Monarch 9856 Printer 88-2229-01 (TC9856OH Rev. B 7/98) ©1998 Monarch Marking Systems, Inc. All rights reserved.
Each product and program carries a respective written warranty, the only warranty on which the customer can rely. Monarch reserves the right to make changes in the product, the programs, and their availability at any time and without notice. Although Monarch has made every effort to provide complete and accurate information in this manual, Monarch shall not be liable for any omissions or inaccuracies. Any update will be incorporated in a later edition of this manual. ©1998 Monarch Marking Systems, Inc.
TABLE OF CONTENTS GETTING STARTED ............................................................................... 1-1 Audience ............................................................................................ 1-1 Connecting the Power Cable................................................................ 1-2 Establishing Communications .............................................................. 1-2 Connecting the Communication Cable ..............................................
COMMUNICATION VALUES .................................................................... 4-1 Baud Rate........................................................................................... 4-2 Word Length ....................................................................................... 4-2 Stop Bits ............................................................................................. 4-3 Parity...............................................................................................
1 GETTING STARTED The Monarch 9856 T M printer lets you print text, graphics, and bar codes on thermal transfer (ribbon) and thermal direct labels. You can print on die cut, black mark, or continuous supplies. The printer has an adjustable label edge sensor and a 300 dots per inch (dpi) printhead. This chapter includes information about ♦ connecting the power cable. ♦ establishing communications. ♦ using the control panel and main menu.
Connecting the Power Cable Connect the AC power cord to the back of the printer and then plug into the AC wall outlet. Make sure the printer is off before connecting the power cord. There may be a delay when the printer is turned off and then quickly turned back on. AC Connector Power Switch Establishing Communications Before the printer can accept print jobs from the host, you must 1-2 ♦ connect the communication cable to the printer and to the host.
The factory defaults are ♦ 9600 Baud ♦ 8 bit parity Parallel Port Serial Port B ♦ 1 stop bit Serial Port A ♦ no parity ♦ DTR flow control. Connecting the Communication Cable Make sure the printer is off before connecting the cable to the communication port. Using the Control Panel The printer has a control panel containing a two-row x 16 character LCD display, control buttons, lights, and a keypad with six buttons used to access and change the printer's configuration settings.
Buttons and Lights The printer shows a steady green light when it is on. Pressing PAUSE ♦ pauses the current print job. ♦ displays “PAUSE MENU” on the display. ♦ stops the label counter (but maintains the count balance). The PAUSE light is on when PAUSE is pressed. The PAUSE light blinks when there is a data, communication, or data formatting error (errors below 700). Pressing FEED feeds a blank label if there is no print job. Pressing CANCEL ♦ clears an error. ♦ cancels the current job.
Using the Keypad s L R Has no function. Scrolls through the current menu selections. Increases and decreases values. U Exits an options without saving changes. D Has no function. E Selects/sets a displayed function or value. Answers yes to an operator query. Clears supply errors (over 700). Using the Main Menu Many chapters in this manual have one or more charts showing the printer’s menu structure. For example: ♦ Normal border boxes show the menu options.
Selecting a Function The Main Menu has several functions (operating modes). These functions are shown in the chart below. MAIN MENU CANCEL ALL PRINT MODE REPEAT BATCH SETUP DIAG. If the printer displays PRINT MODE Ready when you turn it on, press U to display the Main Menu. To display menu options, press L or R. ♦ When the screen displays a right arrow, press R to display more options. MAIN MENU Cancel All r ♦ When the screen displays a left arrow, press L to display more options.
The Main Menu controls the printer’s setup and operation. Through the Setup Menu, you can select a sub-menu for the supply, contrast, default, or port settings. Each of those sub-menus have several selections, such as ribbon, speed, monetary symbols, and baud rate. 1. From the Main Menu, press L or R until you see l 2. MAIN MENU Setup Press E. You will see SETUP Supply 3. r r Press E. You will see the following option: SUPPLY Ribbon r Exiting an Option To exit an option, press U once.
1-8 Getting Started
LOADING SUPPLIES 2 The printer accepts a wide range of supplies. You can use roll, fan-fold, or die cut continuous supply for thermal transfer or thermal direct. Using thermal direct supply with a ribbon produces unacceptable print quality. Loading Non-Peel and Fan-Fold Supply To load a roll of labels or fan-fold labels: 1. Open the side access cover. 2. Slide a roll of labels onto the supply hub assembly and position it against the inner guide.
4. Thread the supply under the bouncer assembly and between the upper and lower supply guides. Feed the supply until it exits the printhead assembly through the front slot. 5. Lower the printhead and close the printhead latch. Rotate the printhead latch wing clockwise and snap it down to lock the printhead into position. Printhead Latch Upper Supply Guide Bouncer Assembly Supply Hub Tear Bar Lower Supply Guide Roll Supply 6. Fan-fold Close the side access cover.
Loading a Ribbon To load a new ribbon: 1. Open the side access cover. 2. Raise the printhead latch wing and rotate counterclockwise one-half turn to unlock the printhead. Raise the printhead to an upright position. 3. Slide the ribbon roll onto the hub, making sure the ribbon roll is up against the hub flange. Ribbon Rollers Ribbon Take-up Hub Latch Wing Ribbon Supply Hub 4. Feed the ribbon as shown. 5. Lower the printhead, but do not close the latch. 6.
7. Pull the ribbon over the ribbon rollers. Wrap the free end of the ribbon around the ribbon take-up hub. Slide the J-hook into place. Hold the ribbon take-up hub and rotate the J-hook clockwise to latch it. J-hook Take-up Hub Ribbon 8. Rotate the hub until you remove all slack from the ribbon. Do not use the J-hook to rotate the hub. 9. Close the printhead latch, rotate the latch wing clockwise, and lower the latch wing. 10. Close the side access cover. Removing a Ribbon 1.
Tear Bar Installation The tear bar is already fastened to the printer. To use the tear bar, remove the rewind bracket and replace the thumbscrews. Tear Bar Rewind Bracket Thumbscrews Using the Internal Rewind Option The internal rewind option must be purchased separately. When large quantities of labels are printed as single batches or for later use, you may use the internal rewind hub to roll up the label supply automatically for convenient handling. To use the Supply Rewind Hub: 1.
3. Loosen the thumbscrew and remove the retainer from the rewind shaft. Thumbscrew Retainer 4. Insert the free end of the supply through the supply take-up slot in the front of the printer. Place the leading edge of the supply into the slot on the internal rewind hub. Ribbon Supply Hub Ribbon Take-up Hub Supply Take-up Slot Supply Hub Thumbscrew Retainer Internal Rewind Hub 5. Rotate the internal rewind hub counterclockwise to take up any slack.
3 SETTING SUPPLY OPTIONS This chapter explains how to select a ribbon, separators, feed mode, print position, supply position, margin position, supply type, and speed. MAIN MENU CANCEL ALL PRINT MODE SEPARATORS FEED MODE PRINT POS DIAG. SETUP CONTRAST SUPPLY RIBBON REPEAT BATCH DEFAULTS SUPPLY POS PORT SETTINGS MARGIN POS CUT POS SUPPLY TYPE SPEED You may need to set supply options when you change supplies. The options are listed in the table below.
To exit an option without changing the setting, press U Ribbon You have to tell the printer if your supplies require a ribbon. To change the setting, from the Main Menu, select Setup, then Supply. Then, follow these steps. 1. Press L or R until you see SUPPLY Ribbon 2. Press E to set the ribbon option. You will see the current setting, for example: l 3. r RIBBON Yes r Press L or R to see the other options. After you display the option you want, press E. Press U twice to exit to the Main menu.
To change the setting, from the Main Menu, select Setup, then Supply. Then, follow these steps. 1. Press L or R until you see l 2. SUPPLY Separators r Press E to set the batch separators option. You will see the current setting, for example: SEPARATORS Off r 3. Press L or R to see the other option. After you display the option you want, press E. Press U twice to exit to the Main menu. Feed Mode You can use continuous or on-demand printing.
3. Press L or R to see the other option. After you display the option you want, press E. Press U twice to exit to the Main menu. Print Position This function adjusts where data prints vertically on the supply. Adjust the print if it is too close to the top or bottom of the supply, or overtypes the pre-printed area. One dot is 0.0033 inch. ♦ If the data is too close to the bottom, increase the number. ♦ If the data is too close to the top, decrease the number.
3. Press L or R to change the print position. Pressing L decreases the value (moves the image down); R increases it (moves the image up). 4. Press E when the number you need appears. Press U twice to exit to the Main menu. Supply Position This function adjusts how much supply feeds out of the exit chute. You may need to adjust the supply in or out to allow ♦ labels to be removed. ♦ die cut labels to be removed easily. The adjustments are in dots (0.0033 inch).
4. Press E when the number you need appears. Press U twice to exit to the Main menu. Margin Position This function adjusts where the format prints horizontally on the supply. The adjustments are in dots (0.0033 inch), which is the smallest measurement the printer recognizes. The width of the print area depends on your supply size. Maximum width is six inches. When you move the image to the right or left on the supply, avoid moving the image too close to either edge, because it may not print.
2. Press E. You will see the current setting, for example: Enter margin pos [-99/99]: +0 3. Press L or R to change the margin position. Pressing L decreases the value (moves the image toward the left side of the supply); R increases it (moves the image toward the right side of the supply). 4. Press E when the number you need appears. Press e twice to exit to the Main menu. Cut Position Changing these settings do not affect the printer’s operation.
Speed You can change the print speed for bar codes or graphics. If you select "Default" for speed, formats with serial bar codes automatically print at 2.0 IPS. To change the setting, from the Main Menu, select Setup, then Supply. Then, follow these steps. 1. Press L or R until you see l 2. Press E to set the speed option. You will see the current setting, for example: l 3. 3-8 SUPPLY Speed SPEED 6.0 IPS r Press L or R to see the other options. After you display the option you want, press E.
4 C O M M U N I C AT I O N V A L U E S This chapter tells you how to set the User Communication (User Comm) values. These values provide the link for normal online printing. MAIN MENU PRINT MODE CANCEL ALL SUPPLY REPEAT BATCH CONTRAST DIAG. SETUP DEFAULTS PORT SETTINGS USER COMM You need to set your User Comm values to match your computer's online communications. Before entering the communication values, see your System Administrator. The communication values are listed in the table below.
Baud Rate To change the setting, from the Main Menu, select Setup, Port Settings, then User Comm. Then, follow these steps. 1. Press E to set the baud rate. You will see the current setting, for example: l 2. BAUD RATE 9600 r Press L or R to display the baud rate you need, then press E. Press U three times to exit to the Main menu. Word Length To change the setting, from the Main Menu, select Setup, Port Settings, then User Comm. Then, follow these steps. 1. Press L or R until you see l 2.
Stop Bits To change the setting, from the Main Menu, select Setup, Port Settings, then User Comm. Then, follow these steps. 1. Press L or R until you see l 2. USER COMM Stopbits Press E . You will see the current setting, for example: STOPBITS 1 3. r r Press L or R to display the number of stop bits you need, press E. Press U three times to exit to the Main menu. Parity To change the setting, from the Main Menu, select Setup, Port Settings, then User Comm. Then, follow these steps. 1.
Flow Control To change the setting, from the Main Menu, select Setup, Port Settings, then User Comm. Then, follow these steps. 1. Press L or R until you see l 2. USER COMM Flow Control r Press E. You will see the current setting, for example: FLOW CONTROL l DTR r The XON character is 17; XOFF is 19. Set flow control to DTR for PC computers (unless you have XON/XOFF software). 3. Press L or R to display the flow control you need, press E. Press U three times to exit to the Main menu.
5 SETTING CONTRAST This chapter explains how to set the contrast, which controls the darkness of the printing on your supply. The range is -390 to +156, and the default is 0. MAIN MENU CANCEL ALL SUPPLY PRINT MODE CONTRAST REPEAT BATCH DEFAULTS SETUP DIAG.
Correct contrast setting is important because it affects how well your bar codes scan and how long your printhead lasts. You can use a verifier to check bar codes for contrast. 1. From the Main Menu, press L or R until you see l 2. r Press E. Press L or R until you see l 3. MAIN MENU Setup SETUP Contrast r Press E. You will see the current setting, for example: Enter contrast [-390/156]: +0 4. Press L or R to change the contrast. Pressing L lightens the print; R darkens the print. 5.
6 SETTING DEFAULTS This chapter explains how to select the monetary sign, secondary sign, decimal places, slashed zero, power-up mode, and prompt set. MAIN MENU CANCEL ALL PRINT MODE SUPPLY MONETARY SIGN SECONDARY SIGN REPEAT BATCH CONTRAST DECIMAL PLACES DIAG. SETUP PORT SETTINGS DEFAULTS SLASHED ZERO PROMPT SET POWER-UP MODE You can set your printer configurations to fit your daily operation, using either the offline menus or the online configuration option.
The monetary sign, secondary sign, and decimal places options are used in conjunction with option 42. The settings for Monetary Sign, Secondary Sign, Slashed Zero, and Decimal Places are applied when a format is downloaded. Changing the settings does not affect batches already in the printer. Monetary Sign You can also select None if you do not want a monetary sign to print in price fields. The monetary signs available for 15 countries are shown in the table below.
To change the setting, from the Main Menu, select Setup, then Defaults. Then, follow these steps. To exit an option without changing the setting, press U. 1. Press E. You will see the current setting, for example: MONETARY SIGN l USA r 2. Press L or R until you see the country's monetary sign you want. 3. Press E. Press U twice to exit to the Main menu. Secondary Sign If you select USA as the monetary sign, you can print amounts less than $1.00 either by using a dollar sign and decimal ($0.
2. Press E. You will see the current setting, for example: SECONDARY SIGN No r 3. Press L or R until you see the option you want. Then press E. Press U twice to exit to the Main menu. Decimal Places You can set the printer for 0, 1, 2, or 3 places after the decimal in a price field. In U.S. currency, you might print prices like this: $24.00 (2 decimal places) or like this: $24 (0 decimal places). 1. Press L or R until you see DEFAULTS l Decimal Places r 2. Press E.
To change the setting, from the Main Menu, select Setup, then Defaults. Then, follow these steps. 1. Press L or R until you see DEFAULTS l Slashed Zero 2. r Press E. You will see the current setting, for example: SLASHED ZERO l Yes 3. Press L or R until you see the option you want. Then press E. Press U twice to exit to the Main menu. Power-Up Mode Power-up mode lets you decide how your printer starts each time you turn it on.
3. Press L or R until you see the option you want. Then press E. Press U twice to exit to the Main menu. Prompt Set Prompt set determines which language displays on the printer's menu. You can select English, French, German, or Spanish. To change the setting, from the Main Menu, select Setup, then Defaults. Then, follow these steps. 1. Press R until you see l 2. DEFAULTS Prompt Set Press E. You will see the current setting, for example: PROMPT SET English r 3.
CARE AND MAINTENANCE 7 This chapter tells you how to clean and adjust your printer. WARNING Turn OFF the printer and unplug the unit from the outlet before cleaning or adjusting the printer. Cleaning the Printhead Regular cleaning of the printhead maintains print quality. Use a cotton swab moistened with isopropyl alcohol to clean the printhead.
Adjusting the Supply Sensor To detect the label edge and/or black mark for all supply sizes, the supply sensor is adjustable across half of the supply path. Adjust the position of the supply sensor when changing from a wider to a narrower supply size. This keeps the supply sensor positioned to detect the label edge. Rotating the adjustment knob clockwise sets the sensor for wider supply. In general, if you keep the knob in the full counterclockwise position, it correctly senses supply.
Adjusting the Supply Width The printer uses a variety of supply widths and thicknesses. The printer is factory set using a standard full-width supply. The printhead has a leveling knob adjustment to ensure even print quality. The knob raises and lowers the right side of the printhead to keep the printhead level across the supply. When out of alignment, print along one side of the label is missing. The print drops off suddenly, rather than gradually fading out.
7-4 Care and Maintenance
8 DIAGNOSTICS This chapter explains how to perform simple diagnostic functions such as checking the software version and printing test labels. This information is needed if you have to call Technical Support. MAIN MENU CANCEL ALL PRINT MODE REPEAT BATCH VERSION SETUP SERVICE DIAG USER DIAG. SUPPLY QUALITY DIAG. TEST LABEL The supply quality option is not available. Factory Set Password You need a password to access diagnostic functions. The permanent factory-set password is: P P P E.
Line one lists the printer model number (M9856). Line two is the version of software in the printer. Printing Test Labels 1. From the Diagnostics menu, press L or R until you see l 2. Press E and R until you see l 3. DIAGNOSTICS User Diag r USER DIAG Test Label Press E. The following test labels print. The test labels display the printer model number, software version number, number of inches printed to date, user COM port settings, and a test pattern.
9 TROUBLESHOOTING This chapter lists possible problems and solutions. After you take the corrective action, press FEED or CANCEL to clear the error. Contact Technical Support for problems not covered in this chapter. Problem Description/Action Poor Print Quality Clean printhead. Adjust printhead temperature. Check with your System Administrator. Use the correct ribbon/paper combination.
Common Errors This section lists the most common errors you may see. Call Technical Support if you receive any error not listed here. Error Description/Action 025 String length is outside the range 0 to 2710. 101 The format referenced by batch is not in memory. 409 The printer memory is full. Delete unnecessary formats or graphics from memory. 410 Parity mismatch. 411 Framing error (baud rate mismatch). 412 Flow control mismatch. 413 Online receive queue is full.
751 Printer did not sense a black mark when expected. For errors 751-753, Check the supply tracking, supply marks, black mark sensor position, and supply roll for binding. Press CANCEL and try to continue printing. Change supply. 752 Printer sensed a mark in the wrong place. 753 Printer sensed a mark that is too long. 754 Check for a ribbon jam or remove any slack by turning the takeup reel clockwise. 755 Printhead is open. Close the printhead before continuing. 756 Load supplies.
9-4 Troubleshooting
A S P E C I F I C AT I O N S Printer Height: 13.5 inches (343mm) Width: 12.5 inches (317.5mm) Depth: 18 inches (457mm) Weight: 55 lb. (25 kg) Shipping Weight: 60 lb. (27kg) Power: 115/230 VAC 50/60Hz Auto-ranging power supply Operating Limits: 40ºF to 100ºF (4ºC to 38ºC) Printhead: 300 dots per inch (11.8 dots/mm) Printing Method: Thermal direct or thermal transfer Supply Types: Roll-fed, die-cut continuous or fan-fold labels. Supply Widths: 2.0" (51mm) minimum 6.
Ribbon Widths: 2.0” 2.5” 3.0” 3.5” 4.0” 4.5” 5.0” 6.0” 6.5” Ribbon Storage: Do not leave ribbon in direct sunlight, high temperatures, or high humidity. Print Speed: 2.0 IPS (51mm), 6.0 IPS (152mm), or 8.0 IPS (203.
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