Resolving Epson L1800 Printer Issues: Error Codes, APG Unit, and Paper Feed Problems

Having Epson L1800 printer problem. The print head returns to the home position, moves slightly, and then the rod motor briefly activates before the lights start flashing. I saw your videos, I replaced even the entire APG unit and still there is a problem. It happens even if you remove the APG unit out of its main board. This all started back after I replaced the suction pump. The issue began after I printed something only when it was working correctly before. Can you help?

Answer:

We appreciate it, had you contacted us! Thank you for all your support for BCH Technologies and my YouTube channel (https://youtube.com/@bchtechnologies). This feedback is great for helping to hone our technical know-how.

From what you've described it does not sound to me like a APG unit exactly. I also suggest first checking your wirings, red to red, black to black. Make sure everything is plugged okay. Secondly, using Epson Adjustment Program to verify what the problem might be. Once it is, go to the “Specific Adjustment Mode,” and press on Printer Information Check. This will display the most recent five fatal errors that have happened to your printer.

Based on my experience with these issues, the printer normally starts to initialize and it is checking for ASF (Auto Sheet Feeder) / APG(Auto Platen Guide). Then it moves the printhead left/right to check the CR scale, and then test the PF paper feed mechanism

In your case the error codes are probably paper feed errors, you may need to check or replace Paper Feed Motor and/or Sensor. It is also possible that there may be some play in the PF (Paper feed) belt tension causing these symptoms. It might be able to fix that, and I actually have a video tutorial on how you can do this here (https://youtu.be/IiiJ4iYCiwI). Of course, your printer may have PF overwrite board, which complicates issue furthermore. But before you perform any repair work, it is important to identify the root cause and check for error codes.

However, it can be a frustrating experience to troubleshoot them due to the hands-on nature of printer issues. Unfortunately, that means we can't offer you remote troubleshooting or advice for fixing your printer. We provide an offline diagnosis and repair service at our local diagnostic center (https://bchtechnologies.com/printer-repair-service); therefore, we have to operate on a first come fist serve protocol due the overwhelming request. It will therefore be a few weeks until we are able to ship it out or have you printer drop it off. With mail-in and local drop-off services available, our service categories are specifically designed to fix a printer as a whole or its separately listed parts out of warranty. That said, we realize our rates are not the cheapest. So we suggest you research online and DIY. To start, check out YouTube here or also visit the home page for our YouTube channel. Use a specific video search via this icon next to "About" on right side menu bar. While others are dozens of requests in my inbox for videos on various subjects. Since I've been making videos for the last 9 years, it's hard to remember them all. As such using YouTube search would be the most effective. And YouTube may offer some related videos from other channels that could help as well.

Thanks again to whomever contacted us for reaching out, and we hope this gives you a hand in getting your printer back up as well!