Magtek ExpressCard 500 User Manual
MagTek® Inc., 1710 Apollo Court, Seal Beach, CA 90740 | p 562-546-6400 | f 562-546-6301 | 800-788-6835 | www.magtek.com
Registered to ISO 9001:2008 © Copyright 2014 MagTek, Inc. PN 99875172 rev. 10.06 8/14
ExpressCard 500
User Guide
The ExpressCard 500 delivers dual-sided color printing, magstripe encoding, and contact and contactless smart card personalization all in the fastest at
card printer on the market. The ExpressCard 500 personalizes cards in bulk or individually for sophisticated, premium-quality, edge-to-edge production for a
variety of card applications. Financial institutions will appreciate the printers’ exibility, print quality and ease-of-use coupled with the high-quality, affordable
consumables for producing all kinds of payment cards including ATM, Gift, Debit and Credit cards.
MagTek offers at card printing
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Copyright© 2014
MagTek®, Inc.
Printed in the United States of America
Information in this document is subject to change without notice. No part of this document may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any
means, electronic or mechanical, for any purpose, without the express written permission of MagTek, Inc.
MagTek® is a registered trademark of MagTek, Inc.
USB (Universal Serial Bus) Specication is Copyright© 1998 by Compaq Computer Corporation, Intel Corporation, Microsoft Corporation, NEC
Corporation.
About MagTek
Since 1972, MagTek has been a leading manufacturer of electronic devices and systems for the reliable issuance, reading, transmission and security
of cards, checks, PINs and other identication documents. Leading with innovation and engineering excellence, MagTek is known for quality and
dependability. Its products include secure card reader authenticators, small document scanners, PIN pads and card personalization and issuance
systems. These products are used worldwide by nancial institutions, retailers, hotels, law enforcement agencies and other organizations to provide
secure and efcient electronic payment and identication transactions.
Today, MagTek continues to innovate with the development of a new generation of Protection Services secured by the MagneSafe™ Security
Architecture. By leveraging strong encryption, secure tokenization, real-time authentication and dynamic transaction data, MagneSafe products enable
users to assess and validate the trustworthiness of credentials used for online identication, payment processing and other high-value electronic
transactions.
SUPPORT
Located in Minneapolis, the Support Center provides rst level technical support for all MagTek products.
Please contact one of our Representatives at 651-415-6800.
Please have the product part number or serial number available.
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Table of Contents
Getting started 5
Unpacking 5
Description 6-7
Installation 8
Ribbons 9
Cards 10-14
Printing 15
Installation and Management 15
Graphics and Tools tabs 16
Printing using QwickCards.com 17
Maintenance 18
Routine cleaning 19
Servicing the cleaning rollers 22
Servicing the print head 23
Help 24
Warnings and Diagnosis 25
Diagnosis Help 28
Troubleshooting 29
Poor print quality 30
Partial or Incorrect printing 31
Freeing jammed cards 32
Replacing the cleaning rollers 33
Replacing the print head 33-36
Updating the Firmware (under Windows) 37
Updating the Print Driver 38
Technical Support 38
Appendices 39
Appendix A
Technical Specications
39 - 40
Appendix B
Encoding
41 - 47
Magnetic Stripe Encoding 41
Smartcard Encoding 44
Appendix C
Spare Parts
48
Limited Warranty 49
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About your new printer
Thank you for choosing an ExpressCard 500. Using your new printer, you will be able to create a wide variety of high-quality cards
and badges which can be printed in various thicknesses, colors and styles. This printer uses consumables and accessories available
from MagTek. For further details, visit our website at www.magtek.com.
Warranty registration
Please register on line at www.magtek.com to receive our special offers and general information. Once on the website, click on
Drivers and Support and ll in all the elds, giving in particular the model and serial number found on your printer.
Getting started
The purpose of this user guide is to guide you, step by step, through your printer and how it works. Take some time to read it in order
to better understand your printer and its features, and to save time during installation and use. As with all MagTek products, a great
deal of care has been taken over this manual. Should you nd an error, however, please let us know by e-mailing us at info@MagTek.com.
Contents
The bookmarks found top left of your screen can be used to navigate between the various sections in this user guide.
Icons
The following icons are used in this manual to highlight important information:
Information providing further details or depth about certain points in the main text.
Indicates that failing to take the recommended action is liable to damage your printer.
This symbol indicates that a video showing the procedure is available on the www.magtek.com website.
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1. Getting started
1-1 Unpacking
Your printer is supplied with several accessories that we ask you to look at closely.
This list may vary depending on your location.
The printer is shipped in special packaging designed to prevent any damage in transit. If you notice any visible damage, do not hesitate
to contact the shipper and immediately inform your MagTek dealer, who will tell you the procedure to follow.
MagTek takes great care over the quality of its packaging and we ask that you keep this packaging somewhere clean and dry.
You will be asked for the full original packaging (outer box, inner wedges and protective bags) in the event that the printer is
returned. If the printer is returned without its original packaging and components are damaged in transit, these components
will no longer be covered by the warranty. You will be charged for new packaging for shipping the printer back to you.
Accessories supplied with your printer:
• Power supply unit - VP ELECTRONIQUE or SWITCHBOX Type F10723-A or Type EA10723
• Mains power cable
• USB cable
• Drivers CD-ROM
• Starter cleaning kit
• Quick installation guide
If any of these components is missing, please contact your MagTek dealer.
Use only the power supply unit supplied with your ExpressCard 500.
VP ELECTRONIQUE or SWITCHBOX Type F10723-A or Type EA10723.
Use only the USB cable supplied with your ExpressCard 500.
The ExpressCard 500 must be placed in a dry location, protected from dust and draughts but well-ventilated. Take care to keep
your printer on a at, sturdy surface able to bear its weight.
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1-2 Description of the printer and its functions
A - Output hopper
B - Cover opening button
C - Card input feeder
D - Control panel
E - Manual card feed (option)
F - Carrying handle
G - DB-9 connector (option)
H - Power cable socket
I - USB socket (std)
J - Ethernet socket (option)
Control
button
End of
ribbon
Cleaning
No cards Cover
open
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K - Card turnover area
L - Magnetic encoder (option)
M - Cleaning roller
N - Card thickness adjustment gauge
O - Thermal print head
P - Serial number label
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1-3 Installation
1-3a CONNECTING THE PRINTER
>> Connection to the power supply
The printer must be connected to a properly protected and earthed electrical installation.
FI: Laite on liitettävä suojamaadoitus koskettimilla varustettuun pistorasiaan.
NO: Apparatet må tilkoples jordet stikkontakt.
SE: Apparaten skall anslutas till jordat uttag.
1. Connect the power cable to the power supply unit, then plug the power cable connector into the printer.
2. Next, plug the end of the power cable into an earthed power socket.
3. The printer is powered on, and the printer’s control panel lights up, indicating that the printer is working properly. If the control
panel does not light, then either installation has not been carried out correctly or the printer is not working properly. Check the
installation.
Before attempting any maintenance, ensure that the power cable is always unplugged. For your personal safety, ensure that
the cable and power supply unit remain easy to access, especially in the event of an emergency.
To save energy, the printer will automatically switch itself to standby mode after 10 minutes of inactivity.
>> Connecting the USB cable.
Under no circumstances should you connect the USB data cable before installation of the printer driver is complete.
Refer to the section on printer driver installation for further details, and follow the instructions carefully.
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1-3b RIBBONS
MagTek original ribbons optimize your printer’s operation and avoid causing damage to it. The use of ribbons from other suppliers is
liable to damage your printer and voids the manufacturer’s warranty for the printer. For optimum print quality, MagTek recommends that
the printer is fully cleaned every time the ribbon is changed. See the Servicing and Maintenance section of this manual.
>>Fitting the ribbon
Ensure that the appropriate ribbon type is selected in the print driver.
1. Open the cover.
2. Insert the ribbon as shown.
3. Close the cover and press until a click is heard
1 2 3
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1-3c CARDS
For optimum quality, the cards used must be ISO 7810 certied.
Use only the card types recommended by MagTek.
Do not touch the printable surface of the cards in order to preserve print quality.
Do not use cards that have been damaged, folded, embossed or dropped on the oor.
Keep your cards protected from dust.
>>Loading the cards
1. Remove the card feeder.
2. Turn the feeder over and insert the cards. Ensure the cards are positioned as illustrated in the diagram.
3. Put the feeder back into the printer and press until a click is heard.
1 2 3
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>>Removing printed cards
Once the print cycle is complete, cards are delivered into the output hopper found on the left of the device. This output hopper is de-
signed to collect the printed and/or encoded cards. The printer is equipped with an output hopper with a capacity of 50 x 0.76 mm cards.
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>>Adjusting card thickness
The printer is equipped with a manual card thickness adjustment mechanism which can be reached either through the card feeder or
through the inside of the printing unit when the cover is open. The printer accepts cards between 0.25 mm and 1 mm thick. The factory
setting for card thickness is 0.76 mm.
Adjusting card thickness through the feeder cage:
1. Remove the card feeder from the printer as shown.
2. Adjust the thickness of the cards used by moving the lever from right to left to the desired card thickness.
3. Put the feeder back into the printer by pressing on the upper section of the feeder until it clicks.
1 2 3
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Adjusting card thickness from inside of the printer:
1. Open the printer cover by pressing on the opening lever, then tilt the cover up.
2. If necessary, remove any ribbon inside the printer. Then adjust the thickness of the cards used by moving the lever from right to left
to the desired card thickness
3. Replace the ribbon in the printer, then close the cover.
1 2 3
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>>Inserting cards manually
The printer may optionally be equipped with a manual feeder for inserting cards individually.
The manual feeder option needs to be congured via the printer driver’s Properties, under the “Graphics” tab.
Choose “Manual feed” from the “Card management - input” menu and select the desired output method from the menu.
The manual card feeder is installed as follows:
1. Remove the card feeder from the printer as shown.
2. Using the lever, set the card thickness to the MAX position.
3. Place the manual card feeder in the printer as shown. Then press on the upper section of the feeder until it clicks.
4. Insert the cards, as indicated.
1
2
3
4
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2. Printing
The information about the procedures described in this section refers to a Windows XP environment.
2-1 Installing the print driver
Conguration of the printer and its driver is a very important step and requires very special care. In fact, inappropriate settings are a
factor having a negative impact on the quality of card customization. It is therefore essential to proceed in stages, changing settings only
when you are completely sure. MagTek offers the option to revert to the factory settings at any time if the adjustments made do not give
the expected results. Your printer is delivered with a CD containing the print drivers for Windows and Macintosh platforms. To install a
print driver, insert the CD into your computer and select the print driver menu. A program will guide you through the entire installation
process.
Do not connect your USB cable to your computer until prompted to do so by the installation program. For the connection
procedure, see the section on Connecting the Printer.
Follow the installation procedure scrupulously. Some versions of Windows and Macintosh require the user to have
administrator rights to install the driver.
2-2 Managing the print settings
Before using your printer, it is essential to check and/or change the default print driver settings:
• Ribbon type
• Card type
• Card nish or treatment
You will nd more detailed information about the cards recommended by MagTek in the ‘MagTek Genuine Product’ list of
consumables.
Pay attention to the settings dened under the print driver Properties and do not hesitate to contact your MagTek dealer for any
advice and assistance needed before making any changes.
These print settings are accessible:
• From the Start button found bottom-left on the Windows task bar, select Printers and faxes.
• Select your printer and double click.
• From the Printer menu, select Properties.
• The rst properties conguration screen for the equipment then appear
• The main tabs used to dene the settings are “Graphics” and “Tools”.
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