ASTRO-MED QuickLabel Systems QLS 4000 User manual
Part No. 22834-456
12/99
A DIVISION OF ASTRO-MED®
QUICK
L
ABEL SYSTEMS
®
Operation & Setup Guide
™
4000/4001
Digital Color Printers
address 600 East Greenwich Ave., West Warwick, RI 02893
telephone 401.828.4000
fax 401.822.2430
tech support 800.343.4039
toll free 877.757.7978
Printed in the United States of America
Copyright © 1999
This manual is copyrighted with all rights reserved. No part of this manual may be reproduced,
transmitted, transcribed, stored in a retrieval system, or translated into any language in any form
by any means without written permission of QuickLabel®Systems, a division of Astro-Med, Inc.
Trademarks
Microsoft Windows™is a trademark of Microsoft Corporation.
QuickLabel®is a registered trademark of Astro-Med, Inc.
Limited Warranty
QuickLabel Systems, Division of Astro-Med, Inc. warrants all non-wear components of this
product against defects in materials or workmanship for a period of one (1) year from the date of
original purchase. If the customer discovers a defect, this defect must be reported promptly to
QuickLabel Systems. QuickLabel Sytstems will, at its option, repair or replace the defective
component or product at no additional charge except as set forth below. Repair parts and
replacement parts will be furnished on an exchange basis and will be either reconditioned or
new. All replaced parts become the property of QuickLabel Systems. Travel, freight, and other
expenses related to warranty repairs are not covered. Service Agreements are available for
purchase and provide on-site service and/or loaner equipment.
This warranty is void if the product has been damaged by accident, abuse, neglect or misapplica-
tion, or if the product has been improperly installed, or if the product has been modified without
the express written permission of QuickLabel Systems.
With repect to printers and print and apply systems, QuickLabel Systems warrants the printhead
for a period of 90 days from the date of purchase, or one million linear inches, whichever occurs
first, contingent upon the use of QuickLabel Systems thermal transfer ribbon. This specific
printhead warranty does not apply to printheads damaged by accident, abuse, neglect, misappli-
cation, or the like.
QuickLabel Systems makes no warranty, either express or implied, with respect to this product’s
fitness for a particular purpose.
QuickLabel Systems, Division of Astro-Med, Inc. is not responsible for your product if it is lost
or damaged in transit.
Ownership Information
Congratulations and thank you for your business. Your purchase of a quality QuickLabel
Systems product is an investment in the finest state-of-the-art printing and labeling technology.
Please use the spaces below to list the model number and serial number of your product.
Model _________________ Serial No. _______________________
table of contents i
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000/4001
Table of Contents
CHAPTER 1: PHYSICAL SETUP
Unpacking the printer 1-2
printer orientation 1-3
Features of the QLS-4000 Color Printer 1-4
Port and power connections 1-6
Dip switch settings 1-7
Loading label media 1-9
Loading thermal transfer ribbon 1-13
Adjusting ribbon tension 1-15
CHAPTER 2: SOFTWARE SETUP
SETUP MENUS AND KEYPAD CONTROLS 2-2
Form feed / advance media 2-4
Enabling/disabling the TTR sensor 2-5
Calibrating the printer for the media 2-6
Selecting a print speed 2-10
Adjusting printhead heat intensity 2-11
Adjusting the print offset setting 2-13
Counter 2-14
Windows Print 2-16
Mirror Mode 2-16
Enable Cutter 2-18
Cut Offset 2-20
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PERFECTING COLOR ALIGNMENT 2-21
Making print line adjustments 2-23
Cross-web adjustment 2-26
Evaluating print quality 2-28
SYSTEM MAINTENANCE 2-29
Performing a factory reset 2-29
System Upgrade 2-29
QLS-4000/4001 Settings 2-30
System Baseline 2-31
CHAPTER 3: OPERATION
PRINTING WITH THE QLS-4000/4001 3-2
Advancing the media 3-3
Setting the printer speed 3-4
Printing labels or test patterns 3-5
The Printer’s Indicators 3-6
Using test patterns to evaluate print quality 3-7
CHAPTER 4: MAINTENANCE
Routine cleaning of printer parts 4-2
Adjusting printhead pressure 4-5
Replacing the printheads 4-9
Adjusting ribbon tension 4-12
Replacing the drive roller or pressure roller 4-13
Replacing the platen rollers 4-18
1-1QLS-4000/4001 Physical Setup
The physical setup of the QLS-4000 or QLS-4001 Printer entails the
proper loading of the transfer media (ribbon) and label stock. This
chapter provides the following information:
◗instructions on unpacking the printer and making proper
connections
◗an overview of the components and features of the
printer
◗instructions on loading media and stock
Before you load the media, it is important to know the type of color
you will be using on your labels. If you will be printing process color,
the film must be loaded on the printheads in the following sequence:
Print Station 1 — Cyan
Print Station 2 — Magenta
Print Station 3 — Yellow
Print Station 4 — Black (or spot color)
If you will be printing spot color, you can load any color film you wish
on the printheads in any sequence.
Chapter 1: Physical Setu
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1-2 QLS-4000/4001 Physical Setup
Unpacking the printer
1Remove the printer from the packing carton.
2In the packing carton, locate and remove the follow-
ing items shipped with the printer:
◗power cord
◗Centronics®parallel cable
◗serial cable
◗media retainer
◗Windows®driver disk
3Ensure that the printer is in good condition and has
suffered no visible damage during shipment.
1-3QLS-4000/4001 Physical Setup
printer orientation
The illustration below is provided to orient you to the QLS-4000 or
QLS-4001 Printer. The keypad with display is the printer’s user
interface.
printer keypad
(user interface)
front of printer
rear of
printer
1-4 QLS-4000/4001 Physical Setup
Features of the QLS-4000 Color Printer
Facing the front of the QLS-4000 with its cover lifted, you can view the
printheads and related mechanical parts. The QLS-4001 contains the
same parts, only with one inverted print station. The callouts below
identify the QLS-4000 parts shown in the illustration on the next page.
1media retainer
2media supply mandrel
3TTR supply mandrel (print station 4)
4TTR take-up mandrel (print station 4)
5TTR supply mandrel (print station 3)
6TTR take-up mandrel (print station 3)
7TTR supply mandrel (print station 2)
8TTR take-up mandrel (print station 2)
9TTR supply mandrel (print station 1)
10 TTR take-up mandrel (print station 1)
11 drive roller pressure cam
12 drive roller
13 drive roller pressure support assembly
14 print station 1
15 print station 2
16 print station 3
17 print station 4
18 media travel roller
19 media travel sensor housing
(reflective / gap-notch sensor inside)
20 media travel guide roller
21 media resistance mandrel
1-5QLS-4000/4001 Physical Setup
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21 20 19 18 17 16 15 14 13 12
5 6 7 8 9 10
1-6 QLS-4000/4001 Physical Setup
Port and power connections
On the back of the printer, the parallel and serial port connectors
and the power input are readily observable.
1Connect the proper cable(s) to the port or ports you
intend to use: parallel, serial, or both. Communica-
tions to the printer can be either serial or parallel;
communications from the printer must be serial.
2Plug the power cord into the printer. Do not apply
power until you have finished the printer setup
tasks described in this chapter.
Note
If you are using a cutter or cutter-stacker, refer to the unit’s setup
and operation manual for information on setting up the unit with
your printer. The cutter or cutter-stacker will be connected to the
printer via the printer’s utility D-shell.
I O
115V
parallel port
serial port
utility D-shell
on/off switch
power cord
connection
PCMCIA (RAM)
card slot
dip switches
This manual suits for next models
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