Hi, Newbie questioning here.
I have an Epson SX535WD printer with an intermittent issue, but it's in otherwise excellent condition, and I'd like to try and sort it if it's possible (and cost-effective).
It prints absolutely perfectly most of the time. However, on say, about every fifth page, it sets its own "margins", and the text is cut neatly down the page (a pair of images are attached). These "margins" are perfectly straight from top to bottom of the page, never any variation halfway down. They can be at any position, justified left, right, or vaguely towards the middle. It does this when printing from multiple Win 11 computers and Android phones, so I'm guessing it's a printer, not driver fault.
I found an online program (I'm afraid I have forgotten which) that gave printer information and error codes, and the only error codes are: "Last printer fatal error code 1 0x0A CR LOAD POSITION" and suggests causes are: "excess load error. CR encoder failure. CR motor failure. Carriage overload. Tooth skip or improper tension of the timing belt. Cable or FFC disconnection".
I therefore read up on the internet for a while, and carefully 'dissected' the printer. The encoder strip looks perfect in every way and was clean. I have gently cleaned it using mild alcohol (microscope) cleaning wipes. Very little muck, put back in place. No improvement. Next, I used air duster spray to blow the encoder reader clean (it seems difficult to access directly, but I can if it's suggested) and checked and gently wiggled the small cable leading to it. No improvement. I then cleaned the print head itself (why not?), gently wiped and lightly regreased the rails with light lithium grease. Still the same random error.
Even when the printing is erroneous, the print head itself seems to travel smoothly over the entire page width; it travels and 'sounds' the same as a successfully printed page.
The fact that this is an intermittent error suggests there's some hope someone may know what the issue might be and may have a suggested fix. I'm quite happy disassembling it and poking around inside. I'd rather not spend much on replacement parts as I have a perfectly-working WF-4830 sitting beside it. I do have several spare cartridges for the 535 which, if I don't fix it, will have to be passed on.
If it is a major component such as a main board issue or an expensive component I shall probably pass the cartridges on and mourn its loss, but it has served me well, not been used that much, and deserves a good go at rescuing it.
Suggestions are more than welcome. Thank you in advance for any advice you may be able to give, and apologies for being verbose.
Ben
I have an Epson SX535WD printer with an intermittent issue, but it's in otherwise excellent condition, and I'd like to try and sort it if it's possible (and cost-effective).
It prints absolutely perfectly most of the time. However, on say, about every fifth page, it sets its own "margins", and the text is cut neatly down the page (a pair of images are attached). These "margins" are perfectly straight from top to bottom of the page, never any variation halfway down. They can be at any position, justified left, right, or vaguely towards the middle. It does this when printing from multiple Win 11 computers and Android phones, so I'm guessing it's a printer, not driver fault.
I found an online program (I'm afraid I have forgotten which) that gave printer information and error codes, and the only error codes are: "Last printer fatal error code 1 0x0A CR LOAD POSITION" and suggests causes are: "excess load error. CR encoder failure. CR motor failure. Carriage overload. Tooth skip or improper tension of the timing belt. Cable or FFC disconnection".
I therefore read up on the internet for a while, and carefully 'dissected' the printer. The encoder strip looks perfect in every way and was clean. I have gently cleaned it using mild alcohol (microscope) cleaning wipes. Very little muck, put back in place. No improvement. Next, I used air duster spray to blow the encoder reader clean (it seems difficult to access directly, but I can if it's suggested) and checked and gently wiggled the small cable leading to it. No improvement. I then cleaned the print head itself (why not?), gently wiped and lightly regreased the rails with light lithium grease. Still the same random error.
Even when the printing is erroneous, the print head itself seems to travel smoothly over the entire page width; it travels and 'sounds' the same as a successfully printed page.
The fact that this is an intermittent error suggests there's some hope someone may know what the issue might be and may have a suggested fix. I'm quite happy disassembling it and poking around inside. I'd rather not spend much on replacement parts as I have a perfectly-working WF-4830 sitting beside it. I do have several spare cartridges for the 535 which, if I don't fix it, will have to be passed on.
If it is a major component such as a main board issue or an expensive component I shall probably pass the cartridges on and mourn its loss, but it has served me well, not been used that much, and deserves a good go at rescuing it.
Suggestions are more than welcome. Thank you in advance for any advice you may be able to give, and apologies for being verbose.
Ben
