mediumMultiple ChoiceObjective-mapped
220-1201 Practice Question: A customer complains that their inkjet printer's…
A customer complains that their inkjet printer's output has horizontal white lines across the page. The cartridges are new and the printer passes a nozzle check pattern. What should the technician check next?
Answer choices
Why each option matters
Answer the question above first, then reveal the full breakdown to understand why each option is right or wrong.
Correct answer & explanation
✓
Inspect the paper feed rollers
Horizontal white lines on inkjet output often indicate a paper feed issue, such as dirty or worn feed rollers. The roller's surface can lose traction, causing the paper to feed unevenly and creating gaps. Cleaning or replacing the feed rollers typically resolves the problem.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
Replace the printhead
Why it's wrong here
A printhead replacement is unwarranted if the nozzle check pattern passes successfully, indicating that all nozzles are firing correctly and are not clogged or damaged. Printhead issues typically manifest as missing colors, streaks, or completely blank areas in a vertical direction, or a complete failure to print, rather than consistent horizontal white lines across the page. Therefore, replacing a functional printhead would not resolve the described symptom.
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Clean the encoder strip
Why it's wrong here
The encoder strip is a translucent strip with fine markings that the printhead carriage uses to accurately determine its position and movement across the page. A dirty or damaged encoder strip leads to the printhead misjudging its location, resulting in vertical banding, skewed text, or misaligned print, not horizontal white lines which are indicative of inconsistent paper feed. Cleaning it would not address the problem of horizontal white lines.
- ✓
Inspect the paper feed rollers
Why this is correct
Worn, dirty, or damaged paper feed rollers are a common cause of horizontal white lines or banding in inkjet prints because they lead to inconsistent paper movement through the printer. If the rollers slip or do not grip the paper uniformly, the paper momentarily pauses or slows down as the printhead is laying down ink, creating unprinted gaps or lines. Therefore, inspecting and potentially cleaning or replacing these rollers is a crucial diagnostic step for this specific print defect.
- ✗
Update the printer driver
Why it's wrong here
Updating the printer driver primarily addresses software-related communication problems between the computer and the printer, or corrects formatting and rendering issues of the print job data. Driver issues typically manifest as the printer not responding, incorrect page layout, garbled text, or error messages, but they do not cause physical mechanical defects like horizontal white lines on the printed output. Such physical print defects usually point to a hardware malfunction within the printer itself.
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