Wasp WPL606 User manual

WPL606 Thermal Label Printer
User’s Guide
For Wasp Technologies
DT/TT Printer
Copyright Wasp Bar Code Technologies 2004.
All rights reserved.
No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any
means without the written permission of Wasp Bar Code Technologies. The
information contained in this document is subject to change without notice.
Wasp is a trademark of Wasp Bar Code Technologies. All other trademarks are the
property of their respective owners.
Document Revised August 13th, 2001

CONTENTS
1. Product Introduction ..............................................................1
1.1 Specification .................................................................................................. 1
1.1.1 Printer ....................................................................................................... 1
1.1.2 Environment .............................................................................................. 1
1.1.3 Hardware................................................................................................... 1
1.1.4 Bar Code................................................................................................... 2
1.2 Optional Items................................................................................................ 2
1.3 Supplies ......................................................................................................... 2
1.3.1 Label Specification .................................................................................... 2
1.3.2 Ribbon Specification.................................................................................. 2
2. Getting Started.......................................................................3
2.1 Unpacking and Inspection.............................................................................. 3
2.2 Equipment Checklist ...................................................................................... 3
2.3 Printer Parts................................................................................................... 3
2.4 Buttons, Indicators and adjustment knobs ..................................................... 5
3. Set Up....................................................................................7
3.1 Setting Up the Printer .................................................................................... 7
3.2 Ribbon Installation ......................................................................................... 7
3.3 Label Roll Installation..................................................................................... 9
3.4 Peel-off Sensor Installation (Sold Separately) ............................................. 10
3.5 Loading Label For Peel-off Mode................................................................. 11
3.6 Self-test ....................................................................................................... 12
3.7 Dump Mode ................................................................................................. 12
4. Calibration ...........................................................................14
4.1 Printer Initialization ...................................................................................... 14
4.2 Gap/Black Mark Sensor Calibration Utility ................................................... 15
4.3 Troubleshooting Guide................................................................................. 16
5. Printer Maintenance ............................................................17
5.1 Print Head Cleaning..................................................................................... 17
5.2 Printer Cover Cleaning................................................................................. 17
5.3 Internal Parts Cleaning ................................................................................ 17
6. Support and Warranty..........................................................18
6.1 Product Support........................................................................................... 18
6.2 Warranty Information ................................................................................... 18

Appendix 1: LCD Control Panel Operation Map.......................19
3

1. Product Introduction
Thank you for purchasing the W606 bar code printer. This guide will describe all
of the common operations needed to operate and maintain your W606.
1.1 Specification
1.1.1 Printer
Item Specification
Printing Mode Thermal transfer and direct thermal
Resolution 203DPI
Max. Print Length 1000 mm ( 39.4” )
Max. Print Width 104 mm ( 4” )
Print Speed 3,4,5,6 ips
1.1.2 Environment
Operating Environment
Temperature 5 - 40 OC ( 41OF - 104 OF )
Humidity 30 % - 85 %
Storage Environment
Temperature -10 - 60 OC ( 14 OF - 140 OF )
Humidity 20 - 95 %
Ventilation Free air environment
1.1.3 Hardware
Sensors
Label gap sensor, Paper end sensor, Ribbon end
sensor, Ribbon near end sensor, Black mark sensor,
Head open sensor, Case open sensor, Label taken
sensor, Paper near end sensor.
Memory Flash ROM (2MB), DRAM (2MB) and 8M optional
flash ROM (memory module)
Interface RS-232C, Centronics (SPP), USBV1.1, Internal LAN
adapter (optional).
Power 100 - 240 V universal switching power supply.
1

1.1.4 Bar Code
Code 39, Code 93, Code128 subsets A B and C, Code 11, Codabar,
Interleaved 2 of 5, EAN-8, EAN-13, EAN-128, UPC-A, UPC-E, EAN, UPC,
EAN 2 or 5 digit add-on, UPC 2 or 5 digit Add-on, CPOST, MSI Plessy, Postnet,
EAN-14, ITF-14, PDF-417, Maxicode, DataMatrix, QR Code
1.2 Optional Items
 Cutter module
 Peel off sensor
 Portable LCD keyboard
 Memory
 Internal or External Ethernet print server
1.3 Supplies
1.3.1 Label Specification
Item Specification
Type Roll and label, continuous, die-cut, fan-fold, ticket
Label Width 25.4 - 116 mm ( 1” - 4.4” )
Label Length 10 - 999 mm ( 0.4” - 39.33” )
Label Thickness 0.0 - 0.25 mm ( .003” - .001” )
Label Roll Diameter 203 mm Maximum ( 9.8” )
Roll Core Diameter 25 or 77 mm ( 1” or 3”)
Black Mark Width 3 mm Minimum ( .12” )
1.3.2 Ribbon Specification
Item Specification
Ribbon Width 25.4～114.3 mm ( 1” – 4.5” )
Ribbon Length 300 m Maximum ( 984’ )
2

2. Getting Started
2.1 Unpacking and Inspection
After receiving the bar code printer, carefully inspect the device and its packaging.
The printer is specially packaged to withstand damage in shipping. In case of
evident damage, contact the carrier directly to specify the nature and extent of
damage. Please retain the packaging materials in case you need to reship the
printer.
2.2 Equipment Checklist
 W606 printer unit
 Quick installation guide
 Power cord
 Centronics interface cable
 3” (76.2 mm ) paper core adapter
 Software CD disc
If any parts are missing, please contact Product Support. For contact information
see the Product Support section at the end of this document.
2.3 Printer Parts
Lights
LCD Display
Buttons
Printer Right
Side Cove
r
Figure 1: Printer front view
3

External Label
Feed Opening
Centronics Port
Figure 2: Printer rear view
RS-232C Port
Power Switch
Power Supply
Connector
Print Head Lift Lever
Ribbon Rewind Spindle Ribbon Supply Spindle
Label Spindle
Media Guide Bar
Label Guide
Ribbon Tension
Adjustment Knob
USB port
Print Head Pressure
Adjustment Knob
Figure 3: Printer interior view
4

2.4 Buttons, Indicators and adjustment knobs
Power Indicator
When the printer is in the power-on state, the Power indicator is lit.
On-Line Indicator
This green On-Line indicator is lit when the printer is ready. The On-Line
indicator blinks when in PAUSE mode.
Error Indicator
The red Error indicator illuminates in the event of a printer error, such as
memory full, carriage open, cutter error and so forth.
MENU/SELECT Button
Press the MENU button to enter printer setup mode. Press the MENU button
again to advance the cursor to the next menu item. (Printer Setup, Sensor Setup,
System Setup, File Setup and Printer Test) For more information, please refer to
Appendix 1 for the structure and operation logic of the menu.
PAUSE/EXE/INC Button
This button combines three functions:
A. PAUSE: If the printer is in the Ready status, pressing the PAUSE:
(1) Stops at the completion of printing of the current label
(2) The On-Line LED flashes, and
(3) The printer holds all data in memory. This allows for trouble-free
replacement of label stock and thermal transfer ribbon. A second depression
of the PAUSE button will restart the printer.
B. EXE/INC (Execute/Increment): If the printer is in the setup mode, Press INC
button to increase the value of parameters. Press EXE to execute the
selected item.
FEED/DEC Button
This button also has dual functions.
Press the FEED button and the printer will advance one label.
Press the DEC button to decrease the value of parameters.
Print Head Lift Lever
When the Print Head Lift Lever is opened, the On-Line LED will be turned off, the
5

LCD display shows “Carriage Open” and the red Error light will come on. After
closing the print head lift lever, the On-Line light will blink. Press the FEED button
to re-register the label.
Ribbon Tension Adjustment Knob
The Ribbon Tension Adjustment Knob offers 6 levels of tension to adjust for
different widths of ribbon. Turn the ribbon tension knob clockwise and you will
hear a light click sound as the gear changes. The levels increase the tension
from 0 to the tightest at 5. You will hear a louder click when level 0 is selected to
indicate reset.
Note: Use the lowest setting possible for longer print head life.
Print Head Pressure Adjustment Knob
The Print Head Adjustment Knobs are used to fine tune print quality for different
thickness of media. Turning the knobs increases or decreases the pressure on
the media by the print head. The knobs should always be set to the same level. If
setting them to different levels fixes a printing problem you should clean the print
head and consider replacing it.
Print Head
Pressure
Knobs
Print Head
Burn Line
Knobs
Figure 4: Print head adjustment knobs
Print Head Burn Line Adjustment Knob
The Print Burn Line Adjustment Knobs are used to fine tune print quality for
different thickness of media. Turning the knobs adjusts the print head’s burn line
forward or backward as it relates to the platen roller.
Caution: incorrectly adjusting these knobs can lead to poor print quality
and may cause damage to the printer. Proceed with caution.
The print head burn line default is set for general purpose printing media (plain
paper and paper thickness less than 0.20mm). The print head moves 0.7mm for
each 360 degree turn. Poor print quality when using paper thicker than 0.20mm
may be due to the print head burn line not being at the optimized position. To
correct this, increase the head pressure and adjust the knobs counter-clockwise
to move print head burn line forward then print again. Continue to adjust and test
print as necessary until the image is clear.
6

3. Set Up
3.1 Setting Up the Printer
1. Place the printer on a flat, secure surface
2. Make sure the POWER switch is off
3. Connect the printer to the computer with the provided RS-232C,
Centronics/Parallel, or USB cable
4. Plug the power cord into the power supply connector at the rear of the
printer, and then plug the power cord into a properly grounded power outlet
3.2 Ribbon Installation
1. Turn the power to the printer off
2. Open the printer right side cover and front panel
3. Raise print head lift lever and remove the old ribbon by firmly grasping the
media and pulling it off of the spindle
4. Wasp ribbons are wound with the dull ink side out and come with the rewind
spindle connected to the ribbon. Slide the ribbon onto the ribbon supply
spindle so that when the rewind spindle is extended toward the back of the
printer the Wasp logo is facing up. Slide the ribbon about half way onto the
spindle
Ribbon
Supply
Spindle
Print
Head Lift
Lever
O
p
en
Figure 5: Ribbon placed onto Supply Spindle
5. Wrap the ribbon under the print head and out the front of the printer. The
Wasp logo will be facing down toward the platten roller. The Platen Roller is
the black rubber roller bar that advances the media
Rewind
Core
Rewind
Spindle
Print Head
Platen
Roller
7

Figure 6: Ribbon under Pint Had
6. Pull the paper core up to the rewind spindle and slide it on. Slide both the
ribbon and rewind spindle all the way to be flush with the case side of the
spindle. The Wasp logo will face up again
Figure 7: Ribbon placed onto Rewind Spindle
7. Roll the rewind spindle by hand until some of the actual ribbon shows in the
front of the printer. The Wasp logo will roll over the top of the spindle.
Flush with
Case
Ribbon in
front
Figure 8: Ribbon wound into printing position
8. The ribbon must route above the black ribbon sensor.
Ribbon
Ribbon
Sensor
Figure 9: Ribbon Sensor and Ribon placement
8

3.3 Label Roll Installation
1. Open the printer panels and the print head lift lever
2. Rotate the Label Guide clockwise away from the Media Guide Bar
3. Insert a new label roll into the label spindle
4. Pull labels leading edge forward under the black media guide bar, through
the gap/black mark sensor and place the label leading edge onto the Platen
Roller
Label
Spindle
Figure 10: Insert a label roll into label spindle.
Media
Guide Bar
Gap /
Black Mark
Detector
Label
Guide
Label
Guide
Gap
Detector
Handle
Platen
Roller
Print Head
Lever
Figure 11: Media guide bar the gap/black mark detector
5. Adjust the label guide by sliding it along its bar to meet the width of the label.
Then rotate the Label Guide counter-clockwise and secure it to the Media
Guide Bar
6. Adjust the Gap Detector to overlap at least one inch of the label by moving
the yellow Gap Detector Handle located under the media and just in front of
the media guide bar
7. Close the print head lift lever
8. Close the lower front panel and printer cover
9. Turn the power on
10. Go to section 4.2 Gap / Black Mark Detector Sensor Calibration and
calibrate the labels
9

3.4 Peel-off Sensor Installation (Sold Separately)
1. Turn the printer off
2. Open the lower front panel
3. Snap the peel-off sensor onto the bar that is under the print head pressure
adjustment knobs horizontally
Bar
Peel-off sensor
Figure 12: Peel Sensor attached to bar
Socket for Peel-off
sensor
Figure 13: Peel Socket
4. Plug the Peel-off sensor into the socket by sliding it along the bar into the
socket
Figure 14: Peel Sensor into Socket
5. Close the panels and turn the printer back on
6. If you are printing from windows you must turn peel off mode on in the
Advanced Setup section of Printing Preferences for this printer
7. Go to section 4.2 Gap / Black Mark Detector Sensor Calibration and calibrate
the labels
10

3.5 Loading Label For Peel-off Mode
1. Open the front and top printer doors
2. Open the print head left lever
3. Pull several inches of labels out through the front of the printer and remove
the label(s) from the backing
4. Feed the label backing between the platen roller and the silver peeler roller
then press the MENU button several times to advance the label backing
through the rollers.
5. Either advance the backing or roll back the labels to take the slack out of the
media.
Tear Ba
r
Peeler
Roller
Platten
Roller
Label
Label
Backing
Figure 15: Peeler installation
6. Close the print head lift lever.
7. Close the front panel and feed the excess backing through the bottom of the
front panel.
Label
Label
Backing
Figure 16: Front panel media location with Peeler
8. Press the FEED button several times to align the labels and recalibrate
11

3.6 Self-test
To initiate the self-test mode, press the MENU button to advance the selection to
Printer Test. Press the EXE button to enter the submenu and press the MENU
button to advance the selection to Printer Config. Press EXE button to print the
printer’s internal settings. During self-test, a check pattern is used to check the
performance of the thermal print head. Following the check pattern, the printer
prints internal settings as listed below:
Print head check pattern
Firmware version
Firmware checksum
Printed mileage (meter)
Serial port configuration
Country code
Print speed (inch/sec)
Print darkness
Label size (inch)
Gap distance (inch)
Gap/black mark sensor sensitivity
Numbers of download files
Total & available memory space
Figure 17: Printout of self-test
3.7 Dump Mode
To enter dump mode, press the MENU button to select the Printer Test menu.
Press EXE then SELECT until Dump Mode Off is displayed. Press INC to change
the display to Dump Mode On. In this mode, any character sent from the host
computer will be printed in two columns as shown in Figure 18.
On the left side of the paper are the characters received, and on the right side are
the corresponding hexadecimal values. This is used for verification of
programming commands or debugging of printer programs. Reset the printer by
pressing the FEED button.
12

Hex decimal data
related to left
column of ASCII
data
ASCII Data
Figure 18: Printout of dump mode
13

4. Calibration
There are two power-on button combinations to initialize the printer settings and
to calibrate sensors on the W606.
4.1 Printer Initialization
Printer Initialization will restore printer settings to defaults. Do this if labels are
printing incorrectly and all other solutions have failed to solve the problem.
Default settings:
Item Default Value
Cleared by
Initialization
Property Saved
when Turning off
Power
Mileage N/A No Yes
Check Sum N/A No Yes
Serial Port 9600,n,8,1 Yes Yes
Code Page 850 Yes Yes
Country Code 001 Yes Yes
Tear Mode On Yes Yes
Peel Mode Off Yes Yes
Cutter Mode Off Yes Yes
Offset 0 Yes Yes
Reference Point 0,0 Yes Yes
Print Direction 0 Yes Yes
Speed 4 IPS Yes Yes
Density 08 Yes Yes
Label Size 3”x3” (77X77mm) Yes Yes
Gap/Bline Sensor Gap Sensor Yes Yes
Gap(Bline) 0.12” (3 mm) Yes Yes
Transparency 17 Yes Yes
Ribbon Sensor
Sensitivity 1 Yes Yes
LCD Language English Yes Yes
Aux. LED Off Yes Yes
Aux. Buzzer Off Yes Yes
Download Files N/A No Yes
RTC N/A No No
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To initialize the printer:
1. Turn off the printer power
2. Hold down the PAUSE and FEED buttons and turn on the printer power
3. Release the buttons once the Power, On-Line, and Error lights are lit
Note: The printing method, thermal transfer or direct thermal printing, will
be set automatically at the activation of printer power by checking for the
ribbon. If there is no ribbon the printer will go into direct thermal printing
mode.
Note: When printer initialization is done, please calibrate the gap sensor
again.
4.2 Gap/Black Mark Sensor Calibration Utility
The gap/black mark sensor must be calibrated whenever the label media
changes or after printer initialization.
To calibrate the Gap/Black Mark Sensor:
1. Install the ribbon and label roll as the above-mentioned procedures, and
engage the print head lift lever.
2. Turn off printer power.
3. Hold down the PAUSE key and then turn on printer power. Release the
PAUSE key when “GAP/BLINE sensor calibrating….” message is shown on
the LCD display. The printer will calibrate the gap/black mark sensor
automatically.
15

4.3 Troubleshooting Guide
The following guide lists the most common problems that may be encountered
when operating this bar code printer. If the printer still does not function after all
suggested solutions have been invoked, please contact the Customer Service.
Condition Reasons Solutions
No ribbon
1. Out of ribbon
2. The ribbon is installed
incorrectly.
3. The ribbon sensor is not
been calibrated.
1. Supply a new ribbon roll
2. Reinstall the ribbon using the
steps in section 3.2 Ribbon
Installation
3. Calibrate the ribbon sensor
No paper
1. Out of labels
2. The label is installed
incorrectly.
3. The moveable gap/black
mark sensor is not placed in
the proper location.
1. Supply a new label roll
2. Reinstall the labels using the
steps in section 3.3 Label Roll
Installation
3. Please move the sensor to the
proper location
Poor printing
quality
1. Dirt is accumulated on the
print head.
2. The density setting is not
set properly
3. Ribbon and media are
incompatible.
4. The pressure of print head
is not set properly
1. Clean the print head using the
steps in the section 5.1 Print
Head Cleaning
2. Adjust the print density in the
driver
3. Use the proper ribbon or
proper label roll.
4. Adjust the print head pressure
adjustment knob.
Power indicator
does not
illuminate
1. The power cord is not
properly connected
1. Please check the power cord
between printer and outlet.
Paper jam
1. The label size is not set
properly.
2. Labels may be stuck in side
print mechanism.
1. a. Reset the label size.
b. Re-calibrate the
gap/black mark sensor.
2. Remove the stuck label.
Carriage open The printer carriage is open. Please close the print carriage.
Memory full
(FLASH / DRAM)
The space of FLASH/DRAM is
full.
Delete unused files in the
FLASH/DRAM. Maximum 50 files
saved in DRAM. Maximum 100
files saved in Flash Files.
No printout
printing through
serial port
1. The serial port setting is not
consistent between host and
printer.
2. The serial port cable pin
configuration is not pin to pin
assignment.
1. Please reset the serial port
setting.
2. Please replace the cable with
pin to pin assignment.
16