Epson Lq 2180 User Guide

							User’s Guide
0000000000000000000000
24-Pin Dot Matrix 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, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, 
recording, or otherwise, without the prior written permission of SEIKO EPSON 
CORPORATION. The information contained herein is designed only for use with this 
EPSON printer. EPSON is not responsible for any use of this information as applied to other 
printers.
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 the 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 for 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 and EPSON ESC/P2 is a trademark 
of SEIKO EPSON CORPORATION.
Microsoft and Windows are registered trademarks of Microsoft Corporation.
IBM is a registered trademark of International Business Machines 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 rights in those 
marks.
Copyright © 1998 by SEIKO EPSON CORPORATION, Nagano, Japan.
® 
						

							ii      
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.
qReorient or relocate the receiving antenna
qIncrease the separation between the 
equipment and receiver
qConnect the equipment into an outlet on a 
circuit different from that to which the 
receiver is connected
qConsult 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 Class B digital apparatus meets all 
requirements of the Canadian Interference- 
Causing Equipment Regulations.
Cet appareil numérique de la classe B respecte 
toutes les exigences du Règlement sur le matériel 
brouilleur du Canada.
Declaration of Conformity
According to ISO/IEC Guide 22 and EN 45014
Manufacturer:
SEIKO EPSON CORPORATION
Address: 3-5, Owa 3-chome, Suwa-shi,
Nagano-ken 392-8502 Japan
Representative: EPSON EUROPE B.V.
Address: Prof. J. H. Bavincklaan 5 1183 
AT Amstelveen
The Netherlands
Declares that the Product:
Product Name: Dot Matrix Printer
Model: P910C
Conforms to the following Directive(s) and 
Norm(s):
Directive 73/23/EEC:
EN 60950
Directive 89/336/EEC:
EN 55022 Class B
EN 61000-3-2
EN 61000-3-3
EN 50082-1
    IEC 801-2
    IEC 801-3
    IEC 801-4
November 1998
H. Horiuchi
President of EPSON EUROPE B.V. 
						

							Printer Parts
knob printer cover
control panelpaper guide
paper 
separator
paper release 
lever
edge guides
front paper guide
(closed)
paper guide 
cover
tractor
paper thickness 
lever
shield plateribbon cartridge
parallel interfacepaper tension 
unit
front edge guides  front paper guide 
(open) 
						

							Control Panel Buttons and Lights
 
n = On
 
f = Flashing
 
o = Off
Tear Off/Bin button
lAdvances continuous paper to the 
tear-off position.
lFeeds continuous paper backward 
from the tear-off position to the top-of-
form position.
lSelects a cut-sheet feeder bin when the 
cut-sheet feeder is installed.
lEnters the card mode to print on 
postcards and envelopes. See 
Chapter 3.
Tear Off/Bin lights
l
 
f f when continuous paper is in the 
tear-off position. 
l
 
o n when bin 1 of the optional cut-
sheet feeder is selected. 
l
 
n o when bin 2 of the optional cut-
sheet feeder is selected. 
l
 
n n when the printer is in the card 
mode.
Micro Adjust 
When holding down the Pause button for three 
seconds, the printer enters the micro adjust mode. 
Using the micro adjust feature, you can press the 
 
D 
and 
 
U buttons to adjust the top-of-form or tear-off 
position. See Chapter 2.Load/Eject button
lLoads a single sheet of 
paper. 
lEjects a single sheet of 
paper if a sheet is 
loaded. 
lLoads continuous paper 
from the standby 
position. 
lFeeds continuous paper 
backward to the 
standby position. Font button
Selects the font. 
See Chapter 5.
Font lights
Indicate which 
font is selected. Paper Out light
lOn when no paper is 
loaded in the selected 
paper source or paper 
is not loaded correctly.
lFlashes when paper 
has not been fully 
ejected or a paper jam 
has occurred.
Operate button
Turns the printer on 
and off. The printer 
is off when the top 
of this button is 
even with the 
button protectors. Pause button 
Stops printing 
temporarily, and 
resumes printing when 
pressed again.
Pause light
lOn when the printer 
is paused.
lFlashes when the 
printer is in the micro 
adjust mode.
LF/FF button
lFeeds paper line by 
line. 
lEjects a single sheet 
or advances 
continuous paper to 
the next top-of-form 
position when held 
down. Pitch button
Selects the font size. 
See Chapter 5.
Pitch lights
Indicate what font 
size is selected.  
						

							      iii
Contents
Getting to Know Your Printer
Easy-to-Use Features . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
Available Paper Paths . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
Printing on continuous paper . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
Printing on single sheets . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
Options  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
Ribbon Cartridge . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
Important Safety Instructions  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
Print Head Caution Symbol . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
ENERGY STAR Compliance  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
For United Kingdom Users  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
Use of options . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
Safety information  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
How To Use Your Manuals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
Warnings, Cautions, and Notes. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
Chapter 1  Setting Up the Printer
Unpacking the Printer. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-2
Choosing a Place for the Printer  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-4
Positioning the continuous paper supply . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-5
Installing or Replacing the Ribbon Cartridge . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-6
Attaching the Paper Guide and Paper Separator . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-11
Plugging In the Printer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-13
Connecting the Printer to Your Computer  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-14
Installing the Printer Software . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-15
Installing in Windows 95, 98, and NT 4.0 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-16
Installing in Windows 3.1 and NT 3.5x . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-17
For DOS programs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-18 
						

							iv      
Chapter 2  Printing on Continuous Paper
Setting the Paper Release Lever . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  2-2
Setting the Paper Thickness Lever . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  2-3
Loading Multi-Part Forms  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  2-5
Loading Continuous Paper With Labels . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  2-5
Removing continuous paper with labels . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  2-7
Using the Front Push Tractor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  2-8
Installing the tractor in the front push position  . . . . . . . . .  2-8
Loading paper onto the front push tractor  . . . . . . . . . . . . .  2-9
Removing the printed document from the front 
push tractor  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  2-13
Removing the front push tractor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  2-15
Using the Rear Push Tractor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  2-16
Loading paper onto the rear push tractor . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  2-16
Removing the printed document from the rear 
push tractor  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  2-20
Using the Tractor in the Pull Position . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  2-21
Installing the tractor in the pull position . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  2-22
Loading paper onto the pull tractor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  2-23
Removing paper from the pull tractor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  2-29
Using two tractors in a push and pull combination. . . . . .  2-29
Removing the pull tractor  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  2-32
Switching Between Printing on Continuous Paper 
and Printing on Single Sheets . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  2-34
Switching to printing on single sheets . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  2-34
Switching to printing on continuous paper. . . . . . . . . . . . .  2-35
Adjusting the Top-of-Form Position . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  2-36
Advancing the Paper to the Tear-Off Edge  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  2-39
Using the Tear Off/Bin button  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  2-39
Advancing paper to the tear-off position automatically . .  2-40
Adjusting the tear-off position  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  2-40 
						

							      v
Chapter 3  Printing on Single Sheets
Using Single Sheets . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-2
Available paper types and paper slots  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-2
Loading single-sheet multi-part forms  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-4
Loading envelopes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-6
Loading postcards  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-7
Loading Single Sheets in the Top Paper Slot . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-8
Loading Single Sheets in the Front Paper Slot  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-10
Chapter 4  Using the Printer Software
About Your Printer Software . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-2
Using the Printer Driver With Windows 95/98  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-3
Accessing the printer driver from Windows applications . 4-3
Accessing the printer driver from the Start menu . . . . . . . . 4-5
Printer driver settings overview. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-5
Using the Printer Driver With Windows 3.1 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-8
Accessing the printer driver from Windows applications . 4-8
Accessing the printer driver from the Control Panel  . . . . . 4-10
Printer driver settings overview. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-10
Using the Printer Driver With Windows NT 4.0  . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-12
Accessing the printer driver from Windows applications . 4-12
Accessing the printer driver from the Start menu . . . . . . . . 4-14
Printer driver settings overview. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-14
Using the Printer Driver With Windows NT 3.5x  . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-17
Accessing the printer driver from Windows applications . 4-17
Accessing the printer driver from the Control Panel  . . . . . 4-19
Printer driver settings overview. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-20
Using the EPSON Remote! Utility  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-22
Installing EPSON Remote!  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-22
Accessing EPSON Remote! . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-22 
						

							vi      
Chapter 5  Changing Printer Settings From the Printer’s Control Panel
Selecting a Built-In Font and Pitch . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  5-2
About Your Printer’s Default Settings. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  5-4
Changing default settings  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  5-9
Chapter 6  Using EPSON Status Monitor 2
About the EPSON Status Monitor 2 Utility  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  6-2
Installing EPSON Status Monitor 2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  6-3
Accessing EPSON Status Monitor 2  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  6-4
Checking Printer Status Information . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  6-4
Using the EPSON Status Monitor 2 window  . . . . . . . . . . .  6-4
Using the Printer Status window  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  6-9
Making Monitoring Preference Settings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  6-10
Turning on background monitoring  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  6-11
Using the background monitoring icon . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  6-12
Chapter 7  Troubleshooting
Using the Error Indicators. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  7-2
Problems and Solutions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  7-4
Power supply problems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  7-5
Single-sheet paper loading or feeding problems  . . . . . . . .  7-6
Continuous paper loading or feeding problems  . . . . . . . .  7-8
Wrong top-of-form position  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  7-9
Wrong tear-off position  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  7-10
Printing or printout quality problems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  7-11
Clearing Paper Jams . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  7-16
Aligning Vertical Lines in Your Printout  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  7-17
Printing a Self Test . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  7-18
Printing a Hex Dump. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  7-19 
						

							      vii
Appendix A  Enhancing Your Printer With Options
Options  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . A-2
Paper handling options . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . A-2
Optional interface cards. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . A-3
Using the Optional Cut-Sheet Feeders . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . A-4
Installing the high-capacity or double-bin 
cut-sheet feeder  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . A-4
Loading paper in the high-capacity cut-sheet feeder  . . . . . A-6
Selecting the paper source (bin 1 or bin 2)  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . A-10
Switching between continuous paper and single-sheet 
paper in the cut-sheet feeder  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . A-11
Using the Roll Paper Holder  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . A-12
Assembling the roll paper holder  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . A-12
Installing the roll paper holder . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . A-13
Loading roll paper  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . A-14
Removing roll paper  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . A-16
Installing an Interface Card . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . A-17
Using the C82305] or C82306] serial interface card . . . . . . . A-18
Appendix B  Cleaning and Transporting the Printer
Cleaning the Printer  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . B-2
Transporting the Printer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . B-3