The exact thing happened to me. While I was waiting to get an email back from tech support at Dell, I decided to take my printer apart and try hooking up the encoder strip to where I "thought" it belonged. I removed the entire top of the printer and hooked the encoder strip, first on the left (seeing an "L" and an arrow on the strip itself. I assumed the "L" meant left and the arrow should be pointing upwards. I then tried to put it thru the slot on the back of the cartridge carrier and then hooked the right side to a brass-looking hook. It seemed to be nice and tight, no movement. I then put the printer back together, powered it back up and promptly received the 0502 error again. I'm assuming that I mangled the encoder strip while trying to reinstall it.
I put in a support call and was told to contact the Spare Parts Dept. 1-800-357-3355 or 877 - 645 - 1322. I called them today (10/26) and was told they didn't have the part and I should talk to someone in the electronics dept, I was transfered and then told that I should talk to the Spare Parts Dept. I told the rep that I had already done that and he told me that whoever I talked to didn't know what part I was talking about and to try someone else. So, I called spare parts back again, and got a different rep. I then went thru the whole story, she put me on hold for a couple of minutes and then told me that no where in the Dell Corporation do that have an encoder strip for an A940 printer. I will have to replace the entire printer. My warranty ran out in the middle of August so they won't send me a refurbished printer either.
The strange thing is, I bought this printer in August of 2003 along with a business friend who bought the same printer at the same time and they were both delivered and installed on the same day. The hardware error came up on my printer last Friday and it came up on my friends printer the following Monday! I think that's very ironic.
Anyway, long story short. I don't believe that even if you DO figure out how to reinstall your current strip, that it will ever work correctly again and you will be replacing your printer along with me. (unless it's still under warranty).
Note *** The encoder strip is a narrow band of clear plastic and can be difficult to see without direct lighting.
The 0502 error code indicates that the encoder strip has lost its connection The steps below should fix it for you.
1. Remove the power cord from the unit.
2. Lift the lid of the unit, just below the scanner portion of the All-In-One, to expose the inside of the unit where the printer cartridges are located.
3. Gently slide the ink cartridge carrier to the middle of the printer.
4. Gently move the top part of the printer belt to the right.
5. Using an index finger, gently push encoder strip down and then back up to get it back into the slot located on the back of the ink cartridge carrier.
NOTE: There is a small slot that the encoder strip fits into, which is going to be located on the back of the ink cartridge carrier.
6. Gently press the strip first to the rear and then forward to ensure that it is seated correctly.
7. Manually move the ink cartridge carrier to the left, then to the right to check the positioning of the encoder strip.
8. Once the encoder strip has been re-seated, close the lid to the unit.
9. Re-connect the power supply to the All-In-One.
10. Press the Power button. If the encoder strip was re-seated correctly, the Hardware Error: 502 code will not appear.
worcmass
1 Message
0
October 26th, 2004 15:00
sun ray,
The exact thing happened to me. While I was waiting to get an email back from tech support at Dell, I decided to take my printer apart and try hooking up the encoder strip to where I "thought" it belonged. I removed the entire top of the printer and hooked the encoder strip, first on the left (seeing an "L" and an arrow on the strip itself. I assumed the "L" meant left and the arrow should be pointing upwards. I then tried to put it thru the slot on the back of the cartridge carrier and then hooked the right side to a brass-looking hook. It seemed to be nice and tight, no movement. I then put the printer back together, powered it back up and promptly received the 0502 error again. I'm assuming that I mangled the encoder strip while trying to reinstall it.
I put in a support call and was told to contact the Spare Parts Dept. 1-800-357-3355 or 877 - 645 - 1322. I called them today (10/26) and was told they didn't have the part and I should talk to someone in the electronics dept, I was transfered and then told that I should talk to the Spare Parts Dept. I told the rep that I had already done that and he told me that whoever I talked to didn't know what part I was talking about and to try someone else. So, I called spare parts back again, and got a different rep. I then went thru the whole story, she put me on hold for a couple of minutes and then told me that no where in the Dell Corporation do that have an encoder strip for an A940 printer. I will have to replace the entire printer. My warranty ran out in the middle of August so they won't send me a refurbished printer either.
The strange thing is, I bought this printer in August of 2003 along with a business friend who bought the same printer at the same time and they were both delivered and installed on the same day. The hardware error came up on my printer last Friday and it came up on my friends printer the following Monday! I think that's very ironic.
Anyway, long story short. I don't believe that even if you DO figure out how to reinstall your current strip, that it will ever work correctly again and you will be replacing your printer along with me. (unless it's still under warranty).
That's my .02 cents worth. Good luck!
di in worcester mass
kumarkm
4 Posts
0
March 17th, 2013 08:00
Just happened to me while cleaning ink area and installing new cartridges... Go to this link to do what I did to fix it
www.justanswer.com/.../4jg1k-printer-hardware-error-0502-dell-a940-printer.html
No more error messages since that.
Note *** The encoder strip is a narrow band of clear plastic and can be difficult to see without direct lighting.
The 0502 error code indicates that the encoder strip has lost its connection The steps below should fix it for you.
1. Remove the power cord from the unit.
2. Lift the lid of the unit, just below the scanner portion of the All-In-One, to expose the inside of the unit where the printer cartridges are located.
3. Gently slide the ink cartridge carrier to the middle of the printer.
4. Gently move the top part of the printer belt to the right.
5. Using an index finger, gently push encoder strip down and then back up to get it back into the slot located on the back of the ink cartridge carrier.
NOTE: There is a small slot that the encoder strip fits into, which is going to be located on the back of the ink cartridge carrier.
6. Gently press the strip first to the rear and then forward to ensure that it is seated correctly.
7. Manually move the ink cartridge carrier to the left, then to the right to check the positioning of the encoder strip.
8. Once the encoder strip has been re-seated, close the lid to the unit.
9. Re-connect the power supply to the All-In-One.
10. Press the Power button. If the encoder strip was re-seated correctly, the Hardware Error: 502 code will not appear.
PudgyOne
9 Legend
•
30.3K Posts
0
March 17th, 2013 15:00
This thread will bl locked due to age
An answer would be...
Cleaning the encoder strip (Loud bang from printer carriage)
If you need further assistance, please create a new thread in the proper Dell Support Forums
Thank you,
Rick