Section 4. Cleaning And Maintenance; Introduction; Procedures; Adjusting The Print Quality - SATO XL400 Operator And Technical Reference Manual

CLEANING AND MAINTENANCE

INTRODUCTION

This section provides information on user maintenance for the XL Series printers. The
following information is covered in this section:

Adjusting the Print Quality

Cleaning the Print Head, Platen and Rollers

PROCEDURES

ADJUSTING THE PRINT QUALITY
The XL printers are equipped with two different methods of adjusting the quality of
the print: print darkness and speed. When adjusting the printer for optimum print
quality, a bar code verifier system should be used. The human eye is a poor judge of
the relative widths of the bars in a symbol, a characteristic that is extremely
important for good bar code quality.
Darkness (Print)
This adjustment allows the user to control (within a specified range) the amount of
power that is used to activate the individual print head heat elements. It is important
to find a proper print darkness level based on your particular label and ribbon
combination. The printed images should not be too light nor should the ink from the
ribbon "bleed." The edges of each image should be crisp and well defined.
LCD Panel - The Print Darkness can be set using the front panel LCD panel (see
page 3-8) or by downloading the setting using the Print Darkness software command
(see page 5-49). There are three ranges, 1 (Low), 2 (Medium) and 3 (High). Once
the range has been selected, the DARKNESS potentiometer on the Control panel can
be used to make finer adjustments.
DARKNESS Potentiometer - The fine adjustment for Print Darkness is the
Darkness potentiometer on the operator panel. It provides a continuous range of
adjustment, allowing you to make precise changes. Use a small cross-point
screwdriver, turning clockwise for darker print and counterclockwise for lighter print.
See Section 3: Configuration for instructions on performing potentiometer
adjustments.
NOTE: The PRINT potentiometer adjustment will affect the darkness in all of the
command code speed ranges, i.e. if the PRINT potentiometer is adjusted for lighter
print, the darkness will be lighter in all speed ranges selected by the command code.
SATO XL Series Printers
SECTION 4.
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