WP-234 Printer User’s Manual
EUROPEAN COUNTRIES WARNING This is a Class A product. In a domestic environment this product may cause radio interference in which the user may be required to take adequate measures. CAUTION Risk of electrical shock. Do not remove cover. No user serviceable parts inside. Refer servicing to qualified service personnel. Weigh-Tronix reserves the right to change specifications at any time. 05/27/04 234_U.
Table of Contents Specifications .......................................................................... 4 Introduction ............................................................................. 7 Installation ............................................................................... 7 Installing the Paper .................................................. 7 To Remove the Paper Roll ..................................... 10 Operation ...............................................................
Specifications Interface-Serial Character Buffering Print Method Character Matrix Available BAUD rates: 300, 600, 1200, 2400, 4800, 9600, 19200 Voltage levels: RS-232C: -9 Volts to + 9 Volts 20mA current loop Character format: ASCII character set—10 bits per character required, 7 or 8 of which are data bits Parity selection is even or odd for 7 data bits. Busy signal - Clear to Send (CTS, XON-XOFF) 1.
Print Head Life Ribbon life Paper 1,500,000 lines mean character before failure.
WP-234 Printer User’s Manual
Introduction The Model WP-234 dot matrix printer has one of these electrical interfaces: RS-232 Serial 20 mA Current Loop This manual is split into the following main sections: • • • • • • Introduction Installation Operation Maintenance Printer Test and Setup Communication Installation Please follow the precautions listed below when setting up your printer. They are designed to help you keep your printer working at its best. * Plug your power supply into an appropriate grounded outlet.
3. Unroll several inches of the paper. 4. Cut a straight edge on the paper roll if it is jagged. This will facilitate the entry of the paper into the printer. 5. Slide the paper through the slot connecting the paper compartment and the printer compartment. You can slide it in about one-quarter inch before it stops. 6. While holding the paper in place, press the rocker switch to the Paper Feed position. The printer will activate, and a rubber roller will pull the paper into the printer compartment.
. Slide the paper through the slot in the printer cover. 10. Push the back of the printer cover down and into place. 11. Press the front of the printer cover down to lock in place.
12. Put the paper spindle into the paper roll as shown below, and place the roll with the spindle onto the snaps near the back of the printer. Turn the paper roll to take up any slack in the paper feeding to the printer. Make sure the roll of paper turns freely. If it does not turn freely, the paper will jam and will possibly damage the printer mechanism. To Remove the Paper Roll 1. Advance the paper about one inch beyond the paper cutter by using the Paper Feed switch. 2.
Operation Connecting and Powering Up Your Printer For DC modified units supplied with cable, connect positive voltage to striped wire. See the DC power connection illustration below: 1. Attach the appropriate cable between the printer and your instrument. The connector on the printer side is “keyed” so that you cannot plug the cable in the wrong way. This means that the pins should be positioned so that a slight pressure will seat the cable properly. Do not force the pins in.
If your printer is used infrequently, the print impression may become weak because the ribbon dried out. To advance the ribbon to a new section, hold down the Paper Feed switch for several seconds. Changing the Printer Ribbon 12 Below are the steps for replacing the ribbon: 1. Turn the printer to Standby. 2. Four small grooves are embossed on each side of the printer cover. Push down on one or both of these areas until the printer cover tilts. 3.
Inserting a Ribbon with Paper in the Printer If you get ribbon ink on the printer case, wipe it off immediately. Once it dries it is difficult to remove. 5. Install cartridge. Be sure the ink cartridge is inserted firmly to prevent weak or irregular printing. The cartridge must be properly seated and aligned for best printing. 6. Turn the cartridge “knob” (marked by an arrow) clockwise to stretch the ribbon. 7. Replace the cover. 8. Replace the paper.
Printer Test and Setup The printer can be tested and setup using the steps described in this section. Testing and setup are done using the rocker switch on the printer. Printer Test 14 With the printer unplugged at the outlet or at the back of the printer, press and hold the right side of switch as you plug the unit in. The printer will print out a list of the configuration as it currently exists then do a continuous print test. To stop the print test press either side of the rocker switch.
Accessing the Setup Menu To access the setup menu follow these steps: 1. Unplug the printer either at the outlet or at the back of the printer. 2. Press and hold down the left side of the rocker switch and plug in the printer. The printer will advance the paper. After the paper advance has stopped, count 3-5 seconds and release the switch. The following is printed: If you wait less than three or more than five seconds Ready. . .
With the printer in the setup menu and with CONFIGURE . . . [NEXT/OK] as the last item printed, press OK (right side) to access the configure menu. The following is printed: LOAD DEFAULTS gives you the opportunity to reset the printer to all default settings (shown below). Choose OK to do this or NEXT to go to the next parameter. The following is printed: Baud rate is the next parameter you can set in the configure menu. The complete list of parameters and their possible values is shown below.
Baud Rate The sample list above shows the current baud rate is 1200. To accept this, press OK (right side) or view the next baud rate value by pressing NEXT (left side). Press OK when the baud rate you want is displayed. Choose from these baud rates; 300, 600, 1200, 2400, 4800, 9600, or 19200 Data Bits Parity Stop Bits Handshake Handshake is used for serial interface only. Cols Invert DATA BITS is the next parameter. Choose the data bit value the same way baud rate was chosen.
Font FONT is the next parameter. Choose from a 5 x 5, 5 x 7, or 5 x 8 dot matrix print pattern. The 5 x 5 dot pattern produces only upper case (capital) letters. The other two fonts can output upper and lower case letters. Mag The last parameter is MAGNIFICATION. This refers to the size of printed type from your printer. Your choices (with examples) are NONE DOUBLE WIDE DOUBLE HIGH DOUBLE WIDE/HIGH After you choose one of the magnifications the printer will print Ready. . .
This manual assumes the time and date option is installed and operating. If you do not have this option you will not see references to the clock or date listed in most menus. T/D Format This feature is available only on units with the time/ date option installed. This printout shows you how each item is currently set. Below is an explanation of each item and the choices you can make for each. TIME/DATE FORMAT is the next parameter. Choose from the following formats.
Auto T&D AUTO TIME AND DATE is the next parameter. Your choices are YES - autoprint after CR (carriage return) NO - do not autoprint after CR Autoprint of the time and date will not occur unless three seconds has elapsed since the printer has stopped printing. Auto Seq# AUTO SEQUENCE NUMBER is the next parameter.
Online/Offline ONLINE/OFFLINE is next. Choices: YES - enables the rocker switch to turn the printer offline. NO - Ext Ch Set The choice to use the extended character set is available only when 8 data bits are chosen. Print Ready disables the ONLINE/OFFLINE ability. EXT CH SET is next. This stands for Extended Character Set. Choices: YES - Allows you to use hexidecimal numbers above 80 (true only for 8 data bits.) NO - Disables the Extended Character Set ability. PRINT READY is next.
SETCLOCK. . . This feature is available only on units with the time/ date option installed. The next item in the Setup Menu is SET CLOCK. . . With the printer in the setup menu and with SET CLOCK. . . as the last item printed, if you press OK (right side) the printer will print the following: The printout shows the year currently in memory. The 9 is reversed (white on black) to show the position of the cursor. This is the number which will be incremented if NEXT (left side) is pressed.
When you have completed the SET DATE menu the following is printed automatically: Choose NEXT (left side) to increment the number or OK (right side) to accept the 1. Repeat this same procedure for hours and minutes as shown below. When everything is as you want it and you press OK, START CLOCK is printed. Press OK (right side) to start the clock. The printer then prints Ready. . . showing you that it is out of the setup menu and ready to print. RESET SEQ# RESET SEQ# is the last setup menu item.
Communication RS-232 Serial Version Pin No. Signal 1 2 DTE Direction Description From printer Cable shield Printer data output line 3 7 10 11 Chassis ground (TD) Transmitted data (RD) Received data (SG) Signal +12VDC (CTS) Clear to send To printer To printer From printer 21 Power return To printer Printer data input line Signal ground Only w/9-12VDC option Signal (equivalent to BUSY) indicating that printer is ready for operation and can receive data.
20 mA Current Loop Version Pin No. Signal Direction Description 1* Chassis ground - Cable shield 23 (RD) Received data(-) From printer printer data return line 25 (RD) Received data(+) To printer printer data input line *Optional 1.
Control Codes According to the American Standard Code of Information Interchange (ASCII), there are 32 control codes in addition to the codes for the printable characters. (Control codes are sent as data, but the receiving device interprets them as abbreviated ‘’instructions”, communication - status messages, etc.) The printer recognizes these control codes: Function Abbreviation Hex Reserved Reserved Reserved Back Space Line Feed Carriage Return Double Height Double Width Reset Seq.
Back Space Code 8 Upon receipt of this code, the printer erases from its buffer the previously received character. This is useful in correcting typing errors for programs that send data both to a video screen and the hardcopy printer. Remember that if you type more characters than the printer can print on a line, the printer will automatically start printing.
Enlarged Printing Codes 14 and 15 Enlarged printing may be selected by sending both the double height command (code 14) and the double width command (control 15). The control codes may be sent in either order, but because of the double width restrictions, the codes should be sent at the beginning of a line. Example of Control Codes 14 and 15: Reset Sequence Number Code 16 When the printer receives this control code it will immediately reset the sequence number to 00000.
User Programmable Character Code 19 By using CHR$(1) you enter the Custom Character mode. This allows you to design and print your own 6 x 8 character by inputting data. A DATA statement is made of numbers that represent a row of dots which when READ all together, will make up your character. To design your character, follow the example below. You should notice that each number in the DATA statement corresponds to one row in your character. To design a character, follow these steps: 1.
The DATA statement in your program will read: DATA 28, 34, 65, 65, 54, 34 The next step is to tell the printer your newly designed character. To do this you must send a CHR$(19) followed by the six numbers you computed above. Here is an example of how this can be done. After typing RUN, your custom character will be stored in the printer’s memory. It will retain this information until the printer is switched off or until you write over the data by defining a different character.
Set Time and Date Control Code 20 This control code is used when setting the printer’s time and date clock. Read Time and Date Control Code 22 This control code is used to read the printer’s time and date clock. Cancel Reverse Field Control Code 24 Sending this control code will turn OFF the reverse field mode that is selected using control code 25. Reverse Field Control Code 25 Send this control code to turn ON the reverse field printing mode. This will print white letters on a dark background.
Printable Characters The WP-234 printer can produce all ASCII characters from hex 20 through hex 7D (decimal 32 through 125). Here’s what they look like: Note the last two codes of the usual ASCII character set are not supported. Instead, if CHR$(126), which corresponds to hexadecimal 7E, is received by the printer, it will print the character defined in its RAM (Random Access Memory). The section on USER Programmable Character describes how this RAM can be loaded with any 6 x 8 pattern.
Printer Escape Command Code Definitions Command 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 9 Print formatted data HH:MM HH:MM_?M 24 hour format 12 hour format with AM or PM MM/DD/YY month/day/year DD-MM-YY day-month-year/ numeric month DD-MON-YY day-month-year with 3 letter abbreviation of the month DOW day of week abbreviation currently configured format XXXX current sequence number WP-234 Printer User’s Manual 33
Notes
Avery Weigh-Tronix 1000 Armstrong Dr. Fairmont, MN 56031 USA Telephone: 507-238-4461 Facsimile: 507-238-4195 e-mail: industrial@weigh-tronix.com www.wtxweb.com Avery Weigh-Tronix Canada, ULC 217 Brunswick Boulevard Pointe Claire, QC H9R 4R7 Canada Telephone: 514-695-0380 Toll free: 800-561-9461 Facsimile: 514-695-6820 www.weigh-tronix.
