Epson Lq 2180 User Guide

							2-6      Printing on Continuous Paper
Thick paper, such as continuous paper with labels, requires a 
straight or almost straight paper path. You can load labels in the 
front (push tractor or pull tractor) or bottom (pull tractor) paper 
slot; however, for best results, use the tractor in the pull position 
and load paper in the front or bottom paper slot.
You load labels the same way you load ordinary continuous 
paper, except you must set the paper thickness lever to 2 before 
printing on labels. See “Loading paper onto the pull tractor” on 
page 2-23 for more information.
 
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Caution:
o
Do not load continuous paper with labels in the rear paper 
slot because the paper path from the rear slot is curved; labels 
may come off their backing sheet inside the printer and cause 
a paper jam.
o
Never use the tear-off feature (by pressing the Tear Off/Bin
 
button or turning on the auto tear-off mode as described in 
“About Your Printer’s Default Settings” in Chapter 5) to feed 
continuous paper with labels backward; they may come off their 
backing sheet and jam the printer.
o
Because labels are sensitive to temperature and humidity, use 
them only under normal operating conditions, as follows:
Temperature 15 to 25°C (59 to 77°F)
Humidity 30 to 60%RH
o
Do not load continuous paper with labels that is damaged, 
curled or wrinkled.
o
Do not leave labels loaded in the printer between jobs; they 
may curl around the platen and jam when you resume 
printing. 
						

							2
Printing on Continuous Paper      2-7
Removing continuous paper with labels
To avoid peeling labels off the backing sheet and jamming the 
printer, follow the steps below when you remove continuous 
paper with labels from the printer.
1. After you finish printing, tear off the fresh supply of 
continuous labels at the perforation nearest the paper entry 
slot.
2. Hold down the 
LF/FF
 button to eject the remaining labels from 
the printer.
 
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Caution:
Never press the Load/Eject
 or Tear Off/Bin
 button. When fed 
backward, labels can easily come off the backing sheet and cause 
a paper jam. 
						

							2-8      Printing on Continuous Paper
Using the Front Push Tractor 
To use the front push tractor, load continuous paper in the front 
slot. For more information on when to use the front push tractor, 
see “Available Paper Paths” on page 3.
Note:
The tractors are installed in the front push and rear push positions when 
the printer is shipped. The rear push tractor cannot be removed.
Installing the tractor in the front push position 
If a tractor is installed in the front push position, skip to “Loading 
paper onto the front push tractor“ on the next page.
If a tractor is installed in the pull position, you need to remove it, 
and replace the paper tension unit as described on page 2-33 
before using the front push tractor.
To install the tractor in the front push position, follow these steps:
1. Make sure the printer is turned off.
2. Open the front paper guide by pulling the tab at the center 
of the guide. Then remove the guide by grasping both sides 
and pulling it straight out of the printer.
tab 
						

							2
Printing on Continuous Paper      2-9
3. Insert the tractor into the printer’s mounting slots and press 
down both ends of the tractor to make sure that it is firmly 
seated.
You are now ready to load continuous paper onto the front push 
tractor as described in the next section. To remove the tractor, see 
page 2-15.
Loading paper onto the front push tractor
To load paper onto the front push tractor, follow these steps:
1. Open the front paper guide by pulling the tab at the center 
of the guide. Then remove the guide by grasping both sides 
and pulling it straight out of the printer. Check that the tractor 
is installed in the front push position. 
						

							2-10      Printing on Continuous Paper
2. Set the paper release lever to the front push tractor position. 
Also set the paper thickness lever (located under the printer 
cover) to the proper position for your paper’s thickness.
3. Release the left and right sprockets by pushing the sprocket 
lock levers backward. 
						

							2
Printing on Continuous Paper      2-11
4. Slide the left sprocket to the left margin of your paper using 
the arrow mark inside the printer. (Printing starts at the arrow 
mark.) Then pull the lever forward to lock it in place.
Note:
See “Paper alignment” and “Printable area” in Appendix C for 
more information on the left margin position.
5. Slide the right sprocket to match the width of your paper, but 
do not lock it. Move the paper support midway between the 
two sprockets as shown above.
6. Open both sprocket covers. Make sure your paper has a 
clean, straight edge and fit the first four holes of the paper, 
printable side up, over the tractor pins. Then close the 
sprocket covers. 
						

							2-12      Printing on Continuous Paper
7. Slide the right sprocket to remove any slack in the paper; then 
lock it in place by pushing the sprocket lock down.
8. Attach the front paper guide by sliding it along the printer’s 
mounting slots as shown below. Then close the front paper 
guide.
9. Slide the edge guides to the middle of the top paper guide. 
Make sure that the printer cover and the paper guide cover 
are closed.
Note:
Always close the printer cover before printing. The printer does not 
print when the cover is open. 
						

							2
Printing on Continuous Paper      2-13
10. Make sure the printer is on. You may need to check and 
change the printer driver settings as described in Chapter 4. 
When the printer receives data, it automatically loads the 
paper and starts printing. The printed pages are fed over the 
paper guide toward the back of the printer.
11. After you finish printing, follow the steps in the next section 
to tear off your printed document.
If the first printed line on your page appears too high or low, 
you can fix this using the micro adjust feature as described in 
“Adjusting the Top-of-Form Position” on page 2-36.
 
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Caution:
Never use the knob to adjust the top-of-form position; this may 
damage the printer or cause it to lose the top-of-form position.
Removing the printed document from the front push 
tractor
To remove the printed document, follow these steps:
1. Make sure the Tear/Off Bin lights are flashing. (This indicates 
your paper is at the current tear-off position.) You may need 
to press the 
Tear Off/Bin
 button to advance the paper to the 
tear-off position. 
						

							2-14      Printing on Continuous Paper
2. Open the paper guide cover, and tear off the printed 
document using the tear-off edge of the printer.
Note:
If your paper’s perforation is not properly aligned with the tear-off 
edge, you can adjust the tear-off position using the micro adjust 
feature. See “Adjusting the tear-off position” on page 2-40.
 
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Caution:
Never use the knob to adjust the tear-off position; this may 
damage the printer or cause it to lose the tear-off position.
3. Close the paper guide cover.
When you resume printing, the printer automatically feeds 
the paper back to the top-of-form position and starts printing.
To remove the remaining paper from the printer, press the Load/
Eject
 button to feed the paper backward to the standby position. (See 
the Glossary for an explanation of the standby position.) Then open 
the sprocket covers of the tractor and remove the paper. 
 
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Caution:
Always tear off your printed document before you press the 
Load/Eject
 button. Reverse feeding several pages at a time may 
cause a paper jam. 
						

							2
Printing on Continuous Paper      2-15
Removing the front push tractor
To remove the tractor from the front push position, follow these 
steps:
1. Remove any paper from the tractor as described in the 
previous section.
2. Turn off the printer.
3. Open the front paper guide by pulling the tab at the center of 
the guide. Then remove the guide by grasping both sides and 
pulling it straight out of the printer.
4. Press the tractor’s lock tabs, tilt the tractor up, and lift it out 
of the printer.
5. Replace the front paper guide by sliding it along the printer’s 
mounting slots until it locks in place. Then close the front 
paper guide.