There is no denying that ID card printers are complicated things. Despite the convenience one brings in terms of letting you print your own cards the way you want them, each has several moving parts that need to work in perfect sync for the results to be as perfect as you intended. Many a time, these break down or malfunction, and require specific troubleshooting to make them work right again.
Following are three main ID card printer issues found with Magicard Enduro3E, and how to resolve them.
Problem 1: A White Line on your ID Cards
Imagine that after your test card comes out of the ID card printer, you find that it looks really good. The colors are sharp, there are no smudges anywhere, and all looks well…except, there is a white line running across the card. This is a common problem with ID card printers, one which people that oversee badging operations encounter a lot.
The vertical line runs over the card’s entire width, and is basically an area where no printing happened. This means you are dealing with a busted pixel on the printhead. The broken component causes the bare print-free area.
Fixing it
Replacing the printhead is the only way forward, which means ordering the right one for your card printer model. There is rarely a stock solution, which works as well as the specific one recommend by the manufacturer. Make sure to get yours from a trusted vendor.
Problem 2: Spots on the Surface
Printer service technicians use many different terms to describe this, such as the following.
- Bumps
- Ripples
- Bullseyes
- Halos
- Spots
Taken overall, these ID card issues could be called surface imperfections. These are usually too small to notice at first glance, and can be caused as a result of lint, dust, dirt, or other debris being present on the card before it goes into the printhead. These particles block imagery from being printed properly on the surface of the card, much like an umbrella keeping the ground directly under it from getting wet. Some surface imperfections can be overlooked because of their tiny size, but anyone who spotted it would see the card as unprofessional or even amateur.
Fixing it
Based on where the debris came from, you should do the following.
- Check how the blank cards are stored. If they are left lying in a drawer or desk, then they have a decent chance of accumulating dust. Make sure to leave them in a container instead, such as a lidded plastic box. Clean them off and store them properly, and you will find the issue does not reoccur.
- If the cards are already stored in a container, then the debris that is causing you problems must have already been inside the printer. Try blowing it out with a compressed air duster. Better yet, use a cleaning card designed for your specific printer model. This is a sticky card that passes through and picks up debris before coming back out.
Problem 3: Card Getting Jammed at Each Print Job
A printer jamming is a common enough problem, but it may not be something you can stomach when you have an ID printed right away. ID cards can get stuck just the same as any other material, requiring you to remove the jammed element before the printer is of use once more. However, if card jams happen early on in the job, the problem may lie in your printer actually working too well.
ID card printers come carrying rollers inside, which guide the card through the entirety of the printing process. They pull it out of the input hopper, pass it into the printhead, and so on. To do all that, these rollers need to be sticky, giving them enough traction to push the card along. They could also be the cause of a card jam, by sticking so tight to a card that they cannot let go when they are supposed to.
Fixing it
The first thing you want to do is reduce the stickiness of the rollers. Take them out of the printer and roll them over a clean surface, such as a tabletop or a desk. This takes enough of the stickiness out that the rollers do not get passing cards stuck on them.
The above three problems do not make a comprehensive list of the problems you could encounter while using the Magicard Enduro3E ID card printer, although they are the most common. If ID card printers require serious repairs, it is always best to call a trained professional to help you with that. This certainly beats fiddling with the inner working of a complex machine without the right training. Besides, that could end up aggravating the problem, so make sure you get assistance if you need any.
