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	Fri. 9 May. 2008
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The Thermal Transfer Print Quality Troubleshooting Chart is a guide with helpfull tips on resolving a variety of common problems encountered with Thermal Transfer printing.

Choose the symptom that best relates to your printing problems:

Poor Edge Defenition (barcode and alphanumerics)

Bar Codes Smearing (bar codes edges "bleeding" or "feathering")

Bars in Bar Codes Are Too Wide or Too Narrow Resulting In a Poor Scan Grade

Insufficient Print Contrast: Bars Are Not Dark Enough, Spaces Are Not Light Enough

Printed Image Is Full, but Grayish or "Translucent"

Voids in Printed Image: Areas Where There Is No Print

Repetitive Voids in Image

Streaks or "Dead Spots" in Printed Image

Not Printing Any Image (or barely any image)

Ribbon Wrinkling

Ribbon Breaking

Ribbon Slippage: Ribbon and Label Not Advancing at the Same Rate

Excessive Sticking Between Ribbon and Label

Excessive Noise During Printing

Die-Cut Labels Continue to Feed Without "Calibrating"

Printer Doesn't Stop When Out of Ribbon

Printer Stalls or Will Not Print

Trouble Removing Used Ribbon From Take-up Shaft

Premature Printhead Failure

Poor edge defenition (bar code and alphanumerics)

Possible Cause

Corrective Action

Print speed is too high	Reduce print speed; do not rotate symbol
Ribbon and media are incompatible	Test alternate ribbon or media

Bar codes smearing (bar codes edges "bleeding" or "feathering")

Possible Cause

Corrective Action

Printhead energy setting is too high	Reduce energy setting until bar edges are clean
Print speed is too high	Reduce print speed
Rotated ("ladder" style) bar code is being used	Change label design to include only normal ("picket fence" style) bar codes

Bars in bar codes are too wide or too narrow resulting in a poor scan grade

Possible Cause

Corrective Action

Print speed is too high	Reduce print speed
Printhead energy setting is too high / too low	Adjust to optimize average bar growth (visually or with verifier)
Underburn (not enough ribbon transfer)	Increase printhead energy setting or use a ribbon with higher sensitivy (refers to ribbons requiring less energy)
Overburn (too much ribbon transfer)	Reduce printhead energy setting or use ribbon with lower sensitivity (refers to ribbons requiring more energy)
Bars too thick	Reduce printhead energy setting

Insufficient print contrast: bars are not dark or spaces are not light enough

Possible Cause

Corrective Action

Print speed is too high	Reduce print speed
Printhead energy setting is too high / too low	Adjust to optimize average bar growth (visually or with verifier)
Underburn (not enough ribbon transfer)	Increase printhead energy setting or use a ribbon with higher sensitivy (refers to ribbons requiring less energy)
Overburn (too much ribbon transfer)	Reduce printhead energy setting or use ribbon with lower sensitivity (refers to ribbons requiring more energy)
Bars too thick	Reduce printhead energy setting

Printed image is full, but grayish or "translucent"

Possible Cause

Corrective Action

Printhead energy setting is too high	Reduce energy setting
Printhead pressure is too high	Reduce printhead pressure
Underburn (not enough ribbon transfer)	Increase printhead energy setting or use a ribbon with higher sensitivy (refers to ribbons requiring less energy)
Overburn (too much ribbon transfer)	Reduce printhead energy setting or use ribbon with lower sensitivity (refers to ribbons requiring more energy)
Bars too thick	Reduce printhead energy setting

Voids in printed image: areas where there is no print

Possible Cause

Corrective Action

Dust on label	Remove dust with compressed air Place static tinsel across label unwind
Tag or label surface is inconsistent (including color flood coating)	Choose face sheet or flood coating links specially designed for thermal transfer
Ribbon and media are incompatible	Test alternative ribbon or media
Printhead elements or "dots" are burned out	Replace printhead
Printhead misalignment	Check for alignment-related defects with a known well-performing ribbon/media combination; realign if necessary

Repetitive voids in image

Possible Cause

Corrective Action

Printhead elements or "dots" are dirty or obstructed	Clean printhead with presaturated cleaning card, or soft-stemmed Q-tip and isopropyl alcohol
Printhead elements or "dots" are burned out or worn down	Replace printhead

Streaks or "dead spots" in printed image

Possible Cause

Corrective Action

Ribbon is wrinkled	See ribbon wrinkling
Poor coating quality on tag or label surface	Contact media supplier for assistance
Printhead elements or "dots" are dirty	Clean printhead with presaturated cleaning card, or soft-stemmed Q-tip and isopropyl alcohol

Not Printing Any Image (or barely any image)

Possible Cause

Corrective Action

Ribbon is loaded backwards	Use tape to determine "ink side" of ribbon (ink will come off on tape).
Ribbon and media are incompatible	Test alternative ribbon or media

Ribbon wrinkling

Possible Cause

Corrective Action

Printhead is misaligned	Realign printhead
Guide-bar is misaligned	Realign guide-bar
Printhead energy setting is too high	Reduce printhead energy setting
Rewind tension is greater then unwind tension	Adjust tension (unwind should be greater then rewind)
Ribbon is feeding unevenly	Remove supply roll and used ribbon from take-up shaft; reload ribbon making sure film is feeding straight to rewind shaft; not pulling in one direction
Label liner is migrating out of feed path	Make sure ribbon width is equal to or slightly greater than media width

Ribbon breaking

Possible Cause

Corrective Action

Printhead elements or "dots" are dirty or obstructed	Clean printhead with presaturated cleaning card or soft-stemmed Q-tip and isopropyl alcohol
Obstruction in ribbon feed path	Check for and remove label, tag or other particles from feed path and printhead assembly
Printhead energy setting is too high	Reduce printhead energy setting
Printhead pressure is too high	Reduce printhead pressure
Printer set on direct thermal mode	Set printer to thermal transfer mode
Unwind tension is too high	Reduce unwind tension
Backcoat - not there/insufficient	Replace ribbon and contact your ribbon supplier

Ribbon slippage: ribbon and label not advancing at the same rate

Possible Cause

Corrective Action

Rewind tension is too low	Increase rewind tension
Ribbon is sticking to printhead	Clean printhead with presaturated cleaning card or soft-stemmed Q-tip and isopropyl alcohol
Label surface is too slick for ribbon	Test different ribbon grades or change to a matte-coated label stock in place of gloss
Unwind tension is too high	Reduce unwind tension

Excessive sticking between ribbon and label

Possible Cause

Corrective Action

Printhead energy setting is too high	Set energy setting as low as possible while still achieving acceptable print quality
Printhead pressure is too high	Reduce printhead pressure
Angle at which label is existing the printer is too steep	Adjust angle down
Unwind tension is too high	Reduce unwind tension

Excessive noise during printing

Possible Cause

Corrective Action

Printhead energy setting is too high	Set energy setting as low as possible while still achieving acceptable print quality
"Strip Plate" on printer is not adjusted properly	Lower strip plate

Die-cut labels continue to feed without "calibrating"

Possible Cause

Corrective Action

Label sensor is dirty or obstructed	Clean sensor with soft-stem Q-tip and isopropyl alcohol or compressed air
Printer is set in "continuous" mode	Change seting to "label" mode in label software
Die-cut label lenght is less than minimum lenght for specific printer model	Change to a "two-up" format
Label sensor may not be alligned properly with gap between die cut labels	Realign label sensor

Printer doesn't stop when out of ribbon

Possible Cause

Corrective Action

Label sensor is dirty or obstructed	Clean sensor with soft-stem Q-tip and isopropyl alcohol or compressed air
Ribbon sensor is out of position	Align sensor properly
Ribbon "trailer" is incorrect for specific printer model	Contact your ribbon supplier to confirm that the correct trailer is attached

Printer stalls or will not print

Possible Cause

Corrective Action

Ribbon or media is not loaded properly	Reload ribbon and media, making sure both pass under respected sensors
Ribbon ink density is too light to be "seen" by ribbon sensor	Consult printer manual or contact printer manufacturer or VAR for instructions on calibrating sensor
Ribbon or media sensors are dirty or obstructed	Clean sensors with soft-stemmed Q-tip and isopropyl alchohol or compressed air
Label liner is too opaque to be "seen" by label gap sensor	Consult printer manual, or contact printer manufacturer or VAR for instructions on recalibrating sensor, or contact label manufacturer for liner alternatives
Printer is in "label" mode and you are running "continuous" material	Change media type to "continuous" on printer or in label software

Trouble removing used ribbon from take-up shaft

Possible Cause

Corrective Action

Rewind tension is too high

Reduce rewind tension and/or begin using empty cores on rewind shaft as take-up cores

Prematureprinthead failure

Possible Cause

Corrective Action

Excessive thermal stress	Make sure printhead energy is set as low as possible while still printing an acceptable image
Printhead pressure is too high	Choose thinner gauge media or reduce printhead pressure
Insufficient printhead maintenance	Printheads must be cleaned after every ribbon or media roll change. Use a presaturated cleaning card or a soft-stemmed Q-tip or cottin cloth to eliminate plastic label liner dust which is drawn to the printhead while the machine is running and can fuse to printhead surface causing elements to burn out
Rewind tension is too high	Reduce rewind tension
Label surface is uneven (containing a hologram or raised area)	Make sure ribbon width is equal to or slighly greater than media width