XE-A102 - Faint Printing

Hi,
Thats rare. especially when the machine is that new.

Most common reason is that the zero has a blob of dirt on it. You can gently scrub the little rubber drum (number wheels that rest against the ink roller). Also, does a new roller make the other numbers print perfectly? I have never had a faulty new roller cause these problems, so you can forget about that.
Another thing to check is whether it prints better at left or right of paper. Do a daily Z report, and see if the problem is all over the paper or worse at one side.

Mark

Thanks for the response Mark.

With the new ink rolls the numbers are not fantastic like when it was new but they are a lot clearer than the 0. If the 0 printed like the others it would be acceptable. To me it seems like there's not enough pressure when printing the numbers especially the 0. It is consistant across the journal roll regardless of whether it is print on he left or the right.

If I set it to print receipts does it apply more pressure to the numbers when printing? Could try that?

I could clean the whole number wheel (do I use isoproponal?)

I don't have an official 'sharp' ink roller. the ones I have been using, including the one from Staples are 3rd party.

Any help appreciated

thanks

I always clean them with just a clean cloth. I try not to use a solution, since you don't know what might damage the rubber. firstly, I would inspect the numbers on the drum, and see if they look dirty. If the zero looks clean, it is probably OK. I would say you are probably correct about the printer hammer not hitting the numbers hard enough. it is probably more noticeable with the zero because it is the most used number, so the rubber is slightly more compressed around the zero.

Another thing to check is the ink roller pressure spring. There is a tny spring which presses the ink roller against the drum. It is at the top of the ink roller holder, and it looks almost like a tiny twist of hair. It is quite weak, but it should gently press the roller against the drum. To test, put a little pressure on the roller with your finger - pressing towards the drum. Press the feed button to run the printer while doing this, then try a printout and see if it has improved much.

Journal or receipt print makes no difference to the impact on the paper, and the Original rollers are no better than after-market ones. I can almost guarantee that it's not a problem with the roller itself, as long as it's a new roller.

Thanks for the information.

I did what you said regards applying a little pressure to the ink roller and the print improved 100%

I cannot see the spring you mentioned even if I remove the ink roller

Where the roller fits in the craddle there is a bit of play so I wedged a little blu-tac in there to see if this would make any difference. It did, the print, all characters were fine
So it would seem there needs to be more pressure on the roller to contact the numbers on the wheel.

I have left it like this for now but any ideas on a permenant fix would be appreciated.

thanks