Paper guide problems with ET-2760

[alpac1t]

All of a sudden, and for no apparent reason, the paper-feed guides on the rear of my printer are out of alignment. When the two guides are squeezed together to the smallest possible opening, about two inches, they are visibly NOT CENTERED. Consquently, when fully expanded, the left guide stops about 1/2 inch short of where it should. The printer will no longer accept standard (8.5 x 11 inch) paper, and everything it prints on small paper is mis-aligned.

I have only printed about 4000 pages on this printer over the 6+ years that I've had it. Up until yesterday, all 4000 of those pages, including many greeting cards, printed exactly as they should.

Epson support was not helpful, said only that there's a hardware problem requiring shop repair. I'm suspicious of that.

Nothing about how I'm printing has changed. I've used three different printing programs and various sizes of paper, have turned printer off/on several times. Print Preview in the apps shows the documents properly centered/aligned, but everything gets shifted on the actual printed paper due to the mis-alignment of the paper guides.

Attached pictures show how the paper guides are not centered. and how, consequently, the guide on the right (of the picture) will not extend as far as it should.

Any help, suggestions, ideas, etc., would be much appreciated!

 

[PeterBJ]

I don't know much about Epson printers but many Canon printers use the same paper guide adjust system. The two paper guides are teethed and linked together with a gear wheel.

The teeth must have slipped, maybe because of some foreign object blocking the the movement.

Here is a Google AI suggestion to solving the problem.

I made a primitive sketch showing the linking of the guides:

I hope this helps.

 

[alpac1t]

Peter BJ, thanks for the help. Your picture led to a solution! I'm going to write it here in case anybody reads this thread in the future.

The fix was to (a) push the two blue paper guides as far apart as possible, to where they stopped, (b) grab the one that wouldn't go to its proper position, and (c) then twist/tug/push with a bit of force in the direction it should move. That somehow caused the guide to jump a couple of the teeth in the plastic chain and settle into its proper position. I was astonished and thrilled that there was such a simple fix! Unfortunately, the fix didn't include an explanation for how the problem happened in the first place.

Thanks again, Peter.

 

[PeterBJ]

You're welcome!

Unfortunately, the fix didn't include an explanation for how the problem happened in the first place.

I think you have done nothing wrong. If Google AI "knows" the problem it must also have happened to other Epson owners.