Epson Lq 2180 User Guide

							2-26      Printing on Continuous Paper
9. Insert the paper into the front, bottom, or rear paper slot as 
described below until it emerges between the platen and the 
ribbon guide. Then pull up the paper until the perforation 
between the first and second pages is even with the top of the 
printer’s ribbon.
10. Fit four holes of the paper over the tractor pins on both 
sprockets. Then close the sprocket covers.
11. Slide the right sprocket to remove any slack in the paper; then 
lock it in place by pushing the sprocket lock down.
Before you load paper in the 
front slot, remove the front 
paper guide. Then load 
paper printable side up.
Load paper in the bottom slot 
printable side up (forward).
Before you load paper in the 
rear slot, remove the paper 
guide. Then load paper in the 
rear slot printable side down. 
						

							2
Printing on Continuous Paper      2-27
12. If you use the front slot, attach the front paper guide with the 
continuous paper positioned as shown below. Then close it.
If you use the rear slot, replace the paper guide and make sure 
the edge guides are together in the middle of the paper guide.
13. Turn on the printer.
14. Remove any slack in the paper and adjust the top-of-form 
position (the position where the printer will start printing) by 
pressing the 
LF/FF
 button or using the micro adjust feature.  (To 
use the micro adjust feature, see “Adjusting the Top-of-Form 
Position” on page 2-36.) The printer will start printing at the 
current position without advancing the paper.
 
c
Caution:
o
Never use the knob to remove slack in the paper or to 
adjust the top-of-form position; this may damage the 
printer or cause it to lose the top-of-form position.
o
Always remove any slack from the paper;  otherwise 
print quality may be reduced. 
						

							2-28      Printing on Continuous Paper
15. Attach the printer cover and close the paper guide cover.
Note:
Always close the printer cover before printing. The printer does not 
print when the cover is open.
16. You may need to check and change the printer driver settings 
as described in Chapter 4. Send a print job to the printer. The 
printer starts printing from the current position without 
advancing the paper. The printed pages are fed over the paper 
guide toward the back of the printer.
17. After you finish printing, open the paper guide cover; then 
tear off the printed document at the perforation nearest the 
paper exit slot. 
						

							2
Printing on Continuous Paper      2-29
Removing paper from the pull tractor 
1. After you finish printing, tear off the fresh supply of paper at 
the perforation nearest the paper entry slot.
2. Hold down the 
LF/FF
 button to eject the paper from the printer.
Using two tractors in a push and pull combination
To improve continuous paper feeding and reduce paper jams, you 
can use two tractors at the same time. When using two tractors in 
combination, you can load paper in the front paper slot onto both 
the front push tractor and the pull tractor, or in the rear paper slot 
onto both the rear push tractor and the pull tractor.
To use the front push tractor with the pull tractor, you need to 
purchase the optional pull tractor (C80032
]
). The tractor in the rear 
push position cannot be removed. Install the optional pull tractor as 
described in “Installing the tractor in the pull position” on page 2-22.
To use the rear push tractor with the pull tractor, you can remove 
the tractor from the front push position as described on page 
2-15, and install it in the pull position as described on page 2-22.
Note:
The tractor in the rear push position cannot be removed. 
						

							2-30      Printing on Continuous Paper
To load paper onto two tractors, follow these steps:
1. Remove the printer cover and paper guide.
2. Make sure one tractor is in the front or rear push position and 
one tractor is in the pull position. Set the paper release lever 
to either the front push or rear push tractor position, 
depending on which push tractor you are using. Also, set the 
paper thickness lever to the proper position for your paper’s 
thickness.
3. Load paper onto the front or rear push tractor as described 
earlier in this chapter.
4. Turn on the printer. Press the Load/Eject
 button to advance 
the paper to the top-of-form position. Then press the LF/FF
 button 
until the perforation between the first and second pages is even 
with the top of the printer’s ribbon.
 
c
Caution:
Never use the knob to move the paper; this may damage the 
printer or cause it to lose the top-of-form position.
5. Attach the paper to the pull tractor’s sprockets as described 
in “Loading paper onto the pull tractor” on page 2-23.
6. Set the paper release lever to the pull tractor position. Then 
remove any slack in the paper between the push and pull 
tractors using the micro adjust feature (described on 
page 2-36) if necessary.
7. Move the paper release lever back to the push tractor position 
you set in step 2.
8. Adjust the top-of-form position (the position where the 
printer will start printing) using the micro adjust feature as 
described in “Adjusting the Top-of-Form Position” on 
page 2-36. The printer will start printing at the current 
position without advancing the paper. 
						

							2
Printing on Continuous Paper      2-31
 
c
Caution
o
Never use the knob to remove slack in the paper or to 
adjust the top-of-form position; this may damage the 
printer or cause it to lose the top-of-form position.
o
Always remove any slack from the paper; otherwise print 
quality may be reduced.
9. Attach the paper guide. Then slide the edge guides to the 
middle of the paper guide.
10. Attach the printer cover and close the paper guide cover.
Note:
Always close the printer cover before printing. The printer does not 
print when the cover is open.
11. You may need to check and change the printer driver settings 
as described in Chapter 4. Send a print job to the printer. The 
printer starts printing from the current position without 
advancing the paper. The printed pages are fed over the paper 
guide toward the back of the printer.
12. After you finish printing, open the paper guide cover; then 
tear off the printed document at the perforation nearest the 
paper exit slot.
To remove the paper from the tractors, follow the steps under 
“Removing paper from the pull tractor” on page 2-29. 
						

							2-32      Printing on Continuous Paper
Removing the pull tractor
To remove the tractor from the pull position, follow these steps:
1. Remove any paper loaded on the pull tractor as described on 
page 2-29.
2. Turn off the printer. Then remove the printer cover and lift 
the paper guide up and off the printer.
3. Press the tractor’s lock tabs, tilt the tractor toward you, and 
lift it off the printer.
4. Store the tractor in a safe place, or install it in the front push 
position as described on page 2-8. 
						

							2
Printing on Continuous Paper      2-33
5. To replace the paper tension unit, lower it onto the printer’s 
mounting pegs. Then press down both ends of the unit until 
it clicks into place.
6. Replace the paper guide and printer cover. Then close the 
paper guide cover. 
						

							2-34      Printing on Continuous Paper
Switching Between Printing on Continuous Paper 
and Printing on Single Sheets
You can easily switch back and forth between printing on 
continuous paper with a push tractor and printing on single 
sheets without having to remove or reload paper.
Switching to printing on single sheets
To switch from printing on continuous paper with the front or 
rear push tractor to printing on single sheets, follow the steps 
below.
Note:
o
If continuous paper with labels is loaded in the printer, remove it 
before switching to single-sheet printing. See “Removing 
continuous paper with labels” on page 2-7.
o
If a tractor is in the pull position, remove any continuous paper from 
it before switching to single-sheet printing. See “Removing paper 
from the pull tractor” on page 2-29.
1. If any printed pages of continuous paper remain in the 
printer, press the Tear Off/Bin
 button to advance printed pages 
to the tear-off position, and then tear them off.
 
c
Caution:
o
Tear off your printed document before you press the 
Load/Eject
 button in the next step. Reverse feeding 
several pages at a time may cause a paper jam.
o
Never use the knob to eject paper while the printer is on; 
this may damage the printer or cause it to lose the tear-
off position. 
						

							2
Printing on Continuous Paper      2-35
2. Press the 
Load/Eject button to feed the continuous paper 
backward to the standby position. The paper is still attached to 
the push tractor but is no longer in the paper path.
3. Load single sheets in the top or front paper guide as described 
in Chapter 3.
Switching to printing on continuous paper
To switch from printing on single sheets to printing on continuous 
paper with the front or rear push tractor, follow these steps:
1. If a single sheet remains in the printer, press the 
Load/Eject
 
button to eject it.
 
c
Caution:
Never use the knob to eject paper while the printer is on; this 
may damage the printer or cause it to lose the top-of-form 
position.
2. Make sure that the tractor is installed in the front or rear push 
position which you plan to use. To install the tractor in the 
front position, see page 2-8.
3. Load continuous paper onto the front or rear push tractor as 
described earlier in this chapter.
The printer loads your continuous paper automatically when you 
begin printing.