Essential Elements You Should Know Before Buying A Thermal Printer

 

There are various printing technologies available on the market today, each targeting a particular market segment. A thermal printer's ability to use heat to seal the ink onto the paper that it is printing on, separates it from other types of printers. This type of printer usually consists of a printer head, an ink ribbon, a rubber roller, and a roll of specialized thermal paper.

The printer head, identical to a thermal fax machine, heats up the ink ribbon, which is coated with a polyester film backing, to print the sequence of text requested onto the paper. The paper is pushed ahead by the rubber roller, where the heated ribbon is pressed against it to print the requested character string. What makes a thermal printer work so well is the speed at which all of this is accomplished, printing areas of 6-12 inches per second.

Regular ink-jet and laser printers use a different kind of ink, as thermal technology uses ink made from either wax or resin or a combination of both. There are different shelf lives for each variant, so make sure to choose one that is appropriate for your printing purposes. The cheapest variant to purchase is ink ribbons made of wax but will only last for about two years once they have been printed.

In case they are important, receipts from the point of sale terminals that use this kind of ink should be scanned or copied for safekeeping. If you are looking for a much more durable variant of the ink ribbon, a combination of wax and resin is best, especially if printed on fine-toothed paper, as well as papers that are coated with a film coat.

Still, the printed product should not be exposed to damp environments and strong chemicals. Resin ink ribbons are the most durable of all ink ribbons but are not made for use with conventional point of sale printers & are instead made for use with plastics.

Point-of-sale terminals and bar code printing for inventory tracking purposes are the most common applications for printers that use thermal technology. When kept in storage, the ink ribbons of a thermal printer should be protected from both damp environments and strong chemicals. Ink ribbons should also be kept away from heat, light, and moisture as they can be sensitive to such environments. Thermal printers make for efficient and cost-effective printing solutions in sales and inventory applications.

Master Distributors is the market pioneer in POS solutions. We offer a great range of Thermal Printer from the top most brands, TSP, Star, Bixolon, Epson, etc., at affordable prices. Our top POS systems, Thermal Printers, Paper, Custom Labels, great prices on hardware, & hassle-free experience make us unique in the industry. Contact Master Distributors at 1~888-905-7008 to know more.