Diagnosing Texas Instruments and Genicom 8920, 8930 & ADP400 Problems

Diagnosing 8920 & 8930 problems:

Problem/customer complaint Possible corrective action
1. Doesn’t see paper loaded/installed.
2. Printhead slams and grinds.
(No home position)
3. Gets margin errors.
1st: Clean and/or replace optical sensor.
2nd: Replace upper/right printhead cable.
4. Paper jamming under printhead. 1st: Check printhead shield for bends or rough edges.
(Replace if necessary.)
2nd: Check for proper mounting of optical sensor.
3rd: Clean and/or replace optical sensor.
4th: Clean/replace lower rollers (8930 only).
5. No carriage (printhead) movement.
6. No pins firing on printhead.
(No dots on paper/all pins dead)
Replace driver board.
7. No paper advance. 1st: Replace driver board.
2nd: 8930 only: check setup for tractor feed enabled.
8. Printer shuts down (powers off) after 3-4 seconds. 1st: Remove power supply from printer and power up separately.
Observe the green LED:
ON – Replace driver board.
OFF – Replace power supply
9. Won’t communicate with host or prints garbage. 1st: Check all setup parameters and interface cables.
2nd: Replace logic board.
10. Some pins not firing. 1st: Replace printhead.
2nd: Replace upper and/or lower printhead cable
3rd: Replace driver board.
11. Touch pad inoperable.
No display or partial display.
1st: Replace control panel.
12. No ribbon advance. 1st: Replace ribbon tray assembly.

Complete list of 8920, 8930 & ADP400 spare parts

Tom Braeger is the international sales and eCommerce manager at Lake Erie System's www.FastPrinters.com. He also works with his wife Analida as site manager, taste tester and food photographer for Analida's Ethnic Spoon at EthnicSpoon.com