Polaroid Printer P50i manual

1  Part Number: 980299-001 Rev .1.1 © 2004 POLAROID W elcome to your new Polaroid P50 i User’ s Manual[...]

2  FOREWORD This manual contains installation and operation information for the Polaroid P50 i Series card printers. RETURN MA TERIALS AUTHORIZA TION Before returning any equipment to Polaroid for in-warranty or out-of-warranty repair , contact Repair Administration for a Return Materials Authorization (RMA) number . Repack the equipment in the [...]

3  W arranty information Printers: All Polaroid Card Printers are warranted against defects in material or workmanship for twelve (12) months from the purchase date. Proof of purchase or shipment date is required to validate the warranty period. The warranty becomes void if the equipment is modified, improperly installed or used, damaged by acci[...]

4  DECLARA TIONS OF CONFORMITY This equipment has been tested and found to comply with the limits for a Class B digital device, pursuant to part 15 of the FCC Rules. These limits are designed to provide reasonable protection against harmful interference in a residential installation. This equipment generates, uses and can radiate radio frequency[...]

5  DECLARA TIONS OF CONFORMITY Polaroid Digital ID Systems 4650 Executive Blvd. Ft.W ayne, IN 46808 www .polaroid-id.com Products: Plastic Card Printer P50 i Declare under his whole responsibility that the products cited above are in conformity with the applicable essential requirements (and in particular those from the directive 1999/5/CE) foll[...]

6  INTRODUCTION Thank you for choosing the Polaroid P50 i Plastic Card Printer . Polaroid’ s card printers offer a low cost, high quality solution to those requiring computer-controlled printing and encoding of credit card style plastic cards. Card applications include customer loyalty , access control, visitor , membership, gift cards, durabl[...]

7  ICONS Throughout this manual, different icons highlight important information, as follows: Important general information. Mechanical hazard, such as one associated with moving parts, capable of resulting in equipment damage or personal injury . Electrical hazard, such as an exposed voltage point, capable of causing electrical shock and person[...]

8  1 2 3 4 5 T ABLE OF CONTENTS GETTING ST ARTED • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • 10 1•1 Unpacking your P50 i • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • [...]

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10  1 G ETTING S T ARTED 1 • 1 Unpacking your card printer Y our P50 i printer ships in a carton and protective anti-static bag. Keep all packaging material in case you need to move or re-ship the printer . Pull your printer out of the carton by grabbing it on both sides. While unpacking, inspect the carton to ensure that no damage occured dur[...]

11  PRINTER DRIVER & USER’S MANUAL CD Quick Start Guide Make sure the following items are included with your P50 i printer: If any items are missing, please contact your dealer . To reorder , please refer to Appendix C of this manual. QUICK ST ART CLEANING CARTRIDGE INTERF ACE CABLE EXTERNAL POWER SUPPL Y[...]

12  1 • 2 Indicators and Control Y our P50 i printer is equiped with a Multi Function Panel Button with a surrounding light ring that glows in three colors to provide printer status indication. The Multi Function Panel Button is used to perform the following operations: - Clear Error - Cleaning process (see chapter 4) - T est Card (see chapter[...]

13  1 • 3 Printer Installation The following will guide you through the installation of your P50 i printer . CAUTION: Limit AC power supplied to the P50 i Printer to 24 VDC. Limit excess current draw to 16 amps or less, using an associated circuit breaker or other such device. Never operate the printer in a location where operator , computer ,[...]

14  2 2 • 1 Printer Features The following shows the features found on your P50 i Printer:[...]

15  2 • 2 Loading Ribbon Cartridge The P50 i Printer requires approved ribbon cartridges (see Appendix C). The Resin Thermal T ransfer and Dye Sublimation ribbons are specifically designed for your P50 i Printer . For optimum performance and printer life (Print Head), always use approved ribbons. Y ou can print up to 100 cards in YMCKO with th[...]

16  2 • 3 Loading Cards To help you load, print, and collect cards, the P50 i has the following items: A - CARD FEEDER This item is used for loading cards, it can hold up to 50 cards of 30 mils. Y ou may have to install the Card Feeder . Hold the card feeder on the sides and slide it into the rail guide. • Install Cards into feeder at the fr[...]

17  B - CARD OUTPUT HOPPER 1 • Press on the card output hopper door and pull it down to place it in its functional position. When not using the printer place the card output hopper back in its closed position to protect the printer from dust.[...]

18  C - INST ALL CARD CLEANING CARTRIDGE This item is used to clean the cards entering the printer . It must be installed before using the printer . *Improper cleaning will reduce printer life and degrade print quality . 1 • Open the lid by pressing both Cover Release buttons located on the sides of your printer . 2 • If the ribbon cartridge[...]

19  2 • 4 Feeding One Card at a T ime For feeding one card at a time, like Cleaning Cards for example, remove all cards from card feeder and insert one card at a time at the bottom of the feeder . Do not feed more than one card at a time.[...]

20  2 • 5 Printing a T est Card With ribbon cartridge and cards loaded, your P50 i printer is ready to print. T o check the operation of the printer , you should print a test card. 1 • Place the printer’ s power switch in the OFF (0) position. 2 • While holding down the Multi Function Panel Button, switch printer ON (1). The status indic[...]

21  3 P RINTING A SAMPLE CARD Printing with the P50 i Printer requires the Windows Printer Driver , your card design/issuing software or printer command level programming through the printer interface. The P50 i Card Printer can be used with any Windows 98/ME/XP , Windows 2000 or Windows NT 4.0 software application program, using the drivers pro[...]

22  3 • 1 To install the P50 i Printer Driver Automatically on all Operating Systems, Use the Polaroid Install Wizard To ensure the accuracy of driver installation, it is recommended that you use the Polaroid Install Wizard that is provided on your driver CD. The Wizard will: a • Automatically launch when driver CD is inserted. b • Check t[...]

23  3 • 2 Set Printer Driver Options: To open the P50 i Printer screen, right mouse click on your driver icon and select Properties . Change the options as follows: 1• On the Device Settings tab the magnetic encoder feature is automatically enabled. If you need to change settings for a Magnetic Encoder , select Encoder settings button. 2• [...]

24  3 • 3 Printing a sample card: Follow the steps to print your first card 1• Go to the Microsoft Word Software. 2• If the printer was not selected as the default printer , go to the file menu and Select Printer and choose Polaroid P50 i Card Printer in the printer names list. Then Close the print dialog box. 3• Come back to file menu a[...]

25  4 C LEANING PROTECT YOUR F ACTORY W ARRANTY! The recommended maintenance procedures must be performed to maintain your factory warranty . Other than the recommanded cleaning procedures described in this manual, allow only Polaroid authorized technicians to service the P50 i Printer . NEVER loosen, tighten, adjust, or bend, etc. a part or cab[...]

26  4 • 1 Cleaning System Y our P50 i Printer includes a simple cleaning system using Pre-Saturated Cleaning Cards provided. The regular use of these cards will clean and maintain important parts of your printer that cannot be reached: including the Print Head the T ransport Rollers and Magnetic Encoder Station (optional feature). WHEN TO CLEA[...]

27  4 • 2 Cleaning the Print Head A cleaning using the cleaning system with cards usually suffices. However , a separate Print head cleaning using swabs can remove more stubborn deposits when print anomalies persist. T o avoid deposits, only use foam-tipped swabs. 1 • Switch power Off , open cover by pressing both cover release buttons and r[...]

28  4 • 3 Card Cleaning Cartridge Y our P50 i Printer also has a Card Cleaning Cartridge. This item cleans the cards entering the printer . T o ensure print quality , the cleaning roller should be replaced with every ribbon cartridge replacement. WHEN TO MAINT AIN Each time the ribbon cartridge is replaced. If you plan to run a printer cleanin[...]

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5 30  T ROUBLESHOOTING This section offers solutions to potential problems you may experience with your P50 i printer . 5 • 1 Print Quality Issues This section will help you resolve print quality problems. The print quality is dependent on several factors. The two most important factors that will increase your print quality are cleanliness and[...]

31  • Small spots appear on the printed card with a non-printed area or a different color . Possible Cause A • Contamination on the card surface. B • Dust inside the printer and/or dirty Cleaning Roller . >> Solution A1 • Check that cards are stored in a dust free environment A2 • Use a different supply of cards. B1 • Perform a[...]

32  • Printing shows very pale or inconsistent results. Possible Cause A • Ribbon cartridge have been stored improperly or is damaged. B • Cards may not meet specifications. C • Contrast and/or Intensity may be set to values which are too high. D • Dust or embedded contamination on elements of the Print Head. >> Solution A1 • C[...]

33  • No printing on the card. Possible Cause A • Ribbon cartridge may not be installed in the printer . B • Cards may not meet specifications. C • Cable on Print Head may be disconnected. D • Print Head elements may be scratched or burnt. >> Solution A1 • Check for ribbon cartridge in the printer . B1 • Use a different suppl[...]

34  6 T ECHNICAL S PECIFICA TIONS General • High speed printing 30 seconds per card in YMCKO 4 seconds per card in Monochrome • Small footprint • Windows Drivers for 98/2000/ME/XP and NT 4.0 • One year printer warranty • One year print head warranty` • Powerful EPCL (Polaroid Printer Command Language) Color Printing • Color dye sub[...]

35  Ribbons Cartridges • Black Monochrome: 500 cards/cartridge • YMCKO dye sub: 100 cards/cartridge Interfaces • USB port / Parallel • USB port / Serial Mechanical • Width: 7.2” (183mm) • Depth: 11.9” (303mm) • Height: 7.1” (180mm) • We i g h t: 6.4 Ibs (2,9 kg) Electrical • 110 ~ 240 V olts AC, 50 ~ 60 Hz • FCC Class B[...]

36  CARD DIMENSIONS ISO ST ANDARD DIMENSIONS FOR PLAIN CARD ISO ST ANDARD DIMENSIONS FOR MAGNETIC STRIPE CARD[...]

37  A A PPENDIX Magnetic Card Stripe Encoder This section contains information on the additional operations of the P50 i Printers with Magnetic Card Stripe Encoder . (See Chapter 2 for location.) INTRODUCTION Operation and maintenance requirements for the P50 i Printer with the optional magnetic card stripe encoder . (See Chapter 2 for location.[...]

38  A • MEDIA LOADING ORIENT A TION The magnetic encoder is a factory installed item with the read/write head positioned below the card path, available with HICO encoding or LOCO encoding. When loading cards into the Card Cartridge, please ensure that the magnetic stripe is facing down and closest to the right when facing the card feeder . Not[...]

39  B • MAGNETIC ENCODER CLEANING Use the standard cleaning card process. This cleans the most important parts of the printer; including the print Head, T ransport Roller and Magnetic Stripe Encoder (refer to chapter 4 “Cleaning” for more instructions.) 1 • Leave power on. 2 • Remove cards from the card feeder . 3 • Insert one presat[...]

40  B Part Number Description Cards/Cartridge VEN 1207 Black Monochrome 500 VEN 1206 5 Panel YMCKO Dye Sub 100 A PPENDIX Accessories & Supplies Please contact your Polaroid authorized dealer to place an order for accessories and supplies. RIBBONS: Use only Polaroid -approved card, ribbon and patches media. Refer to the Accessories section fo[...]

41  ACCESSORIES Accessories available for P50 i printers appear below . Always refer to the part number when placing an order . Printer supplies Part Number Description 300320-001 Centronics Parallel cable (36 pins) 105912-212 USB Cable (6ft A-B) 105925-001 Replacement Print Head Kit Cleaning Supplies Part Number Description 105909-169 Premier C[...]

42  W orld Wide Sales and Support: Polaroid Digital ID Systems 4650 Executive Blvd. Ft.W ayne, IN 46808 www .polaroid-id.com To ll Free number: 1-866-484-0611[...]