Thermal Printer Help Needed

[Citadel535]

My friend runs a restaurant and is using a Citizen IDP 3210 thermal printer.
When he prints up a check, only the last 1/4 column of the page on the paper prints. This shows a check for a sale of just the last change of the items such as below.

.45
.99
----
.72

I tried basic troubleshooting by replacing the thermal paper and reseating the cables and attached it to another pc but the problem persists.

Does this mean the printer needs to be replaced? I see the underside of the flap when I add/remove paper says only raise this to clean printer heads but see no heads to clean but rather just a panel with brass colored squares that give off heat (which I am assuming is the heating element). They are cleaned and wiping them with a cloth did not fix the situation.

Any advice on what to do as I am no expert when it comes to these types of printers.

 

[Zepper]

. I used to service similar printers in grocery store operations (CheckOut Coupon printers) - they are extremely simple devices for what the charge for them...
. The head should be connected to the head driver PCB by a multi-pin connector. Try unplugging and re-plugging that and see what happens (power off and disconnected from computer, of course) Also try cleaning the print head too. Just a little rubbing alcohol on a q-tip should do it. If that doesn't work, then maybe the printhead burned out. How long has he had it?
. IAC, I don't think those heads are very expensive as there are usually no moving parts to them. Maybe that or the head driver PCB. If that PCB plugs into the main PCB, then try reseating that too.
. In business operations it is best to have a backup printer and send the funky one off for service.

.bh.