Qoltec 50242 User manual

USER GUIDE
THERMAL PRINTER
MODEL: 50242
www.qoltec.com

Table of Contents
1. Introduction.................................................................................................................................................................................... 3
1.1 Safety warnings................................................................................................................................................................ 3
1.2 Safety notice....................................................................................................................................................................... 3
2. General information ........................................................................................................................................................................ 3
2.1 Introduction................................................................................................................................................................................. 3
2.2 Main features ............................................................................................................................................................................. 4
3. Printer parts......................................................................................................................................................................................... 4
4. Paper roll installation...................................................................................................................................................................... 5
5. Specification......................................................................................................................................................................................... 6
5.1 Specification table.................................................................................................................................................................... 6
6. Setting up the printer ..................................................................................................................................................................... 7
6.1 Unpacking..................................................................................................................................................................................... 7
6.2 Power cable connection....................................................................................................................................................... 7
6.3 Data cable connection........................................................................................................................................................... 7
6.4 Media installation..................................................................................................................................................................... 7
7. Power on utilities.............................................................................................................................................................................. 8
7.1 Self-test ........................................................................................................................................................................................ 8
7.2 Gap sensor calibration........................................................................................................................................................... 8
7.3 Dump mode................................................................................................................................................................................. 9
7.4 Skip AUTO.BAS .......................................................................................................................................................................... 9
7.5 Printer initialization ................................................................................................................................................................. 9
8. Indicators and buttons................................................................................................................................................................... 9
8.1 Indicators ................................................................................................................................................................................... 10
8.2 Buttons....................................................................................................................................................................................... 10
9. Maintenance..................................................................................................................................................................................... 10
9.1 Printer cleaning....................................................................................................................................................................... 10

1. Introduction
Thank you for choosing out thermal label printer. This product has high printing quality and performance at
economic price. Thermal printer is easy in use and has powerful functions.
CAUTION, NOTE
CAUTION: CAUTIONS MUST BE OBEYED TO AVOID MINOR INJURY TO YOURSELF, DAMAGE TO
EQUIPMENT, OR LOSS OF DATA.
NOTE: IMPORTANT INFORMATION AND TIPS FOR PRINTERS OPERATION.
1.1 Safety warnings
Please read the below warnings and notes carefully before using the printer.
CAUTION: DO NOT TOUCH THE THERMAL HEAD AND ITS SURROUNDINGS DURING USE OR
IMMEDIATELY AFTER USE. AFTER PRINTING, THE THERMAL HEAD AND ITS SURROUNDINGS CAN
BE VERY HOT.
CAUTION: DO NOT TOUCH THE PRINTER HEAD AND PLUG-IN PARTS TO AVOID DAMAGE OF THE
THERMAL HEAD.
CAUTION: DO NOT TOUCH THE PAPER TEAR-OFF KNIFE TO AVOID GETTING HARM.
1.2 Safety notice
•Do not damage the thermal head by touching it with your fingers or any hard object.
•Do not touch the cutter blade.
•Do not bend the power cord excessively or place any heavy objects onto it.
•Do not use printer when it is out of order. This may cause a fire or/and electrocution.
•Always hold the plug , not the cord when connecting or disconnecting the plug.
•Keep the desiccant out of children’s reach.
•Use only approved accessories and do not try to disassemble, repair or remodel it by yourself.
•Install the printer on the stable surface. Choose firm, flat surface to avoid vibration.
•Do not let water or other foreign objects into inside of the printer.
•Do not connect a telephone line into peripheral drive connector.
•We recommend to unplug the printer from the power outlet if no use it for long period.
2. General information
2.1 Introduction
Thermal label printer is designed for real-time batch label printing, which is applicable in the field of
transportation, logistics, post, retail sale etc. The printer can be connected to other equipment with various
interface cards, such as: parallel, serial, USB and LAN. It supports different paper media, including thermal
paper roll, thermal label paper and sticker paper.
The printer provides direct thermal printing at selectable printing speed of 2.0, 3.0, 4.0 and 5.0 inches per
second. It accepts roll feed, die-cut and fan-fold labels. All common bar code formants are available.

Font and bar codes can be printed in 4 directions and in 1 to 10 times enlargement size. High performance and
efficiency of label printing save your time.
2.2 Main features
•Support thermal paper roll, thermal label paper and sticker paper.
•Support printing media width from 16 mm to 82 mm.
•Auto paper adjusting function.
•Auto temperature control for durable printing.
•Module design for different application.
3. Printer parts
1 –top cover
2 –base housing
3 –top cover open button
4 –backing paper opening
5 –label opening
6 –feed button
7 –pause button
8 –error indicator
9 –online/power indicator
10 –power switch
11 –power jack
12 –cashdrawer jack
13 –parallel interface
14 –USB interface
15 –serial interface

16 –printer head
17 –paper roll
18 –label guide
19 –paper presence
sensor
20 –peel-off roller
lever
21 –light
transmission sensor
light source
22 –paper roll spindle
23 –light
transmission sensor
receiver
24 –peel-off spindle
25 –peel off
roller
4. Paper roll installation
1. Insert the paper roll spindle into a paper roll, and place the paper roll into the printer. Fixing tab on the
paper roll spindle should be inside the internal paper roll mount. Adjust the paper roll spindle with the
paper roll mount.
(1) Press the top cover open buton
and the top cover lift
Paper roll
Press the top cover open button and the
top cover lift.

(2) Insert the paper roll spindle into the paper roll and adjust the spindle position to make it in the center
of the paper roll.
(3) Place the paper roll into the internal paper roll mount. Please make sure that the paper printing side
face up as shown in the below picture
5. Specification
5.1 Specification table
Parameter
Print
Printing method
Direct thermal
Resolution
203 dpi
Print width
16 –82 mm
Print speed
Max. 127mm/s | Min. 50.8mm/s
Memory
Dram: 2M | Flash: 2M (XP-330B)
Dram: 4M | Flash: 4M (XP-350B)
Printer head temperature
sensor
Thermal sensitive resistance
Printer head position sensor
Micro switch
Paper direction sensor
Photoelectricity sensor
Interface
Parallel | RS-232 | USB | LAN
RS-232 + USB + LAN
Bar code
Font
Graphics
Bar code
CODE128 | EAN128 | ITF | CODE39 | EAN13 |
EAN13+2 | EAN13+5 | EAN8 | EAN8+2 |
EAN8+5 | CODABAR | POSTNET | UPC-A |
UPCA+2 | UPCA+5 | UPC-E | UPCE+2 | UPC-
E+5 | CPOST | MSI | MSIC | PLESSEY | ITF14 |
EAN14
Internal font
From 0 to 8
Simplified Chinese, traditional Chinese and Korean
Enlargement & rotation
1 to 10 times enlargement in both directions
00, 900, 1800, 2700rotation
Graphics
Mono PCX and BMP files can be downloaded into
FLASH and DRAM

Media
Media type
Continuous, sticker, fan-fold etc.
Media width
16 mm ~ 82 mm
Media diameter
Max. 80 mm or outer label paper roll
Media core diameter
Min. 25 mm
Paper off mode
Tear off and peel off
Power
Input
24VDC | 2.5A
Environment condition
Work
5 ~ 450C | 20 –80%RH
Storage
-40 ~ 550C, ≤93%RH (400C)
Physical dimension
Diameter (L x W x H)
214.50 x 134 x 147 mm
220 x 148 x 150 mm
Weight
1.5 kg
1.44 kg
The printer supports both continuous and non-continuous paper:
a) Continuous type: paper roll
b) Non-continuous type:
•Label roll,
•Sticker paper.
6. Setting up the printer
6.1 Unpacking
Please unpack the printer package and inspect the parts according to the packing list. If any parts are missing
or damaged, please contact the customer service of your reseller or distributor.
6.2 Power cable connection
1. Make sure that printer power switch is in OFF position.
2. The printer power jack is a 3-pin socket and for 24V DC power input. Please plug the DC cord
connector into the printer’s power jack properly.
CAUTION:
•Avoid pulling the power cord, otherwise any damages may cause a fire or electrocution.
•Avoid placing the power cord around other overheated equipment to prevent power cord melting,
which may cause a fire or electrocution.
6.3 Data cable connection
1. Make sure that the printer power switch is in OFF position.
2. Plug the data cable connector into the printer’s interface properly.
3. Plug the other end of data cable with the host computer.
CAUTION:
•Please do not plug the data cable when the printer power is ON.

6.4 Media installation
To install the sticker paper and label roll, please refer to chapter 4 “Paper roll installation”.
7. Power on utilities
There are five power-on utilities to set up and test printer hardware. These utilities are activated by pressing
FEED button and PAUSE button.
7.1 Self-test
To start the printer self-test, please follow the below steps:
1. Turn off the printer power.
2. Make sure that the paper roll is installed correctly and the printer top cover is closed.
3. Press the FEED button and turn on the printer power simultaneously. When the self-test paper
comes out, release the FEED button.
7.2 Gap sensor calibration
Gap sensor sensitivity should be calibrated at the following conditions:
1. A brand new printer.
2. Label stock changed.
3. Printer initialization.
This function is to reset the label gap sensor sensitivity when the printer is turned on. User needs to start the
calibration of the gap sensor sensitivity after loading a different type of label roll or when the printer has been
initialized.
Please follow the steps below to calibrate the gap sensor:
1. Turn off the printer power.
2. Make sure the label roll is installed correctly and the printer top cover is closed.
3. Press and hold on the PAUSE button, then turn on the printer power. The printer will automatically
calibrate the gap sensor sensitivity and save the gap length into DRAM. Then release the PAUSE
button.

7.3 Dump mode
Please follow the steps below:
1. Turn off the printer power.
2. Make sure the label roll is installed correctly and the printer top cover is closed.
3. Press and hold on the PAUSE button and FEED button, then turn on the printer power. When the
POWER indicator (blue light) and ERROR indicator (red light) light simultaneously, release both
buttons. The printer is changed to dump mode and is printing as below chart:
7.4 Skip AUTO.BAS
User can download an auto execution file (AUTO.BAS) to flash memory. Printer will run the AUTO.BAS program
immediately when turning on printer power. The AUTO.BAS program can be interrupted by the power-on
utility.
Please follow the steps below to skip the AUTO.BAS:
1. Turn off the printer.
2. Press and hold on the PAUSE button, then turn on the printer power. When the POWER indicator
(blue light) dims and ERROR indicator (red light) light, release both buttons. The printer skips running
the AUTO.BAS program. Then the POWER indicator lights.
7.5 Printer initialization
Printer initialization is used to clear DRAM and restore printer settings to defaults. Please do the gap sensor
sensitivity calibration after the printer initialization.
Please follow the steps below to initialize the printer:
1. Turn off the printer power.
2. Press and hold on the PAUSE button and FEED button, then turn on the printer power. When the
POWER indicator (blue light) lights and ERROR indicator (red light) dims, release both buttons. The
printer DRAM is cleared and printer settings are restored to defaults.
8. Indicators and buttons
The printer has:
1. Two indicators:
a) POWER indicator in blue light b) ERROR indicator in red light
2. Two buttons:
a) PAUSE b) FEED

8.1 Indicators
Item
Indicators status
Descriptions
1
POWER indicator is ON
ERROR indicator is OFF
Printer is powered on and in normal mode
2
POWER indicator flashes slowly (640ms)
ERROR indicator is OFF
Printer is paused
3
POWER indicator flashes fast (160ms)
ERROR indicator is OFF
Printed label is peeled-off but not taken off
4
POWER indicator is OFF
ERROR indicator flashes slowly (640ms)
Paper cover is opened
5
POWER indicator is OFF
ERROR indicator flashes slowly (640ms)
Paper shortage or gap sensor calibrated error
6
POWER indicator flashes fast (160ms)
ERROR indicator flashes fast (160ms)
Printer overheated protection is activated. After 1 minute, the printer
will check again the temperature of printer head. If the temperature is
right, printer resumes working.
8.2 Buttons
Item
Function
Description
1
Feed
Press the FEDD button when POWER indicator is on and ERROR indicator is off. It feeds the label to
the beginning of the next label.
2
Pause
Press the feed button during printing to suspend it
3
Self-test
1. Turn off the printer power
2. Make sure that the paper roll is installed correctly and the printer top cover is closed.
3. Press the FEED button and turn on the printer power simultaneously. When the self-test
paper comes out, release the FEED button.
4
Gap sensor
calibration
1. Turn off the printer power.
2. Make sure that the paper roll is installed correctly and the printer top cover is closed.
3. Press and hold on the PAUSE button, then turn on the printer power. The printer will
automatically calibrate the gap sensor sensitivity and save the gap length into DRAM. After
that release the PAUSE button.
5
Dump mode
1. Turn off the printer power.
2. Make sure that the paper roll is installed correctly and the printer top cover is closed.
3. Press and hold on the PAUSE button and the FEED button, then turn on the printer power.
When the POWER indicator (blue light) and ERROR indicator (red light) light simultaneously,
release both buttons. The printer is changed to dump mode.
9. Maintenance
9.1 Printer cleaning
To ensure the best printing quality, please proceed this maintenance section to keep your printer in good
condition and to extend its life.
Please use one of the following material to clean the printer:
•Cotton swab
•Lint-free cloth
•Vacuum / blower brush
•100% ethanol

The cleaning process is described below
Printer Part
Method
Printer head
1. Turn off the printer power before cleaning the printer head.
2. Allow the printer head to cool for at least one minute.
3. Use a cotton swab and 100% ethanol to clean the printer head surface.
Platen roller
1. Turn off the printer power.
2. Rotate the platen roller and use cotton swab or lint-free cloth to wipe it thoroughly with
100% ethanol.
Exterior
Wipe it with water dampened cloth.
Interior
Use a vacuum cleaner or blower brush to remove the dust.
Note:
•Always turn off the printer before cleaning the printer.
•Do not touch printer head by hand. Tweezers is not allowed to be used for cleaning, otherwise the
printer head, platen roller or sensor may be damaged.
•Please use 100% ethanol. DO NOT use medical ethanol, gasoline or acetone, which may damage the
printer head and platen roller.
•Do the sensor calibration after cleaning the sensors.
•Only turn on the printer and resume printing job after ethanol is volatilized.
Producent: ntec
Ul. Chorzowska 44B
44-100 Gliwice
Poland
www.qoltec.com