Barcode printer maintenance is essential to your Houston, TX company’s label printer performance. A few barcode printer “maintenance minutes” per month will help your company be more efficient. Printer maintenance can prevent your label images from becoming faded, having broken text or UPC’s. This article will provide four barcode printer maintenance tips to help your Houston, TX company have the highest possible printing quality.
Barcode Printer Maintenance: Four Steps
Clean Your Printer Frequently
A first barcode printer maintenance strategy is to clean your printer frequently. Poor imaging, down time or wasted materials will be eliminated if your Houston, TX label printer is maintained regularly. For high to moderate volume printers, it is critical to clean the printer weekly to remove any dust particles and reduce ribbon residue build up on the printhead. In contrast, printers that are low volume in use can benefit from a cleaning once a month to remove anything that can contaminate the printhead and platen roller.
Clean the Printhead
The second recommended barcode printer maintenance strategy is to clean your printhead. Remove buildup from chemicals, paper dust, and ribbon coating from the printhead to prevent streaking and incomplete printing. This will also help prevent clogs which can permanently damage the printhead. The printhead should be cleaned when the thermal transfer ribbon or thermal transfer label roll is changed. The printheads (and platen roller) are fragile, so you should avoid touching them anywhere except on the edges and use only approved cleaners. The most common cleaning methods for printheads are using 99% isopropyl alcohol wipes or swabs or cleaning cards. Additionally, make sure to remove any jewelry and handle the printer carefully to avoid scratches and permanently, costly damage.
Climate Control and A Clean Environment
Dusty and moist Houston, TX environments can affect the quality of your imaging. Moisture can cause damage to the printhead. Therefore, controlling the humidity of the print room is critical for barcode printer maintenance. Also, dust can also get trapped and reduce print quality and damage the printhead. Having a clean environment is essential to your barcode printer maintanance.
Use Quality Materials
Another factor that can affect your printhead performance is the quality of the label material. Not only will using quality labels allow your printed labels to come out clearer, it will also work with your printer to ensure quality imaging.
Make sure to consistently follow the manufacturer’s barcode printer maintenance recommendations for your printer, including regular preventative maintenance. Routine inspections of the equipment can identify potential problems before they become worse and can minimize downtime while reducing the cost of repairs and serves. This will also extend the life of your label printer.
Call Barcode Southwest at 1-888-764-9965 to see how we can help your Houston, TX company’s production with proper barcode printer maintenance. Or, complete our contact form!
Barcode Southwest is a premier supplier of barcode printers and labels for a wide range of industry applications. We supply to clients all over the Southwest region of the U.S., including, but not limited to, Houston, TX, Austin, Dallas and San Antonio.
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Posted by Lucy February 25, 2019
Barcode Printers for Houston, Austin, Dallas and San Antonio.
