How to protect your thermal transfer printhead?

Thermal Transfer Printing is a method where heat is used to transfer ink from a ribbon onto a substrate. For example, for the printing of barcodes and other variable data like lot numbers, serial numbers, etc. The heat is generated by a sophisticated printhead that shapes the images.

The printhead is the most important and valuable component in your Thermal Transfer Printer. By using a high-quality Thermal Transfer Ribbon, and using it in the right way, your printhead will last longer and the print quality will be better.

Thermal Transfer Ribbons can play a role in the wear and tear on printheads.

There are three causes for this:

• Too much heat
• The printhead in direct contact with a rough substrate
• Pollution

When a printhead is not performing correctly, white lines and dots will come out on the print. The quality of the print will deteriorate and the scannability of barcodes becomes problematic.

To protect your Thermal Transfer Printhead, make sure to:

Use a ribbon with the highest possible print sensitivity, and pick the lowest heat settings to ensure the optimal performance of the ribbon.

Make sure that the ribbon is wider than the substrate it's printed on, ensuring that the substrate has no direct contact with the printhead.

Use an anti-static ribbon, which won’t attract dust and pollute the printhead.