Epson Stylus Color 580 problem

  • Thread starter Thread starter Mike Halmarack
  • Start date Start date
M

Mike Halmarack

Hi I mentioned in an earlier posting that the paper was getting
scrunched in the rollers of this printer. I asked if part of the
printer structure might be misaligned, or whether this was how it was
meant to be.
Please have a look at this picture and tell me what you think.
http://www.gooseisland.plus.com/580/580.jpg
the second arrow points to the rectangular hole that may have been to
locate the part, or be there for some other reason.
TIA
 
Mike
Thanks for the picture, it clarified your earlier post nicely.
Did the problem suddenly happen or has it progressively got worse?
The angled piece of plastic looks correct to me, many Epson models have that
mechanism, it should flip forward as the printer feeds pushing paper towards
the pick up roller. The pick up roller moves the paper into the printer and the
pad immediately above the hole you have indicated prevents more than one piece
of paper being fed. So far so good.
I cannot recall anything that should be in the hole. Indeed I don't think there
should be. Sorry I don't have one of these to look at at this time.
If you look towards the feed rollers down through the slot and towards the
front of the printer there should be 2 (I think) rollers on a plastic shaft. If
one of these rollers is not gripping the paper then the paper will be skewed,
or there might be an obstruction somewhere on or after the left hand roller (a
tiny piece of paper scrap), sometimes difficult to see. If there is no
obstruction and the feed rollers are moving when the printer starts to feed
then dressing the rollers with denatured (Isopropyl) alcohol may help (much
easier to do with the cover off but still hard to get at). The bad news is that
generally speaking if there is no obstruction then anything you do will be
temporary and a replacement printer will probably be cheaper than repair
(assuming parts are even available for this model). If you want to dress the
rollers then try wetting a clean cloth (not paper) with alcohol, get the
printer to feed with no paper in the hopper and hold the cloth against each
roller one at a time taking care to prevent the cloth becoming entangled: do
this several times, the alcohol will not damage the rollers but will remove
traces of grease etc. The PC will report a paper out condition but should still
try to feed, this takes a bit of time but can sometimes be effective. If this
works then the rollers were either contaminated or worn.....in this case just
use the printer until it happens again!!! If you think there is an obstruction
deeper in the printer than the rollers then you will have to remove the cover.
Happy to help further if I can.
Tony
 
Mike
Thanks for the picture, it clarified your earlier post nicely.
Did the problem suddenly happen or has it progressively got worse?
Click to expand...

Hi Tony, thanks a lot for the very helpful reply.
The printer started to skew and damage the paper on one occasion, then
just continued to do so.
The angled piece of plastic looks correct to me, many Epson models have that
mechanism, it should flip forward as the printer feeds pushing paper towards
the pick up roller. The pick up roller moves the paper into the printer and the
pad immediately above the hole you have indicated prevents more than one piece
of paper being fed. So far so good.
Click to expand...

I thought this was possibly so but it was worth checking. At present I
can't test because of various incompatibilities which should be fixed
by the immanent arrival of some new computer parts.
I cannot recall anything that should be in the hole. Indeed I don't think there
should be. Sorry I don't have one of these to look at at this time.
If you look towards the feed rollers down through the slot and towards the
front of the printer there should be 2 (I think) rollers on a plastic shaft. If
one of these rollers is not gripping the paper then the paper will be skewed,
or there might be an obstruction somewhere on or after the left hand roller (a
tiny piece of paper scrap), sometimes difficult to see. If there is no
obstruction and the feed rollers are moving when the printer starts to feed
then dressing the rollers with denatured (Isopropyl) alcohol may help (much
easier to do with the cover off but still hard to get at). The bad news is that
generally speaking if there is no obstruction then anything you do will be
temporary and a replacement printer will probably be cheaper than repair
(assuming parts are even available for this model). If you want to dress the
rollers then try wetting a clean cloth (not paper) with alcohol, get the
printer to feed with no paper in the hopper and hold the cloth against each
roller one at a time taking care to prevent the cloth becoming entangled: do
this several times, the alcohol will not damage the rollers but will remove
traces of grease etc. The PC will report a paper out condition but should still
try to feed, this takes a bit of time but can sometimes be effective. If this
works then the rollers were either contaminated or worn.....in this case just
use the printer until it happens again!!! If you think there is an obstruction
deeper in the printer than the rollers then you will have to remove the cover.
Happy to help further if I can.
Tony
Click to expand...

Thanks a lot that's been a great help. Now I know the range of
possible problems, I'll enjoy working my way through them.
I know this printer is a little outdated but it will be very
satisfying to restore it, if possible.
 
OK then most likely there is an obstruction, good news is that once removed
everything should return to normal...bad news is if it isn't obvious from the
outside then you will need to remove the cover and look for the culprit!
Tony
 
OK then most likely there is an obstruction, good news is that once removed
everything should return to normal...bad news is if it isn't obvious from the
outside then you will need to remove the cover and look for the culprit!
Tony
Click to expand...

I can hardly wait to remove the cover now, given the level of
encouragement and detail you provided. :)
 
Oh dear...what have I let you in for <g>.
Tony


Mike Halmarack said:
I can hardly wait to remove the cover now, given the level of
encouragement and detail you provided. :)
--
Regards,
Mike Halmarack

Drop the EGG to email me.
Click to expand...
 
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