There are some simple steps you can take to prolong the life of thermal label printer printhead.
- Clean the printhead regularly. Dirty printheads produce less than optimal output and residue from the printing process can cause uneven heating or dissipation of heat by the dots.
- Use the right type and good quality paper type and thermal transfer ribbon. Using the wrong type causes additional mechanical and thermal wear on the printhead.
- Use the lowest print speed setting that produces acceptable results. This helps reduce mechanical wear on the printhead.
- Try to run prints at room temperature where possible. Lower ambient temperatures require more energy to be sent to the dots to produce the print. Excessive heating and cooling of the printhead dots will shorten the printhead’s life.
- Use the lowest contrast setting you can. Higher contrast means more heat to the printhead. Higher heat translates to a shorter life span.
- If your printer has a printhead pressure adjustment, use the lowest setting possible. This will reduce the amount of friction the printhead sustains during printing.
- Make sure you are not printing off of the thermal transfer ribbon. Thermal printers are designed to use the transfer of heat from the printhead to the print TTR as the primary cooling method. If the dots on the printhead are not printing on TTR, they are not cooling properly.