Loading the Ribbon

Loading the Ribbon

You do not have to turn printer power off when working near an open printhead, but Zebra recommends it as a precaution. If you turn off the power, you will lose all temporary settings, such as label formats, and you must reload them before you resume printing.
To protect the printhead from wear, use ribbon that is wider than the media.
Ribbon must be coated on the outside for use in a standard printer. For more information, see What Kind of Ribbon Can I Use?.
  1. Raise the media door.
    Raising the media door
    The printhead may be hot and could cause severe burns. Allow the printhead to cool.
  2. Open the printhead assembly by rotating the printhead-open lever upward.
    Opening the printhead assembly
  3. Place the roll of ribbon on the ribbon supply spindle with the loose end of the ribbon unrolling as shown. Push the roll back as far as it will go.
    Use caution around metal edges when loading media onto the media supply spindle.
    Placing the roll of ribbon on the spindle
  4. Bring the ribbon under the printhead assembly and around its left side, as shown.
    Bring ribbon under the printhead assembly
  5. With the ribbon tracking as far back as it can under the printhead assembly, wrap the ribbon around the ribbon take-up spindle. Rotate the spindle several turns in the direction shown to tighten and align the ribbon.
    Wrapping the ribbon around the ribbon take-up spindle
  6. If media is not loaded in the printer, complete the steps in Loading the Media, continue with the next steps in this procedure. If media is loaded, proceed to the next step.
  7. Rotate the printhead-open lever downward until it locks the printhead in place.
    Rotate printhead open lever downward
  8. Close the media door.
    Close media door
  9. If necessary, press
    PAUSE
    to enable printing.