I have a number of Datamax I-4208 printers in my shop. When they work they work for months on end without any issues. However, when they start to have issues they basically shut down production. My particular issue is that the label will be moving through the printer just fine and printing perfect bar codes, then randomly the thermal ribbon will stop moving and the paper media will keep going. This results in a ghost image on that label and possible the next one.
The way we have been mitigating the issues are putting the printer on pause and the applying downward pressure on the print head assembly. The cam adjuster is all the way down and most of the time the labels come out good. However, if it does this once, there is a good chance the next one will do the same. Any ideas? I have been through the manual and have been dealing with these printers for a while so I am experienced with the hardware.
I have:
- Cleaned the print head
- Cleaned the platen roller
- Loosened the locking screws and adjusted the print head, then re-secured the locking screws.
These are very good printers no doubt but ironically small problems like this will get me calls on the weekends. Any help appreciated.