SECAP - Support

DEALER LOGIN | DEALER OPPORTUNITIES | SITE MAP | LEGAL

9KL FAQ - SHUTTLING HEAD PRINTER

I. FAQ'S – PRINTER SET UP
II. FAQ'S – PREVENTATIVE MAINTENANCE
III. FAQ's - GENERAL PRINTER INFORMATION

This section is for the person who is new to the 9KL and needs assistance to set up and operate the printer. For more technical information fill out the request form with your particular question or call us to find out the name of your local dealer at 800.523.0320.

I. FAQ'S – PRINTER SET UP

Q. How do I Connect the Printer to my Computer?

A. The interface panel is located on the back of the machine. It contains the main power switch, the power receptacle and the fuse. The interface ports (parallel and serial) are the interface connections between the 9KL and your computer.

Connect the line cord from the printer receptacle to a properly grounded outlet box. Do not use an adapter plug. Avoid using outlets that are controlled by wall switches and shared with other equipment.
Connect the interface cable from the computer to the appropriate connector on the printer interface panel. The typical cable length is six (6) feet long for parallel and fifteen (15) feet long for serial.

Q. How Do I install an Ink Jet Cartridge?

A. The 9KL uses a C8842A cartridge. To install the cartridge do the following:

Verify the LCD display message on the top line of the display is either OFF LINE or ON LINE.
Open the front cover.
On the top Control Panel, depress Replace Print Cartridge button (plus button) and the carriage will travel to the center position and stop. DO NOT MOVE THE CARRIAGE BY HAND. DAMAGE MAY OCCUR TO THE CARTRIDGE.
Remove cartridge from the shipping container. Be careful not to touch the copper ribbon.
Remove both pieces of tape covering the ink nozzles on the print cartridge. Be careful not to touch the copper ribbon.
Gently insert cartridge down at approximately a 45 degree angle into the cradle of the Print Head Holder Assembly. Insert with the green arrow on top of the cartridge pointing toward the input bin.
Place forefinger on cradle tab and thumb on top of ink cartridge and gently squeeze together until the cartridge snaps into place.

Q. Do I Need to Prepare the Media Before Running My Job?

A. To avoid problems of misfeeding and jams it is recommended the media be prepared for the printer. Use the following steps:

Take a pile of media and fan all sides of the media to make sure each piece is free from one another.
Square (tap) the pile against the table top, assuring a square pile on all sides. This allows media to settle toward the bottom of a stuffed envelope and will increase the feeding capabilities of the printer.

Q. What Types of Media Can I Use?

A. The printer is designed to feed and print on a variety of media with various finishes and coatings. The sharpness of the print quality will vary with different media types, depending on how absorbent the media is, as well as other qualities. The best results can be achieved using white wove bonded stock. The printing quality will be less sharp on tyvek, recycled and glossy media.

Acceptable media:Envelopes, Booklets, Catalogs, Postcards, Self Mailers, Paper. Note: Check on postal guidelines for tabbing folded material and catalogs.

Acceptable paper types: white wove, bond, recycled, coated, card stock, brown kraft, manila.

Q. How Do I Set the Proper Feed Gap and Load Media?

A. To start a print job, the feed gap should be set for each type of media used in the printer. The feed gap is the spacing between the feed rollers and the separators. Set the feed gap with a piece of media by following these procedures:

Loosen the H-Block Knob on the three H-Block Assemblies.
Raise the three H-Block Assemblies up. Tighten the H-Block Knobs to secure H-Block Assemblies in place.
Take a piece of media and place between the Feed Rollers and the H-Block Assemblies.
Square the edge of the media against the wall of the Rear Support Plate Assembly.
Loosen the H-Block Knobs and allow the H-Block Assemblies to drop on the top of the media. Keep the H-Block Assemblies up that won't contact the media. When just one of the separator fingers is in contact with the media use another piece beneath the other separator finger and the Feed Roller to set the feed gap.
Tighten H-Block Knobs to secure H-Block Assemblies in this position.

When the feed gap is not set correctly the printer will have feeding problems. When the gap is too wide double feeding (feeding two or more pieces at a time) will occur. If the gap is too small the media will jam beneath the separators.

The input bin can now be filled with media for printing. Envelopes should be “shingled” or layered with the piece on top partially covering the piece below it like shingles on a roof. Load into the input bin with flap away from the feed roller and facing downward. Start with just a few envelopes to start the stack and get the angled contour of the bin area, then add several more pieces. Then add the remainder of the stack.

For postcards (.003” thickness) – set a smaller gap between the H-Block Assemblies and the Feed Rollers. Try using a sheet of copy paper to set the feed gap.

For stuffed media – set a larger gap between the separator blocks and the feed roller. Try adding two or three, #10 envelopes, on top of the media before setting the separators.

Q. How Do I Set up for #10 Envelopes?

A. Notice that only 2 of the H-Block assemblies completely rest on the envelope. The 3 rd H-Block has one separator finger on the envelope and one on the feed roller. Perform the preceding steps:

Take sliding fence off and remove out of the way.
Fit a second envelope between the other half of the H-Block Assembly and the feed roller.
Loosen the H Block Knob to let the H-Block Assembly fall freely onto the envelope. Verify envelopes are between all the separator fingers and the feed rollers.
Lock in place by tightening the H Block Knob.
The Input Bin can now be filled with #10 envelopes for printing. The stack of envelopes should be “shingled” or layered with the piece on top partially covering the piece below it like shingles on a roof. Load into the input bin with flap away from the feed roller and facing downward. Start with just a few envelopes to start the stack and get the angled contour of the bin area, then add several more pieces. Then add the remainder of the stack.

Q. How Do I Program the Printer?

A. The printer has two menu directories to program the printer. These menus are displayed on the LCD panel located on top of the printer. The two menus available are the Main Menu and the Set Up Menu. To access the two menu directories use the following steps:

Press the On Line button until the LCD display shows “OFF LINE”. Pressing the On Line button on the control panel will toggle the printer from ON LINE to OFF LINE and vice versa.
To access the Main Menu depress the Menu button. MAIN MENU will be shown on the LCD display.
To access the Setup Menu depress the Menu button for 2 seconds, until SETUP MENU is shown on the LCD display.
Press the + Plus or - Minus button to scroll through the options available in the Main Menu or the Setup Menu.
Press the Enter button to choose the displayed option from the Main Menu or Setup Menu options.
Press the Menu button several times to back out of the Main Menu or Setup Menu until the printer displays OFF LINE.
Press the On Line button; now the printer displays ON LINE and is ready to use.

Q. How Do I Select Print Quality?

A. You can change the speed of the printer and the density of the characters printed on the media. The print quality can be set in the driver as well.

Executive quality is used for documents that require a professional appearance. This is the darkest of the three print qualities, the slowest print speed and uses the most ink.

Letter quality is for documents that require a finished, polished appearance. Draft quality prints the fastest and saves ink. This option offers the highest print speed and prints the lightest of the 3 print qualities.

Use the following steps to select the print quality of your choice:

Press the + or – buttons to scroll through the Main Menu options until the Print Quality option is displayed on the LCD panel.
Press the Enter button to select this option.
Press the + or – buttons the scroll through the Print Quality options: Executive, Letter, Draft.

NOTE: Driver needs to be set to use Front Panel Features

II. FAQ'S - PREVENTATIVE MAINTENANCE

Q. How Do I Clean the Feed Rollers?

A. With regular use lint and paper dust tends to build up on the feed rollers. When the rollers are glazed or have a yellowish residue, clean the rollers. Use alcohol to dampen a soft cotton cloth to clean all rubber rollers.

Q. When Should I Clean or Replace the Ink Cartridge?

A. If the print quality is unacceptable select the Purge Print Head function from the Setup Menu. If the problems still persist do the following:

Remove the Ink Jet Cartridge. Clean the nozzles with a soft cotton cloth. Use a dry cloth or one moistened with water to clean the ink jet cartridge.
Remove problem ink jet cartridge and install a new one.

Q.What Could Be the Cause of Misfeeds?

A. With use, a film and/or dust builds up on the sensors causing misfeeds of media. Lift the front door and use compressed air to blow dust from the sensors

III. GENERAL PRINTER INFORMATION

Q. What is the maximum distance you can print on a mail piece from left to right?

A. The driver is written to only give you a maximum length of 9.4 inches.

Q. Why does my print walk slightly to the right when I am in the middle of printing a large job?

A. There are 3 (three) factors that can cause this to happen.

First make sure that the shuttle head is not hitting anything as it is coming out of the home position.
If this seems clear then the next possibility is to change the head ribbon cable, this is an inexpensive part and over time the ware from the head shuttling back and fourth can cause breaks in the contacts leading to improper communication between the main logic and the printer head board.
If neither of these are an issue then you must check the resistance on the shuttle motor. If the motor falls below 16 Ohs then you must change the shuttle motor and the driver board.

Q. How do you do a memory reset on the printer?

A. You must go through a four phase reset procedure that will reset the printer back to its factory defaults. (Warning: this will reset all of your parameters to their original settings.)

The printer must be turned in the off position, then while holding the test button down, turn the printer on. The display will say “Printing starting one”, “Printer starting two”, “memory reset phase one shut off” then “on”.
Do not let go of the test button! Repeat this step three more times until the printer says “memory reset complete shut off” then “on”. Then, release the test button and turn the printer off then on. When it boots up it will be reset to its factory default settings.

Q. Can you load firmware to the printer through the parallel port or the printer?

A. Yes, you may download the printer firmware from our web site and download the file using the instructions to the parallel port.

Q. What type of cartridges do these printers use?

A. Hewlett Packard C8842A.

Q. Do these printers have the ability to print in different colors?

A. There is spot color available (This means that you would have to buy a cartridge of a specific color, insert it into the printer and this would allow you to print one color at a time). This is based on the colors that are sold by Secap. These colors include: Yellow, Red, Green, and Blue.