lane@cs.dal.ca (John Wright/Dr. Pat Lane) (03/29/90)
I recently noticed in the manual for an Epson LQ printer, that it says
to avoid turning the paper feed knob while the printer is on to prevent
damage to the paper advance mechanism. I have seen in most printer
books a warning against trying to move the print head while the thing
is on but this was the first time I'd seen anything about the paper
feed. The books for 2 other Epson printers (an LX and an EX) don't
say anything about it while books for 2 Roland printers actually tell
you to turn the paper feed while the printer is on. These are all I
had available to check.
Is this something that differs from printer to printer depending on how
it's designed (in other words, check your manual) or is there potential
harm in this for any printer and some manufacturer's decide to warn you
and some don't.
Inquiring minds want to know.
--
John Wright ////////////////// Phone: 902-424-3805 or 902-424-6527
Post: c/o Dr Pat Lane, Biology Dept, Dalhousie U, Halifax N.S., CANADA B3H-4H8
Cdn/Eannet:lane@cs.dal.cdn Uucp:lane@dalcs.uucp or {uunet watmath}!dalcs!lane
Arpa:lane%dalcs.uucp@uunet.uu.net Internet:lane@cs.dal.cajdudeck@polyslo.CalPoly.EDU (John R. Dudeck) (03/30/90)
In article <1990Mar29.104156.21218@cs.dal.ca> lane@cs.dal.ca (John Wright/Dr. Pat Lane) writes: >I recently noticed in the manual for an Epson LQ printer, that it says >to avoid turning the paper feed knob while the printer is on to prevent >damage to the paper advance mechanism. I have seen in most printer >Is this something that differs from printer to printer depending on how >it's designed (in other words, check your manual) or is there potential >harm in this for any printer and some manufacturer's decide to warn you >and some don't. When most printers are powered on the stepper motor that advances the paper is energized, and attempting to hold itself in a fixed position. If you turn the knob, you are turning against the motor. This doesn't cause any direct damage, but if you do it enough it is likely to rapidly wear out the gears and wheels that are made out of plastic these days :^). The other disadvantage is that the printer's knowledge of the top of form is lost because it doesn't know how far you turned the knob. I think that the reason some printer manuals don't mention this is that the mechanism is made with enough strength to withstand, whereas other manufacturers have skimped in this area. Also some printers provide a way to turn the paper advance with the mechanism disengaged. -- John Dudeck "You want to read the code closely..." jdudeck@Polyslo.CalPoly.Edu -- C. Staley, in OS course, teaching ESL: 62013975 Tel: 805-545-9549 Tanenbaum's MINIX operating system.