Service manual

SECTION 4: CLEANING AND MAINTENANCE
SATO D508/D512 Operator Manual Page 4-1
4
CLEANING AND MAINTENANCE
4.1 INTRODUCTION
This section provides information on user maintenance for the SATO D508/D512 printers. This
section contains the following information.
• Adjusting the Print Quality
• Cleaning the Print Head, Platen and Rollers
• Replacing the Print Head
• Replacing the Fuse
4.2 ADJUSTING THE PRINT QUALITY
The SATO D508 / D512 printer is equipped with two different methods of adjusting the quality of
the print—print darkness and print speed.
When adjusting the printer for optimum print quality, a barcode verifier system is highly
recommended for evaluating the printouts. The human eye is a poor judge of the relative widths
of the bars in a symbol, a characteristic that is extremely important for good bar code quality.
Print Darkness
This adjustment allows the user to control (within a specified range) the amount of power that is
used to activate the print head heating elements. It is important to find a proper print darkness
level based on your particular label. The printed images should not be too light nor should the
edges of text or graphics be smudged. Instead, the edges of each image should be crisp and well
defined.
Once the range has been selected, the PRINT Potentiometer (VR1) on the front panel can be
used to make finer adjustments. It provides a continuous range of adjustment, allowing you to
make precise changes. Use a small cross-point screwdriver, turning clockwise for darker print
and counterclockwise for lighter print.
DSW6 has to be ON in order for to adjust the print darkness via
the VR1 potentiometer.
See page 3-3 for instructions on performing potentiometer adjustments.
Note:
Adjustment of the Print Darkness using VR1 will affect the darkness in all the<ESC>#E command code
ranges. That is, if the print darkness is adjusted with VR1 for lighter print, the darkness will be lighter in all
the Print Darkness ranges selected by the command code.