Why is My Epson Receipt Printer not Auto Cutting?

A common call we receive here at Hillside Electronics is from customers who experience an issue with their Epson receipt printer’s auto-cutter. Luckily, there are six quick solutions you can try to get back up and running as quickly as possible.

Solution 1: Remove Stuck Object

Open the printer cover to ensure that there is enough paper on the roll and that it is not bunched, ripped, or otherwise damaged. If you suspect there may be paper or an object stuck inside, you can follow these procedures to try and remove it.  Be sure to allow the printhead to cool completely from printing before attempting to remove jammed paper or a stuck object from the printer.

1. Turn off your printer.

2. Remove the cutter cover. On some printers, such as the TM-U220B, the cover can be removed by lifting the unit's open lever on the right side of the printer (please see illustration below). On other printers, you may need to put your fingers into two indents on both sides of the cutter cover to slide it open in the opposite direction of the paper cutter.

3. Remove the stuck paper, label, or object. 

4. Re-insert the paper roll and close the roll paper cover.

Note: On some Epson dot matrix printers, the cutter blade may not return to the normal position on its own, in which case you can do so manually by rotating the auto-cutter feed knob in the direction of the arrow. When it’s returned to the normal position, an upside-town triangle will come into view in the center of the auto-cutter frame, as seen in the image below. You can now replace the cover and attempt to print to see if the error has been fixed.

Solution 2: Clean Your Printer

Try cleaning your printer, taking care to remove debris from the cutting mechanism, print head, and paper. Make sure to turn off your printer before you attempt any cleaning. You may also want to blow compressed air into the printer to remove any debris, by either using a compressor or canned compressed air. For professional cleaning and repair, please contact us or visit our printer repair procedures page for more information.

Solution 3: Check Printer Driver Settings

Check your printer driver to ensure that the auto-cut option is selected by opening the driver and clicking on the paper tab. Next, select the auto-cut setting (if you don’t see it, it may not be available on your printer model).

Note: If you’d prefer to cut the paper manually, you can turn off the auto-cut setting in the printer driver by selecting “Advanced Media Setting > Roll paper option > Auto Cut” and toggling the option to the off position.

Solution 4: Check Receipt Paper/Label Thickness & Placement

Check that your paper or labels aren't too thick for the built-in cutter blade, and that you have inserted the correct size. Thicker media should be cut using scissors or the manual cutter. If you must use a paper type that is unable to be cut with the built-in cutter, turn off the auto-cut setting: From the roll paper info area, choose “Advanced Media Setting > Roll paper option > Auto Cut > Off.”

Also check to make sure that your receipt paper roll is placed in the correct position. In certain printers, paper must be placed so that it rolls out from the bottom rather than from the top of the roll (please see the below illustration. This illustration was sourced from the Epson TM-U220B User’s Manual, which can be found on our Epson Printer Diagrams & Manuals page). The proper way to insert your paper varies depending on your printer's thermal head placement, so please review your printer's manual for more information.

Place the paper roll inside your printer and pull out some excess paper. Close cover and try printing again. 

If the wrong paper type is used, particularly for thermal printers, it can cause errors. You can identify thermal coated paper by scratching the surface of the paper with a coin. If it is thermal, you will get a black mark where you scratched.

Solution 5: Replace Dull Cutter Blade

Extended use may cause the cutter blade to become dull; your user’s manual should include detailed instructions on how to replace it. You'll also want to check to make sure that your printer's fixed blade is not loose or in the wrong position.  (Links to purchase an Epson TM-U220B autocutter and/or fixed blade can be found at the bottom of this post. Cutters for other printers are also available here on our website hec.com, or you can order them by emailing hec@hec.com.)

Solution 6: Reset Your Printer

You can try resetting the printer: First, turn off and unplug your printer. Next, hold down the feed button and turn the printer back on with feed button still held. Release the button and the printer will print diagnostic information.

Final Note

We hope the information provided in this post has been helpful. If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to get in touch with us. And don’t forget to follow us on Facebook and Instagram to stay up-to-date with new blog posts, products, and promotions available here on our website, hec.com!

Helpful Links:

1. Epson TM-U220B Autocutter ($69.99)

2. Epson TM-U220B Fixed Blade ($12.28)

3. Epson TM-U220B Printer Repair

4. Learn about Hillside Electronics' POS Printer Repair Procedures 

Disclaimer

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AI was not used in the writing of this article, nor any other article on hec.com.