Troubleshooting; Introduction; What You Should Know About Print Quality - Printronix SLPA8000 User Manual

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Introduction

This chapter lists fault messages and symptoms, and gives procedures for
troubleshooting printer malfunctions.
You must operate the printer to check its performance and you may have to
reconfigure it.

What You Should Know About Print Quality

The print quality of a thermal printer is affected most by the amount of heat
applied by the printhead to the media and by the location of the printhead in
relation to the print media.
Low-cost direct thermal media often have very high reaction temperatures,
which means that it takes a great deal of heat to make a clear image. Resin
ribbons and film media may also require higher print intensity for a quality
image.
You can increase the heat applied by the printhead in three ways:
1. Set the Print Intensity configuration parameter to a higher numerical
value with a command from the host computer or by accessing the
MEDIA CONTROL menu with the control panel. (See "Configuring The
SLPA" on page 71.) This causes more heat to be transferred to the print
media, thus generating a darker image.
2. Run the printer slower.
3. Do both 1 and 2.
IMPORTANT
Keep the printhead clean. Foreign material on the printhead interferes
with heat transfer. If smears, voids, or white lines appear on printed
forms, clean the printhead (page 189).

Troubleshooting

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