ASTROJET 1000P PRINTER OPERATOR MANUAL Astro Machine Corp. 630 Lively Blvd. Elk Grove Village, IL 60007 Phone: (847) 364-6363 Fax: (847) 364-9898 www.astromachine.
SAFETY PRECAUTIONS THIS EQUIPMENT PRESENTS NO PROBLEM WHEN USED PROPERLY. OBSERVE SAFETY RULES WHEN OPERATING THE ASTROJET 1000P PRINTER. BEFORE USING THE PRINTER, READ THIS MANUAL CAREFULLY AND FOLLOW THE RECOMMENDED PROCEDURES, SAFETY WARNINGS, AND INSTRUCTIONS: Keep hands, hair, and clothing clear of rollers and other moving parts. Avoid touching moving parts or materials while the machine is in use. Before clearing a jam, be sure machine mechanisms come to a stop.
TABLE OF CONTENTS Table of Contents SECTION 1 – Getting Acquainted Operator View Rear View Control Panel SECTION 2 – Installing the Printer Choose a Location Connecting Printer Connecting to Computer Install Inkjet Cartridges Setting up Feed Installing Printer Driver SECTION 3 – Operating the Printer Printer Operation Purge While Printing Printer Driver Properties Printing from Microsoft Word Printing from DeskTop® Mailer Preparation Using Barcodes with DeskTop Mailer® 1 1 2 3 5 5 5 5 6 6 7 9 9 11 11
TABLE OF CONTENTS NOTES ii
SECTION 1 GETTING ACQUAINTED SECTION 1 – Getting Acquainted Operator View 1. Safety Cover – Encloses Printheads. When raised, it interrupts feeding of media and stops Printer. 2. Media Side Guides – Help guide media to Printheads. 3. Rear Media Guide – Holds media against Front Plate. 4. Rear Media Support – Holds longer media in position. 5. Media Thickness Adjustment Knob – Used to set Printheads at proper height for printing on media. 6.
SECTION 1 GETTING ACQUAINTED Rear View 2 1. Media Thickness Control Knob – Adjusts height of Printheads. 2. Sheet Separator Locking Lever – Locks Separators in place after it is adjusted. 3. Sheet Separator – Separates each piece of media as it is feed. 4. USB Port – Connects Printer to your computer using your USB Port. 5. Parallel Port – Connects Printer to Parallel Printer Port on your computer. 6. Main Power Switch – Turns Printer ON and OFF. 7.
SECTION 1 GETTING ACQUAINTED Control Panel 1. ON LINE key – Indicator lights when data is sent to Printer, printing is ready to begin. This key also turns Printer offline to access Menu Mode. 2. - key – In Menu Mode, scrolls to the previous selection. 3. ENTER key – Starts and stops printing. 4. FAULT Indicator – Indicator lights when there is a problem with printing process. 5. RESET key – Resets Printer to “standby” state. 6. + key – In Menu Mode, scrolls to the next selection. 7.
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SECTION 2 INSTALLING THE PRINTER SECTION 2 – Installing the Printer Before using the Printer: Choose a location for Printer Plug in Printer and connect it to computer Install Inkjet Cartridges Set up feed on Printer Install Astrojet 1000P Printer Driver and BIOS Manager software on the computer Choose a Location Printer should be placed on a sturdy worktable or cabinet at least 12 inches from any walls.
SECTION 2 INSTALLING THE PRINTER Install Inkjet Cartridges Printer can be configured with 5 Inkjet Cartridges. To install the Cartridges: 1. Remove Inkjet Cartridge from packaging, taking care not to touch copper contacts, metal plate, or gold printhead. Remove protective tape from Printhead. 2. Open Latch Lever mounted on Inkjet Cartridge Holder. 3. With Cartridge’s Printhead pointing down, slide Cartridge into Holder. Push down and toward contacts in Holder. 4.
SECTION 2 INSTALLING THE PRINTER 3. Rotate Locking Lever up to lock Separators in place. 4. Adjust Side Guides to within 1/32-inch of media. Set Rear Guide so that media is raised approximately 1/2-inch and rests on curve of Rear Guide. NOTE: When running 10-inch or longer or heavy media you may have to set Rear Guide so that it just touches the back of the media. 5. Turn Printer ON. Turn Media Thickness Knob to set initial printhead height as follows: Media Thickness Dial Setting 0.
SECTION 2 INSTALLING THE PRINTER 6. Next screen allows you to “Name Your Printer”. Unless another Printer has the same name on your system or network ignore this step and click Next>. 7. Click Finish to complete the installation.
SECTION 3 OPERATING THE PRINTER SECTION 3 – Operating the Printer Once the Printer Driver is installed on your computer, you are ready to start printing. This section is divided into three parts. The first describes the function of the Printer Control Panel. The second section describes the Driver Properties and the various options available when you run a job. The third section describes how to Set Up a Job to Print from Microsoft Word.
SECTION 3 OPERATING THE PRINTER Press Enter to Purge – Purging is useful for clearing Printhead Nozzles when Printer has been sitting idle for a time. To activate Purge, press ENTER to feed one piece of media. To purge the Printheads additional times, press ENTER for each additional purge. NOTE: Printer will only purge one piece each time you press ENTER. For additional purges, press ENTER again for each subsequent purge.
SECTION 3 OPERATING THE PRINTER A second set of menus is available in the display. To activate, press and hold MENU until “Setup Menu” appears. Step through these items with “+” or “-” keys. Total Count – Displays total number of prints that have passed through the Printer. Non-resettable. BIOS Version – Press the “+” key to display the BIOS version. Bulk Ink – Not used on this model Printer. No provisions are made to install larger Cartridges.
SECTION 3 OPERATING THE PRINTER To start printing, click File, then Print. The Print window opens. To print the job, click OK. To use the special features built into the Address Printer 5 drivers, click the Properties button to open the Properties Window in Windows 95, 98, NT, or ME. If you are using Windows 2000 or XP, the window at right opens. Clicking Advanced opens the “Options” window. In the following illustrations the windows for Windows 95, 98, NT, and ME will be on the left.
SECTION 3 OPERATING THE PRINTER You can change the speeds to a lower speed as follows: Resolution Speeds available 150 DPI Low, Medium, Medium High, and High 200 DPI Low, Medium, and Medium High 300 DPI Low, and Medium 600 DPI Low Feed Delay is used to put more space between pieces as they are printed. This allows the first piece printed more time to dry before next piece is printed. Adjustment range is in 0.1-second increments. Feature works at all speeds.
SECTION 3 OPERATING THE PRINTER When the Printer is turned OFF, any changes made this way return to the original settings. Inverse Printing The Paper tab contains one element that is used to reverse or invert the printing on the AstroJet 1000P. In normal operation, the printing is read from the operator side of the Printer. It is sometimes necessary to turn the printing direction 180 degrees from the normal direction.
SECTION 3 OPERATING THE PRINTER Printing from Microsoft Word If you are not using a specific program designed for mailing applications it is possible to print your mail pieces using Microsoft Word. This section covers how to layout a piece and to print from Microsoft Word. To begin, open a new page and turn on the toolbar for “Mail Merge”. Under “Print” select the Astrojet 1000P as the default Printer. Go to Page Setup in the File menu. Set all margins to “0”.
SECTION 3 OPERATING THE PRINTER NOTE: When setting up a layout for the Astrojet 1000P, be aware that the Printheads are aligned in two banks and these banks face each other. Minimum distance between Printheads 1, 2, and 3 and Printheads 4 and 5 is 1-5/16". In effect, this permits you to print the return address on Heads 4 and 5 with an indicia and the variable address on Heads 1, 2, and 3. When printing in this manner it is a good idea to use the “Overlay” feature for the fixed information.
SECTION 3 OPERATING THE PRINTER Next selection is “Records to be merged”. Select All or From: Last selection is “When merging records”. Default is “Don’t print blank lines when data fields are empty.” This should be left checked. Clicking Merge starts the process of merging the documents. If you chose to send the merge directly to the Printer and the Printer is connected to the computer and turned ON, the Printer will start. Press ENTER to start the printing process.
SECTION 3 OPERATING THE PRINTER g. h. i. j. 5. Height of label = is equal to the number of Printheads on the AstroJet Printer used, times 1/2". This example uses a 5-head printer, therefore the height is 2-1/2". Form Top & Bottom Margins = should be set at 0.100 to insure that none of the data is lost. Height between labels = 0.000 Form Height = the height of the Printhead area or slightly larger. Name the form in the Form name box and click OK.
SECTION 3 OPERATING THE PRINTER Printing To make the AstroJet Printer the default printer for this application, click Print, then select Printing Options. When the “Printing Options” window opens, select the Printers tab and highlight “Labels: Non-Presorted Labels” or “Labels: Presorted Labels”, then click the Change Printer button. Select the AstroJet Printer from your printer menu. Click OK. You are now ready to print the job. 1.
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SECTION 4 MAINTENANCE SECTION 4 - Maintenance This section covers how to care for the Ink Cartridges, clear paper jams, replace the Sheet Separators, and perform routine maintenance on the Printer. Inkjet Cartridge Inkjet Cartridges must be replaced when out of ink, when print quality is poor, or when purging and cleaning have not helped the image quality.
SECTION 4 MAINTENANCE Storage Short-term Storage (less than 2 days or less than 1 day in a hot and dry environment) Leave Cartridge in Printer for short periods of time, 1 day or less. Next time that Printer is used, Printhead may have to be cleaned and purged. Long-term Storage (more than 2 days or more than 1 day in a hot and dry environment) Keep Printhead in an area that is relatively free of dust and paper particles that is not too dry.
SECTION 4 MAINTENANCE Purging the Nozzles If the Printhead sits inactive for a period of time, ink may dry in the nozzles. Printing may not remove these “ink plugs” from the nozzles. White streaks will then show up in the printed text or graphic. In order to obtain better print quality, these ink plugs need to be forced out or purged. A Purge routine is built into the Printer. It can be accessed from the LCD panel on the Printer using the MENU key.
SECTION 4 MAINTENANCE Replacing Feed Rollers 1. Before removing Feed Roller Access Plate, unplug Printer. 2. Use a Phillips screwdriver to remove four screws from Feed Roller Access Plate. Remove Access Plate. 3. Determine which type of Roller (A or B) is installed on Printer. (Type B replaced Type A which was installed on machines manufactured before May 2012.) NOTE: All replacement Feed Roller Assemblies are type B.: [A] Ridged tread, 2 pc. Feed Roller.
SECTION 4 MAINTENANCE Cleaning WARNING! PRINTER IS A PRECISION MACHINE THAT SHOULD BE CLEANED REGULARLY TO INSURE MANY YEARS OF SERVICE. BEFORE PERFORMING ANY MAINTENANCE, DISCONNECT PRINTER FROM ITS POWER SOURCE! Printer must be cleaned regularly of accumulated paper dust and ink. Depending on the types of media that are run, paper dust may accumulate within the Printer and on the Transport. To properly clean the Printer, unplug it from the power receptacle and remove the covers.
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SECTION 5 TROUBLESHOOTING SECTION 5 – Troubleshooting Guide Troubleshooting Guides are provided to assist you in solving any problems that might occur with the Printer or its software. We tried to make them as complete as possible. The best advice we can offer is to make sure that the system is setup properly, plugged in, that it has an adequate supply of ink before attempting to troubleshoot any problem.
SECTION 5 TROUBLESHOOTING Printer CONDITION Extra lines; losing data Improper output (address information out of order, miss-feeding, etc.
APPENDIX A APPENDIX A – Specifications PRINT TECHNOLOGY Inkjet, Five HP 45 High Capacity Inkjet Cartridges ADDRESS SPEED 22,000/hr - #10 Envelopes PRINT QUALITY (Dots Per Inch) High Quality Standard Quality Letter Quality Draft Quality IMAGE AREA 2-1/2" x 15" PRINT ORIENTATION Normal and Reverse INK MONITOR Via Display FONTS All TrueType fonts available on PC GRAPHICS, LOGOS, AND BARCODES Allows printing of graphics, logos, and barcodes MATERIAL SIZE Length: 5" to 15" Width: 3" to 13.
APPENDIX B APPENDIX B – Supplies and Optional Hardware The following supply items and optional hardware are available from your Astro Machine Dealer: Supplies Red Inkjet Cartridge HPC6168A Green Inkjet Cartridge HPC6169A Blue Inkjet Cartridge HPC6170A Yellow Inkjet Cartridge HPC6173A Versatile Black HPC8842A General Black (works on high gloss media when used with dryer) IQ2392 Optional Hardware Conveyor / Stacker Available Drop Tray 30
INDEX INDEX - Key + Key 3, 11 3, 11 A Adjustment Knob, Media Thickness 1, 3 B Barcode Font, Install 2 25 25 25 25 22 5 5 2 3 3, 11 3, 11 1, 3 3, 11 3 3 3, 9 3, 11 1 11 3 9 3 1, 3 22 E ENTER Key 3, 11 F FAULT Indicator Features Tab Feed Set-Up Feed Rollers Cleaning Replace Fuse Main Power 1 1 Hardware, Optional 30 I D Display, Printer Disposal, Inkjet Cartridge Guides Rear Media Side Media H 17 C Circuit Breaker, Motor Cleaning Feed Rollers Forwarding Rollers Media Sensor Printer Printhead C
INDEX Printer Choose Location Cleaning Connecting Control Panel Install Jams Maintenance Operating Purge Specifications Supplies & Hardware Troubleshooting Printer Driver Features Tab Install Paper Tab Print Heads Tab Properties Printhead Cleaning Printing, DeskTop Mailer Printing, Microsoft Word Purge 5 25 5 1, 3 5 23 21 9 11 29 30 27, 28 12 7 14 13 11 22 17 15 11 R Rear Media Guide Rear Media Support Receptacle, Power Replace Feed Rollers Inkjet Cartridges Sheet Separators RESET Key 1 1 2 24 21 23 3, 1
Copyright © 2015 ASTRO MACHINE CORP. Elk Grove Village, IL 60007 04/02/2015 Part Number: 200-AJ1000PUS Rev.
