VIP Color VP2020 User manual

VP2020
User Guide
Printer

ii
Copyright © 2004 VIPColor Technologies Pte Ltd.
This document contains proprietary information that is protected by copyright. All rights are reserved. No part of this document
may be photocopied, reproduced, or translated to another language without the prior written permission of VIPColor
Technologies Pte Ltd.
Warranty
VIPColor Technologies Pte Ltd takes steps to ensure that this user guide is correct; however, errors may occur, and the
information in this guide is subject to change without notice.
VIPColor Technologies Pte Ltd. makes no warranty of any kind with regard to this material, including but not
limited to, the implied warranties of merchantability and fitness for a particular purpose.
VIPColor Technologies, Pte Ltd. shall not be liable for errors contained herein or for incidental or consequential damages in
connection with furnishing, performance, or use of this material.
Trademarks
Microsoft, Windows, Windows NT, Windows 2000, and Windows XP are registered trademarks of Microsoft Corporation in the
U.S.A. and/or other countries.
TrueType fonts are a registered trademark of Apple Computer, Inc.
PCL is a trademark of Hewlett-Packard Company
VIPColor is a trademark of VIPColor Technologies, U.S.A., Inc
All other company and product names may be the registered trademarks or trademarks of their respective owners.
VP2020 User Guide 05/2004
WARNING
Electrical Shock Hazard
Serious shock hazard leading to death or injury may result if you do not take the following precautions:
• Ensure that the AC power outlet (mains) has a protective earth (ground) terminal.
• Disconnect the printer from the power source prior to performing any troubleshooting procedures.
• Prevent water or any other liquids from running onto electrical components or circuits, or through openings in the enclosure.

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Contents
Parts of the Printer v
1 Setting up the Printer 1
Choose a location for the printer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
Unpack the printer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
Connect the power cable. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
Install printheads and cartridges . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
Install ink cartridges . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
Install printhead cleaners. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
Install printheads . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
Load continuous media . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
Run the printhead alignment procedure . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
Connect the printer to a computer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
Connect the printer to a network . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
Enter TCP/IP parameters. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
Install the printer driver . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
Set up email warnings (optional) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
2 Printing on Different Types of Media 23
About color profiles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
Load a new media roll . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
Set the media selector . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32
Change printer settings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32
Barcode safe mode . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
3 Printer Control Panel 35
Control panel display and buttons . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35
Selecting printer options . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37
Entering a password . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37
Main menu. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38
Summary of submenus and options . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39
Submenus and options . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41
PRINTHEAD MAINTENANCE menu. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41
TEST menu . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42
ADVANCED menu. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44
MAINTENANCE menu. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46

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OPTIONS menu. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47
COUNTRY CONFIG menu . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48
INTERFACE menu. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49
PASSWORD menu . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50
4 Printer Internal Web Pages 51
Set up a connection. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51
Home page . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53
Password. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54
Current Active Stock . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55
Metrics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56
Option Install . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58
Test Functions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61
Available Fonts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62
Set Up Email Warnings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63
Country Configuration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65
5 Changing Cartridges and Printheads 67
Replace an ink cartridge . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 68
Replace a printhead . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69
Replace a printhead cleaner . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73
6 Troubleshooting 75
Error messages on control panel. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75
If the carriage is unable to move . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77
If the media is jammed in the printer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77
Print quality problems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80
Adjustments and calibrations. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81
Printhead alignment. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81
Media calibration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 85
Printer maintenance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 88
Clean contacts on the printhead . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 88
7 Optional Accessories 89
Expanding SDRAM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 90
Expanding flash memory . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91
8 Printer Specifications 93
Media dimensions and printable area . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 95

v
Parts of the Printer
The following figures show the locations and names of key printer parts.
ink cartridge
service station
top cover control panel
front access door
access door
manual cutter

vi
* Always turn the printer off using the Power button on the control panel, to
ensure that the printhead carriage is returned to its proper position at the left side
of the printer.
USB connector
Ethernet connector
power socket
rear access door
Power switch*
memory
expansion bay
PCMCIA slot

SETTING UP THE PRINTER 1
Chapter 1
Setting up the Printer
To set up the printer, you need to do the following:
• Choose a suitable location for setting up the printer.
• Unpack the printer.
• Connect the power cable.
• Install the ink cartridges, printhead cleaners, and printheads.
• Load continuous media to run the printhead alignment procedure.
• Once complete, replace the continuous media with the media for printing.
• Connect the printer to your computer and/or network.
• Install the printer driver.
Choose a location for the printer
Select a suitable location for the printer, following these guidelines:
• The area must be well ventilated and clean.
• Avoid places where the printer can be exposed to direct sunlight, liquids or
chemicals.
• Avoid places that can be subject to abrupt changes in temperature and
humidity.
• Select a surface that is sturdy enough to take the weight of the printer.
NOTE: It is recommended that the printer be run on an uninterruptable power
supply.

2SETTING UP THE PRINTER
Unpack the printer
When unpacking the printer, take care as it is heavy. You should always get help
from another person to unpack and lift the printer.
1. Carefully lift the printer out of the box and set it on a level and sturdy surface in
the selected location.
2. Open the top cover of the printer.
3. Push and hold the green lever to lift up the frame that supports the media roll.
4. Carefully remove the packing material inside the printer.
5. Push and hold the green lever to lower the frame, then close the printer cover.
You should see two smaller boxes containing the printheads and ink cartridges
inside the printer box.
Do not throw away the printer box and packing materials in case you need to use
them again.

SETTING UP THE PRINTER 3
Connect the power cable
NOTE: Make sure the packing material inside
the printer has been removed and the printer
cover is closed.
1. Attach the power cable securely to the printer
before plugging the other end into a power outlet.
2. Turn the printer on using the Power switch near
the power connector.
NOTE: Do not turn off the printer using the Power
switch at the back of the printer. Always turn it off
using the Power button on the control panel at the
front of the printer. This ensures that the printhead
carriage is returned to its proper position at the left
side of the printer and that the printheads are
protected.
Power switch

4SETTING UP THE PRINTER
Install printheads and cartridges
The printer uses four ink cartridges (CMYK – Cyan, Magenta, Yellow and
blacK), five printheads, and five printhead cleaners (there are two black
printheads). The ink cartridges, printheads and printhead cleaners have to be
correctly installed before the printer will function properly.
Install ink cartridges
Each color cartridge fits in a specific slot, as
indicated by the colored labels over the slots. From
left to right, the colors are magenta, yellow, cyan
and black.
1. Remove a cartridge from its packaging.
2. Push the cartridge firmly into the correct slot.
If you are not able to snap the cartridge in place, it
is probably in the wrong slot.
3. Install the other cartridges in the same way.
ink cartridge printhead printhead cleaner

SETTING UP THE PRINTER 5
Install printhead cleaners
Each new printhead comes with a printhead cleaner.The printhead cleaners
protect the printheads when the printer is not in use, and keep the printheads
clean for optimum print quality. The printhead cleaners are installed in the
service station at the bottom left of the printer, below the printhead carriage.
Each printhead cleaner is designed to work with a particular color printhead. The
printhead cleaners must therefore be installed in the same order as the
printheads, as indicated by the colored labels on the service station. From left to
right, the colors are magenta, yellow, cyan, black and black.
1. Slide the lock to the right to release the service
station access door.
2. Remove the printhead cleaner from the
packaging.
3. Insert the printhead cleaner into the correct slot
in the service station and push it in firmly by its
top. You should hear a click as it snaps into place.
4. Install the other printhead cleaners in the same
way.
NOTE: When all the printhead cleaners are
installed, they do not line up.
5. Close the access door and slide the lock back to
the left to lock it.

6SETTING UP THE PRINTER
Install printheads
1. Open the top cover of the printer.
The printhead carriage will move to the center of
the printer.
2. Remove the packing tape from each of the
latches on the carriage.
3. Remove a printhead from its packaging, then
remove the protective cap and tape.
NOTE: Take care not to touch the nozzles of the
printhead.
Keep the protective cap and tape so that you can
replace them on the printhead, if you should ever
need to remove it from the printer.

SETTING UP THE PRINTER 7
4. Look at the carriage, which has colored labels
showing where the printhead for each color should
be installed. Release and flip up the latch for the
printhead you are installing.
5. Push the printhead firmly into the carriage.
NOTE: You will not be able to push the printhead
in place if it is in the wrong slot.
6. Flip the latch down over the printhead and
secure it by pressing down.
7. Repeat steps 3 to 6 until all the printheads have
been installed.
8. Close the top cover.
The printer will check and initialize the printheads.

8SETTING UP THE PRINTER
Load continuous media
The following cutaway view shows the path of the media through the printer and
important parts inside the printer.
Media path through the printer
The first time you set up the printer, load the continuous media provided with
the printer. This media is needed to run the printhead alignment procedure.
1. Open the printer’s top cover.
frame that supports
media roll
lever to release
frame
clamp that locks
spindle in place
pinch rollers
manual cutter
media roll loaded
in spindle
media sensor
(one on each
side of the roll)

SETTING UP THE PRINTER 9
2. Push and hold the green lever to lift up the
frame that supports the media roll. Make sure you
push the frame up to its highest level so that the
pinch rollers (see the figure on page 8) are raised
above the platen.
3. Push back the clamps (which are marked with
green labels) at both sides of the frame.
4. Remove the spindle from the frame, by lifting it
slightly upwards and towards yourself.
clamp

10 SETTING UP THE PRINTER
5. Pull the green lock ring and the right side of the
spindle off the central core.
6. Insert the spindle into the roll. The free end of
the roll should hang off the front.
7. Replace the right side of the spindle and push it
against the roll. If you can’t fit it back over the
central core, rotate it slightly so that the notches on
the two parts line up properly. Then replace the
lock ring.

SETTING UP THE PRINTER 11
8. Place the spindle into the frame. The gear of the
spindle should be on the left and the free end of the
roll in front.
9. Slip the media loading tool over the free end of
the roll. Align the media against the left side of the
tool.
10. Reach inside the printer and push the green
media width guide to the right.

12 SETTING UP THE PRINTER
11. Feed the loading tool through the opening
above the rollers at the back of the printer.
12. Continue feeding the media in until it appears
under the pinch rollers. Make sure the media runs
under the Top-of-Form sensor (on the left, in front
of the pinch rollers).
13. Finally, feed the media through the cutter.

SETTING UP THE PRINTER 13
14. Remove the media loading tool.
15. Make sure the edge of the media is lined up
against the red alignment mark on the left.
Check that the media has been fed correctly through the printer (steps 11 to 15) as shown below.
under the
against the red
alignment mark
under the pinch rollers
through the manual cutter
Top-of-Form sensor

14 SETTING UP THE PRINTER
16. Move the media width guide against the right
edge of the media.
To position the media width guide correctly, you
can make use of the alignment arrow and the green
bands on the ruler.
The diagram on the left illustrates the correct
placement for 4” media:
• For pre-cut labels, the alignment arrow should be
against the right side of the green band at the 4”
mark.
• For continuous media or tag media, the arrow
should be against the left side of the green band at
the 4” mark.
17. Push and hold the green lever to lower the
frame. Be careful when lowering the frame. The
clamps on both sides of the frame will close
automatically.
18. Close the printer cover.
ruler
alignment
arrow
4.0
4.0
Placement of media width guide
• Pre-cut labels
• Continuous or tag media
green band
alignment
arrow
on ruler
green lever