Zebra S Series printers: Ribbon nightmare no more

Every one knows laser and inkjet printers since they are ubiquitous in every office, SoHo and homes around the globe. They have some far cousins known as bar code printers or label printers and they basically specialize in using rolls (or stacks) of labels rather than sheets. The "ink" can be a ribbon of plastic film with carbon particles attached to one of its sides using a formulation of wax and resins (thermal transfer) or either the labels have some treatment to react to heat by turning black (Direct transfer). Zebra brand name produce great printers that are the work horse of the industry. The S Series are heavy-duty, robust and generally with a worry-free performance, however there is a black cloud in the horizon...

Step 1: The Achille's heel

Ladies and Gentlemen, please welcome: The FEED SPINDLE! or where you insert the ribbon when is new. Please note the arrow in the background that clearly signals the orientation of it. It says in a graphic way that the ribbon should unwrap falling at the BACK and not the FRONT of the spindle. I wonder how many operators other than me have noticed it?

Anyway, the problem with this spindle is that if you happen to have your mind set in your facebook page rather than at the printer, you may end up loading the ribbon the wrong way. -"Sooooo???"- you may think, but the issue is:

1.- It won't print anything since the ink side is facing the printhead and not the label (upside down).

2.- There is a spring inside the spindle that keeps the ribbon properly tensioned, and by now, it spiraled out in such a way that chances are it is deformed, stuck, or both. You may not even be able to remove the ribbon because the spring is in your way.

Headache time! Now you can not finish those labels that you needed yesterday to ship these boxes and on top of that, you need to find and call a technician to rescue you, and not likely for free.

This is worse on those places where there are diverse untrained personnel handling the machine. Looking grim so far, huh?

Comments

[jekimim]

Very good instructable, thanks. But your videos (at last steps) are not available anymore.

[rimar2000]

Very clever! These cheap and easy enhancements are awesome.

[arirang777]

Thank you Sir. I share your opinion and understand the industry's point of view: They could include all those enhancements, but at mass production line, costs will skyrocket. That's our little niche. Cheers!