The most common problems with label printing (Brother, Dymo, Zebra, TSC...)

When printing labels, or rather. Various issues may occur with labels. From faint printing through blurry printing to incorrect print size. Read what lies behind individual printing errors and save your time and printing material.

Faint, blurry printing may indicate a heavy load on the printer

With Brother QL printers, we often encounter reduced color density and sharpness during printing. The cause may be a heavy printer workload, in which case replacing the print head is unavoidable, or the ink or toner in the cartridge may be depleted.

Faint printing can also occur if the protective tape was left on the cartridge after replacement, which is intended to reduce any accidental leakage of toner powder. If the problems are therefore caused by the new toner cartridge, remove the aforementioned protective tape and try printing the label again. An overly light, poor-quality print can also be caused by an unsuitable combination of media and ribbon.

Color streaks on printed labels

Drying of the print head, which manifests itself in the formation of bands caused by clogged nozzles, occurs as a result of prolonged printer inactivity. The print head works by injecting tiny droplets of liquid ink through nozzles onto the label from a distance of about 1 mm at speeds of up to 100 km/h. So if you do not use your inkjet printer for a longer period of time, print a test page from time to time to avoid the nozzles and the ink in the cartridges drying out.

If the label printer is not used for several weeks, it is usually necessary to clean the print head using the software cleaning function, which you can start from your printer's settings interface.

However, if these interruptions last a long time and are really frequent, it may happen that even repeated printhead cleaning will not help and it needs to be replaced. The reason for replacement can, of course, also be simple mechanical wear and tear from use itself. This is because print heads that print using the thermal method (Brother, Canon and HP printers) wear out faster due to thermal stress than piezoelectric ones.

White or black streak and other printing defects

If changing the printer settings or replacing the toner does not resolve blurry printing, the problem may lie in the printer’s damaged fuser unit. In addition to blurry printing, you can also recognize its damage by other defects on the printed pages.

These mainly include a black or white vertical stripe across the entire surface of the ribbon, regularly recurring defects, or even pieces of film from the fuser unit falling out of the printer (red or gray in color). Sometimes it is possible to see obvious damage directly on the brewing unit. Unfortunately, if the brewing unit is damaged, it is necessary to contact service for repair.

The color on the label does not adhere properly

In this case, it may be a faulty fuser unit in the laser printer. Unlike inkjet printers, laser printers do not have a print head that could dry out. Printing powder is dry and does not bleed from toners, but is cured (fixed) onto labels through the fusing unit. However, it must be set precisely to the temperature required by the given printing powder for curing.

If the color on the label is not fixed and smears, it is probably a defective fusing unit, or it may not be designed to fix the specific powder used. This most often happens when using low-quality alternative toners, which also have a major impact on the lifespan of the printers themselves.

Ink smearing on the ribbon

In the case of blurred printing, the paper type setting is probably not correct for the type of print media being used. Alternatively, the print media may be too thick or have a rough surface. Therefore, do not forget to change the setting to Labels before printing. The thicker the paper you use for printing, the greater the likelihood that the print will smudge.

The fusing unit needs a higher temperature and more time for the toner powder to heat up sufficiently and fuse onto such thick paper. The instruction for fusing at a higher temperature is set directly on the printer in the print preferences, where you also set the correct paper type. This will increase the fusing temperature and slow the paper's passage through the fusing unit, thereby preventing smudging.

Tape reel jam

Even the paper itself can cause you problems. Use ribbons in the printer with the weight recommended by the manufacturer. Each device comes with a user manual in the package, which contains information about the recommended grammage. Jamming can also be caused by damp, wrinkled, or incorrectly inserted tape. Usually, this problem can be resolved and you can remove the jammed tape from the printer, but it may happen that you cannot avoid servicing.

Low label print quality

If the print quality is low, it may be due to a damaged printhead or roller. The print head in Dymo, Brother, or Zebra printers is automatically cleaned during use; however, dust and dirt from the roller can accumulate on the print head. In that case, the roller needs to be cleaned. If the print quality is low, also check that you have the temperature and print speed set correctly. Also check that you are using a suitable combination of media and ribbon.

Poor print quality can also be caused by an old roll of labels or labels with a damaged thermal coating. At that point, small white dots appear on the printed characters, or light and dark printed areas appear on the labels. Try using another roll from a new package, and if the label printer prints correctly on the second roll, the problem is caused by the first roll of labels.

Labels get stuck in the area around the cutter unit

If the labels do not feed out properly after printing, the cause may be a blunt cutter blade, which needs to be replaced.

Alternatively, various impurities or dust may have gotten onto the roller. In such a case, we recommend cleaning it. Also inspect the label output slot – if it has been contaminated with adhesive from the labels, it should be cleaned with a soft cloth soaked in ethanol or isopropyl alcohol.

There are visible unprinted areas in a diagonal pattern on the printed tape

With label printers from Zebra, Dymo, Brother, and others, we also encounter defective printing characterized by clearly visible unprinted areas in the shape of a diagonal. If on the printed tape, or rather, you notice white spots on the labels located diagonally, it is probably a case of wrinkling of the inserted ribbon. Check that the printer ribbon is being fed fully taut.