Honeywell PX940 Industrial Printer: 25 FAQs about Printing Support, Service and Maintenance

The PX940 family of high-performance industrial printers with integrated label verification provides customers with error-free printing. The Honeywell PX940 is the first-of-its-kind industrial printer to include a barcode verifier in one device.

This is part-two of a three-part FAQ series to provide you with an in-depth overview of the Honeywell PX940 printer. It is designed to help you understand barcode label printer for your industrial printer needs. The series includes the following:

• Part 1: 41 FAQs about ANSI Grading and Verification Support
• Part 2: 25 FAQs about Printing Support, Service and Maintenance
• Part 3: 22 FAQs about Media, Ribbon Support and User Interface

In this article, we will focus on answering 25 questions related to:

• Honeywell PX940 Printing and Hardware Support
• Honeywell PX940 Service and Maintenance

The PX940 printer has been developed for customers that are subjected to fines levied for non-compliance to regulatory standards, and additional costs triggered by corrective actions and returned shipments due to unreadable or unscannable barcodes. With integrated verification technology, barcodes are error-free and 100% accurate every time. Labels that do not meet a predetermined ANSI grades are retracted, voided and a new label is printed. See the PX940 in action.

Some of the key benefits of the Honeywell PX940 include:

• Integrated Label Verification Technology provides customers with error-free printing and addresses fines, chargebacks, and lawsuits associated with poor/difficult-to-scan labels.
• Precision Printing with registration up to +/-0.2 mm addresses miniaturization driving printing on smaller labels.
• Operation Intelligence provides customers with predictive analytics and addresses printer health and maintenance, cost reduction and increased efficiency, historical data for audits, and compliance with regulatory requirements.
• The PX940 consists of verification application software plus Edge Intelligence which provides customers with error-free printing, predictive analytics and cost savings of $15K per printer.

Honeywell PX940 Printing and Hardware Support

1. What is the smallest barcode that can be printed?

The PX940 is able to print 10 mil barcode with 203/300 dpi print head and 5mil barcode with 600 dpi print head. Note that the smallest barcode supported by the verifier is 10 mil for 1D barcodes and 15 mil for 2D barcodes.

2. Does IPL support 600dpi?

IPL does not support 600 dpi and currently there is no plan for it to be added to IPL functionality. To use PX940 in 600 dpi, customers are recommended to use Direct Protocol.

3. Can I use the printer Bluetooth for my own application?

No, Bluetooth Low Energy in the printer is only used and supported for Printset MC application.

4. Does the Label Taken Sensor (LTS) work when I use the printer in rewind mode?

Due to the angle of the batch plate, the LTS will not work when the printer is setup for rewind mode.

5. Is cutter supported in PX940?

No, there is no plan for a cutter in this product.

6. Is RFID supported in PX940?

No, there is no plan for RFID in this product.

7. Is PX940 able to detect when media is running low?

Yes, for both 1.5 and 3inches media supply hub.

8. Is PX940 able to detect when ribbon is running low or when there is no ribbon?

Yes.

Honeywell PX940 Service and Maintenance

1. Do I need to use any special solvent and material to clean the verifier?

It is recommended to use a lint-free soft cloth that is soaked with isopropyl alcohol. Let the alcohol dry before using the verifier after cleaning.

2. Does the verifier need to be calibrated when I receive a new printer?

No, the verifier is calibrated before it is shipped from factory and does not need to be re-calibrated after shipment.

3. How often do I have to calibrate the verifier, and how do I know when it is required?

If you have an increased occurrence of false negative failures (good barcodes being scored low), you should follow a few steps before you go to the recalibration process. First make sure that the verifier glass is clean, the print quality settings provide good visual output, and the media/ribbon is routed properly with no skew or ribbon wrinkle. If the scanned image still looks good but the result is bad, then perform a calibration.

4. Can the verifier be used if the calibration fails?

Yes, the verifier will use the old calibration values.

5. Can the verifier be used if there are scratches on the glass?

If the scratches are not within the verifier scan line, the verifier can still be used.

6. What are the key points when conducting verifier calibration?

Clean the verifier glass, printhead and platen roller. This is to maintain the integrity of the scan image and the calibration card.

Align the calibration card at 2 locations when loading inside the media path: on the left media datum of the printer and with the diamond cutout centers aligned with the tear bar.

Secure the media guide to make sure the calibration card travels straight in the media path.

7. Does the calibration card expire?

Yes, 2 years from the date it is issued. The expiry date is printed on each card.

8. Does the PX940V printer come with a calibration card?

Since August 2019, a calibration card has been included with every printer sold.

9. How many times can the calibration be used before it must be replaced?

The calibration card is recommended to be used every 6 months and has a lifetime of 2 years.

10. How can I maintain the verifier unit to have optimal performance?

Cleaning the verifier during each ribbon or media roll replacement is recommended to keep the verifier glass clean. In very dirty environments, the cleaning cycle frequency may need to increase.

11. Can I swap printhead between 203, 300 and 600dpi?

Yes, just swap the printhead and the printer will auto detect the resolution and configure itself at startup.

12. Why do I need to use a tool to change the printhead?

The secure printhead design is to ensure higher precision printing. The printhead needs to be secured tightly.

13. What are the storage and handling requirements of the card?

• When not in use, keep the calibration card inside its original packaging, away from direct light exposure and stored at room temperature.
• Keep the calibration card clean.
• Use a dry cloth to remove any dirt if needed.
• Do not bend the card.
• Do not perform verifier calibration if the card is damaged.

14. How do I make sure my print quality is the best it can be?

Using the verifier results for the printed label there is one parameter, bar gain, which can be found in ‘Verification Results’ on the web page. This parameter provides information about whether the bars (black) are bigger or smaller than expected. If the bar gain is positive then reduce the heat, and if negative, then increase the heat. When the bar gain is around plus minus 2% then the print quality is at its best.

15. Is it safe to directly look at the RED light (Verifier) and Blue Light (Front Sensor)?

The red verifier light and the blue light (front sensor) are both exempt under IEC 62471 and present no photobiological hazard.

16. When to replace the platen roller?

The platen roller can typically be used for 25 km. When the printed barcode starts to compress/stretch, media skews horizontally or there is bad print quality. These are indications to replace the platen roller.

Find out more about the high-performance Honeywell PX940 industrial printer with integrated label verification technology – and how it can help you eliminate the risk and costs of bad labels.

Contact Honeywell Solutions Expert today! Call 1-800-934-3163.