Poor Zebra 105SL Print Quality

January 27th, 2011 by Advanced AutomationSubscribe to our RSS Feed

We recently had a customer of our contact us with a touch (wink, wink) of frustration about how their Zebra printer was no longer good and didn’t do a good job of printing anymore. After one of our Zebra technicians did a quick look over their Zebra 105SL Printer, it was apparent that this customer didn’t posses a solid understand about Zebra printers. There are different degrees of a business’s understanding(or lack thereof) of Zebra printers and we see them all.

In our estimation, their Zebra printhead hadn’t been cleaned once since the printer arrived at their facility. The inventory barcode labels they produce looked horrible and we were impressed that even the very best barcode scanners out there could still read them. To resolve this issue, our Zebra Technician simply cleaned the printhead the best that it could be done. With that simple step, which every Zebra Printer owner should know and perform regularly, their Zebra 105SL came back to life!  Obviously there is still a few small streaks, but considering that’s printhead is over 2 years old, the print looks great.

Wow, what a difference.  Clean your Zebra Printheads folks.  Do it regularly! If you’re not sure how to properly clean a Zebra Printhead, let us know or visit this Advanced Automation, Inc. blog frequently as we have it lined up for a very nearby future post.

If you are ever interested in Zebra Printer Repair or have any other questions you’d like to see answered, please don’t hesitate to ask. We’re more than happy to continue doing our best to provide value to those around us!

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Good Printhead? Bad Printhead?

January 24th, 2011 by Advanced AutomationSubscribe to our RSS Feed

The thermal printhead is one of the “necessary evils” of thermal printers. Great production printers, such a Zebra Technology’s, give users the ability to kick out a lot of “on demand” and variable labels that can be incorporated into all types of production.  Additionally, the ability to print highly durable labels is a direct benefit of thermal printing technology too. Although when it comes time to replace a printhead… OUCH. They are expensive.

Over the next few weeks, we’ll dive into thermal printhead discussion that aims to give you a better understanding on how to elongate their life, maintain optimal printing resolution as well as common maintenance tips.  If you can’t wait for these tips and tricks, you know you can always rely on Advanced Automation and can simply give us a buzz or an email with your questions.

In the meantime, below is one of our first videos showing you how to perform a Pause Test with a ZM400 Zebra printer in order to determine the condition of your Zebra printhead.  You can see in the image to the right, the comparison of two separate Pause Test results… one with a good Zebra printhead and one with a bad Zebra printhead.

Need help with your thermal printheads or need pricing on replacement costs?

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Thermal Printing Trouble Shooting

June 9th, 2010 by Dr. BarcodeSubscribe to our RSS Feed

It Must be the Ribbons Fault!

You’ve loaded the labels and ribbon in your thermal transfer printer and start to print…but wait, the barcodes have poor edge definition, there are streaks or dead spots on them, pits or voids that cause inconsistent image quality, etc.  How many times have you heard – it must be the ribbons fault? Before you blame the ribbon, the problem might just be a simple printer adjustment.

Thermal Printing Trouble Shooting

If your barcodes and variable images aren’t sharp and crisp, lack clean edge definition, or have a
unbalanced print on them, chances are they also won’t scan and be unreadable. While these
problems can be frustrating, many times the printing problems you are experiencing are solved
with a simple printer adjustment. Following are some common printer problems and solutions to
fix them:

Loaded the labels and ribbon in my printer, but it is still not printing.

-Check to be sure the ribbon is loaded correctly (coated side in versus coated side out).

Label produces a dark/crisp print only on one side (left or right), the other side is faintor non-existent.

- Make sure your printhead is aligned.
- Or, that there is no residue or label material stuck to the printhead.
- Check for cuts in your platen roller.

Why are there pits or voids on my barcode?

- Make sure your printhead is clean. Use isopropyl alcohol and a lint-free cloth to wipe the
printhead and platen roller clean of dust and adhesive.
- Check your printhead for worn areas.

I have streaks or “dead spots” in my labels

- If the ribbon is wrinkled, check to make sure your printhead and guide bar are aligned.
- Try adjusting the printhead pressure and/or energy.
- Make sure your ribbon is slightly larger than your media.
- Adjust your rewind tension

Why am I getting poor edge definition, or have leading or trailing edge images that are translucent or “ghosting?”

- Printer is printing too fast, reduce the print speed.
- Printhead temperature is not adjusted properly for label stock.
- Increase printhead pressure.

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