Datamax A-Class A-4212 User manual

Operator’s Manual

Copyright Information:
CG Times (based upon Times New Roman) and CG Triumvirate are trademarks of the AGFA
Monotype Corporation.
Windows and Windows NT are trademarks of the Microsoft Corporation.
NetWare and Novell are registered trademarks of Novell, Inc.
Ethernet is a registered trademark of Xerox Corporation.
All other brand and product names are trademarks, service marks, registered trademarks,
or registered service marks of their respective companies.
Firmware (Software) Agreement:
The enclosed Firmware (Software) resident in the Printer is owned by Licensor or its
suppliers and is licensed for used only on a single printer in the user’s Trade or Business.
The User agrees not to, and not to authorize or permit any other person or party to
duplicate, or copy the Firmware or the information contained in the non-volatile or
programmable memory. The firmware (Software) is protected by applicable copyright
laws and Licensor retains all rights not expressly granted. In no event will Licensor or its
suppliers be liable for any damages or loss, including direct, incidental, economic, special, or
consequential damages arising out of the use or inability to use the Firmware (Software).
Information in this document is subject to change without notice and does not represent a
commitment on the part of Datamax Barcode Products Corporation. No part of this manual
may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, for any purpose other than
the purchaser's personal use, without the expressed written permission of Datamax
Corporation.
All rights reserved.
© Copyright 2008 by Datamax Corporation
Part Number: 88-2305-01
Revision N

Agency Compliance and Approvals:
C US
Listed
UL60950 Information Technology Equipment
C22.2 No. 950-M93
EN60950
For 230 Volt Operation (Europe): Use a cord set, marked “HAR,” consisting
of a min H05VV-F cord which has a minimum 0.75 square mm diameter
conductors, provided with an IEC 320 receptacle and a male plug for the
country of installation rated 6A, 250V
Für 230 Volt (Europa): Benützen Sie ein Kabel, das mit “HAR” markiert ist,
bestehend mindestens aus einem H05VV-F Kabel, das mindestens 0,75
Quadratmillimeter Drahtdurchmesser hat; sowie eine IEC320 Steckdose und
einen für das Land geeigneten Stecker, 6A, 250 Volt.
As an Energy Star Partner, the manufacturer has determined that this
product meets the Energy Star guidelines for energy efficiency.
The manufacturer declares under sole responsibility that this product
conforms to the following standards or other normative documents:
EMC: EN 55022 (1993) Class B
EN 50024 (1998)
Safety: This product complies with the requirements of
EN 60950-1 First Edition
FCC: This device complies with FCC CFR 47 Part 15 Class A.
Note: This equipment has been tested and found to comply with the limits for a
Class A digital device, pursuant to Part 15 of the FCC Rules. These limits are
designed to provide reasonable protection against harmful interference when the
equipment is operated in a commercial environment. This equipment generates,
uses, and can radiate radio frequency energy, and if not installed and used in
accordance with the instructions in this manual, it may cause harmful interference
to radio communications. Operation of this equipment in a residential area is likely
to cause harmful interference in which case the user will be required to correct the
interference at his own expense.

Important Safety Instructions:
Throughout the literature accompanying this unit, the exclamation point within
an equilateral triangle is intended to alert the user to the presence of important
operating and maintenance instructions.
This unit has been carefully designed to provide years of safe, reliable performance.
However, as with all electrical equipment, there are some basic precautions that you should
follow to avoid personal injury or damage to the printer:
• Before using the print engine, carefully read all the installation and operating
instructions.
• Moving parts are present during operation – keep body parts, loose clothing, etc. away
from the mechanism.
• Observe all warning instruction labels on the print engine.
• Mount the print engine securely in the applicator system.
• Do not place the print engine on or near a heat source.
• To protect from overheating, make sure no openings on the print engine are blocked.
• Never insert anything into the ventilation slots and openings of the print engine.
• Do not use the print engine near water or spill liquid into it.
• Ensure that the AC power source complies with the ratings listed for the print engine.
• Do not place the AC power cord where it can be stepped on. If the AC power cord
becomes damaged, replace it immediately.
• Consult only qualified, trained personnel to perform service on this print engine. There
are no user-serviceable parts are inside; do not remove the cover.
Special Instructions
;
The green check box is intended to alert the user to conventions used within this
text or to notable operating details and suggestions.

i
Contents
1 Overview.................................................................................................1
1.1 About the Printer............................................................................... 1
1.1.1 Standard Features.................................................................... 2
1.1.2 Optional Features ..................................................................... 3
1.2 Index to Features and Controls............................................................5
1.2.1 Right Hand Models.................................................................... 6
1.2.2 Left Hand Models...................................................................... 7
2 Getting Started .......................................................................................9
2.1 Unpacking ........................................................................................ 9
2.1.1 Contents ............................................................................... 10
2.1.2 Additional Requirements.......................................................... 10
2.2 Installation..................................................................................... 10
2.2.1 Mounting Requirements........................................................... 10
2.2.2 Interfacing a Host................................................................... 14
2.2.2.1 Parallel Port Connections............................................ 15
2.2.2.2 Serial Port Connections.............................................. 15
2.2.2.3 USB Port Connections................................................ 18
2.2.3 Connecting an Applicator......................................................... 19
2.2.4 Connecting Power................................................................... 19
3 Setting up the Printer............................................................................21
3.1 Loading Media................................................................................. 21
3.2 Adjusting the Media Sensor............................................................... 25

ii
3.3 Loading Ribbon ............................................................................... 26
3.3.1 Right Hand Models.................................................................. 26
3.3.2 Left Hand Models.................................................................... 28
3.3.3 Removing Ribbon ................................................................... 29
3.4 Quick Calibration............................................................................. 30
3.5 Print Quality Controls....................................................................... 30
4 Using the Control Panel.........................................................................31
4.1 Layout ........................................................................................... 31
4.1.1 Ready Mode........................................................................... 32
4.2 The System Menu............................................................................ 33
4.2.1 Media Settings ....................................................................... 35
4.2.2 Print Control .......................................................................... 37
4.2.3 Printer Options....................................................................... 39
4.2.4 System Settings..................................................................... 45
4.2.5 Communications..................................................................... 54
4.2.6 Diagnostics............................................................................ 63
4.2.7 MCL Options .......................................................................... 65
4.3 The Test Menu ................................................................................ 66
4.3.1 Print Quality Label .................................................................. 68
4.3.2 Print Configuration.................................................................. 68
4.3.3 Ribbon Test Label................................................................... 69
4.3.4 Validation Label...................................................................... 69
4.3.5 Print Last Label ...................................................................... 69
4.3.6 User-Defined Label ................................................................. 69

iii
5 Operating, Adjusting and Maintaining the Printer .................................71
5.1 Displayed Messages......................................................................... 71
5.1.1 Prompts and Condition Messages.............................................. 71
5.2 Calibration...................................................................................... 74
5.2.1 Standard Method.................................................................... 74
5.2.2 Advanced Entry...................................................................... 76
5.3 Printhead Adjustments..................................................................... 83
5.3.1 Leveling Cam Adjustment........................................................ 83
5.3.2 Burn Line Adjustment.............................................................. 85
5.4 Printhead Replacement..................................................................... 86
5.5 Maintenance Schedule...................................................................... 90
5.5.1 Cleaning the Printhead ............................................................ 91
5.5.2 Cleaning the Rollers................................................................ 93
5.5.3 Cleaning the Peel Assembly...................................................... 94
5.5.4 Cleaning the Media Sensor, Media Path, and Peel Bar .................. 96
5.5.5 Cleaning Exterior Surfaces....................................................... 97
5.6 Reset Methods ................................................................................ 97
5.6.1 Soft Reset ............................................................................. 97
5.6.2 Level One Reset ..................................................................... 97
5.6.3 Level Two Reset ..................................................................... 97
5.7 Updating the Firmware..................................................................... 98
5.8 Updating the Boot Loader ................................................................100
5.9 Downloading Fonts .........................................................................101

iv
6 Troubleshooting..................................................................................103
6.1 Problem Resolution.........................................................................103
6.1.1 General Resolutions ...............................................................103
6.1.2 Warning and Fault Messages...................................................106
6.2 Hex Dump Mode.............................................................................112
7 Specifications......................................................................................115
7.1 Printer Specifications ......................................................................115
7.2 Approved Media and Ribbon.............................................................120
Appendix A..............................................................................................123
Module Assignments..............................................................................123
File Handling Messages ..........................................................................123
Cut Behind Setup ..................................................................................125
Appendix B..............................................................................................127
Print Resolutions and Widths...................................................................127
Speed Ranges.......................................................................................127
Column & Row Emulation Ranges ............................................................128
Custom Adjustments: Column, Present, & Row Adjust Ranges .....................128
Appendix C..............................................................................................129
PE Peel Bar Location ..............................................................................129
PE to A-Class GPIO Adapter Cable ...........................................................129
Appendix D .............................................................................................131
Applicator Interface Overview .................................................................131
Appendix E..............................................................................................139

v
Multi-Language Menu.............................................................................139
Appendix F..............................................................................................143
Saving a Configuration File .....................................................................143
Appendix G..............................................................................................145
Ribbon Saver Overview ..........................................................................145
Warranty Information.............................................................................147
Glossary..................................................................................................149

vi

A-Class 1
1 Overview
1.1 About the Printer
Congratulations on your purchase of an A-Class printer. This print engine (hereafter referred
to as “the printer” and, when necessary, by model) is designed for professional integration
into an industrial applicator system.
This manual provides all the information necessary for installation, setup and operation of
the printer. To begin printing, refer to the instructions provided with your label-creation
software; or, to write custom label programs, reference the Class Series 2 Programmer’s
Manual on the Accessories CD-ROM, also available at http://www.datamaxcorp.com
The printer’s model number, located on the Serial Tag affixed to the inside of the front
cover, should be used when referencing specific information within this manual.

2A-Class
1.1.1 Standard Features
This printer offers the following standard features:
• Right-handed or left-handed configurations
• Electronics card cage
• 4 MB Flash downloadable program memory
• 16 MB DRAM memory
• Host computer accessible memory for object temporary storage
• Two RS-232 serial interfaces (one of which is also RS-422/RS-485 capable)
• One IEEE 1284 compliant parallel interface
• One USB v1.1 interface
• A programmable GPIO Port
• Backlit ¼ VGA graphics display
• EFIGS (English, French, Italian, German, and Spanish) display languages
• Industry standard bar code symbologies
• Time stamp at print capability with time and date battery back-up
• Static brushes
• Printhead resistance verification
• Configurable fault-handling capability with reprint and void selections
• Parse error-tolerant command language interpretation
• Internal test labels for verification, validation, and configuration
• Multiple setup restore capability
• Paper retract control after print
• Ribbon low detection and warning
• Power-up, mode, and resident option hardware diagnostics
• Option hardware auto-detection
• Media peel bar
• Media inch counters
• Input line mode (ASCII text input) capability
• Firmware upgrades downloadable
• AGFA Scaleable Font Engine featuring dynamic font attributes

A-Class 3
1.1.2 Optional Features (available except as noted)
The following optional features are available:
• DMXNetII and DMXrfNetII
An internal wired or wireless Network Interface Controller for Ethernetconnectivity with
multiple operating system and protocol support, including trap functions.
• Expanded Flash Main Logic CCA
An alternate circuit card assembly with 8MB of Flash memory for storing additional fonts,
graphics, and label templates.
• International Language Printing Capability (ILPC)
An alternate font set, available for standard or expanded memory:
CG-Times(European) Scaleable font (and Enhanced Language Code Pages)
Kanji Gothic B Scaleable font
Simplified Chinese GB Scaleable font
Korean Hangul Scaleable font
• Linerless Cutter
A mechanism specifically designed to cut linerless media after printing.
• MCL
A software tool suite for information collection applications, allowing input data from
peripheral devices (scanners, weigh scales, keyboards, etc.) without the need of a host
computer.
• Remote Control Panel
A hardwired assembly allowing remote operation (six feet [1.8 m] maximum distance).
• RFID
A Radio Frequency Identification method that encodes data onto smart labels and tags;
available completely installed and ready for use (RFID-Built), or partially configured for
the later addition of certain operational hardware (RFID-Ready).
• Thermal Transfer
A printing method that uses ribbon to produce exceptional image clarity (as compared to
most direct thermal media types).
• Twinax/Coax Interface
A slide-in CCA that provides connectivity to AS/400 and System/3X Twinax host
systems, or to 3270-type host systems. Cable included

4A-Class
Installing Printer Options
The table below lists competency level recommendations for the installation of the various
options. For detailed information regarding an option, contact a dealer or Datamax Technical
Support.
Experience Level
Option Installer
DMXNetII DMX Certified Technician
DMXrfNetII DMX Certified Technician
Expanded Flash Main Logic CCA DMX Certified Technician
Linerless Cutter DMX Certified Technician
MCL DMX Certified Technician
Remote Display DMX Certified Technician
RFID - Built Factory Only
RFID - Ready DMX Certified Technician
Ribbon Saver Factory Only
Thermal Transfer DMX Certified Technician
Twinax/Coax Interface DMX Certified Technician

A-Class 5
1.2 Index to Features and Controls
Important printer parts are highlighted in the table and drawings below:
Item Number Description
1 Control Panel
2 Power Switch
3 Access Cover
4 Power Receptacle
5 GPI/O Port A
6 Serial Port
7 USB Port
8 Parallel Port
9 GPI/O Port B
10 Ribbon Take-Up Hub*
11 Ribbon Supply Hub*
12 Upper Media Post
13 Lower Media Post
14 Cover Sensor
15 Upper Ribbon Idler
16 Leveling Cam
17 Printhead Assembly
18 Peel Bar
19 Platen Roller
20 Head Lift Lever
21 Media Sensor
22 Media Sensor Adjustment Knob
23 Media Guide
24 Peel Assembly Release Lever
25 Locking Post
26 Peel Assembly
27 COM D
28 COM C
* Optional equipment

6A-Class
1.2.1 Right Hand Models
1
2
3
4
6
7
8
9
5
27
28
15
16
17
18
19
14
20
21
10
11
12
13
3
22
23 24 25
26