QuickLabel QL-800 Operating manual

QL-800 High Volume
Maintenance Guide
Part Number 9006-0000004
Revision 1.0
4/2019
QuickLabel, An AstroNova™ Division
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600 East Greenwich Ave., West Warwick, RI 02893
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© 2018 AstroNova, Inc. All Rights Reserved
This manual is copyrighted with all rights reserved. No part of this manual may be reproduced,
transmitted, transcribed, stored in a retrieval system, or translated into any language in any
form by any means without written permission of QuickLabel.

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Contents
Chapter 1: Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
Chapter 2: Preventative Maintenance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
Maintenance Actions After Each Shift . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
Transport Surface Cleaning . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
Transport Belt Cleaning . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
Maintenance Actions After Each Day . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
Cleaning the Encoder Roller and TOF Sensor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
Replacing or Inspecting the Maintenance Roller . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
Cleaning Pinch Rollers and the Load Sensor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
Cleaning Edge Guides and Unwind Flanges . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
Maintenance Actions After Each Week . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
Inspecting the Aerosol Filter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
Inspecting the Transport Flaps . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
Inspecting Star Wheel Brackets . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
Cleaning the Printer Exterior . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
Chapter 3: Best Practices . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
Maintenance Schedule . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
Maintenance Cleaning Settings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
Idle Nozzle Level (KWS) Settings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
Pre-Feeding Media . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
Splicing Media . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .21

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1
Introduction
Some printing applications represent a duty and usage significantly greater than average
QL-800 customers. In such situations, units may be in operation for 20+ hours per day for 6-7
days per week. An appropriate preventative maintenance schedule needs to be put in place to
match the high duty rate. This document contains best practices and procedures that can be
helpful for increasing output and reducing downtime.
By practicing regularly scheduled maintenance, the goal is to reduce downtime associated with
error 2017 (Media Encoder and paper path smoothness), errors 2012 and 2009 (TOF errors
possibly related to media alignment and sensor cleanliness), and overall print quality. The
following preventative maintenance schedule will be helpful in working towards that goal.

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2
Preventative Maintenance
This chapter details maintenance that shall be performed on the QL-800 printer once per shift,
once per day, and once per week.
• A shift is defined as 8 hours of operation
• A day is defined as 24 hours of operation
• A week is defined as 168 hours of operation
Maintenance Actions After Each Shift
The operator shall conduct basic maintenance after each shift (8 hours) of printer operation.
These regular cleanings will help keep the media motion smooth and unimpeded.
The following materials are required:
• Lint-free cloth
Caution: Always use lint-free cloth. Paper or other material can leave particles and debris
on the parts being cleaned. AstroNova recommends Bemcot M3 wipes. These are
available from AstroNova via part number 14806000.
• Isopropyl alcohol (70%)
• Protective gloves
Unload media, remove the transport unit, and place the transport unit down on the work surface.
See Figure 1.
Figure 1: Preparing to clean the transport

Preventative Maintenance
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Transport Surface Cleaning
1Using the lint-free cloth and alcohol, clean the transport surface between the star wheel
brackets.
Pay careful attention to the area directly below the printhead as this area usually collects
ink from the Idle spitting.
2Clean the transport belts exposed in this area at this time as well. Figure 2 shows this area
before and after cleaning.
Figure 2: Uncleaned (left) and cleaned (right) top surface of transport

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Transport Belt Cleaning
1Flip the transport over so the bottom of the transport is facing up.
2Carefully remove the two cross-bars. These parts snap in and out of the feet and should be
removed with a straight up and down motion. If the cross-bar catches break, replace the
cross-bar (PN 42908240). See Figure 3.
Figure 3: Transport flipped over and cross-bars removed
3Using the alcohol and lint-free cloth, clean the top and bottom surfaces of the belt by wiping
back and forth over the length of the belt.

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QL-800 High Volume Maintenance Guide 8
Clean the top side of the belt until ink is no longer being removed. Clean the underside in
a similar manner.
Figure 4: Cleaning the transport belts
4Rotate the belt until the cleaned portion has moved beyond the tensioner pulleys.
Do this by standing the transport up on the tensioner pulley side and rotating the drive shaft
down. See Figure 5.
Figure 5: Rotating the transport belts
5Repeat the cleaning process. Continue to clean and rotate until the entire lengths of the
belts have been cleaned. This may take 3 or 4 rotations.

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QL-800 High Volume Maintenance Guide 9
6Reinstall the cross-bars and insert the transport back into the printer.
Maintenance Actions After Each Day
The following maintenance shall be done after each day (24 hours) of printer operation.
Daily maintenance is to be done immediately following a shift maintenance. Once the shift
maintenance is complete, do not reinstall the transport in the printer. Instead, proceed to the
daily maintenance schedule.
Cleaning the Encoder Roller and TOF Sensor
This section describes cleaning the encoder roller and TOF sensor. This section will require a
#1 Phillips head screwdriver.
1Remove the entrance side star wheel bracket by unscrewing the four screws located in the
corners of the bracket. Place the screws in the entrance guide for safe keeping. See Figure
6.
Figure 6: Removing the entrance side star wheel bracket
2Set the star wheel bracket aside. It does not need to be disconnected from the wire
harness.
3Using the lint-free cloth and alcohol, wipe each of the five segments of the encoder roller.
Be sure to rotate the roller to clean the roller all the way around. Wipe the surface of the
embedded TOF sensor as well.

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Figure 6 shows a dirty roller on the left and then the same roller after cleaning.
Figure 7: Dirty (left) and cleaned (right) encoder roller
4Realign the star wheel bracket back on the transport.
5With a finger on the star wheel bracket in between the screw holes, carefully screw the
bracket back into place until the screw head just touches the bracket. See Figure 8. Be very
careful to not over tighten these screws as this will permanently damage the
transport.
Figure 8: Tighten the screw until the head just touches the bracket. Do not over tighten.

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Replacing or Inspecting the Maintenance Roller
Replace the Maintenance Roller when required.
1If the Maintenance Roller life is at 0% in the Maintenance Utility, use the Parts Replacement
Wizard to replace with a new Maintenance Roller (PN 14799860).
Note: Do not rinse or attempt to clean the roller. The roller needs to be replaced with a new
part.
Figure 9: Maintenance Roller life shown in the Maintenance Utility
2If the remaining life of the Maintenance Roller is greater than 0%, inspect the roller for any
apparent damage. Use the “Printhead Height” feature in the Advanced Tab of the utility to
put the printhead in the Print Position.
If there is any apparent damage to the Maintenance Roller, use the Parts Replacement
Wizard in the utility to replace with a new Maintenance Roller (PN 14799860).

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The following images provide examples of what Maintenance Roller damage may look like.
Figure 10: Example of Maintenance Roller damage
Figure 11: Example of Maintenance Roller damage
Return the printhead to the cap position using the “Printhead Height” feature in the
Advanced Tab of the utility.

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QL-800 High Volume Maintenance Guide 13
Cleaning Pinch Rollers and the Load Sensor
This section describes cleaning the input pinch rollers of the printer. Cleaning these rollers will
reduce the likelihood of media slipping in this location and potentially reduce the occurrence of
some 2017 errors.
1Remove the large black metal entrance guide by unscrewing the two Phillips head screws
on the top corners of the guide.
Remove the plate that covers the two top rollers. This is also secured with two Phillips head
screws. The following two images show the entrance with these parts removed.
Figure 12: Large black entrance guide removed
Figure 13: Top plate of pinch removed. Note a wrapped label was found on this roller.
2Using the lint-free cloth and alcohol, clean all three of these rollers. Rotate the large roller
by hand in order to clean all around all three rollers.
Remove any wrapped labels. Do not use any tools that could scratch or damage these
rollers.
3Wipe the top surface of the load sensor.

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QL-800 High Volume Maintenance Guide 14
4Reinstall the removed parts. When the large black guide is reinstalled, it can potentially
move the position of the load sensor. Make sure the load sensor is facing straight up once
the guide is reinstalled.
Cleaning Edge Guides and Unwind Flanges
Edge guides and Unwind flanges often become loaded with media adhesive and debris.
1Wipe the edge guide and surface of the pinch entrance with a lint-free cloth and alcohol.
Figure 14: Entrance guide prior to cleaning
2Unload media from the unwind mandrel and wipe the inside flange of the unwinder with a
lint-free cloth and alcohol.

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QL-800 High Volume Maintenance Guide 15
Maintenance Actions After Each Week
The following maintenance shall be done after each week (168 hours) of printer operation.
Inspecting the Aerosol Filter
1If the Aerosol Filter life bar in the Maintenance Utility indicates 0% life remaining, use the
Parts Replacement Wizard to replace the aerosol filter with a new part (PN 14795525).
2Inspect the aerosol filter. If the filter appears excessively loaded with ink aerosol and media
debris, use the Parts Replacement Wizard to replace the aerosol filter with a new part (PN
14795525).
Figure 15: Aerosol filter. This filter is not yet in need of replacement.

Preventative Maintenance
QL-800 High Volume Maintenance Guide 16
Inspecting the Transport Flaps
Inspect the transport unit’s absorbent flaps. There are two flaps, one on each side of the
transport unit. There is no life counter for these parts. However, if these absorbent parts appear
to be saturated and incapable of capturing any more ink aerosol, it needs to be replaced (PN
27428260).
Figure 16: This transport flap is not yet in need of replacement.
Inspecting Star Wheel Brackets
The star wheel brackets require regular inspection to ensure their proper operation. Each
individual star wheel should not protrude beyond the surface of the metal stiffener plate. They
should appear as they do in Figure 17 and Figure 18 below. Proper star wheel condition will
help alleviate 2017 errors and media jams.
1If a star wheel only protrudes slightly and otherwise appears to be in good condition, the
position of the star wheel can be reset.
Remove the star wheel bracket by unscrewing the 4 Phillips head screws located in each
corner of the bracket.
Bend the star wheel spring fingers by gently pushing with a fingertip through the top of the
bracket. When all of the star wheels have been repositioned such that they no longer
protrude through the stiffener plate, reinstall the bracket.

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QL-800 High Volume Maintenance Guide 17
2If star wheel springs cannot be repositioned or if they appear bent in an abnormal direction,
the bracket needs to be replaced. Entrance side star wheel bracket PN is 42916100. Exit
side star wheel bracket is PN 42916110.
Figure 17: Entrance side star wheel bracket with proper star wheel positions
Figure 18: Exit side star wheel bracket with proper star wheel positions
Cleaning the Printer Exterior
Over time, the plastic exterior panels of the printer may accumulate dust, dirt, etc. These panels
shall be cleaned weekly.
1Dampen a clean, lint-free cloth with de-ionized or distilled water.
Note: Anti-static electronic equipment cleaner may be used for exterior cleaning as
needed.
2Gently clean the plastic exterior surfaces using the cloth.

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3
Best Practices
The following chapter lists additional best practices that are recommended to follow in order to
achieve optimal output and print quality.
Maintenance Schedule
Using a maintenance schedule ensures tasks get completed on a regular basis. The example
below shows a potential schedule that could be used per printer to track the above
recommended tasks. Checkmarks or initials would be placed in the lighter colored boxes to
indicate that a task was completed.

Best Practices
QL-800 High Volume Maintenance Guide 19
Maintenance Cleaning Settings
The maintenance cleaning settings as shown below are the recommended settings. Each of
Auto-Maintenance selections shall be enabled and the Mid-job frequency set to 30 meters. The
“Update Cleaning Procedures” button can be used to reset the auto-maintenance settings if
they become disabled.

Best Practices
QL-800 High Volume Maintenance Guide 20
Idle Nozzle Level (KWS) Settings
The minimum recommended setting for Idle Nozzle Level (sometimes referred to as KWS) is
Low for Guthega ink sets and Medium for Natura ink sets. It is always acceptable to increase
these settings.
This setting is found on the Advanced Tab of the Maintenance Utility.
Pre-Feeding Media
If jams are occurring on the leading edge of media (sometimes appearing as 2017 errors) and
all recommended troubleshooting has occurred and root cause cannot be determined, it can be
useful as a temporary work-around to pre-feed media out of the printer. The caveat of this is
that it creates additional scrap.
1After media has been loaded or after media has been cut at the printer exit, press and hold
down the feed forward button until approximately 8 inches (200 mm) has been fed out of
the printer.
2On the next print job, the printer will reverse feed media, but not so much that the leading
edge of material will pass the printhead. This will prevent the leading edge getting caught
on the printhead at the start of printing.