Bixolon printer

[Dman]

I didn't know where to post this so I figured this was as good a place as any since it is not related to B4x.

I have been pretty successful at printing to the thermal printer thanks to a lot of help from here. My problem is printer specific I believe. I have a Star Micronics printer that prints without issue. I also have a bixolon spp-r300 that gives me fits. It will print fine as long as I can grab the paper and help it advance when printing. Most of the time I am not fast enough though. The paper I bought was way thinner than the sample roll that came with it and that printer prints so fast that it seems like the wheel is turning too fast and slipping on the paper.

The sample roll that came with it was way thicker than the rolls I have now. When testing, the sample roll didn't last too long but I don't remember having this problem. Anyway you can't buy just one or two rolls to try, you have to buy a box at a time and if the paper thickness is actually the issue, I have already wasted 100 bucks on paper that will not work on this printer. Has anyone else had an issue with this?

 

[sorex]

if you can easily remove the main roll then here's a trick I used since over a decade to solve these issues.

take an elastic (http://metamorfase.nl/uploads/Elastiek.jpg) and "wrap" it around the roll or glue some parts of it on the roll.

the rubber acts like anti-slip and will pull in the paper just fine.

or you can use anti-slip stickers (http://griplus.com/files/5. PVC Anti Slip Tape.JPG) if you can find it
or just take sandpaper to make the rubber rougher but usually this won't help much since the rubber got thinner and won't touch the paper enough.

 

[sorex]

just had a search for that brand and it seems to be POS like printers only?

not sure how they work paper-pulling-wise.

 

[keirS]

Does the roll meet the spec of the printer:

Media Width: 80 mm
Media Roll Diameter: Up to 50 mm
Media Thickness: 0.07 ± 0.003 mm.

If the paper is to thin it will not grab properly.

 

[sorex]

go to a reseller (not specific for that brand) and ask them for POS printer rolls, they have it in 5-packs aswell which is not that expensive.

Try to agree that you can return it if it fails aswell.

 

[Dman]

There is no way to fit anything around the roller. I think I have found the correct paper. I will check it when I get it. I have some screenprinters adhesive that I put on the roller but it didn't help. The printer is brand new so nothing should be worn. I will try it with the new paper and see. Thanks guys.

 

[Dman]

I never got around to buying the different paper. After playing with it, I am not so sure anymore that it is the paper anyway. I can run a test on the printer and it prints out the settings and different things and it doesn't jump and skip around like it does when it prints the buffer I create. It prints that fine even on the thinnest paper I have.

I changed the baud rate to 2400 from 115200. The 2400 setting is the slowest it will go using the software that came with it. It now prints 100 percent better. I can still hear it "jumping" but it seems to mostly print ok. It just doesn't sound very smooth when it prints what I send like it does when it does the self test.