Ribbon Issues

Ribbon Issues

Use this information to assess problems that may occur with ribbon, the possible causes, and the recommended solutions.
Problem
Possible Cause
Recommended Solution
Broken or melted ribbon
Darkness setting too high.
Reduce the darkness setting. See Print Darkness in Settings for information on changing the darkness setting. Clean the printhead thoroughly. See Cleaning the Printhead and Platen Roller.
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 'What Kind of Ribbon Can I Use" in Ribbon.
Wrinkled ribbon
Ribbon was loaded incorrectly.
Load the ribbon correctly. See Loading the Ribbon.
Incorrect burn temperature.
For optimal print quality, set the darkness to the lowest possible setting for your application. You may want to assess barcode quality (see Evaluating Barcode Quality) to determine the ideal darkness setting.
See Print Darkness in Settings for information on changing the darkness setting.
Incorrect or uneven 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.
Make sure that media is snug by adjusting the media guide, or call a service technician.
The printhead or platen roller may be installed incorrectly.
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
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 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.