Printing too light/Tearing ribbon

(ZC300)


If a ZC300 printer is printing too light or is tearing ribbon, there is a good chance that the issue has to do with the printhead resistance setting on the machine. The lower the printhead resistance the lighter the printer will print images, the higher the printhead resistance the printer is more likely to tear ribbons.


This setting can be found in the "Printing Preferences" of your ZC300 printer.

Changing Printhead Resistance

On a computer running Windows 10, the steps to get to the screen shown on the right are as follows:


 

Once you have reached this screen, click on "Advanced Settings" in the upper right-hand corner (highlighted by the red arrow in image)

Once you have reached the "Advanced Settings" Click on "Sensors and Calibration" on the right hand side table of contents.


In the "Sensors and Calibration" dropdown, select "Calibration"


In the upper right hand corner of the "Calibration" screen you will see a text box titled "Resistance" (circled in red) that has a number in it.


You can also recalibrate the ribbon sensor on this screen by clicking the blue "Calibrate" button at the bottom when "Ribbon is selected in the dropdown. This can help solve some ribbon issues.

If there is a printhead in the printer, you should be able to pop the top of the machine open and look at the printhead.


On the front face, there should be a sticker with some letters and numbers. Towards the middle, there will be an "R" followed by a 4-digit number. This 4-digit number is the "ideal" printhead resistance for this particular printhead.


The printhead resistance number that we see in the advanced settings of the printer preferences is tied to the printer, not the printhead. This means that if you have a printer and swap the printheads, you will likely have to adjust the printhead resistance as well.


Now, with that being said, the "ideal" printhead resistance might not actually be "ideal". Each printer interacts with each printhead differently and might need the printhead resistance to be slightly higher or lower than was is printed on the sticker.

Now that we know what the printhead resistance should be for this printhead, we will go back to our "Calibration" screen and update the resistance value to what is on our printhead.


Once you have done this do not forget to click on "Apply"


If your print is still printing too light or is tearing the ribbon because the printhead resistance is too high, you may need to adjust the printhead resistance again.


Adjustments to the printhead resistance should follow these general rules:

1. Adjustments of 10 - 25 are relatively small and will get you where you need to go if you are already close

2. Adjustments of 75 - 100 are large changes in resistance and can greatly change the printer's output.


Making the printhead resistance higher will make light prints darker


Making the printhead resistance lower will reduce the chance of tearing the ribbon

If these steps are ineffective, try reinstalling the driver and firmware. The link to that guide is below.