How to clean thermal printhead?

PrintHead is an essentical part of a thermal printer. With the heated printhead, text/image is created on surface of thermal paper. If the printhead is broke, the printer can not work well. If it is broke, it will create nothing on the paper. If the printhead becomes dirty and sticked with glue, it can't create clear image. This will affect the print image and customer user experience.

Where is the PrintHead?

Open the printer cover, see inside clearly. Find a smooth black bar near the paper exit. See picture below.

Dust, objects, sticky substances, or other contaminants stuck to the printhead or printer may reduce print quality. When dirty, clean the print head as follows.

Precautions

• Be sure to turn off the printer power before cleaning.
• The print head becomes very hot during printing. Therefore, if you want to clean the print head, turn off the printer and wait 2 ~ 3 minutes before starting.
• When cleaning the print head, be careful not to touch the heated part of the print head to avoid damage to the print head due to static electricity.
• Be careful not to scratch or damage the print head.

Cleaning the print head

1. Open the printer's top cover and clean it with a cleaning pen (or a cotton swab moistened with dilute alcohol (alcohol or isopropyl alcohol)) along the middle of the print head.

2. After cleaning the print head, do not use the printer immediately. Wait for the cleaning alcohol used to completely evaporate (1 to 2 minutes). The print head is completely dry before use.