How do I set up my TSC MB240 Printer?

Below is a short video to lead you through the steps

Setting up your printer is easy.
1) Unbox it
2) Put in the Paper
3) Put in the Ribbon
4) Calibrate
5) Connect the Bluetooth

Here is a video of the setup:

 

 

Here's how to install the paper:

Your paper may come with a plastic piece inserted in the opening to keep it from crushing the roll during shipping. Remove that:

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To load the paper, there's a green arm attached to the paper spindle. Pull out the green arm and then lay it parallel with the spindle (see below). The round green guides keep the paper level on the spindle. 

Load the paper so it sits on the round green guides, then pull up the green arm so it's perpendicular to the spindle and slide it towards the roll. The green arm helps keep the paper in place on the spindle so it doesn't shimmy when it's printing. It doesn't matter if the green arm is pointed up in the machine or down, either way gets the job done.

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Make sure the print head assembly is open. If it's not use the small green lever to open it up.

Funnel the paper under "Damper" and then through the paper guides to the other side of the machine:

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Here it is coming out the other side:

Install the Ribbon:

1. First, install the ribbon onto the middle spindle in the machine, to the left of the paper. The media should fall down from the right side of the ribbon roll. 
2. The other spindle should have a paper core attached, this is where the used media ribbon ends up.
3. Feed the ribbon under the print head assembly through to the other side and wind it onto the other spindle. You can use a little scotch tape to keep it in place, just make sure it's very flat.
4. Wind up the ribbon media until it feels secure- just a few times around.

It's important that you make sure to get the ribbon media as flat as possible on the second spindle. The flatter it is, the more even the print job. 

 

Here is how it should look:

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Calibrate:

1. Once the media is installed, close the print head assembly by pushing it down.
2. Then tap "calibration" on the touch screen.
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3. Then depending on what kind of paper you have, you can tap either 
   1. BLACK MARK: if there's a black line on the back of your paper this should work
   2. GAP: if you have notched paper (the top and the bottom have little notches) then you can use this, if you do this, you need to make sure the sensor is positioned over one of the notches.
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4. Some unused paper will get spit out during the calibration, that's expected.

The two most common issues:

1. It doesn't print evenly.  Make sure the ribbon is flat and the use the green knob to control the pressure. It should be on 3-4" (that's the width of the paper) and move +1/0/-1 (see the picture below) to control pressure. +1 on the left means more pressure.

2. Media Out:  There are a few guides which keep the paper in place. The first is a green guide (see picture below) which should be against the outside edge of the paper. The other is metal and attached to the back of the machine. Finally, there's a black arm that moves over the top of the paper - that's the sensor.

When you get a Media Out message from the printer, Move the sensor arm so it is roughly halfway from the edge of the paper and the hole punch. Then calibrate the printer.

Here is a link to the manual where there are more photos and details: https://fs.tscprinters.com/system/files/mb240-series_user-maunal_new_en.pdf