Epson EPL-6100L Reference Guide

Where to Find Information

Setup Sheet

Provides you with information on assembling the printer’s parts
and installing the printer’s software.

Reference Guide (this manual)

Provides you with detailed information on the printer’s functions,
optional products, maintenance, troubleshooting, and technical
specifications.

Online Help

Provides you with detailed information and instructions on the
printer software that controls your printer. Online help is
automatically installed when you install the printer’s software.

2

Laser Printer

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.
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 incu rred 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.

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 righ ts i n thos e
marks.

Copyright © 2002 by SEIKO EPSON CORPORATION, Nagano, Japan

Reference Guide

4

Contents

Contents

Safety Information

Safety Precautions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11

Important Safety Instructions. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14

Power On/Off Cautions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15

Warnings, Cautions, and Notes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16

Chapter 1 Product Information

Printer Parts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17

Panel lights. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19

About Your Printer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20

Features. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20

Options and Consumable Products. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21

Options . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21

Consumable products. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21

Chapter 2 Handling Paper

Paper Sources . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23

MP tray. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23

Loading Paper. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23

Loading the MP tray. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24

Printing on Special Media. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28

Labels . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28

Envelopes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29

Thick paper . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30

Transparencies. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30

Loading an Uncommon Paper Size. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30

Contents 5

Chapter 3 Using the Printer Driver

For Windows. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .31

About the printer driver . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .31

Accessing the printer driver. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .31

Making changes to printer settings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .32

Monitoring your printer (EPSON Status Monitor 3). . . . . . . .40

Canceling printing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .47

Uninstalling printer software. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .47

For Macintosh . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .50

About the printer driver . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .50

Accessing the printer driver. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .50

Making changes to printer settings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .51

Monitoring your printer (EPSON Status Monitor 3). . . . . . . .58

Canceling printing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .62

Uninstalling printer software. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .62

Chapter 4 Setting Up Your Printer on a Network

For Windows. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .65

Sharing the printer. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .65

Setting up your printer as a shared printer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .66

Using an additional driver . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .68

Note for Windows XP Users. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .76

Setting for the clients. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .79

Installing the printer driver from the CD-ROM . . . . . . . . . . .87

For Macintosh . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .88

Sharing the printer. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .88

Setting up your printer as a shared printer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .89

Accessing the shared printer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .91

Chapter 5 Installing and Removing Options

Face-up Tray . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .93

Installing the Face-up tray . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .93

Using the Face-up tray . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .95

Removing the Face-up tray. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .95

6 Contents

Chapter 6 Replacing Consumable Products

Precautions During Replacement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 97

Replacing the Developer Cartridge. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 97

Replacing the Photoconductor Unit. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 105

Chapter 7 Cleaning and Transporting

Cleaning the Printer. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 113

Cleaning the inside of the printer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .113

Cleaning the paper path rollers. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 115

Cleaning the printer case . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 117

Removing spilled toner . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 117

Transporting the Printer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 118

Chapter 8 Troubleshooting

Ready and Error Lights. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 119

Printing a Status Sheet. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 120

Clearing Jammed Paper . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 121

Precautions for clearing jammed paper . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .121

Preventing paper feed and paper jam problems. . . . . . . . . . 122

Paper jam — inside the printer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 122

Paper jam — MP tray . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 128

Operational Problems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 131

Printout Problems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 132

Print Quality Problems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 133

Memory Problems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 138

Appendix A Technical Specifications

Paper . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 141

Available paper types. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 141

Specifications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .144

Printable area. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 145

Printer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 146

Contents 7

General . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .146

Environmental . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .147

Safety approvals. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .147

Mechanical . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .148

Electrical . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .149

Interfaces . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .149

Parallel interface. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .149

USB interface. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .149

Options and Consumables. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .150

Face-up tray (C12C813801). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .150

Developer cartridge (S050087) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .150

Developer cartridge (S050095) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .150

Photoconductor unit (S051055) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .151

Appendix B Working with Fonts

EPSON BarCode Fonts. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .153

System requirements. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .155

Installing EPSON BarCode Font . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .155

Printing with EPSON BarCode Fonts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .156

EPSON BarCode Font specifications. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .161

Where to Get Help . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .173

For users in Latin America . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .174

For users in the Middle East. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .174

For users in Scandinavia. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .175

For users in South Africa. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .177

For users in Australia . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .178

For users in Singapore. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .180

For users in Thailand. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .180

For users in Indonesia . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .181

For users in Hong Kong . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .181

For users in Malaysia. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .182

For users in India . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .183

For users in the Philippines . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .184

Glossary

8 Contents

Index

Contents 9

10 Contents

Safety Information

Safety Precautions

Be sure to follow these precautions carefully to ensure safe,

efficient operation:

❏ Be careful not to touch the fuser, which is marked CAUTION

Hot Surface Avoid Contact, or the surrounding areas. If the

printer has been in use, the fuser and the surrounding areas
may be very hot.

*

* CAUTION Hot Surface Avoid Contact

❏ Avoid touching the components inside the printer unless

instructed to do so in this guide.

Safety Information 11

❏ Never force the printer’s components into place. Although the

printer is designed to be sturdy, rough handling can damage
it.

❏ When removing the developer cartridge, never touch the

developing roller under the flap; otherwise, print quality will
decline.

❏ When handling the developer cartridge, always place it on a

clean, smooth surface.

❏ Do not turn the developer cartridge upside down or stand it

on its ends.

❏ Do not attempt to modify or take the developer cartridge

apart. It cannot be refilled.

❏ Do not touch the toner and avoid all contact with your eyes.

12 Safety Information

❏ When removing or installing a photoconductor unit, prevent

the light-sensitive drum from exposure to light for any longer
than necessary. The light-sensitive drum is the green cylinder
visible through the openings in the unit. Overexposing the
drum might cause abnormally dark or light areas to appear
on the printed page and may shorten the service life of the
unit.

❏ Be careful not to scratch the surface of the drum. When you

remove the photoconductor unit from the printer, always
place the unit on a clean, smooth surface. Avoid touching the
drum, since oils from your skin can permanently damage its
surface and affect print quality.

❏ To get the best print quality, do not store the photoconductor

unit in an area subject to direct sunlight, dust, salt air, or
corrosive gases (such as ammonia). Avoid locations subject to
extreme or rapid changes in temperature or humidity.

❏ Wait for at least one hour before using a developer cartridge

or a photoconductor unit after moving it from a cool to a warm
environment to prevent damage from condensation.

Safety Information 13

Warning:

Do not dispose of developer cartridges or photoconductor

w

units in fire, as they can explode and cause injury. Dispose
of them according to local regulations.

❏ Be sure to keep consumable components out of the reach of

children.

❏ Do not leave jammed paper inside the printer. This can cause

the printer to overheat.

❏ Avoid using outlets that other appliances are plugged into.
❏ Use only an outlet that meets the power requirements of this

printer.

Important Safety Instructions

❏ Connect your printer to an electrical outlet that meets the

power requirements of this printer. Your printer’s power
requirements are indicated on a label attached to the printer.
If you are not sure of the power supply specifications in your
area, contact your local power company or consult your
dealer.

❏ If you are unable to insert the AC plug into the electrical

outlet, contact an electrician.

❏ Adjust only those controls that are covered by the operating

instructions, as improper adjustment of other controls may
result in damage and may require repairs by a qualified
service representative.

14 Safety Information

ENERGY STAR

As an International ENERGY STAR® Partner, EPSON has

determined that this product meets the International

®

STAR

®

Compliance

Program guidelines for energy efficiency.

ENERGY

Power On/Off Cautions

Caution:

Do not turn off the printer:

c

❏ Until the Ready light (green) comes on and is not flashing.
❏ While the Ready light (green) is flashing.

The International

®

STAR

Program is a voluntary
partnership with the computer
and office equipment industry to
promote the introduction of
energy-efficient personal
computers, monitors, printers, fax
machines, copiers, and scanners,
in an effort to reduce air pollution
caused by power generation.

Office Equipment

ENERGY

❏ While printing.

Safety Information 15

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.

16 Safety Information

Chapter 1

Product Information

Printer Parts

1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1

1. Panel lights

2. Printer cover

3. MP (Multi-Purpose) tray

4. Power switch

5. Latch

6. Face-down tray

1
1
1
1

Product Information 17

1. AC inlet

2. USB interface connector

3. Parallel interface connector

4. Paper path selector

18 Product Information

Panel lights

1
1
1
1

1. Ready light (green)

2. Error light (red)

Ready light (green) Error light (red) Printer Status

Off Off Printer is off.
On Off Printer is ready to print.
Flashing Off Printer is warming up or

receiving data.

Off Flashing The printer is out of paper

or has an error that can be
easily cleared. For
details, see the EPSON
Status Monitor 3.

1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1

Product Information 19

Flashing On An error has occurred. Try

Off On

Flashing alternately

turning off the printer,
waiting a few minutes and
then turning it back on. If
this does not clear the
error, contact your dealer
or a qualified service
representative.

About Your Printer

The printer is easy to install and use. You simply set up the printer,
connect it to your computer, and install the printer driver as
described in the Setup Sheet.

®

The printer supports ECP mode in Microsoft

®

95, XP, 2000, and NT

4.0. ECP mode supports high-speed data

transfer and bi-directional communication with your computer.

Windows® Me, 98,

Features

The printer comes with a full set of features that contributes to
ease of use and consistent, high-quality output. The main features
are described below.

High-quality printing

When using the driver provided, your printer provides 600-dpi
printing at a speed of up to 16 pages per minute when printing
on A4 paper. You’ll appreciate the professional print quality
produced by your printer and its quick processing speed.

20 Product Information

Toner Save mode

To reduce the amount of toner used in printing documents, you

can print rough drafts using the Toner Save mode.

Options and Consumable Products

To purchase options or consumable products, contact your dealer

or the customer support representative in your area.

Options

Face-up Tray (C12C813801)

The Face-up Tray is recommended for printing on media that

require a straight-through paper path, such as labels and

transparencies.

Consumable products

Developer Cartridge (S050087)

1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1

This cartridge includes the toner that is used to create the image

on paper. The service life of the cartridge is approximately 6,000

printed pages.

Developer Cartridge (S050095)

This cartridge includes the toner that is used to create the image

on paper. The printer comes with this cartridge already installed.

The service life of the cartridge is approximately 3,000 printed

pages.

Product Information 21

1
1
1
1

Photoconductor Unit (S051055)

The photoconductor unit contains a light-sensitive drum that
permanently fixes the toner onto paper. The printer comes with
this unit already installed. This unit requires replacement after
approximately 20,000 pages of printing.

22 Product Information

Chapter 2

Handling Paper

Paper Sources

This section describes the combinations of paper sources and

paper types that you can use.

MP tray

Paper Type Capacity Paper Size

Plain paper Up to 150 sheets of
Letterhead

Labels Up to 10 sheets
Thick paper
Transparencies Up to 5 sheets

75 g/m² paper
(Weight: 60 to 90 g/m²)

A4, A5, B5, Letter (LT),
Legal (LGL),
Half-Letter (HLT),
Executive (EXE),
Government Letter (GLT),
Government Legal (GLG), F4,
Custom-size paper:
76 × 127 mm minimum
216 × 356 mm maximum

2
2
2
2
2
2
2
2

Envelopes Up to 10 sheets

(Weight: 85 to 105 g/m²)

Commercial 10 (C10), DL, C6,
C5, Monarch (MON), ISO B5
(IB5)

Loading Paper

The printer can feed paper from the MP tray.

Please note the following points when choosing paper:

Handling Paper 23

2
2
2
2

❏ Paper should be of high quality and be relatively smooth, with

a weight between 60 and 90 g/m² (16 to 24 lb).

❏ The printer is extremely sensitive to moisture. Be sure to store

your paper in a dry environment.

❏ The use of colored paper is acceptable, but coated paper

should be avoided.

❏ You may use paper with preprinted letterheads, provided

that the paper and ink are both laser-printer type.

Loading the MP tray

You can load up to 150 sheets of plain paper into the MP tray.
Follow these steps to load paper into the MP tray:

1. Open the MP tray by pulling on the indentation in the middle
of the cover, then lift the paper guide slightly to move it to
accommodate the paper you are loading.

24 Handling Paper

2. Fan a stack of paper and tap it on a flat surface to even the
edges, and set the paper into the MP tray with the printable
surface facing up. Then adjust the paper guide to the size of
the paper.

2
2
2
2
2
2

Note:

Make sure to load the paper as far as it will go inside the MP tray.

Handling Paper 25

2
2
2
2
2
2

3. Raise the face-down tray.

26 Handling Paper

If you installed the optional Face-up Tray and you want the sheets
to come out face-up, then raise the Face-up Tray instead, and set
the paper path selector down.

2
2
2
2
2
2
2

Note:

❏ Before printing, make sure that the Paper Size setting in your

printer driver matches the paper you load.

❏ If you want to print on paper heavier than 90g/m² (24 lb) or on

special paper (such as envelopes, labels, transparencies, or thick
paper), see “Printing on Special Media” on page 28.

Handling Paper 27

2
2
2
2
2

Printing on Special Media

EPL-6100L can print on special paper stock such as envelopes,
labels, transparencies, and thick paper.

Note:

Since the quality of any particular brand or type of paper may be changed
by the manufacturer at any time, EPSON cannot guarantee the quality
of any type of paper. Always test samples of paper stock before purchasing
large quantities or printing large jobs.

Labels

You can load up to ten sheets of labels into the MP tray. However,
you may need to feed some types of labels one sheet at a time.

To prevent the adhesive from coming into contact with printer
parts, always use labels that completely cover the backing sheet
such that no gaps occur between the individual labels.

You should test the label sheet for leaking adhesive by pressing
a sheet of paper on top of a sheet of labels. If the paper sticks to
the label sheet when you lift it off, do not use the labels.

28 Handling Paper

Envelopes

*

You can load up to ten envelopes into the MP tray, depending on
the envelope thickness (85 to 105 g/m²). Load envelopes with the
flap side down and short edge first.

* printable side up

2
2
2
2
2
2
2
2

To print on envelopes, choose Thick Narrow in the printer driver’s
Paper Type found in the Basic Settings menu.

The printing quality on envelopes may be irregular because
different parts of an envelope have different thicknesses. Print
one or two envelopes to check the print quality. If the printing is
too light, adjust the print density in the printer driver of Windows
and Macintosh.

Do not use window envelopes unless they are specially designed
for laser printers. The plastic on most window envelopes will melt
when it comes into contact with the hot fuser.

Handling Paper 29

2
2
2
2

Thick paper

You can load up to ten sheets of thick paper into the MP tray.
However, you may need to feed some types of thick paper one
sheet at a time. Use the thick paper of a weight between 90 and
163 g/m² (24 to 43 lb).

To print on thick paper, be sure to change the Paper Type found
in the Basic Settings menu. Choose Thick Narrow when printing
on thick paper which is less than 188 mm. Choose Thick Wide
when printing on thick paper which is 188 mm or wider.

Transparencies

You can load up to five transparencies into the MP tray. However,
you may need to feed some types of transparencies one sheet at
a time.

You can only use overhead projector transparencies and adhesive
drafting film made for use with laser printers or plain-paper
copiers.

When printing on transparencies, make sure to change the Paper
Type to Transparency in the Basic Settings menu.

Loading an Uncommon Paper Size

You can use an uncommon, or custom paper size from 76 × 127
mm (3.0 × 5.0 in.) to 216 × 356 mm (8.5 × 14.0 in.)

30 Handling Paper