Ribbon Issues

See zebra.com/zt400-info for videos on resolving commonly-encountered issues.

Issue	Possible Cause	Recommended Solution
Broken or melted ribbon	Darkness is set too high.	Perform the steps in Running the Print Wizard and Printing a Test Label. Print some labels using Evaluating Barcode Quality. If necessary, manually adjust the darkness or print speed settings. Set the print darkness to the lowest setting that provides good print quality. If you set the darkness too high, the label image may print unclearly, barcodes may not scan correctly, the ribbon may burn through, or the printhead may wear prematurely. Slower print speeds typically yield better print quality. Access the darkness and print speed settings from the Home screen by touching Menu Print Print Quality . For ways to change the darkness and print speed settings, see Print Settings. Clean the printhead thoroughly. See Cleaning the Printhead and Platen Roller. Clean the printhead thoroughly. See Cleaning the Printhead and Platen Roller.
Broken or melted ribbon	The ribbon is coated on the wrong side and cannot be used in this printer.	Replace the ribbon with one coated on the correct side. For more information, see Ribbon Determining the Type of Ribbon to Use.
Wrinkled ribbon	Ribbon was loaded incorrectly.	Load the ribbon correctly. See Loading the Ribbon. Load the ribbon correctly. See Loading the Ribbon.
	Incorrect burn temperature.	Perform the steps in Running the Print Wizard and Printing a Test Label. Print some labels using the Evaluating Barcode Quality. If necessary, manually adjust the darkness or print speed settings. Set the print darkness to the lowest setting that provides good print quality. If you set the darkness too high, the label image may print unclearly, barcodes may not scan correctly, the ribbon may burn through, or the printhead may wear prematurely. Slower print speeds typically yield better print quality. Access the darkness and print speed settings from the Home screen by touching Menu Print Print Quality . For ways to change the darkness and print speed settings, see Print Settings.
	Incorrect or uneven printhead pressure.	Set the printhead pressure to the minimum needed for good print quality. See Adjusting the Printhead Pressure. Set the printhead pressure to the minimum needed for good print quality. See Adjusting the Printhead Pressure.
	Media not feeding properly; “walking” from side to side.	Adjust the media guide until it just touches the edge of the media. If this does not solve the issue, check the printhead pressure. See Adjusting the Printhead Pressure Adjusting the Printhead Pressure. If necessary, call a service technician.
	The printhead or platen roller may be installed incorrectly.	Verify, if you can, that they are installed correctly. If necessary, call a service technician.
The printer does not detect when the ribbon runs out.	The printer may have been calibrated without ribbon or without the ribbon loaded properly.	Make sure that ribbon is loaded correctly so that it can be detected by the ribbon sensor. Under the printhead, the ribbon should track all the way back, near the printer’s firewall. See Loading the Ribbon. Make sure that ribbon is loaded correctly so that it can be detected by the ribbon sensor. Under the printhead, the ribbon should track all the way back, near the printer’s firewall. See Loading the Ribbon. Calibrate the printer. See Calibrating the Ribbon and Media Sensors.
In thermal transfer mode, the printer did not detect the ribbon even though it is loaded correctly.
The printer indicates that ribbon is out, even though the ribbon is loaded correctly.	The printer was not calibrated for the label and ribbon being used.	Calibrate the printer. See Calibrating the Ribbon and Media Sensors.