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Feed issues or print skew on media from printers DA400,-DA550 and DA50S-DA75S

Learn how to resolve feed issues or print skew on media on DA400, DA500, DA550, DA50S, DA55S, DA70S, and DA75S printers.
Products affected: DA400, DA500, DA550, DA50S, DA55S, DA70S, DA75S

Issue

The printer is experiencing feed issues or print skew on media.

Cause

The following are possible causes of feed and/or print skew issues:
  • Feed ramp slope to the stack
  • Dirty feed rollers
  • Paper dust (yellow or white residue) blocking feed sensor
  • Too much material in feeder (too heavy)
  • Severely worn gap separator tip on the H-Block
  • Separator tip set incorrectly for media thickness

Resolution

Follow these suggestions to resolve feed and/or print skew issues:
  1. Adjust the ramp according to size and weight of material:
    • A shallow ramp slope generally works better for heavy media, and a steeper ramp slope works better for short media. 
    • If using the prop, check the H-Block gap for proper separation. Ensure that the wire frame is centered under the material.
  2. Clean the feed rollers:
    • Clean the feed roller with alcohol.
    • Do not use any other solvents or detergents. They could damage the feed rollers.
  3. Adjust the H-Block to the material:
    1. Loosen the lock knobs to unlock all three H-Blocks.
    2. Lift the H-Blocks to their highest position and lock in place.
    3. Place a sample piece of material between the separator fingers (the lower section of the H-Blocks) and the feed roller.
    4. Lower only the H-Blocks that come in direct contact with the material and let them touch the material. Make sure that the material is between the separator tabs and feed roller.
    5. Lock each separator in place.
  4. Clean the sensors:
    1. Lift the transport door.
    2. Use compressed air to blow dust from the sensors. Cans of compressed air are available from the Pitney Bowes online shop.
  5. Position text and graphics correctly at the trail edge of envelope:
  • During the printing process, if the envelope trail edge covers the paper sensor halfway, the sensor may misread. Printing something when the paper sensor is half covered causes the sensor reading to flicker during the process. The result is blank envelopes or incorrect printing position. To correct this, move the text or graphics that are close to the trail edge of the envelope up or down slightly so that the sensor is either covered or uncovered, not half covered, when the content is printed.
  1. Make sure that the stack of material weighs 20 lbs. or less (18 lbs. or less for DA400).
  2. Correctly position the separator tip and side guides.

UPDATED: June 15, 2021