Epson FX-980 - Impact Printer User manual

®
9-Pin Dot Matrix Printer Quick Reference Guide
Contents
Loading Continuous Paper Onto the Rear
Push Tractor. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
Loading Continuous Paper Onto the Front
Push Tractor. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
Removing the Printed Document From
the Push Tractor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
Removing Continuous Paper With Labels . . . . . . . . . . 7
Replacing the Ribbon Cartridge . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
Clearing Paper Jams . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
If Your Printer Stops Printing Unexpectedly . . . . . . . . 16
EPSON is a registered trademark of SEIKO EPSON CORPORATION. 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.
Read your User's Guide first for
complete instructions, and then use this
guide any time you want to quickly find
information about the topics on the right.
Copyright © 1998 by SEIKO EPSON CORPORATION, Nagano, Japan
Printed inJapan
4010002
C01 00

2
Loading Continuous Paper Onto the Rear Push Tractor
Open the paper guide cover and remove the
paper guide base.
Open both sprocket covers, and fit the first
three holes of the paper, printable side
down, over the tractor pins. Then close the
sprocket covers.
Note:
Load continuous paper that has a clean, straight
edge to avoid paper jams.
1
paper guide base
paper guide cover
2
QTo feed continuous paper to the standby
position where you can remove it easily,
press the Load/Eject button.
QWhen you load continuous paper of a
different size or thickness, adjust the position
of the sprockets or change the paper
thickness lever setting. See Chapter 2 of the
User’s Guide for instructions.
To load continuous paper onto the rear push tractor, follow these steps:

3
Attach the paper guide base, then lift the
center section of the paper guide up and lay
it flat.
Close the paper guide cover, and make sure
the paper release lever is set to the rear push
tractor position.
Note:
The printer cannot print when the printer cover
is open.
3 4
Loading Continuous Paper Onto the Rear Push Tractor

4
Loading Continuous Paper Onto the Front Push Tractor
Open the front paper guide by pulling the
tab in the center. Remove the guide by
grasping both sides and pulling it straight
out of the printer.
Open both sprocket covers and fit the first
three holes of the paper, printable side up,
over the tractor pins. Then close the
sprocket covers.
Note:
Load continuous paper that has a clean, straight
edge to avoid paper jams.
1 2
QTo feed continuous paper to the standby
position where you can remove it easily,
press the Load/Eject button.
QWhen you load continuous paper of a
different size or thickness, adjust the position
of the sprockets or change the paper
thickness lever setting. See Chapter 2 of the
User’s Guide for instructions.
To load continuous paper onto the front push tractor, follow these steps:
Note:
To use the front push tractor, install the tractor unit in the front position and load continuous paper in
the front slot.

5
Attach the front paper guide by inserting it
into the slots on each side of the printer as
shown.
Close the front paper guide. Then set the
paper release lever to the front push tractor
position.
Note:
The printer cannot print when the printer cover
is open.
3 4
QWhen you load continuous paper with labels,
set the auto tear-off mode to Off before you
print. When fed backward, the labels can
easily come off the backing sheet and jam the
printer.
QTo turn off the auto tear-off mode, enter the
printer’s default-setting mode. See Chapter 5
of the User’s Guide for instructions
Loading Continuous Paper Onto the Front Push Tractor

6
Removing the Printed Document From the Push Tractor
Make sure the Tear Off/Bin lights are
flashing. (You may need to press the Tear
Off/Bin button.) This indicates that your
paper is at the current tear-off position.
Open the paper path guide cover, and tear
off the printed document using the printer’s
tear-off edge.
1
2
from the front push tractor
from the rear push tractor
QWhen you resume printing, the printer
automatically feeds the paper backward to
the top-of-form position, and begins printing.
QTo feed continuous paper backward from the
tear-off position into the standby position,
press the Load/Eject button.
To remove the printed document from the front and rear push tractor, follow the steps below. To remove
continuous paper from the optional pull tractor, see Chapter 2 of the User’s Guide.

7
Removing Continuous Paper With Labels
Make sure that the printer is not printing.
You may need to press the Pause button to
pause the printer. (When the printer is
paused, the Pause light is on.)
Tear off the supply of continuous labels at
the perforation nearest the paper entry slot.
Hold down the LF/FF button to eject the
remaining labels from the printer.
cCaution:
Never feed labels backward using the
Load/Eject or Tear Off/Bin button. When
fed backward, labels can easily come off
the backing sheet and cause a paper jam.
1
2
3
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 front push tractor.
Removing the Printed Document From the Push Tractor Removing Continuous Paper With Labels

8
Press the Operate button to turn off the
printer. The printer is off when the surface
of the Operate button is even with the
button protectors as shown.
cCaution:
Moving the print head while the printer is
on may damage the printer.
Unplug the printer from the electrical
outlet.
Open the paper guide cover. Then lift the
printer cover by its back edge and pull it
straight up and off.
1
2
3
Replacing the Ribbon Cartridge
Your printer uses an EPSON black ribbon cartridge S015091.
To replace the ribbon cartridge, follow the steps below.

9
QIf the pull tractor is installed, you can replace
the ribbon cartridge when the print head is
not in the ribbon installation position.
Replacing the Ribbon Cartridge
Make sure the print head is not hot; if it is,
let it cool for a few minutes before touching
it. Then slide the print head to the ribbon
installation position (the indented portion
of the paper tension unit) by hand.
Grasp the used ribbon cartridge and pull it
up and out of the printer.
4 5

10
Replacing the Ribbon Cartridge
Remove the separator from the new ribbon
cartridge and discard it. Then turn the
ribbon-tightening knob in the direction of
the arrow to remove any slack in the ribbon.
Hold the cartridge with the ribbon-
tightening knob up. Fit the cartridge’s two
front notches (¿) over the small pegs on
each side of the printer as shown. Then lay
the cartridge flat so that the rear notches (¡)
fit over the corresponding pegs.
6
ribbon-tightening knob
separator
7