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Troubleshooting Problems With the Powis Parker P21x Fastback Foilfast Printer

Sun, 24 Jan 2010 18:33:42 +0000

Jeff McRitchie asked:

This article is designed to help you troubleshoot some of the most common issues that users face when using the Fastback Foilfast printer. The article will provide you with several common problems and potential solutions. Unfortunately the list is not extensive. However, it should give you a good start in tracking down issues with your printer.

Problem #1: Cartridge is stuck in the carriage

1. Turn off the power.

2. Open the front cover and remove all cartridges on the cartridge holder plates.

3. Close the front cover, and turn on the power. The carriage will reset.

Problem #2: Power does not come on

1. Check to make sure the power cord is connected

2. Make sure the power cord is plugged into an outlet as well as connected to the printer. After checking the power cord, push the power button to turn on the printer. Is the printer plugged into an extension block or power strip?

3. After turning on the extension block or power strip, press the power button on the printer.

Problem #3: Printing is light, distorted, or has gaps

1. Stop the printing and reinstall all the cartridges. Take up any slack in the foils. If a particular cartridge repeatedly causes problems, try a different cartridge.

2. Clean the printer head. The platen often gets dirty at the same time as the head, so it is recommended to clean the platen after cleaning the head.

3. Clean the platen. If anything is stuck to the platen, remove it, being careful not to damage the platen. The platen often gets dirty at the same time as the head so it is recommended to clean the platen as well as the head. If cleaning the head and the platen does not work, contact your authorized Fastback dealer for assistance.

Problem #4: Printer does not print or stops while printing

1. Before printing make sure the printer is turned on.

2. Make sure that the front cover is closed properly.

3. Press the ready/insert button and make sure that the ready light comes on.

4. After connecting the cable, make sure nothing is putting pressure on the cable, and tighten the fastening screws and clamps to secure the cable.

5. Remove the sheet. If the sheet is caught in the rollers, open the front cover, push down on the release lever, and gently remove the sheet.

6. Recheck the printer settings in the application. NOTE: To use the parallel port for P21x printing you will have to set the printer port to LPT1 and not use the PPI_LPT1 port

7. Install the printer driver from the Installation Disc.

8. When one of the followings occurs, it is possible that the cable is broken or disconnected. 1) The gauge in the Print dialog box does not progress. 2) The “Out of Sheets” message appears repeatedly. Replace the cable with a new one. Are you using a printer selection switch or a printer buffer? With bi-directional interfaces, operation is sometimes unreliable when using printer switching boxes or printer buffers. If you are using a printer selection switching box or printer buffer, use one-way communication.

9. Do not use a cable that is longer than you need. The signals become more unstable as the cable gets longer.

10. Use the correct cartridges. The Foilfast printer will only accept Foilfast” premium foil cartridges.

11. Insert cartridges in the holders with the B side up.

12. When the foil in a cartridge has been spent, black and silver stripes will be visible on the ribbon. Install a new cartridge. After replacing the cartridge, printing will continue from where it left off.

13. Do you have enough hard disk space? The Foilfast requires work space on the hard disk when it prints. Keep enough free disk space to ensure that you can print without problems.

Problem #5: Printing is not working or is extremely slow

1. Make sure there is enough space on your hard disk. (The working space is released once printing is finished.)

2. Some applications have color printing enable/disable settings. Some applications do not support color printing. Read the manual for the application and check the color settings.

3. When very little memory is available for print processing, printing may take a long time or fail. Close as many applications as possible and try again.

4. Handling color images requires a lot of memory for the application and for the data. Sometimes there is insufficient memory left for printing. Make sure your computer has enough memory to print the size of images you are using.

5. General protection fault errors can occur when there is insufficient memory for color printing or when part of the hard disk has become corrupted. After decreasing the size of the print data or scanning the hard disk, try printing again.

6. The time required for printing can increase dramatically if the free space on the disk drive is extremely fragmented. Clean up your files and defragment the disk by periodically running a utility like DEFRAG, which comes with Windows.

Problem #6: Printer makes strange noises when the power is turned on, and the error lights blink

1. Has the carriage packing material been removed?

2. Has the packing tape on the case been removed?

3. Has a cartridge become dislodged from a cartridge holder? Open the front cover and make sure the cartridges are correctly installed.

Problem #7: Paper is not feeding correctly or not ejecting correctly from the sheet feeder

1. The cover material you are using may not be compatible with the Foilfast printer.

2. A curled sheet will cause sheet jams. The sheet should be curled the opposite way to flatten it out before it is used.

3. Sheets with folded or cut corners can cause problems if the sheet does not activate the position sensor and sheet length sensor properly.

4. Set the feed guide so that there is approximately 0.02″ between it and the sheets themselves.

5. The sheet feeder can hold up to 10 composition covers, 1 Clear Cover, or 1 Foilfast Title Sheet.

6. Composition covers should be between 16 – 18.5 points thick (.0016 – .00185 inches). Clear covers should be between 6.5 – 7.5 points thick (.0065 – .0075 inches). Covers that fall outside the bounds of these thickness ranges may work in the Foilfast printer, but Powis Parker does not recommend using them. Covers that fall substantially beyond these thickness ranges may damage the printer’s feeding mechanism and may void your warranty.

7. Make sure nothing is on the output tray as this can cause sheet jams.

8. Sheets must fanned at least once before they are loaded into the sheet feeder. If not, sheets may stick to one another, and cause multiple sheets to feed into the printer at one time, or other forms of misfeeding.

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Brother Printer Related Customer Complaints

Tue, 29 Dec 2009 21:35:59 +0000

A brother printer is largely in use nowadays but there are a wide range of customers who are highly displeased with its certain features and criticize it forcefully in their writings. One such example is that of Tom who criticizes Brother HL-2040 in these words: “The 2040 is a very poorly engineered piece of junk. Every page out of it is curled so badly as to be almost unusable.” The reviewer also mentions many other problems that Brother HL-2040 has, like ineffective spark suppression and regards it as a faulty design.

A large number of other customers have also highlighted the machine’s tendency to cripple and twist the paper, no matter which ever brand of paper is used. A Brother machine is also accused of causing voltage drops in an area. A particular customer narrates that his Brother MFC-8440 refused to work just after two weeks of its purchase. He had to contact the Brother technical support which turned out to be utterly uncooperative and unhelpful. Another user describes the Brother customer support as the “Worst customer support I have seen in my 20+ years of IT service.” A certain customer claims to have tried three different models of Brother one by one, all of which refused to work after a few weeks.

Many customers have criticized the Brother printer for the strange noises it produces when it is in the process of cooling down. Some people consider such sounds as a major annoyance. A certain reviewer narrates his experience of facing a paper jam just during the initial use, which led to a broken fuser. When the customer got it replaced, another paper jam occurred followed by the breaking of the fuser.

There are a large number of objections against the bad results achieved on changing the settings of a Brother printer. The user manual fails to guide the customers effectively. Brother HL-2040 has received remarkably high number of complaints. Some of these are difficulty while removing the cartridges, improper size of the tray, frequent paper jams and formation of creases on the paper. This printer has been regarded by most of the customers as a cheap and sub standard machine with a defective design. Many users have tried to keep others from buying it.

Yet another customer reports to have bought five Brother machines for his office, none of which lasted more than three months. Hence Brother machines are perceived by the customers as highly unreliable. Another common customer complaint is that the printer does not contain a cable with it. Having to purchase a cable separately serves to annoy some of the customers. Customers are of the view that it cannot print envelopes well. It leaves a lot of blank space while printing on an envelope. Sometimes it does the same with regular papers as well.

By: James Kara Murat

About the Author:

James Kara Murat the contributor of PrintCountry FAQ. A longer version of this article is located at Brother Printer Related Customer Complaints, and related resources can be found at Brother Printer Ink Cartridges.

Toner Cartridge

Thu, 03 Dec 2009 08:43:46 +0000

Adriana N asked:

For most people, a computer has become a necessary part of their daily lives. Whether it is for work or personal use, we often have to print out a number of documents on a daily basis. As with any device, we have to make adjustments. When using a computer printer, one will expect at some point to see their toner run low. One has a couple of options to fix the problem when their computer printer toner runs low.

Although the printer runs electronically, it needs the toner cartridge to provide toner for the printed paper. One choice you have when the printer toner runs low is to purchase a new toner cartridge. A new cartridge is expensive, so it may take more sense to refill the cartridge when you notice blurry and faded printed copies. Because toner cartridges can be expensive, check online for special deals on toner or ask an office supply store about rebates, discounts, and sales. It is important to know what type of toner cartridge you use before making a purchase. When replacing the toner cartridge, open the printer’s interior panel. Locate the cartridge handle on the inside. Once you got the handle, pull out and up to remove the used cartridge. Insert the new cartridge in the spot where you removed the old cartridge.

A cheaper way of fixing toner that is running low is to refill the toner cartridge with new toner. When refilling a toner cartridge, make sure you have the right toner. If not, you could damage the printer. You can do the refilling or have someone else do it for you. There are many online sites that sell toner refill kits. A quality refill kit will come with a set of instructions. If not, and you are unsure how to refill the cartridge, get a professional or contact the printer manufacturer or a computer store for help with refilling. Your toner refill kit will have the tools and toner to refill your cartridge. After refilling, reseal the hole with the tools from the refill kit. There are toner refill kits for cartridges where you burn the fill hole and then when done, there will be aluminum tape in the kit to secure over the hole. Shake the cartridge and then reinsert the toner filled cartridge back into the printer. One cartridge should only be reused about three times before you buy a brand new one. As well, there are now printer toner cartridges that contain ‘smart chips’ which will have to be replaced for the cartridge to perform past its life expectancy. When refilling a toner cartridge, make sure you are refilling it while wearing old clothes and over an old towel so you do not make a mess on an item that you like.

Fixing a printer with toner running low does not have to be difficult or expensive. As long as you know what your options are and what to do, fixing it will not be a problem and you will be able to continue with high quality printer output.