Printek FormsMaster 8003 Matrix Printer
Contents
1. PRINTEK FormsMaster 8000 Series High Performance Serial Matrix Printers Operator s Manual Printek Inc 1997 1517 Townline Road Benton Harbor MI 49022 616 925 3200 Part Number 4339 This equipment has been tested and found to comply with the limits for a Class A Digital Device pursuant to Part 15 of the FCC Rules These limits are designed to provide reasonable protection against harmful interference when the equipment is operated in a commercial environment This equipment generates uses and can radiate radio frequency energy and if not installed and used in accordance with the instruction manual may cause harmful interference in which case the user will be required to correct the interference at his own expense The user is cautioned that any changes or modifications not expressly approved by the party responsible for compliance could void the user s authority to operate the equipment This digital apparatus does not exceed the Class A limits for radio noise emissions as set out by the ICES 003 standard of the Canadian Department of Communications Cet appareil num rique n met pas de bruits radio lectroiques depassant les limites de Classe A prescrites dans la norme NMB 003 Edict e par le Ministre des Communications du Canada Acknowledgments IBM Proprinter and IPDS are registered trademarks of International Business Machines Co DEC is a registered trademark of Digital Equipment Corporati2. Even though the name will be right justified while being entered it will be automatically centered on the display when not in Setup Mode so there is no need to try to center it with spaces Tractor Path Tractor Path Front Possible Values Front Center Rear Center Rear Frnt Cntr Rear This item is only available in the FormsMaster 8003 and is used to set the tractor path to be used for the currently selected form Typically most forms are only loaded in one tractor path and the value will be set to Front Center or Rear However a form can also be set to use multiple paths This may be desirable when printing long print jobs where a paper out condition needs to be avoided This is often true if the job is to be run overnight or at a remote and perhaps unattended location When a form s tractor path is set to Center Rear or Frnt Cntr Rear the printer will automatically switch to the 43 PRINTER CONFIGURATION next path or paths and continue printing until all the specified paths are empty Automatic Cut Automatic Cut No Possible Values No Yes This item is only available when the optional FormsCutter is installed in the printer When set to Yes the printer will automatically cut each form at the perforation based upon the Form Length setting and eject the form into the paper basket that is installed with the FormsCutter Ifset to No the paper will exit through the lower continuous paper path into the basket on
3. item or menu since what you see is what you get when Setup Mode is exited Exiting Setup Two methods of exiting Setup are available If you wish to exit Setup and remain off line press the MENU button to display the following option lt No Exit Setup lt Yes Menus Pressing the button indicated for No will allow you to make additional menu choices Pressing the button indicated for Yes will display one of the following messages depending on whether or not changes were made reset the printer if changes were made and then leave the printer off line Exiting Menus Saving Changes Exiting Menus No Changes To exit Setup Mode and automatically go on line press ONLINE The display will now show one of the above messages if changes were made and automatically go on line 41 PRINTER CONFIGURATION FORMS MENU Most form printing applications use several different forms such as packing lists bills of lading invoices checks and green bar paper for reports Not all of these forms require the same printer settings for things such as font character size line spacing or form length The FormsMaster 8000 series printers store up to ten complete sets of form parameters including the name of the form These ten sets of parameters or forms are permanently stored in the printer s memory and are referred to as Form 0 through Form 9 These forms can be accessed from a single button on the printer s contro
4. select that form with the FORM SELECT button and then press the ALIGN PRINT button If the form selected is named Invoices the display would now show the following Aligning Print On INVOICES After a short time the display would change to show that you can now MOVE PRINT left or right Be sure to remember that you are moving where the print is placed on the page MOVE Left Right PRINT lt 0 00 gt The VALUE buttons will move the print left or right in 1 100 inch increments Note that the left and right arrows will change according to which way the print has been moved from the normal print position The maximum distance print may be moved is 9 99 inches in either direction To move the print vertically on the page press either of the ITEM buttons and the display will change to the following MOVE Down Up PRINT 0 00 The VALUE buttons will move the print down or up in 1 100 inch increments Note again that the arrow will change according to the direction 34 DAILY OPERATION the print is to be moved from the normal print position The maximum distance print may be moved is 9 99 inches in either direction Example In this example a number needs to be printed in a box on a preprinted form This form could be a packing list an invoice or a check The first time the page is printed the number misses the box as shown below ae In this case the print needs to be moved to the right and down To accompl
5. whenever a Line Feed LF Vertical Tab VT or Form Feed FF is received Automatic Line Feed Auto L Of Possible Values Off On This item enables or disables automatic Line Feeds LF when a Carriage Return CR is received Perform Host Form Feed at Top of Form Host FF at TOF No Possible Values No Yes This item selects whether Form Feeds FF will be performed when received from the host computer if the paper is already positioned at the top of form TOF Setting this item to No will help prevent blank pages Characters Characters Contro Possible Values Control Printable This item selects whether certain control character symbols will be printed or be treated as control characters The effect of this is dependent upon the emulation selected above Minimum Buffer Minimum Buffer No 56 PRINTER CONFIGURATION Possible Values No Yes This item selects whether the minimum I O buffer size should be used Setting this item to No will allow the printer to make maximum use of the TO buffer see Paper Out Fault on page 80 for more information on buffer size Setting this to Yes may decrease performance but is useful when using the printer with operating systems that try to keep track of which page is currently being printed by the printer Ethernet 10BaseT LAN Interface Items INTERFACE MENU LAN Emulation Emulation Epson Possible Values Epson Basic Bar Codes IBM Proprinter DEC LA120 TTY
6. Printek ANSI X3 64 This item selects the emulation to be used whenever the LAN port is active see Automatic Port Switching earlier in this section The emulation should be set to match the type of printer your software supports Automatic Carriage Return Auto CR On 57 PRINTER CONFIGURATION Possible Values Off On This item enables or disables automatic Carriage Returns CR whenever a Line Feed LF Vertical Tab VT or Form Feed FF is received Automatic Line Feed Auto L Of Possible Values Off On This item enables or disables automatic Line Feeds LF when a Carriage Return CR is received Perform Host Form Feed at Top of Form Host FF at TOF No Possible Values No Yes This item selects whether Form Feeds FF will be performed when received from the host computer if the paper is already positioned at the top of form TOF Setting this item to No will help prevent blank pages Characters Characters Contro Possible Values Control Printable This item selects whether certain control character symbols will be printed or be treated as control characters The effect of this is dependent upon the emulation selected above Minimum Buffer Minimum Buffer No 58 PRINTER CONFIGURATION Possible Values No Yes This item selects whether the minimum I O buffer size should be used Setting this item to No will allow the printer to make maximum use of the TO buffer see Paper Out Fault
7. Tractors Tilted Forward for Access to Center Tractors Loading the Rear Tractors 9 Tilt the center tractors forward by pulling the green lever on the center tractor assembly forward 10 Repeat steps 4 through 6 above Selecting Which Form to Print 11 Close the paper door 12 Press the FORM SELECT button until the desired form is displayed and then press the LOAD button The printer will now move the selected form into position for printing 13 Place the printer on line by pressing the ONLINE button 16 GETTING STARTED PRINTER SELF TEST The printer performs many self diagnostics each time power is turned on If you wish to perform an actual printing test use the following steps 1 Make sure the printer is powered on with ribbon and paper loaded 2 Take the printer off line the ONLINE indicator will be flashing red Press the SETUP MENU button four times to display TEST MENU on the front panel W D Press either of the ITEM buttons until Test Mode is displayed on the top line 5 Press either of the VALUE buttons until Barber Pole is displayed on the bottom line Press the ONLINE button a1 aD The printer will now exit Setup and begin printing a rotating character pattern To stop or restart printing the test pattern press the ONLINE button 8 To take the printer out of the test mode stop the test by pressing the ONLINE button 9 Press the SETUP MENU button four times to display TEST MEN
8. and the FormsMaster 8003 differ only in the number of tractor paths available one path or three Options available for both models include Coaxial and Twinaxial Interface Coaxial IPDS Interface Twinaxial IPDS Interface Ethernet 10BaseT Interface Imager Bar Code Coprocessor ImagerPlus Bar Code Coprocessor Print Stand required for reduced sound levels Internal FormsCutter Setup Module Manual Contents o Getting Started provides instructions for installation setting up the computer interface installing the ribbon cartridge loading paper and performing a printer self test e Daily Operation provides more detailed descriptions of the features that are used most frequently These include the every day buttons and indicators on the control panel selecting or loading new forms ejecting forms changing the ribbon cartridge aligning INTRODUCTION print with preprinted forms and causes for common error conditions e Printer Configuration provides detailed information on how to use Setup to permanently store parameters for each of the ten forms parameters for the standard and optional interfaces and parameters for other options e Specifying Forms provides tips for form construction and layout e Maintenance and Troubleshooting lists more serious error messages than discussed in the Daily Operation section preventive maintenance and how to obtain service e Advanced Setup Features provides information on how
9. and then print following forms too far down the page if the program sending the data does not require the margin Bottom Margin Bottom Margin 0 Lines Possible Values 0 226 Lines This item sets the bottom margin in lines Setting a bottom margin will reduce the size of the printable area of the page by the number of lines set When the bottom margin is reached the remainder of the page will be skipped and printing will resume at the beginning of the next page or top margin if one is set Adding a bottom margin may cause some data to be printed on the wrong page if the program sending the data does not require the margin 45 PRINTER CONFIGURATION Characters Per Inch Characters Inc 10 Possible Values 10 12 13 3 15 16 74 17 14 20 This item sets the default character pitch in Characters Per Inch CPI Note that OCR A and OCR B characters are only valid at 10 CPI will always print at 10 CPI regardless of this setting Left Margin Left Margi Column 0 Possible Values Column 0 268 This item sets the left margin in columns characters relative to the left edge of the paper The column width is based upon the current character pitch CPI The left margin must be less than the right margin The left margin may be used to cause printing to begin farther to the right ona form In many cases using ALIGN PRINT may be preferable to using a left margin see Aligning Print on page 34 Right Margin Right Margin
10. automatically switch control of the printer from one hardware interface port to another Note that since any one of these ports can become active at any time items which pertain to each port need to be set up as described in the following sections Ports that will not be used not installed or not connected to a computer do not need to be set up When the first data are received at any port after turning on power to the printer that port becomes the active port While one of the ports is active each of the other ports will accept only a limited number of characters before reflecting a busy condition to the computer attached to those ports To change which port is active the printer s buffer must be empty for at least 15 seconds and data must be received from a different port Therefore if data are never received from more than one port that port is always the active port When which port is active changes the printer will automatically perform a Carriage Return CR and reselect the emulation that was in effect for that port The printer will also perform a Form Feed FF if not already at the top of form Entering the Interface Menu To Enter the Interface Menu enter Setup and press the MENU button until INTERFACE MENU is displayed on the top line as shown below INTERFACE MENU Serial The SUBMENU options for the INTERFACE MENU always include the Serial and Parallel ports The other ports mentioned earlier will on
11. has completed and the form is not positioned as shown above take the printer off line by pressing the ONLINE button indicator will change from green to flashing red 2 Press the FORM FEED button This will automatically position the form at the tear bar and you may tear off the form as described below Tearing off a Form 30 DAILY OPERATION 1 Make sure the printer is off line indicator flashes red when off line by pressing the ONLINE button if necessary This will prevent the printer from pulling the paper down to start printing the next job while you are tearing off this one 2 Pull the paper toward the front of the printer and toward one side of the printer as shown Tearing off a form 3 Place the printer back on line with the ONLINE button indicator changes to green The form will automatically be pulled down into position for printing the next time the printer receives data to be printed 31 DAILY OPERATION INSTALLING A NEW RIBBON CARTRIDGE Removing the Old Ribbon Cartridge 1 Open the ribbon lid on top of the printer and position the print head for ribbon loading by lifting the ribbon loading handle as indicated in the following picture Opening the Ribbon Loading Handle 32 DAILY OPERATION 2 Grasp the left end of the ribbon cartridge and lift it up and toward the rear of the printer as shown below Removing the Old Ribbon Cartridge 3 Lift the right end of the ribbon and remove the
12. is not used on a daily basis For more information see the chapter on Printer Configuration DAILY OPERATION SELECTING AND LOADING FORMS Note A form is not considered loaded by merely placing the form in the tractors To prevent printing on the wrong form the printer must be made aware of what form s are currently loaded When a new form is placed in the tractors the form must be loaded using the control panel as described in the next section Loading a Different Form in the Tractors Selecting a Form Already Loaded in the Tractors To select a form that is already loaded in the tractors take the printer off line and press the FORM SELECT button until that form is displayed a form that is not considered to be loaded will flash lt Not Loaded gt on the bottom line of the display The form selection will be displayed as FORM 0 through FORM 9 or as the actual name of the form if that has been set up To position the form for printing you may press the FORM FEED button which will position the form or you may press the ONLINE button which will both position the form and place the printer on line Loading a New or Different Form In the Tractors This section describes how to load a form in the tractors This involves physically placing the paper or form in the tractor mechanism and then informing the printer that the new form is present Select the Form to be Loaded 1 Take the printer off line by p
13. on page 80 for more information on buffer size Setting this to Yes may decrease performance but is useful when using the printer with operating systems that try to keep track of which page is currently being printed by the printer Coax Twinax Interface Items When Configured for Coax Operation INTERFACE MENU Coax When the optional Coax Twinax Interface is installed the printer will automatically determine which of these two interfaces are being used by sensing which adapter cable is attached to the printer at power on If the Coax adapter is attached the following Setup items will be displayed If you are using the printer in a Twinax Configuration refer to the next section of this chapter Printer Emulation PrinterEmulation 3287 Possible Values 3287 3262 This item selects the IBM printer model to be emulated Maximum Print Position Max Print Pos 13 Possible Values 132 None PRINTER CONFIGURATION This item selects whether the maximum print position is column 132 or if no maximum position is enforced Maximum Print Line Max Print Line 66 Possible Values 66 None This item selects whether the maximum print line is line 66 or if no maximum position is enforced Form Feed After Local Copy FF on Local Copy Enable Possible Values Enable Disable This item selects whether a form feed will automatically be performed after a local copy operation Form Feed Validity LU 3 FF Valid LU 3 Anywhere P
14. online offline status and buffer full condition see Busy Polarity above XON XOFF Handshaking XON XOFF Off Possible Values Off On Enables or disables the transmission of the XON and XOFF characters from the printer to the host to control data flow to the printer XOFF will be sent whenever the printer goes offline or the serial buffer is full XON will be sent when is again ready to receive characters ETX ACK Handshaking ETX ACK Of 54 PRINTER CONFIGURATION Possible Values Off On Enables or disables the ACK response to receipt of the ETX character This handshake method is useful for conditions where there are long transmission line delays such as telephone lines which may be routed through satellites An ACK character will be returned to the host computer after an ETX character is received and processed ETX characters used for handshaking cannot be part of an escape sequence Parallel Interface Items INTERFACE MENU Parallel Emulation Emulation Epson Possible Values Epson IBM Proprinter DEC LA120 TTY Printek ANSI X3 64 This item selects the emulation to be used whenever the parallel port is active see Automatic Port Switching earlier in this section The emulation should be set to match the type of printer your software supports Automatic Carriage Return Auto CR On 55 PRINTER CONFIGURATION Possible Values Off On This item enables or disables automatic Carriage Returns CR
15. open Close the door and press ONLINE again 37 DAILY OPERATION Change Ribbon This message is periodically displayed when a ribbon has reached the end of its useful life and indicates that a new Printek ribbon should be installed This error is merely a reminder to change the ribbon and does not force the printer off line Other Errors If other errors occur it is possible that they may not be resolved without the aid of a factory trained service technician Please refer to the Maintenance and Troubleshooting section on page 87 38 Printer Configuration INTRODUCTION TO SETUP The FormsMaster 8000 series printers feature simple easy to use menus for setting the various operating parameters for the printer The parameters available in these menus usually only need to be set one time either when the printer is first installed or perhaps when a new form is to be used These values are stored in nonvolatile memory which means that they will remain set even if the printer is turned off Following this introduction are complete detailed descriptions of each menu item Setup Buttons For your convenience the SETUP button and the other buttons used while in the Setup mode are labeled in yellow on the control panel Once in Setup these buttons are the MENU SUBMENU ITEM and VALUE buttons The ONLINE indicator will flash yellow whenever the printer is in the Setup mode as a reminder to use the yellow labels The buttons use
16. the print stand To manually cut a form or report at the end of the current page the user can take the printer offline and press the UNLOAD button See the FormsMaster 8000 Series FormsCutter Manual for additional information Cut Adjustment Cut Adjustment 0 Possible Values Auto 0 2951 0 0 2951 Auto This item may be used to adjust the position of the cut relative to the top of form for improved cut accuracy This item is only available when the optional FormsCutter is installed Refer to the FormsCutter manual for more information Lines Per Inch Lines Inch 6 Possible Values 6 8 This item sets the line pitch to 6 or 8 Lines Per Inch LPI 44 PRINTER CONFIGURATION Form Length Form Lengt 66 Lines Possible Values 1 66 227 Lines This item sets the form length in lines at the current line pitch LPI For example for an eleven inch form enter 66 if you are using six lines per inch or 88 if you are using eight lines per inch Top Margin Top Margin 0 Lines Possible Values 0 226 Lines This item sets the top margin in lines Setting a top margin will reduce the size of the printable area of the page by the number of lines set Printing will not be allowed above the top margin Note In most cases changing where printing begins on a form should be accomplished with ALIGN PRINT rather than with a top margin Adding a top margin may cause some programs to print the first form correctly
17. to set menu security e Using Remote Setup describes how to set up default parameters from a host computer e Using the Setup Module describes how the optional Setup Module can be used to copy Setup parameters from one printer to another e Printer Reset Conditions describes the state of the printer after power up or reset e Control Code and Escape Sequence Summaries lists the commands supported for each printer emulation e ASCII Character Tables show the characters for each character set e Specifications lists the operating ranges and ratings of the printer e Glossary of Terms provides definitions for terms used in this manual Getting Started This chapter will use the fewest possible steps to get the first time user up and running quickly You will be guided through the following steps Finding a suitable location and installing the printer Setting up a host interface if necessary Installing the ribbon cartridge Loading paper Performing a printer self test INSTALLATION Before installation a suitable site must be chosen Suitable sites include offices computer rooms and most factory environments The Printek FormsMaster printers have been designed to be rugged heavy duty printers As such they will handle most harsh environments but should not be placed in direct sunlight or in areas that will exceed the rated temperature humidity or power requirements For details refer to Specifications on pag
18. AN interface may be installed is also indicated Serial WO K Kui pa lt lt Optional i o Interface Connectors on Rear of Printer INTERFACE SET UP Depending upon which interface is being used to connect the printer to the host computer some set up may or may not be required Regardless of which interface is used the FormsMaster 8000 will automatically detect which port is receiving data and make that port active This is true of the standard parallel or serial ports and any optional interface that may be installed For more information see Automatic Port Switching on page 49 GETTING STARTED The factory default settings for each interface should work well for most installations However the following paragraphs provide some basic information about each interface and also refer to the page number in the Configuration chapter where all the details for each interface are described If you need to make changes to the default settings please refer to Introduction to Setup on page 39 for instructions on how to access the printer s Setup menus Once you are comfortable that the interface settings match those required by your computer proceed to the next section Installing the Ribbon Cartridge on page 8 RS 232C Serial Interface This interface uses a 25 pin D connector as described below The default settings are 9600 baud 8 data bits 1 stop bit and no parity with hardware handshake on pin 11 Th
19. Column 272 Possible Values Column 4 272 This item sets the right margin in columns characters relative to the left edge of the paper A value of 272 is large enough to insure that characters can be printed to the right end of the paper regardless of character pitch CPI The right margin must be greater than the left margin Text characters that would have printed to the right of the margin will be wrapped around and printed at the beginning of the next line Graphic data that would have printed to the right of the margin will be truncated not wrapped around However any data which would print before the right margin but beyond the edge of the paper either in the sprocket holes or on the platen will be truncated 46 PRINTER CONFIGURATION Font Font Epson FX FD Possible Values Epson FX FD DF LQ PC English FD DF LQ PC Latin 2 FD DF LQ DEC LA120 FD DF LQ EBCDIC FD DF LQ OCR A OQ OCR B OQ This item selects the default font to be used Draft Speed Draft Speed Normal Possible Values Normal Fast This item selects whether the Draft Font DF or the Fast Draft FD font will be selected when the printer receives a select draft font command from the host computer This will allow the Fast Draft font to be used with programs which would not be able to otherwise Impact Force Impact Force Normal Possible Values Normal High This item may be used to select High Impact for improved p
20. Much Paper to Unload This error occurs when the UNLOAD button has been pressed and there is paper present too far beyond the tear bar This error serves as a warning that you may be putting forms that have already been printed on back into the printer Tear off any printed forms past the tear bar and press UNLOAD again This error also occurs if the LOAD button has been pressed and the current form cannot be unloaded Selected Form is not Loaded This error occurs when ONLINE has been pressed and the currently selected form is displaying lt Not Loaded gt Either press LOAD to load the selected form or select a different form and then press ONLINE No Ribbon or Wrong Ribbon This error occurs when the printer is attempting to go on line and cannot detect the presence of a ribbon cartridge This may be due to the ribbon not actually being present in the printer or the ribbon may not be installed properly This error may also occur when attempting to use a non Printek brand ribbon Before attempting to use a ribbon brand other than Printek please read Why Use Only Printek Brand Ribbons on page 8 Then if you do decide to use non Printek brand ribbons refer to Ribbon Checking on page 81 Ribbon Lid Open This error occurs when ONLINE has been pressed and the ribbon lid has been left open Close the lid and press ONLINE again Paper Door Open This error occurs when ONLINE has been pressed and the paper door has been left
21. Setup mode and saving Setup values or the printer is currently busy performing an operation with the optional Setup Module The user has pressed the SETUP button and entered the Setup mode may be exited by pressing the ONLINE button after the desired changes have been made For more information see the chapter on Printer Configuration This device produces various tones to alert the operator when different error conditions occur It may also be used to produce a tone when a bell character ASCII BEL is received from a host computer This button toggles the printer between the on line and off line state When the printer is on line it may be printing or may begin printing at any time To stop the printing or prevent printing from starting use this button to take the printer off line see ONLINE Status Indicator above The printer must be off line 21 DAILY OPERATION FORM FEED LOAD 22 in order to use the other control panel buttons This button is also used to place the printer back on line following any error condition ONLINE indicator is flashing Red such as paper out When pressed to go on line the printer will first attempt to clear any errors For example if there is a paper out condition the printer will attempt to load the form in the currently selected tractors and if successful go on line This button performs a number of different form feeding functions The printer will automaticall
22. This interface uses a standard RJ 45 connector and the default printer emulation is Epson For a complete description of all the default settings for this interface refer to page 57 For additional software installation and operational information please refer to the Axis manuals shipped with the unit disregard the Axis physical installation information Coax Twinax Interface This interface automatically sets itself for either Coax Mode or Twinax Mode depending upon which adapter cable coax BNC or twinax smart T is attached to the 15 pin D connector when the printer is powered on Only the choices for the detected mode are available in the Setup menus For Coax Mode the default emulation is for a 3287 printer For a complete description of all the default settings for the Coax interface refer to page 59 For Twinax Mode the default emulation is for a 4214 printer For a complete description of all the default settings for the Twinax interface refer to page 63 IPDS Coax Interface This interface uses a coax BNC adapter connected to the 15 pin D connector on the rear of the printer The default values should work in most cases For a complete description of all the default settings for this interface refer to page 67 IPDS Twinax Interface This interface uses a twinax smart T adapter connected to the 15 pin D connector on the rear of the printer The default values should work in most cases For a
23. U 10 Press either of the ITEM buttons until Test Mode is displayed on the top line 11 Press either of the VALUE buttons until Offis displayed on the bottom line 12 Press the ONLINE button 17 Daily Operation INTRODUCTION This chapter describes how to use the everyday features of the FormsMaster 8000 The items covered are Control Panel Features describes the most commonly used features of the printer s control panel Selecting and Loading Forms describes how to insert paper or forms into the tractors and how to inform the printer of which forms are loaded Ejecting and Tearing Off a Form describes how to remove printed documents from the printer Installing a New Ribbon Cartridge describes first time installation of the ribbon cartridge Aligning Print describes how to precisely align where data is printed on a form Common Error Conditions describes errors that may occur during normal printing operations 19 DAILY OPERATION CONTROL PANEL FEATURES The following picture shows the printer s control panel The control panel consists of a two line LCD display an ONLINE status indicator nine push button switches or buttons and a speaker Each of these items is described below FORM FORM SETUP MENU LCD ITEM SELECT FEED ONLINE DISPLAY na PRINT MENU VALUE UNLOAD LOAD Control Panel LCD Display and Online Indicator LCD Display This two l
24. ading the Front Tractors 4 Open the doors on each tractor 5 Feed the paper up through the bottom of the printer and position the holes in the edge of the paper over the pins in the left tractor while making sure that the paper will not extend above the top of the tractors Then close the tractor door Note The left tractor position is not adjustable Ifit is necessary to adjust where printing begins refer to Aligning Print in the Daily Operation section of this manual 6 Now position the paper in the right tractor in the same fashion If necessary the position of the right tractor may be adjusted To do so move the lever on the side of the tractor down to unlock the tractor and slide the tractor sideways on the shafts If necessary the paper guides between the tractors may be slid in either direction to accommodate the form width Make sure that the guides are spaced evenly between the tractors After the paper is placed in the tractor and the tractor door is closed position the tractor far enough to the right so that there is no buckle in the paper between the tractors but not so tight that the holes in the paper are distorted Lock the tractor in place by returning the lever to the up position 15 GETTING STARTED Loading the Center Tractors 7 Tilt the front tractors forward by pulling the green lever on the right hand side of the front tractor assembly forward 8 Repeat steps 4 through 6 above Front
25. amage the print head Also damage to other printer components which is caused by the use of non Printek ribbons will not be covered by the printer s warranty Using inferior ribbons would be like using poor quality fuel in your automobile Premature engine failure and poor performance leading up to the failure would be the best you could expect GETTING STARTED Other useful features available only with the use of Printek brand ribbons are that the printer will not allow printing ifa ribbon is not installed and the printer will alert the operator when a ribbon needs to be changed GETTING STARTED Ribbon Installation 1 Open the ribbon lid on top of the printer and position the print head for ribbon loading by lifting the ribbon loading handle as indicated in the following picture Lift it Opari he vu X oat ts Opening the Ribbon Loading Handle 2 Remove the new ribbon from its plastic bag and make sure the ribbon fabric is taut by turning the knob on top of the nbbon cartridge in a counterclockwise direction as indicated by the arrow on the cartridge 10 GETTING STARTED 3 With the right hand end of the ribbon tilted down insert the tab on the end of the cartridge into the opening in the ribbon tray Installing the Ribbon Cartridge 4 Now lower the left end of the cartridge down while guiding the ribbon fabric between the nose of the print head and the ribbon guide pins Continue to lower the cartridge u
26. been loaded 12 If your printer is a FormsMaster 8003 you may repeat the above steps to load additional forms at this time 13 Close the paper door 14 Make sure the correct form to be positioned for printing is selected and press either the LOAD button or the ONLINE button The LOAD button will position the form for printing but will not place the printer on line The ONLINE button will both position the form and place the printer on line Note that the first time the printer is placed on line after a new form is loaded the form s currently known to be loaded by the printer will scroll across the display as the printer goes on line The operator should observe the forms displayed to confirm that the correct forms are recognized as loaded 29 DAILY OPERATION EJ ECTING AND TEARING OFF A FORM When most print jobs complete they will command the paper to be positioned at the top of the next form so that the printer is ready for the next job This is however dependent solely upon how the programmer chose to write your particular application software If your software does position the paper at the top of the next form the printer will automatically position the form at the tear bar as shown in the following picture Bottom of form at tear bar If your form is positioned as shown you may skip the next section on positioning and proceed with Tearing off a Form Positioning the Form for Tear Off 1 If your print job
27. ching 49 RS 232C Serial Interface Items 51 Parallel Interface Items 55 Ethernet 10BaseT LAN Interface Items 57 Coaxial Twinaxial Interface Items Coax Configuration59 Coaxial Twinaxial Interface Items Twinax Configuration 63 IPDS Coax Interface Items 67 IPDS Twinax Interface Items 72 Imager and ImagerPlus Interface Items 74 Options Menu 79 Test Menu 82 Form Construction and Layout Tips Form Construction 85 Form Layout Considerations 85 Maintenance and Troubleshooting Messages 87 Preventive Maintenance 88 Obtaining Service 88 Advanced Setup Features 89 Using Remote Setup 91 Using the Optional Setup Module 99 Printer Reset Conditions 105 Control Code and Escape Sequence Summaries ANSI X3 64 Emulation Epson FX Emulation IBM Proprinter Emulation LA 120 Emulation Simple TTY Emulation Printek Emulation ASCII Character Tables Specifications Glossary of Terms 107 109 111 113 115 116 117 121 127 Introduction Thank you for purchasing a Printek FormsMaster 8000 Series Printer This printer has been designed to provide years of service handling your most demanding printing requirements The FormsMaster 8000 Series printers offer higher throughput than all other printers in its class In addition an easy to use front panel combined with the ability to store ten different form configurations makes handling multiple forms as simple as a button press for the operator Models and Options The FormsMaster 8000
28. complete description of all the default settings for this interface refer to page 72 GETTING STARTED INSTALLING THE RIBBON CARTRIDGE The Printek FormsMaster printer has been designed to make installing Printek brand ribbons a simple clean process Unlike other printers there is no need to touch the ribbon fabric or deal with difficult to position ribbon guides The following sections explain why the use of Printek brand ribbons should be important to you and will guide you through installing the ribbon cartridge Why Use Only Print Brand Ribbons REORDER NUMBER 90729 FOR NEAREST DISTRIBUTOR CALL 1 800 368 4636 Printek Brand Ribbon Label Printek brand ribbons can be identified by the above label on each ribbon There are many reasons to use only Printek brand ribbons in your FormsMaster 8000 series printer First of all using only Printek brand ribbons will automatically extend the print head warranty to two years instead of one year The reason this is possible is that Printek brand ribbons are manufactured to much higher quality standards than those offered by other manufacturers This provides not only longer print head life but also longer ribbon life 23 million characters as compared to only 15 million characters from some generic ribbons Remember that using only Printek brand ribbons is important because the wear that is started and the contamination that remains from even one inferior ribbon will continue to d
29. d for Setup are shown below FORM FORM SETUP MENU LCD ITEM SELECT FEED ON LINE ALIGN om sue DISPLAY PRINT MENU VALUE UNLOAD LOAD Control Panel Setup Buttons While in Setup the placement of the text on the LCD display indicates which button or buttons to use to change what is displayed In nearly all cases you should use the button or buttons closest to the item you wish to change To change what is on the top line use the top buttons To change what is on the bottom line use the bottom buttons To change what is on the left end of the line use the left button To use what is on the right end of the line use the right buttons Note also that the menu system works on 39 PRINTER CONFIGURATION a what you see is what you get basis This means that whatever value is last displayed for an item is the value that will be saved when Setup mode is exited Entering Setup To enter Setup simply take the printer off line and press the SETUP button The ONLINE indicator will begin to flash yellow and the display will temporarily show the following Entering Setup Menus After the above message has been shown the display will change to the first menu available which is the FORMS MENU as shown below In this case the display will also show the first submenu which will be the form that was selected when Setup was pressed FORMS MENU Form 0 Using the MENU Button At this time you may select a di
30. e 121 Once a site has been selected the printer should be placed on a Printek Print Stand The Printek print stand is especially recommended for the FormsMaster 8003 and is required to meet the low noise rating of the printer Of course another sturdy print stand or table with a slotted top for feeding paper into the bottom of printer may be used The print stand should be located in an area large enough to provide easy access to both the front of the printer and the rear for accessing printed output Unpack the printer as described in the FormsMaster 8000 Unpacking Instructions and place the printer on the print stand Note Placing the printer on the print stand is best accomplished with two people Proper lifting technique should be observed Caution Before connecting or turning on power make sure that all shipping materials have been removed These materials include GETTING STARTED a cable tie that secures the print head carriage open ribbon lid to access and two cardboard tubes placed over the tractor shuttle shafts in the FormsMaster 8003 open paper door on front of unit to access Next connect the power cord supplied with the printer to the printer and an appropriate power outlet Now connect the computer cable s to the appropriate interface The picture below shows the location of the standard Parallel and RS 232C interface connectors on the rear panel of the printer The area where an optional CX TX ICX ITX or L
31. e default printer emulation is Epson For a complete description of all the default settings for this interface refer to page 51 13 aS oo0oo0oo0o0o0o0000000 o0o00000000000 235 n 7 5 Signal S Chassis ground Transmit data Printer output Receive data Printer input Request to send set Printer output Clear to send ignored Printer input Data set ready ignored Printer input Signal ground Carrier detect ignored Printer input Printer busy Printer output Data terminal ready Printer output RS 232C Serial Interface Connector CSCrPOINDWNHRWNE Nore GETTING STARTED Parallel Interface This interface uses the standard 36 pin parallel connector as shown below The default printer emulation is Epson For a complete description of all the default settings for this interface refer to page 55 1 18 apoapnonenoacannoal 19 36 Pin Signal Pin Signal 1 DATA STROBE 10 ACKNOWLEDGE 19 DATA STROBE RTN 28 ACKNLG RETURN 2 DATA 1 11 BUSY 20 DATA 1 RETURN 29 BUSY RETURN 3 DATA 2 12 PAPER ERROR 21 DATA 2 RETURN ig SPERO 4 DATA 3 ae 22 DATA 3 RETURN 14 AUTO FEED 5 DATA 4 16 0V 23 DATA 4 RETURN 17 CHASSIS GROUND 6 DATA 5 18 5V at 200mA Max 24 DATA 5 RETURN 31 INIT 7 DATA 6 30 INIT RTN 25 DATA 6 RETURN 32 FAULT 8 DATA 7 26 DATA 7 RETURN 35 5V LOGIC HIGH 9 DATA 8 36 SELECT IN 27 DATA 8 RETURN Parallel Interface Connector GETTING STARTED Ethernet 10BaseT
32. es automatic Line Feeds LF when a Carriage Return CR is received Perform Host Form Feed at Top of Form Host FF at TOF No Possible Values No Yes This item selects whether Form Feeds FF will be performed when received from the host computer if the paper is already positioned at the top of form TOF Setting this item to No will help prevent blank pages Characters Characters Contro Possible Values Control Printable This item selects whether certain control character symbols will be printed or be treated as control characters The effect of this is dependent upon the Emulation selected Minimum Buffer Minimum Buffer No Possible Values No Yes This item selects whether the smallest possible I O buffer should be used Setting this item to No will allow the printer to make maximum use of the TO buffer see Paper Out Fault on page 80 for more information on buffer size Setting this to Yes may decrease performance but is useful when using the printer with operating systems that try to keep track of which page is currently being printed by the printer This may also be useful when using serial I O with systems that do not respond quickly enough to handshake signals 52 PRINTER CONFIGURATION Baud Rate Baud Rate Nn Possible Values 110 150 300 600 1200 2400 4800 9600 19200 This item selects the baud rate for the serial interface This must be set to match the baud rate setting on
33. fferent menu by pressing the MENU button closest to where FORMS MENU is displayed Other menus available are the INTERFACE MENU the OPTIONS MENU and the TEST MENU This button will also display an option for exiting Setup If you do not wish to exit Setup at this time press the button indicated for No and continue to press the MENU button to select the desired menu The MENU button may be pressed at any time to select a different menu Using the SUBMENU Button The SUBMENU button selects additional menus that are related to the selected menu For instance if the FORMS MENU has been selected the SUBMENU button closest to where the form number is displayed will select which form Form 0 through Form 9 is to be set up Note that not all 40 PRINTER CONFIGURATION menus have submenus If no submenu is available the bottom line will be blank and the SUBMENU button will not be used Using the ITEM and VALUE Buttons Once the correct menu and submenu if available is selected pressing either of the ITEM buttons will cause the various items and their current values to be displayed Note that the items and their values are right justified and are thus controlled by the buttons to the right of the display To scroll through the items available use the ITEM buttons To change the value of the displayed item use the VALUE buttons to step through the possible choices Remember to leave the correct value displayed before selecting a different
34. his manual Check Paper This error is caused either by running out of paper or by a paper jam The printer will attempt to determine the cause of a paper problem and accompany the Check Paper message with Paper Out Paper Jam or Paper Out Jam It is not necessary to press the UNLOAD button If your printer is a FormsMaster 8003 you may access the tractor path with the error by simply tilting any tractors in front of that path forward see Loading the Center Tractors on page 16 If the error is caused by a paper jam remove the jammed form If the form remaining in the tractors has tears along the top edge remove it from the tractors tear it off and place the next form in the tractors If the error is caused by running out of paper simply place a new box in the print stand and place the first form in the tractors Finally place the printer back on line by pressing the ONLINE button This will automatically load the new form and begin printing Depending upon how the printer has been set up the printer may start printing where it left off or it may start at the beginning of the page where the error occurred and reprint the entire page See Paper Out Fault Action on page 80 for more information No Paper to Load This error occurs when the LOAD button has been pressed and there is no paper or form in the tractors Place paper in the tractors and press LOAD again 36 DAILY OPERATION Too
35. ine by sixteen character display is used to convey several types of information When the printer is on line and printing or ready to print the display will show the currently selected tractor path and the form currently loaded in that path When the printer is off line the display will continue to show this information additional information based upon other buttons being pressed by the operator or error conditions such as Check Paper ONLINE Status This is a multicolored LED which is used to Indicator display the following information Green The printer is on line and ready to print Flashing Green The printer is in the process of going back on line Typically occurs after a new form has been loaded while the printer is confirming which forms are loaded in the tractors 20 Flashing Red Yellow Flashing Yellow Speaker Push Buttons ONLINE DAILY OPERATION The printer is currently off line and cannot print This may be due to the operator taking the printer off line or the printer may have detected an error condition such as running out of paper which requires operator intervention If due to an error condition the cause of the error will periodically be shown on the LCD display After the cause of an error condition has been resolved press the ONLINE button to clear the error This will also place the printer back on line and allow printing to resume The printer is in the process of exiting the
36. ish this press ALIGN PRINT and access the Left Right option First move the print to the right using the VALUE buttons It appears that the text needs to move about three characters If the text is being printed at 10 cpi characters per inch this would be 0 30 inches After making this adjustment the display would look as follows MOVE Left Right PRINT 0 30 gt If you were to print this form now it would appear as follows showing that the print still needs to be moved down I To move the print down access the Down Up option by pressing either of the ITEM buttons It appears that the print needs to be moved down nearly the height of the characters These characters are approximately 0 10 inches tall so move the print down about 0 08 inches The display should look as follows MOVE Down Up PRINT 0 08 Now when the form is printed again the text will be printed in the box as shown here 35 DAILY OPERATION COMMON ERROR CONDITIONS Whenever the printer detects an error condition it will automatically go off line User correctable errors are flashed on the display These errors can typically be recovered from without loss of data and are listed in this section of the manual Other errors which typically result in loss of data are considered fatal errors These errors display the word ERROR on the top line of the display and do not flash These errors are listed in the Troubleshooting section of t
37. l panel or by a command sent from the host computer To access the FORMS MENU enter Setup by pressing the SETUP button After the Entering Setup Menus message has been displayed the following will appear FORMS MENU Form 0 Note that the actual form number will be for the form that was active prior to entering Setup To select a different form press the SUBMENU button until the desired form is displayed Next press either of the ITEM buttons to begin displaying the various items for that form The items available for each form are described on the following pages The factory default values are indicated with an asterisk in this manual the asterisk does not appear on the printer s display 42 PRINTER CONFIGURATION Forms Menu Items Form Name Form Name FORM 0 Possible Values Up to 16 characters of A through Z Space 0 through 9 When shipped from the factory the Form Names will be set to FORM 0 through FORM 9 This name may be changed to any combination of capital letters A 2 numerals 0 9 or spaces The name may be up to 16 characters in length Entering a name uses the SUBMENU and VALUE buttons The SUBMENU button will advance the cursor a flashing block which is used to indicate the character that is to be changed The VALUE buttons will change the character where the cursor is currently flashing The order of characters that may be selected is ABCDEFGHJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ Space 0123456789
38. l tractors FORM SELECT e Ifthe form has already been pulled down to the tractors as described above this button will cycle through all the available form choices Forms which are not considered to be loaded in the tractors will flash lt not loaded gt on the bottom line of the display In the FormsMaster 8003 the not loaded message will alternate with the tractor path assigned to that form For more information see the following section on Selecting and Loading Forms This button will access the horizontal and vertical print adjustment settings for the currently selected form When ALIGN PRINT is pressed the horizontal adjustment is shown first Pressing the VALUE buttons will move the print position on the line left or right by 0 01 inches for each press 23 DAILY OPERATION SETUP 24 of a button as indicated on the display The arrows to the side of the number will indicate the direction the print will be moved To access the vertical adjustment press either ITEM button Pressing the VALUE buttons will now move the print up or down on the page by 0 01 inches for each press of a button as indicated on the display The arrow to the right of the number will indicate the direction the print will be moved For a more detailed description see Aligning Print later in this chapter This button is used to set up the various operating parameters of the printer for forms interfaces etc This button
39. ly be displayed if they are installed in the printer This is also true of the Imager or ImagerPlus graphics options To select the desired interface press the SUBMENU button until that interface is displayed on the bottom line Next press either of the ITEM buttons to begin displaying the items associated with that interface Each interface and the items which pertain to that interface are listed on the following pages Note that many items are the 50 PRINTER CONFIGURATION same for more than one interface since the computer attached to that interface may have different requirements for each of those items The factory default values are indicated with an asterisk in this manual the asterisk does not appear on the printer s display RS 232C Serial Interface Items INTERFACE MENU Serial Emulation Emulation Epson Possible Values Epson IBM Proprinter DEC LA120 TTY Printek ANSI X3 64 This item selects the emulation to be used whenever the serial port is active see Automatic Port Switching earlier in this section Emulation should be set to match the type of printer your software supports Automatic Carriage Return Auto CR On Possible Values Off On This item enables or disables automatic Carriage Returns CR whenever a Line Feed LF Vertical Tab VT or Form Feed FF is received Automatic Line Feed 51 PRINTER CONFIGURATION Possible Values Off On This item enables or disabl
40. m FormsMaster 8003 with rear path empty 27 DA ILY OPERATION 7 If the new form is a different width than the previous form unlock the right tractor and move it to approximately the new position Note that the left tractor position is fixed and may not be moved 8 Place the left edge of the new form in the left tractor with the holes aligned with tractor pins Make sure that the top edge of the form does not extend above the top of the tractors Paper positioned in left tractor 9 Close the left tractor door 10 Now position the paper in the right tractor in the same fashion If 28 necessary the position of the right tractor may be adjusted To do so move the lever on the side of the tractor down to unlock the tractor and slide the tractor sideways on the shafts If necessary the paper guides between the tractors may be slid in either direction to accommodate the form width Make sure that the guides are spaced evenly between the tractors After the paper is placed in the tractor and the door is closed position the tractor far enough to the right so that there is no buckle in the paper between the tractors but not so tight that the holes in the paper are distorted Lock the tractor in place by returning the lever to the up position DAILY OPERATION New form loaded in tractors Informing the Printer That the New Form is Loaded 11 Press the LOAD button The display will now show that the new form has
41. ndard parallel interface and the RS 232C serial interface which are furnished with the printer one more hardware interface such as Coax Twinax IPDS Coax IPDS Twinax or 10BaseT LAN may also be installed as well as an Imager or ImagerPlus graphic option The Setup items for each interface are described in one of the following sections The printer will automatically receive data from any of the hardware interfaces or ports as described below in Automatic Port Switching RS 232C Serial Interface on page 51 Parallel Interface on page 55 Etherlink 10BaseT Interface on page 57 Coax Interface on page 59 Twinax Interface on page 63 IPDS Coax Interface on page 67 IPDS Twinax Interface on page 72 Imager and ImagerPlus Interface on page 74 Automatic Port Switching The FormsMaster 8000 series printers will automatically accept data from the Parallel Interface the RS 232 Serial Interface and any optionally installed hardware interface This feature is always active and does not require user intervention to change ports In most installations the printer is only connected to one computer and this feature may be ignored If this is true of your installation you may skip this section and proceed with one of the following sections which applies to the interface port you will be using 49 PRINTER CONFIGURATION In other installations the printer may be attached to two or three computers This section describes how the printer will
42. ntil the tab on the left end of the cartridge snaps into place Ribbon Guided Between the Print Head and Guide Pins 11 GETTING STARTED 5 Finally lower the ribbon loading handle to its original position Closing the Ribbon Load Handle 6 Close the ribbon lid on top of the printer 12 GETTING STARTED LOADING PAPER When shipped from the factory the basic configuration for all ten forms is an eleven inch form six lines per inch and ten characters per inch If the forms you are loading do not match these requirements please refer to the Printer Configuration chapter on page 39 and review the Using Setup and Forms Menu sections Please refer to the appropriate section below for loading paper in the FormsMaster 8000 or FormsMaster 8003 FormsMaster 8000 Single Tractor Model 1 Make sure the printer is powered on and that the printer is off line ONLINE indicator flashing red 2 Lift open the paper door on the front of the printer to expose the paper feed tractors as shown below FormsMaster 8000 Tractors 3 Open the doors on each tractor 4 Feed the paper up through the bottom of the printer and position the holes in the edge of the paper over the pins in the left tractor while making sure that the paper will not extend above the top of the tractors Then close the tractor door 13 GETTING STARTED Note The left tractor position is not adjustable Ifit is necessary to adjust
43. on Epson is a registered trademark of Seiko Epson QMS is a registered trademark of Quality Micro Systems Inc IGP is a registered trademark of Printronix Corp Printek is a registered trademark of Printek Inc Specifications are subject to change without notice Table of Contents Introduction Models and Options Manual Contents Getting Started Installation Interface Set Up Installing The Ribbon Cartridge Why Use Only Printek Brand Ribbons Ribbon Installation Loading Paper FormsMaster 8000 Single Tractor Model FormsMaster 8003 TriTrak Model Printer Self test Daily Operation Introduction Control Panel Features LCD Display and Online Indicator Push Buttons Selecting and Loading Forms Selecting a Form Already Loaded in the Tractors Loading a New or Different Form In the Tractors Ejecting and Tearing Off a Form Installing a New Ribbon Cartridge Aligning Print Common Error Conditions Check Paper No Paper to Load Too Much Paper to Unload Selected Form is not Loaded No Ribbon or Wrong Ribbon Ribbon Lid Open Paper Door Open Change Ribbon ek oou 10 13 14 17 19 20 20 21 25 25 25 30 32 34 36 36 36 37 37 37 37 37 38 Printer Configuration Introduction To Setup 39 Setup Buttons 39 Entering Setup 40 Using the MENU Button 40 Using the SUBMENU Button 40 Using the ITEM and VALUE Buttons 41 Exiting Setup 41 Forms Menu 42 Forms Menu Items 43 Interface Menu 49 Automatic Port Swit
44. ossible Values Anywhere Col 1 or MPP 1 This item selects whether a Form Feed character will cause a form feed to occur when received anywhere in the data stream or only when received at column 1 or at MPP 1 Form Feed At EOM LU 3 FF at EOM LU 3 Disable Possible Values Enable Disable 60 PRINTER CONFIGURATION This item selects whether a form feed will automatically be performed after an End Of Message is received Paper Error Reporting Paper Err Report Disable Possible Values Enable Disable This item selects whether paper errors will be reported to the host Default Character Set Character Set Multinational Possible Values Multinational France USA Italy Austria Germany Japan English Belgium Japan Katakana Brazil Portuguese Canadian French Spain Denmark Norway Spanish Speaking Finland Sweden United Kingdom This item selects the default character translation Logical Not Character Logical Not Char 5E Hex Possible Values 5E Hex caret E1 Hex not symbol This item selects which character is actually printed when a logical not character is received Shift 6 on most keyboards Null Suppression LU 3 NUL Supp LU 3 Disable NUL SP 61
45. ressing the ONLINE button The ONLINE indicator should now be flashing red 2 Press the FORM SELECT UNLOAD button This will move the current form from the print position down to the tractors for removal In the case of the FormsMaster 8003 this will also move the shuttle forward for easy access to all tractor paths 25 DAILY OPERATION 3 Continue to press the FORM SELECT button until the desired form name is shown on the top line of the display The form name will be FORM 0 through FORM 9 or the actual name of the form if the name has been set in Setup If the desired form is not considered to be loaded by the printer lt Not Loaded gt will flash on the bottom line of the display In the case of the FormsMaster 8003 the not loaded message will alternate with the path s that this form is to be loaded in Loading the Form in the Tractors 4 Open the paper door on the front of the printer This will provide access to the tractors as shown below If your printer is a FormsMaster 8000 only one set of tractors will be available and you may skip ahead to step 6 maa h s gt Tractor Tili Lewers b j i i a FormsMaster 8003 tractors 5 Depending upon which path s the new form is to be placed in you may need to tilt the front and or center tractors forward as shown 26 DAILY OPERATION FormsMaster 8003 with front and center tractors tilted forward 6 Open the tractor doors and remove the old for
46. ribbon from the printer Installing the New Ribbon Cartridge Note The use of Printek brand ribbons is recommended for increased ribbon life and print head life The use ofonly Printek brand ribbons is required for the extended print head warranty For details see Why Use Only Printek Brand Ribbons in the Getting Started chapter 4 Remove the new ribbon from its plastic bag and make sure the ribbon fabric is taut by turning the knob on top of the nbbon cartridge in a counterclockwise direction as indicated by the arrow on the cartridge 5 Install the new ribbon by reversing the above removal process For a more detailed installation description see Installing the Ribbon Cartridge on page 8 6 Close the ribbon lid and place printer back on line 33 DAILY OPERATION ALIGNING PRINT When a new form is loaded into the printer for the first time it may be necessary to adjust where printing begins This depends upon how the software that controls the printing was written If the software was written to perform its own character and line spacing relative to the edges of the form then adjustment may not be necessary If the print position needs to be adjusted the following discussion will describe how this is accomplished Note that the alignment for the selected form is permanently stored in the printer s memory and does not have to be readjusted each time the form is loaded To align print on a particular form
47. rinting on multipart forms that do not otherwise print well on the back copies Language Language A as n Possible Values USA France Germany England Denmark Sweden Italy Spain Japan Finland This item selects the character substitution table to be used for an alternate language when printing The Epson font must be selected in order for this 4 N PRINTER CONFIGURATION feature to work properly The character substitutions are shown in the following table Char Valuej 35 36 64 91 92 93 94 96 123 124 125 126 Zero Style Zero Normal Possible Values Normal Slashed This item selects whether the numeral zero is printed with or without a slash through it This is true for normal text characters The optional Imager and ImagerPlus Coprocessors have a separate setup item for zero characters they generate Unidirectional Printing Unidirectional No Possible Values No Yes This item selects unidirectional printing instead of bidirectional printing This may be used to improve the straightness of vertical lines for critical applications such as printing small bar codes 48 PRINTER CONFIGURATION INTERFACE MENU The Interface Menu may contain several submenus These submenus are for setting up items pertaining to the hardware interfaces such as the serial and parallel ports as well as the optional character processing interfaces such as the Imager and ImagerPlus In addition to the sta
48. the host computer Data Bits Data Bits i Possible Values 8 7 This item selects the number of data bits in the serial character frame This must be set to match the character size setting on the host computer Stop Bits Stop Bits i Possible Values 1 2 This item sets the number of stop bits to be used at the end of the serial character frame This must be set to match the stop bit setting on the host computer Parity Parity l 5 Possible Values None Even Odd This item Selects the parity checking requirements for the serial data bits This must be set to match the parity setting on the host computer Busy Signal Polarity 5 Ww PRINTER CONFIGURATION Possible Values Low High This item selects the polarity of the busy signal pin 11 of the RS 232C interface Busy is set whenever the printer is offline the serial input buffer is full or another interface port is currently active see Automatic Port Switching earlier in this section Data Terminal Ready DTR Power On Of Possible Values Power On Off Online Offline Busy Not Busy Selects the condition to be reflected by the DTR signal pin 20 of the RS 232C interface In most cases especially those involving a MODEM this signal should be set to indicate Power On Off Selecting Online Offline will reflect only the condition indicated and does not reflect a buffer full condition Busy Not Busy will cause DTR to indicate both the
49. where printing begins refer to Aligning Print in the Daily Operation section of this manual Now position the paper in the right tractor in the same fashion If necessary the position of the right tractor may be adjusted To do so move the lever on the side of the tractor down to unlock the tractor and slide the tractor sideways on the shafts If necessary the paper guides between the tractors may be slid in either direction to accommodate the form width Make sure that the guides are spaced evenly between the tractors After the paper is placed in the tractor and the door is closed position the tractor far enough to the right so that there is no buckle in the paper between the tractors but not so tight that the holes in the paper are distorted Lock the tractor in place by returning the lever to the up position 6 Close the paper door 7 Press the LOAD button 8 Place the printer on line by pressing the ONLINE button FormsMaster 8003 TriTrak Model The following instructions will guide you through loading all three tractor paths 1 14 Make sure the printer is powered on and that the printer is off line ONLINE indicator flashing red Press the UNLOAD button to move the tractor shuttle forward to the load position Lift open the paper door on the front of the printer to expose the paper feed tractors as shown in the following picture GETTING STARTED FormsMaster 8003 Tractors Lo
50. y select the correct function to perform based upon the current position of the form LOAD e Loads the form that has been selected with the FORM SELECT button If a the selected form is already recognized as loaded in the tractors the printer will position the tractors if necessary FormsMaster 8003 and advance the form to the print position If the selected form is not currently considered to be loaded in the tractors display shows lt Not Loaded gt this button will change the status of this form to loaded and the bottom line of the display will show the path s FORM FEED e Ifa form is currently loaded and perhaps partially printed this button will advance the bottom of the current form to the tear bar so that it may be torn off e Ifa form has already been advanced to the tear bar this button will advance the next FORM SELECT UNLOAD ALIGN PRINT DAILY OPERATION form to the tear bar This button is used to access up to ten different forms which have been previously configured with the Setup menus see the chapter on Printer Configuration for more information When this button is pressed one of two functions will be performed UNLOAD e Ifa form is currently in position to be printed this button will pull the form down until the top of the form is below the top of the tractors In the FormsMaster 8003 this will also cause the tractor shuttle to move forward for easy access to al
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