126Routine Maintenance

Cleaning Schedule and Procedures

Clean the Media Compartment

After every four rolls of media, inspect the media compartment. Use a soft bristle brush or a vacuum cleaner to remove any dirt and lint from the interior of the printer.

Clean the Printhead and Platen Roller

If print quality does not improve after you perform this procedure, clean the printhead with Save-a-Printheadcleaning film. This specially coated material removes contamination buildup without damaging the printhead. Call your authorized Zebra reseller or distributor for more information.

Clean the printhead after every roll (1500 feet or 450 m) of thermal transfer ribbon or after every roll (500 feet or 150 m) of direct thermal labels or when CLEAN HEAD NOW appears

on the LCD. Clean the printhead more often if you see inconsistent print quality, such as voids in the bar code or graphics.

Caution • The printhead may be hot and can cause severe burns. Allow the printhead to cool.

Caution • Before touching the printhead assembly, discharge any built-up static electricity by touching the metal printer frame or by using an anti-static wriststrap and mat.

Caution • While performing any tasks near an open printhead, remove all rings, watches, hanging necklaces, identification badges, or other metallic objects that could touch the printhead. You are not required to turn off the printer power when working near an open printhead, but Zebra recommends it as a precaution. If you turn off the power, you will lose all temporary settings, such as label formats, and you must reload them before you resume printing.

To clean the printhead and platen roller, complete these steps:

1.Open the printhead assembly by rotating the printhead-open lever (1).

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