typestyles you
want to combine from the list below:
n = 0: 10 cpi 16: Double-Strike

1: 12 cpi 32: Double-Width
4: Condensed 64: Italic
8: Emphasized 128: Underline

Print size and character width

ASCII Dec. Hex. Description

ESC P 8050Select 10 cpi
ESC M 77 4D Select 12 cpi
SI 15 0F Select Condensed Mode
ESC SI 15 0F Select Condensed Mode
DC2 18 12 Cancel Condensed Mode
SO 14 0E Select Double-Width Mode (one line)
ESC SO 14 0E Select Double-Width Mode (one line)
DC4 20 14 Cancel Double-Width Mode (one line)
ESC W 1/0 87 57 Turn Double-Width Mode On/Off

Print enhancement

ASCII Dec. Hex. Description

ESC E 69 45 Select Emphasized Mode
ESC F 70 46 Cancel Emphasized Mode
ESC G 71 47 Select Double-Strike Mode
ESC H 72 48 Cancel Double-Strike Mode

Appendix

A-13

ASCII Dec. Hex. Description

ESC S0 83 53 Select Superscript Mode
ESC S1 83 53 Select Subscript Mode
ESC T 84 54 Cancel Superscript/Subscript Mode
ESC4 52 34 Select Italic Mode
ESC 5 5335Cancel Italic Mode
ESC - 1/0 45 2D Turn Underline Mode On/Off

Word processing

ASCII Dec. Hex. Description

ESC a n 97 61 NLQ Justification

n = 0: Left justification

1: Centering
2: Right justification
3: Full justification

ESC t n 116 74 Select Character Tables

Selects character table n assigned by

ESC ( t

n = 0, 1, 48, or 49 only

Character tables

ASCII Dec. Hex. Description

ESC ( t nn 40 116 28 74 Assign Character Table

ESC ( t 3 0 d1 d2 d3

Assign character table set with d2 and

d3 to table d1

d1 = 0, 1, 48, or 49

A-14

Appendix

d2 d3 Table name d2 d3 Table name

00

10

116

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

10 0

11 0

Italic

PC 437 (USA)

PC 437 Greek (Greek)*

PC 850 (Multilingual)

PC 851 (Greek)*

PC 853 (Turkish)*

PC 855 (Cyrillic)*

PC 860 (Portuguese)*

PC 863 (Canadian-French)

PC 865 (Nordic)

PC 852 (East Europe)*

PC 857 (Turkish)*

14 0

15 0

16 0

24 0

25 0

26 0

27 0

28 0

29 112

31 0

32 0

PC 866 (Russian)*

PC 869 (Greek)*

USSR GOST (Russian)*

PC 861 (Icelandic)*

BRASCII (Brazilian
Portuguese)**

Abicomp (Brazilian
Portuguese)**

MAZOWIA (Poland)*

Code MJK (CSFR)*

ISO 8859-7 (Latin/Greek)*

ISO Latin 1T (Turkish)*

Bulgaria

* Available only in certain areas
** Available in North/South American version only

ASCII Dec. Hex. Description

ESC R n 82 52 Select an International Character Set

n = 0: USA 7: Spain I

1: France 8: Japan
2: Germany 9: Norway
3: U.K. 10: Denmark II
4: Denmark I 11: Spain II
5: Sweden 12: Latin America

6: Italy
ESC 6 54 36 Printable Code Area Expansion
ESC 7 55 37 Enable Upper Control Codes

User-defined characters

ASCII Dec. Hex. Description

ESC & nn 38 26 Define User-Defined Characters
ESC : 0 n 0 58 3A Copy ROM into RAM

n = 0: Roman

1: Sans Serif

Appendix

A-15

ASCII Dec. Hex. Description

ESC % n 37 25 Select User-Defined Set

n = 0: Normal set

1: User-defined set

Color printing

ASCII Dec. Hex. Description

ESC r n 114 72 Select printing color

The variable n selects the printing
color according to the table below.
0: Black 4: Yellow
1: Magenta 5: Red
2: Cyan 6: Green
3: Violet

Graphics

ASCII Dec. Hex. Description

ESC K n1 n2 75 4B Select Single-Density Graphics Mode
ESC L n1 n2 76 4C Select Double-Density Graphics Mode
ESC Y n1 n2 89 59 Select High-Speed Double-Density

Graphics Mode

ESC Z n1 n2 90 5A Select Quadruple-Density Graphics

Mode
ESC * m n1 n2 42 2A Select Graphics Mode
ESC ? s n 63 3F Reassign Graphics Mode
ESC ^ m n1 n2 94 5E Select 9-Pin Graphics Mode

A-16

Appendix

Index

A

Adjusting

loading position, 2-5

paper-thickness lever, 2-16
Assembling printer, 1-4–9
Attaching paper supports, 1-5
Auto

line feed, 2-23

tear off, 2-23

B

Bit rate, 2-24
Buttons, 2-2–3

C

Changing printer settings, 2-19–24
Character

spacing, 2-22

table, 2-23
Choosing a place for the printer, 1-3
Color upgrade kit, 2-31–34
Command summary, A-10–16
Connecting printer to computer,

1-13–16
Continuous paper, 2-7–15
Control panel, 2-2–4
Cut-sheet feeder, 2-24–28

F

Features, 1–2
Feeder, cut-sheet, 2-24–28
Finding your way around, 2
FONT

button, 2-2–3, 2-19–24

lights, 2-2, 2-21–24
Fonts, selecting 2-4
Forms, multi-part, 2-17

G

Getting results you expect, 2-6

H

Help for United States users, iii

I

Important safety information, v–vi,

3-4
Installing

options, 2-24–34

paper-feed knob, 1-4

ribbon cartridge, 1-5–8
Interface, 2-24

parallel, 1-13–14

serial, 1-15–16

specifications, A-7–8

D

Data length, 2-24

E

Envelopes, 2-18
ETX/ACK, 2-24

K

Knob, paper-feed, 1-4

L

Labels, 2-17–18
Lever, paper-thickness, 2-16
LF/FF button, 2-3
Lights, 2-2–3
Loading position, 2-5
Loading single sheets, 2-5

Index 1

M

Microsoft Windows, 1-17
MICRO ADJUST, 2-3
Multi-part forms, 2-17

N

Non-Windows software, 1-18

O

Options

installing and using, 2-24–34
troubleshooting, 3-8–11

P

Page length, 2-23
Paper

continuous, 2-7–15
printing on special, 2-15–18
roll, 2-29–31
single sheet, 2-5–6

Paper handling, troubleshooting,

3-6–8
Paper-thickness lever, adjusting, 2-16
PAPER PARK, 2-3
Parallel interface, 1-13–14
Parity bit, 2-24
PAUSE

button, 2-3, 2-22

light, 2-2, 2-22
Plugging in the printer, 1-9
Power supply, troubleshooting, 3-2–3
Printer

assembling, 1-4–9

changing the settings, 2-19–24

choosing a place for, 1-3

commands, sending, A-10

plugging in, 1-9

settings, 2-19–24, A-9

specifications, A-2–7

Printing

on continuous paper, 2-7–15
on single sheets, 2-5–6
on special paper, 2-15–18
troubleshooting, 3-3–6
with pull tractor, 2-11–15

with push tractor, 2-7–11
Problems and solutions, 3-2
Pull tractor, 2-11–15
Push tractor, 2-7–11

R

Ribbon

installing, 1-5–8

replacing, 1-8
Roll paper holder, 2-29–31
Running self test, 1-10–12

S

Safety information, v–vi, 3-4
Selecting fonts, 2-4
Self test, 1-10–12
Sending printer commands, A-10
Serial interface, 1-15–16
Setting up

the printer, 1-2–16

your software, 1-16–18
Settings, changing printer, 2-19–24
Shape of zero, 2-22
Single sheets, 2-5–6
Skip-over-perforation, 2-22
Software, setting up your, 1-15–18
Spacing, character, 2-22
Special paper, 2-15–18
Specifications

interface, A-7–8

printer, A-2–7

2 Index

T

Tractor, 2-32

pull, 2-11–15
push, 2-7–11
unit, 2-28–29

Troubleshooting, 3-1–11

U

Unpacking printer, 1-2
Upgrade kit, color, 2-31–34
Using

command summary, A-10
control panel, 2-2–4
parallel interface, 1-13–14
printer, 2-1–34
serial interface, 1-15–16

W

Warnings, cautions, and notes, 2
Where to get help

for United Kingdom users, iv
for United States users, iii

Windows, Microsoft, 1-17

Z

Zero, shape of, 2-22

Index 3