Problems and solutions

Skip to main content Click to view our Accessibility Statement or contact us with accessibility-related questions.

Phaser 350X

Problems and solutions

Refer to the following tables if you encounter problems with the printer.

Media feeding or jamming problems

Symptom	Solution
Media feed or mispick problems at the standard tray.	Use standard office paper 16 to 32 lb. (60 to 120 g/m2) or Tektronix transparency media. Do not load the tray beyond the fill line. Paper tray capacity is 200 sheets paper or 50 sheets transparency. Transparency tray capacity is 175 sheets transparency. Refer to Cleaning for upper media tray jams: media pick roller.
Paper feed problems at the lower paper tray.	Use standard office paper 16 to 32 lb. (60 to 120 g/m2). Do not load the tray beyond the fill line. Paper tray capacity is 625 sheets.
Paper jamming inside the printer.	Remove and re-latch the maintenance tray. Refer to Replacing the maintenance tray. Refer to Cleaning for jams and ink smears: paper-feed rollers.
Paper jamming at manual feed slot.	Wait for the front panel prompt before feeding paper. Align paper against the left edge of the manual feed slot. Make sure that the proper page size is selected for the slot.

Image quality problems

Symptom	Solution
Missing or light color stripes on prints.	Refer to Cleaning for light stripes: printhead.
Ink streaks or oil on front, back or edges of print.	Do not print on both sides of the media. Ink may be offset onto the internal paper path. Refer to Identifying cleaning solutions.
Transparency print quality poor.	Use Tektronix premium transparency media. Use the transparency tray for printing transparencies and specify Transparency in a supported printer driver. Refer to Transparency quality tips.
Print is wrinkled.	You may be using paper that is too thick or thin. Refer to All about media.
Paper edge is rippled.	You may be using the wrong grain paper. Load long-grained paper. Refer to All about media.
Printed image is shifted, the wrong color, or margins are not correct.	You may have to make adjustments in the application or print driver. Refer to Printing and installation problems. Make sure that the paper is not curled. Also refer to Cleaning for jams and ink smears: paper-feed rollers. Microsoft PowerPoint users: Macintosh users need to leave Background Printing in the Chooser set to Off. PC users need to turn off background printing through the Print Manager.
Colors do not print as expected.	Refer to TekColor corrections - making the best selection for details on how to select TekColor color corrections. You may have attempted to print transparency loaded in a paper tray but did not specify transparency as the print media in the printer driver. Refer to Transparency quality tips for more information. Refer to Printed colors are not what you expected for more tips. Refer to Printing and using the color sampler charts.
Image prints in black-and-white instead of color.	PC users: Be sure to use a driver that supports color PostScript. If you are running Windows, use the Tektronix-supplied driver that was shipped with the printer's software. Refer to Printing from a workstation for information on drivers. Microsoft Excel users: Be sure to check the Print using color option in the print dialog box. Macintosh users: Use a supported color PostScript printer driver and the Phaser 350 printer's PPD file. Select Color/Grayscale in the Print Options dialog box. You may need to install application-related files such as a PDF file for QuarkXPress. PC Users: Refer to PC/Windows software for information. Macintosh Users: Refer to Macintosh software for information. You may have incorrectly sent the Monochrome color correction utility file to the printer.

Network problems

Symptom	Solution
The printer doesn't appear in the Chooser on a Macintosh.	Always make network connections before turning on the printer. Turn the printer off, wait at least 15 seconds and turn the printer's power on again. Check the termination; refer to the documentation for your network adapter or connector for information on termination. Check the configuration page to get the zone name and printer name. Make sure that the correct zone and printer name have been selected in the Chooser. If you have changed the printer's name, did you make it a unique name (not the same as any other printer in the zone)? Make sure that the correct network is selected in the Network Control Panel.

Printing and installation problems

Symptom	Solution
You have problems printing from a specific application.	You can get tips on printing from specific applications (such as QuarkXPress and PageMaker) from the Tektronix World Wide Web site: http://www.tektronix.xerox.com/userdoc /introduction.html Information on printing from specific applications is also available by contacting HAL, the Tektronix automated information system. Refer to Using the automated fax systems.
Text prints in Courier font.	The font you have specified is not available. The standard Phaser 350 printer supports 17 resident fonts. An additional 52 fonts are optionally available, for a total of 69 fonts. Other fonts must be downloaded or available on a SCSI font disk.
The image does not finish printing (the printer times out).	PC users: If you are using the serial or parallel port, use the MODE command to set the PC's communication parameters. For example: MODE LPT1:,,P (for parallel port LPT1) MODE COM1:9600,N,8,1,P (for serial port COM1) Windows users: Double-click on the Control Panel. Double-click the Printers icon. Choose your Tektronix printer. Click the Connect button. Change the Transmission Retry to 850. Parallel port printing: If you get a timeout from the Connect dialog box, change the Ports selection from LPTX to LPTX.DOS. (Some Windows installations may say LPTX.OS2; X is either 1, 2 or 3.)
The area of paper that the printer prints on is smaller than the media size.	Refer to Margins and image area for more details. To maximize the image area, you may have to adjust the margins in your application software.
A Macintosh printed image has shifted or the margins are not correct.	You should install a supported printer driver and the Phaser 350 printer PPD onto your Macintosh to select the correct page sizes from the driver. Refer to Using the Macintosh Installer for information. Turn off Background Printing through the Chooser.
The Ready message or the printer's name is displayed but the file does not print.	Make sure that Phaser 350 printer is the selected printer. Try printing the same file to another PostScript printer. If the file prints, then the problem could be with the interface cable. Turn the printer's power off and wait at least 15 seconds before turning the power on again. Refer to Using a PostScript error handler for details on using the Tektronix Error Handler to determine the cause of the problem.
The file does not print or it prints unexpected data.	Make sure that you have the printer set up to receive the appropriate language (PostScript, HP-GL, or PCL5) for that file. Refer to Check the printer's language mode for more information.
Files sent during power-up do not print.	Before printing a file, wait until the printer's front panel displays Ready or the printer's name.
The printer receives a file on the serial or parallel port but does not print.	Do not set the wait timeout to 0. Also, print files should not have extra characters after the End-of-Job character (Ctrl-D). Refer elsewhere in this manual (CD-ROM version only) for information on setting timeouts and the Ctrl-D character.
The printer receives a file on the serial or parallel port. The front panel displays Waiting For Data indefinitely. Another file sent to a different port causes your computer or network interface to lock up.	Do not set the wait timeout to 0. Also, print files should not have extra characters after the End-of-Job character (Ctrl-D). Refer elsewhere in this manual (CD-ROM version only) for information on setting timeouts and the Ctrl-D character.
The printer receives a file on the serial or parallel port and the job prints successfully. After printing, the printer displays Waiting For Data, goes into Standby mode, but doesn't come out of Standby mode for the next print job.	To recover, press the Wakeup or Cancel button or turn the printer's power off, wait at least 15 seconds, and turn the power on again. (If you reset the printer, you must send the print job again.) To prevent this condition, do not set the wait timeout to 0. Also, print files should not have extra characters after the End-of-File character (Ctrl-D). Refer elsewhere in this manual (CD-ROM version only) for information on setting timeouts and the Ctrl-D character.
The startup page prints although you disabled it.	If the printer detects a non-fatal error at power-up, the startup page prints, even if you have disabled it. A red box on the startup page identifies the type of error. The printer's power-up self-test can detect problems that do not necessarily make the printer completely inoperable. Examples of these non-fatal errors include faulty printer ports and some memory failures. The printer may require service.

Operational hints

Hint/Symptom	Solution
Leave the printer on.	When you turn off the printer, wait 15 seconds and then turn it on again, it performs a cleaning routine which consumes ink. To ensure optimum printing performance and best economy, leave the printer turned on overnight and during weekends. When the printer sits idle, it automatically switches to a standby level that keep it ready to use, but reduces energy consumption. Pressing a front panel button, opening a cover or sending a print job "wakes" the printer.
Do not print on both sides of the media.	Do not print on both sides of the paper or transparency media. Printing on both sides causes ink to be offset onto the printer's internal paper path and will require cleaning.
Paper jams occur when you are using the paper tray.	Do not fill the paper tray above the fill indicator line. Is the paper too thick or thin for the printer? Refer to All about media for more details on the type of paper you can use with the printer. Check that the maintenance tray is fully latched. You may need to clean the paper-pick rollers. Refer to Cleaning for upper media tray jams: media-pick roller.
The paper jams while you are using manual feed.	Wait until the front panel prompts you before inserting media into the manual feed slot. Feed the paper or transparency into the manual feed slot and let the printer take the media out of your hands. Select Manual Feed in the printer driver. Select the appropriate size media in the printer driver. Make sure to align the paper against the left edge of the manual feed slot. Is the paper too thick for manual feed? Refer to Media size and weight. Is the paper the appropriate size for the manual feed slot?
Ink Low message appears when ink bins are full.	Apply pressure to each row of ink sticks in the loading bin to make sure they are not jammed.
Delayed printout.	Refer to Printer standby modes.
Printer outputs two prints after a jam is cleared.	Printer is clearing print drum and reprinting image. Refer to All about media jams.
Turn off the startup page.	Refer to Startup page.
Maintenance tray is locked inside printer.	The printer locks the maintenance tray until it has cooled down. Wait for a few minutes and try removing it again.

Return to Phaser 350 Topic List

Support Home Page

Phaser 350X Support Page

Network Printers Support Home

Additional Information

			Register your Printer
			ASPs & TPMs
			About Software Support
			Color Connection
			Printer Warranties
			Material Safety Data Sheets
			Supplies & Cartridge Recycling Program