Welcome to your new Polaroid P50i User’s Manual Part Number: 980299-001 © 2004 POLAROID 1 Rev.1.
FOREWORD This manual contains installation and operation information for the Polaroid P50i Series card printers. RETURN MATERIALS AUTHORIZATION Before returning any equipment to Polaroid for in-warranty or out-of-warranty repair, contact Repair Administration for a Return Materials Authorization (RMA) number. Repack the equipment in the original packing material and mark the RMA number clearly on the outside.
Warranty information Printers: All Polaroid Card Printers are warranted against defects in material or workmanship for twelve (12) months from the purchase date. Proof of purchase or shipment date is required to validate the warranty period. The warranty becomes void if the equipment is modified, improperly installed or used, damaged by accident or neglect, or if any parts are improperly installed or replaced by the user.
DECLARATIONS OF CONFORMITY Model: P50i conforms to the following specification: FCC Part 15, Subpart A, Section 15.107(a) and Section 15.109(a) Class B digital device This equipment has been tested and found to comply with the limits for a Class B digital device, pursuant to part 15 of the FCC Rules. These limits are designed to provide reasonable protection against harmful interference in a residential installation.
DECLARATIONS OF CONFORMITY Polaroid Digital ID Systems 4650 Executive Blvd. Ft.Wayne, IN 46808 www.polaroid-id.com Products: Plastic Card Printer P50i Declare under his whole responsibility that the products cited above are in conformity with the applicable essential requirements (and in particular those from the directive 1999/5/CE) following: Article 3.1 a: (health protection and user ‘s security) by the application of the norm EN60950 (2000) Article 3.
INTRODUCTION Thank you for choosing the Polaroid P50i Plastic Card Printer. Polaroid’s card printers offer a low cost, high quality solution to those requiring computer-controlled printing and encoding of credit card style plastic cards. Card applications include customer loyalty, access control, visitor, membership, gift cards, durable business cards. This manual guides you to efficient start up and operation of your new Card Printer.
ICONS Throughout this manual, different icons highlight important information, as follows: Important general information. Mechanical hazard, such as one associated with moving parts, capable of resulting in equipment damage or personal injury. Electrical hazard, such as an exposed voltage point, capable of causing electrical shock and personal injury. An area where electrostatic discharge (ESD) can cause component damage. Use a grounding wrist band.
TABLE OF CONTENTS 1 2 GETTING STARTED •••••••••••••••••••••• 1•1 Unpacking your P50i • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • 1•2 Indicators and control • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • 1•3 Printer installation • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • OPERATION • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • 3 2•1 Printer
1 GETTING STARTED 1 • 1 Unpacking your card printer Your P50i printer ships in a carton and protective anti-static bag. Keep all packaging material in case you need to move or re-ship the printer. Pull your printer out of the carton by grabbing it on both sides. While unpacking, inspect the carton to ensure that no damage occured during shipment. Please ensure that you have a clean and nearly dust free environment for proper operation and storage of the printer.
Make sure the following items are included with your P50i printer: Quick Start Guide QUICK START EXTERNAL POWER SUPPLY CLEANING CARTRIDGE PRINTER DRIVER & USER’S MANUAL CD INTERFACE CABLE If any items are missing, please contact your dealer. To reorder, please refer to Appendix C of this manual.
1 • 2 Indicators and Control Your P50i printer is equiped with a Multi Function Panel Button with a surrounding light ring that glows in three colors to provide printer status indication.
1 • 3 Printer Installation The following will guide you through the installation of your P50i printer. CAUTION: Limit AC power supplied to the P50i Printer to 24 VDC. Limit excess current draw to 16 amps or less, using an associated circuit breaker or other such device. Never operate the printer in a location where operator, computer, or printer can get wet. Personal injury could result.
2 • 1 Printer Features The following shows the features found on your P50i Printer: 14 2
2 • 2 Loading Ribbon Cartridge The P50i Printer requires approved ribbon cartridges (see Appendix C). The Resin Thermal Transfer and Dye Sublimation ribbons are specifically designed for your P50i Printer. For optimum performance and printer life (Print Head), always use approved ribbons. You can print up to 100 cards in YMCKO with the ribbon cartridge. When ribbon is completely used change the whole cartridge assembly.
2 • 3 Loading Cards To help you load, print, and collect cards, the P50i has the following items: A - CARD FEEDER This item is used for loading cards, it can hold up to 50 cards of 30 mils. You may have to install the Card Feeder. Hold the card feeder on the sides and slide it into the rail guide. • Install Cards into feeder at the front of your P50i printer. For Cards with magnetic stripe refer to Appendix A for loading instructions.
B - CARD OUTPUT HOPPER 1 • Press on the card output hopper door and pull it down to place it in its functional position. When not using the printer place the card output hopper back in its closed position to protect the printer from dust.
C - INSTALL CARD CLEANING CARTRIDGE This item is used to clean the cards entering the printer. It must be installed before using the printer. *Improper cleaning will reduce printer life and degrade print quality. 1 • Open the lid by pressing both Cover Release buttons located on the sides of your printer. 2 • If the ribbon cartridge is installed, remove it to access the cleaning cartridge location. 3 • Remove Card Cleaning Cartridge from plastic bag.
2 • 4 Feeding One Card at a Time For feeding one card at a time, like Cleaning Cards for example, remove all cards from card feeder and insert one card at a time at the bottom of the feeder. Do not feed more than one card at a time.
2 • 5 Printing a Test Card With ribbon cartridge and cards loaded, your P50i printer is ready to print. To check the operation of the printer, you should print a test card. 1 • Place the printer’s power switch in the OFF (0) position. 2 • While holding down the Multi Function Panel Button, switch printer ON (1). The status indicator will glow green. 3 • Keep pressing the Multi Function button until the green indicator starts flashing.
3 PRINTING A SAMPLE CARD Printing with the P50i Printer requires the Windows Printer Driver, your card design/issuing software or printer command level programming through the printer interface. The P50i Card Printer can be used with any Windows 98/ME/XP , Windows 2000 or Windows NT 4.0 software application program, using the drivers provided on CD with the printer.
3 • 1 To install the P50i Printer Driver Automatically on all Operating Systems, Use the Polaroid Install Wizard To ensure the accuracy of driver installation, it is recommended that you use the Polaroid Install Wizard that is provided on your driver CD. The Wizard will: a • Automatically launch when driver CD is inserted.
3 • 2 Set Printer Driver Options: To open the P50i Printer screen, right mouse click on your driver icon and select Properties. Change the options as follows: 1• On the Device Settings tab the magnetic encoder feature is automatically enabled. If you need to change settings for a Magnetic Encoder, select Encoder settings button. 2• On the General tab select card orientation: Landscape or Portrait - Select “Landscape”.
3 • 3 Printing a sample card: Follow the steps to print your first card 1• Go to the Microsoft Word Software. 2• If the printer was not selected as the default printer, go to the file menu and Select Printer and choose Polaroid P50i Card Printer in the printer names list. Then Close the print dialog box. 3• Come back to file menu and choose Page Setup. 4• Select Size tab and in Paper Size choose Card. Then select the orientation: “landscape”.
4 CLEANING PROTECT YOUR FACTORY WARRANTY! The recommended maintenance procedures must be performed to maintain your factory warranty. Other than the recommanded cleaning procedures described in this manual, allow only Polaroid authorized technicians to service the P50i Printer. NEVER loosen, tighten, adjust, or bend, etc. a part or cable inside the printer. NEVER use a high pressure air compressor to remove particles in the printer.
4 • 1 Cleaning System Your P50i Printer includes a simple cleaning system using Pre-Saturated Cleaning Cards provided. The regular use of these cards will clean and maintain important parts of your printer that cannot be reached: including the Print Head the Transport Rollers and Magnetic Encoder Station (optional feature). WHEN TO CLEAN Every 1000 cards approximately using 5-panel color ribbon cassette. HOW TO CLEAN 1 • Leave power on.
4 • 2 Cleaning the Print Head A cleaning using the cleaning system with cards usually suffices. However, a separate Print head cleaning using swabs can remove more stubborn deposits when print anomalies persist. To avoid deposits, only use foam-tipped swabs. 1 • Switch power Off, open cover by pressing both cover release buttons and remove the Ribbon Cartridge. 2 • Clean Print Head by moving alcohol-moistened swab tip side-to-side across Print Head elements. Only use moderate force.
4 • 3 Card Cleaning Cartridge Your P50i Printer also has a Card Cleaning Cartridge. This item cleans the cards entering the printer. To ensure print quality, the cleaning roller should be replaced with every ribbon cartridge replacement. WHEN TO MAINTAIN Each time the ribbon cartridge is replaced. If you plan to run a printer cleaning, do so before replacing the cleaning roller. (see 4.1 Cleaning System for more instructions). HOW TO MAINTAIN 1 • Turn power off.
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5 TROUBLESHOOTING This section offers solutions to potential problems you may experience with your P50i printer. 5 • 1 Print Quality Issues This section will help you resolve print quality problems. The print quality is dependent on several factors. The two most important factors that will increase your print quality are cleanliness and card stock.
• Small spots appear on the printed card with a non-printed area or a different color. Possible Cause A • Contamination on the card surface. B • Dust inside the printer and/or dirty Cleaning Roller. >> Solution A1 • Check that cards are stored in a dust free environment A2 • Use a different supply of cards. B1 • Perform a Cleaning of the printer (see Cleaning section 4.1 Cleaning system & 4.3 Card Cleaning Cartridge). B2 • Replace Cleaning Roller (see Cleaning section 4.
• Printing shows very pale or inconsistent results. Possible Cause A • Ribbon cartridge have been stored improperly or is damaged. B • Cards may not meet specifications. C • Contrast and/or Intensity may be set to values which are too high. D • Dust or embedded contamination on elements of the Print Head. >> Solution A1 • Change ribbon cartridge and print again. B1 • Use a different supply of cards. C1 • Adjust Contrast and/or Intensity values in software.
• No printing on the card. Possible Cause A • Ribbon cartridge may not be installed in the printer. B • Cards may not meet specifications. C • Cable on Print Head may be disconnected. D • Print Head elements may be scratched or burnt. >> Solution A1 • Check for ribbon cartridge in the printer. B1 • Use a different supply of cards. C1 • Power off the printer and check the Print Head cable connections. D1 • Call Service for Print Head replacement information.
6 TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS General 34 • High speed printing 30 seconds per card in YMCKO 4 seconds per card in Monochrome • Small footprint • Windows Drivers for 98/2000/ME/XP and NT 4.0 • One year printer warranty • One year print head warranty` • Powerful EPCL (Polaroid Printer Command Language) Color Printing • • • • Color dye sublimation or monochrome thermal transfer printing 300 dpi (11.
Ribbons Cartridges Interfaces Mechanical Electrical Environmental Options 35 • Black Monochrome: 500 cards/cartridge • YMCKO dye sub: 100 cards/cartridge • USB port / Parallel • USB port / Serial • • • • Width: 7.2” (183mm) Depth: 11.9” (303mm) Height: 7.1” (180mm) Weight: 6.
CARD DIMENSIONS ISO STANDARD DIMENSIONS FOR PLAIN CARD ISO STANDARD DIMENSIONS FOR MAGNETIC STRIPE CARD 36
A APPENDIX Magnetic Card Stripe Encoder This section contains information on the additional operations of the P50i Printers with Magnetic Card Stripe Encoder. (See Chapter 2 for location.) INTRODUCTION Operation and maintenance requirements for the P50i Printer with the optional magnetic card stripe encoder. (See Chapter 2 for location.) The magnetic encoder can be set for either high or low coercivity.
A • MEDIA LOADING ORIENTATION The magnetic encoder is a factory installed item with the read/write head positioned below the card path, available with HICO encoding or LOCO encoding. When loading cards into the Card Cartridge, please ensure that the magnetic stripe is facing down and closest to the right when facing the card feeder. Note: M1 = Stripe Down HICO M2 = Stripe Down LOCO approved HICO & LOCO PVC cards are available. (See Appendix C).
B • MAGNETIC ENCODER CLEANING Use the standard cleaning card process. This cleans the most important parts of the printer; including the print Head, Transport Roller and Magnetic Stripe Encoder (refer to chapter 4 “Cleaning” for more instructions.) 1 • Leave power on. 2 • Remove cards from the card feeder. 3 • Insert one presaturated card (provided) through slot on the side of the Card Cartridge. 4 • Press the Multi function button.
B APPENDIX Accessories & Supplies Please contact your Polaroid authorized dealer to place an order for accessories and supplies. Use only Polaroid -approved card, ribbon and patches media. Refer to the Accessories section for more information about Card and Ribbon Media available from Polaroid.
ACCESSORIES Accessories available for P50i printers appear below. Always refer to the part number when placing an order.
World Wide Sales and Support: Polaroid Digital ID Systems 4650 Executive Blvd. Ft.Wayne, IN 46808 www.polaroid-id.
