Printout is off the paper

[FireGarden]

We have a Lexmark p4330 printer/copier which has developed a fault. I can't see how it's software related, because it occurs even when not connected to the computer -- ie: used as a copier.

The printout is normal quality, but off to the side -- so much so that I can hear the printhead hitting the side as it does its job. We lose about a mm or two off the left margin of a full A4 printout, whereas it would normally be in the centre of the page.

The printer has a screen of its own and I've selected "restore defaults" from the menu. No good.

There seems to be no option for setting margins.

I even tried "align cartridges" which is about getting rid of overlapping/blurry images. That's not the fault but, hey, it says "align". :D


So is that it for the printer? (Any repair I can't do myself is bound to cost more than a new one -- especially if I can still use the old cartridges!)

[Bob Blaylock]

We have a Lexmark p4330 printer/copier which has developed a fault.


Of course it has. It's a Lexmark. That's what Lexmarks do.

[FireGarden]

To be fair to it, we've had it a few years.

Actually, I don't know if that's better or worse than average for printers. But there you go.

[sophia8]

Have you checked the printer margins? And have you got it set to the right paper size?

[FireGarden]

Paper size is set to A4, and that's the paper given.
There are no margin settings on the printer itself. It can be set to print without borders, and we've done that before without any problems. But that doesn't involve specifically setting margins. And it's not set that way at the moment.

I've restored all settings to "default" -- which ought to put them back the way they were when we first used it. But that doesn't solve the problem.

It's as if we've put the paper in the wrong place -- off to the side a bit -- but we haven't. If it were printing off the other margin, I'd solve that just by moving the paper across a bit.

[Christian Klippel]

If the printhead hits any side, i would say that there seems to be a fault with a sensor or the "slide" that goes into it.

Usually there is at least one sensor built in to detect the outermost position. Usually that is a infrared sensor, either reflective or "pass through". There should be some mechanical part connected to either the head(mount) or the belt that drives the head. That part will slide into/over that sensor at one edge. This will calibrate the printer to its zero position.

Now, there can be several reasons for the fault. First, the light barrier can be clogged by dust or a piece of paper. Then, the part that moves in/over that sensor could be off-place somehow. Also, there might be some dust/hairs/paper-shreds sticking to it, making it bigger, i.e. the sensor detects a signal too soon, causing an offset. The sensor could become loose so that it isn't in the proper place anymore.

It could be a paper size setting, as sophie8 suggest, but then i'm wondering how it could allow for paper that is much wider than what the printer can actually use, to make the bang against one side.

Last but not least, it could be firmware problem of the printer itself, so that the detection doesn't work properly anymore.

I would suggest that you clean the printer completely, that is, the inside of it where the mechanics is. Try to locate the sensor(s) and see if everything is OK there, mechanically.

Greetings,

Chris

[jsiv]

In addition to any home/edge sensors, printers also have an infrared sensor to measure the current position of the head. This is usually pointed at either a long thin piece of plastic that goes across the printer behind the head, or with a plastic wheel on a cogwheel somewhere. There could theoretically be a problem with that too, but I don't know.

Does the printer have some sort of hard reset option that can restore it to factory settings? That might be worth trying, although I guess you've already thought of that.

[FireGarden]

I've had a look and I don't see anything I would recognise as an infra-red sensor. But I do see a plastic ribbon which goes along the path of the print head and looks like it could be read by an infra-red sensor. It seems to be in good condition and clean.

I did some general cleaning and managed to get a 2mm margin. Wa-hay! So I did some more cleaning and lost it again! :) But third time brought it back. So either I'm just moving dust and ink around or there's a lose connection.

[FireGarden]

Does the printer have some sort of hard reset option that can restore it to factory settings?

Only the restore default option I mentioned above. I think that simply resets options like paper size and type, whether to enlarge what it's copying etc.

[Zax63]

I don't have any experience with Lexmark support but I would think it's worth at least an e-mail.

[FireGarden]

I suppose I should try it.


Thanks for the suggestions, everyone.