Zebra Technologies Printers User Manual

Strata

Thermal Printers

User’s Manual

User’s Manual No. 980181-001 Rev. C

FOREWORD

This manual provides installation and operation information for the Eltron Strata LP (LP2684) and Strata TLP (TLP2684) printers, manufactured by Zebra Technologies Corporation, Camarillo, California.

This document contains information proprietary to Zebra Technologies Corporation. This docu ment and the information contained within iscopyrightedbyZebraTechnologiesCorporationand may not be duplicated in full or in part by any person without written approval from Zebra. While every effort has been made to keeptheinformationcontainedwithincurrentandaccurate as of the date of publication, no guarantee is given or implied that the document is error-free or that it is accurate with regard to any specification. Zebra reserves the righttomakechanges,forthepurposeof product improvement, at any time.

TRADEMARKS

Strata, Strata LP , Strata TLP,LP2684andTLP2684areservicemarksandEltron is atrademark of Zebra Technologies Corporation. Windows and MS-DOS are registered trademarks of Microsoft Corp. All other marks are trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective holders.

FCC NOTICE:

This equipment has been tested and found to comply with the limits of aClass A digital device, pur suant to Part 15 of the FCC Rules. These limits are designed to provide reasonable protection against harmful interference when the equipment is operated in a commercial environment. This equipment generates, uses andcan radiateradio frequency energyand, ifnot installed andused in accordance with theinstructions, maycause harmfulinterference to radio communications. How ever, there is no guarantee that interference will not occur in a particular installation. Operation of this equipment in a residential area islikely to cause harmful interference inwhich case the user will be required to correct the interference at his own expense.

INDUSTRY CANADA NOTICE:

This device complies with Industry Canada ICS-003 class A requirements.

Cet equipement est conforme a l’ICS-003 classe A de la norm Industrielle Canadian

980181-001 Rev.C

iii

WARRANTY INFORMATION

We Need To Hear From You!

To Establish Your Warranty Period And Provide Access To Technical Support,

Send Us Your Product Registration Card Today!

Zebra warrants the mechanism, control electronics and power supply, under normal use and ser vice, to be free from defects in material and workmanship for a period of twelve (12) months from the date of purchaseby theend user.Zebra warrants theprint head,under normaluse andservice, to be free from defects in material and workmanship for a period of ninety (90) days or 30KM of printing (whichever occurs first) from the date of purchase by the end user. Proof of purchase or product registration is required. If proof of purchase or product registration cannot be established, shipment date to the original buyer (dealeror distributor) will be used to establish the warranty pe riod.

Failure to exercise caution to protect the equipment from electrostatic discharge damage, adverse temperature and humidityconditions or physical abuse may void the warranty.Failure to use only Zebra approved media mayvoid thewarranty. Zebrawill, atits option,repair orreplace theequip ment or any parts which are determinedto be defective within this warranty period, and which are returned to Zebra F.O.B. factory of origin.

The warranty set forth above is exclusive and no other warranty, whether written or oral, is expressed or implied. Zebra specifically disclaims the implied warranties of merchantability and fitness for a particular purpose.

Table of Contents

Installation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1

Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1

Unpacking Your Printer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2

Installation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3

Operation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7

Your Printer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8

The FEED Control . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10

The STATUS Indicator. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12

Loading Labels

or Tags. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13

Loading Transfer Ribbons . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25

Removing A Partially Used Transfer Ribbon . . . . . . . . . . 31

Top Of Form Sensing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32

Using AutoSense. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33

Cleaning Your Printer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35

Cleaning the Print Head . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36

Cleaning Under the Sensor Bracket . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37

Using the Label Dispenser . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38

Troubleshooting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41

Where to Start . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41

Other Support Resources . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44

Serial Interface Communication Configuration. . . . . . . . . 45

Serial Interface Cable Wiring. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45

Tag Media Sensing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46

Printer Features . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47

Supplies and Accessories . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53

Using the Media Cutter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57

980181-001 Rev.C v

General Cautions and Warnings

These pages describe general safety and maintenance warnings and cautions for the printer. They are referenced throughout the manual. The manual may also include other warnings and cautions not displayed here.

Warning - Shock Hazard

The printer should never be operated in a location where it can get wet. Personal injury could result.

Warnung - Stromschlaggefahr - Der Drucker sollte nie an feuchten Standorten in Betrieb genommen werden. Es besteht erhöhte Verletzungs und Unfallgefahr.

Warning - Static Discharge

The discharge of electrostatic energy that accumulates on the surface of the human body or other surfaces can damage or destroy the print head or electronic components used in this device. DO NOT TOUCH the print head or the electronic components under the print head assembly.

Caution - Printer Setup & Handling

1)When installing or modifying the printer setup or configuration, ALWAYS TURN POWER OFF Before:

A) Connecting any cables. B) Performing any cleaning or maintenance operations. C) Moving the printer.

2) Damage to the printer interface connector, accessories or enclosure may result from placing the printer on it’s front bezel or backside during unpacking or handling.

vi 980181-001 Rev.C

Media Cautions & Tips

1) Always use high quality Eltron approved labels and tags. Eltron approved supplies can be ordered from your ELTRON dealer. For the name of a dealer in your area, call Eltron Customer Service at one ofthe numbers listed onthe back page of this manual.

2) If poor quality, adhesive backed labels are used, that DO NOT lay flat on the backing liner, the exposed edges may stick to the label guides and rollers inside the printer, causing the label to peel off from the liner and jam the printer.

3) DO NOT use non-Eltron transfer ribbon. Permanent damage to the print head may result if a non-Eltron ribbon is used. Non-Eltron ribbons maybe wound incorrectly for the printer or contain chemicals that may damage the print head.

4) IMPORTANT - If a transfer ribbon is installed incorrectly by the operator, damage to the print head may result.

5) DO NOT use a ribbon when printing with direct thermal media.

Media Reload Tip

If you should run outof labels or ribbonwhile printing, DO NOT turn the power switch OFF (0) while reloading or data loss may occur. The printer will automatically resume printing when a new label or ribbon roll is loaded.

Print Mode Control (TLP2684)

The printer is reconfigured for direct thermal (or thermal transfer) printing with the “O” command for the Strata TLP thermal transfer printer. See the EPL2 programmer's manual for details.

Print Quality Tip

Print density (darkness) is affected by the heat energy (density setting) applied and by the print speed. Changing both Print Speed and Density may be required to achieve the desired results.

980181-001 Rev.C

vii

viii 980181-001 Rev.C

Installation

This section provides information on the installation of the printer and software.

Introduction The Strata printer models are low cost, manu-

facturing oriented, thermal desktop printers. The Strata LP is a direct thermal printer. The Strata TLP is a thermal transfer and direct thermal printer. The printers have been specifically designed for printing large labels, hazardous material labels, small signs, fan-fold media, and shipping and receiving labels while operating in office to industrial environments.

The printer features sturdy construction, a small footprint, a heavy-duty motor, and sharp, reli able printing up to 8.5 inches (216 mm) wide. The print head resolution of a Strata printer is 203 dpi (8 dots/mm).

The printer can print letter (8.5”x 11”) and A4 (210mm x 297mm) sizes. Print forms up to 8.5 inches (216 mm) wide and 22 inches (558.8 mm) long or two times A4 (210mm x 594mm) size with optional memory added.

980181-001 Rev.C 1

Installation

User Documentation

&Software

Unpacking Your

Printer

Open the shipping carton and remove the printer and its accessories.

Check List

Printer

Power Cord

Media Holder and Retainers

Cleaning Pen (for print head)

Sample Label Roll

Sample Transfer Ribbon Roll (TLP only)

Ribbon Core (TLP only)

Software and Documentation CD

980181-001 Rev.C

Installation

Part No.: 120XXX-XXX

Serial No.:XXXXXXXX

Input Power:115VAC 6.3A 50/60Hz

Installation The following steps will guide you through the

installation of the printer and software.

Step ➊

Attach Power

Check Voltage

rtN

eri

lNo.

.:120 In pu

XX-

XX 5 V AC6

. 3A50

H z

O = Off

See Warnings - Page vi

980181-001 Rev.C 3

Installation

Step ➋ Attach

Interface Cable

Parallel Interface

Serial Interface

For additional information on serial cable wir

ing, refer to Appendix A.

980181-001 Rev.C

Step ➌ Apply

Power

Installation

I = On

If the indicator fails to light, refer to Appendix A - Troubleshooting.

980181-001 Rev.C 5

Installation

Step ➍ Install

Software

Start your computer. Follow the installation instructions on the disk label to install the software.

Refer to Section 2 - Operation, for information on loading labels and using your printer.

980181-001 Rev.C

Operation

This section provides information on the operation of the printers.

All user control (and adjustment) printer features are identified by green parts.

980181-001 Rev.C 7

Operation

Your Printer

Cover Release Buttons 8 Carriage Lock/Release Lever

Feed Button

2 3 Status Indicator : Transmissive (Gap) Sensor

4 Media Roll Holder Adjustment Gear 5 Media Roll Retainers ; Transmissive (Gap) Sensor 6 Lower Media Stand Position Indicator

(Printing Position) < Reflective (Black Mark) Sensor

7 Upper Media Stand = Platen Roller

(Loading Position) > Media Guides

Media Guide Adjustment Gear

8 980181-001 Rev.C

Operation

1 Batch/Dispense Select Switch 8 Ribbon Supply Spindle 2 Serial Interface 9 Ribbon Sensor 3 Parallel Interface : Label-Taken Sensor 4 Power Cord Receptacle ; Dispenser Bar 5 On/Off Switch < Label Liner Exit 6 Fan-Fold Media Entry = Release for Transmissive (Gap) 7 Ribbon Take-up Spindle Sensor Guide Bar Bracket

980181-001 Rev.C 9

Operation

The FEED Control The FEED button controls specific printer

functions: feeding media (labels, tags or continuous media), loading media, pausing printing, and initiating AutoSense (Dump Mode).

Use the FEED control button in normal opera tion by tapping or holding the button.

•

Tapping the FEED Button with labels loaded will cause the paper to advance to the top of the next label. This action is referred to as a “Form Feed”.

•

While Printing, Tapping the FEED Button will pause batch printing (at the next label gap) with indicator green flashing red. Press ing the FEED Button again will resume print ing with the next label in the batch process.

980181-001 Rev.C

Operation

Holding the FEED button down will cause

•

the printer to continuously Form Feed until the button is released. The printer will feed the media until the next top of form is reached.

Holding the FEED button without media

•

loaded will cause the printer to continuously (line) feed until the button is released or me dia is detected. This is useful when reloading media in the printer and is also known as “Power Media Loading”.

Holding the FEED button down while pow

•

ering up the printer with media loaded will cause the printer to enter the AutoSense mode. See AutoSense on page 33 for important details.

Always run the AutoSense procedure when loading new batch or type of media. Media from the same manufacturing lot and having identical dimensions do not need to have the AutoSense procedure run every time new media is loaded.

The Form Feed length is set by printer programming (Q) command in EPL2 programming language or the AutoSense feature, an automatic label and gap length sensing operation. See AutoSense, page 33.

Continuous media with no label gaps, containing black marks or notch holes, require programming to set the form length and feed distance.

980181-001 Rev.C 11

Operation

The STATUS

Indicator

The STATUS indicator is a power and status in dicator. When the printer power is first switched ON (1), the STATUS indicator will glow GREEN, indicating that the printer is ready for operation.

Indicator Color Meaning

GREEN

GREEN Blinking

GREEN with RED

Blinking Twice

AMBER

RED

Flashing

DARK

1) Power ON, ready for use.

2) Printing, operation normal. Interface Activity Printer PAUSED

(during a batch print operation)

1) Command Error condition

2) Command Syntax Error

1) Media Out (printing)

2) Ribbon Out (printing)

3) Power-up failure Print Carriage Open

Power OFF.

Refer to Appendix A for additional information on troubleshooting error conditions.

980181-001 Rev.C

Operation

Loading Labels

or Tags

Step 1 Open the printer. Press the two green release

Your printer can print on adhesive backed la bels, non-adhesive tags or continuous media (typically paper). The printer is capable of using media on a roll or fan fold media.

buttons on the sides of the printer to open the cover.

980181-001 Rev.C 13

+ 48 hidden pages