Every form of office or manufacturing equipment needs maintenance to a certain degree. The modern Toshiba barcode label printers have been designed to need as little maintenance as possible so as to save time on the shop floor and also to make use and accessibility as simple as possible. But at the end of the day regular attention to the working parts of a barcode label printer can effectively double the life of the Printhead (the most common repair needed on a thermal printer) and ultimately save money on the business budget in the long term. So here are a few tips to put money back in your business account:
A little alcohol never goes amiss
The point to remember about thermal transfer ribbons is for all their benefits, when in use they leave a tiny residue behind. This residue collects on the Printhead. The solution is simple and only needs to be affected once a ribbon is finished: Clean the Printhead with an alcohol pad containing 95% isopropyl alcohol. This can be obtained from most online stationary stockists.
Slow Down!
In order to get the most out of our equipment we tend use it at optimum capacity without considering what effect that is having on the machine overall. Barcode label printers come with different speed settings – speed will change Printhead temperature to maintain the appropriate resolution. Try running the printer at lower speeds and you may be pleasantly surprised at the outcome.
Now for a little dusting…
Paper dust is the invisible enemy, and just like the residue from the thermal ribbons it is abrasive to the Printhead – over time it will begin to scratch the Printhead. Isopropyl alcohol is the answer again. It is worth noting that if you are not using a thermal transfer printer it is more important to get rid of the paper dust as the Printhead is in direct contact with the paper label which is more damaging than the ribbon.
Cool it!
The temperature of the Printhead controls the print quality but id the resolution is too high the life of the Printhead is likely to be shortened. The solution for this is simple. Instead of using the label printer at its highest capacity, always check out the best temperature for a new label format first before doing the run. Start at low temperature until you find the optimum level.
Tanto labels provides a range of products and services, we supply, install and support World-class barcode label printers and associated hardware, combined with specialist label printing software and other value added services. Contact us
