ZT400™ Series Quick Reference Guide Use this guide to operate your printer on a daily basis. For more detailed information, refer to the User Guide. Printer Components Figure 1 shows the components inside the media compartment of your printer. Depending on the printer model and the installed options, your printer may look slightly different. Familiarize yourself with these components before continuing with the printer setup procedure.
Control Panel Control Panel The control panel (Figure 2) indicates the printer’s current status and allows the user to control basic printer operation. Figure 2 • Control Panel 1 2 3 4 5 1 STATUS light 2 4 PAUSE light DATA light SUPPLIES light 5 NETWORK light 3 6 6 7 8 7 9 8 10 9 11 10 12 11 13 12 13 14 15 16 14 P1060608-004 15 These indicator lights show the current status of the printer. For more information, refer to the User Guide.
Preparing the Printer for Use Preparing the Printer for Use After you have familiarized yourself with the printer components, prepare the printer for use. Caution • When you are loading media or ribbon, remove all jewelry that could come into contact with the printhead or other printer parts. Caution • Before touching the printhead assembly, discharge any built-up static electricity by touching the metal printer frame or by using an anti-static wriststrap and mat.
Preparing the Printer for Use 5. Connect the printer to a computer using one or more of the available connections. The standard connections are shown here. A parallel connection or a ZebraNet® wireless connection may also be available on your printer. Internal wired Ethernet print server Serial port USB port 6. Raise the media door. 7. Load ribbon (if using Thermal Transfer mode) and media into the printer (see Load Media and Ribbon on page 9).
Preparing the Printer for Use 8. Close the media door. 9. Plug the female end of the A/C power cord into the A/C power connector on the back of the printer. 10. Plug the male end of the A/C power cord into an appropriate power outlet.
Preparing the Printer for Use 11. To verify that the media and ribbon are loaded correctly, print a printer configuration label. a. Press and hold the CANCEL button. b. Turn on (I) the printer. The printer boots up and performs a self-test. The results of the self-test are shown in Table 1. If the media and ribbon are loaded correctly, the printer prints a printer configuration label (Figure 3) and then a network configuration label (Figure 4).
Preparing the Printer for Use 12. To test the connection between your printer and your computer, use a label design package to create a sample label and send it to the printer. Zebra recommends ZebraDesigner Pro. You can download this software from http://www.zebra.com/software and operate it in Demo mode to print a sample label. Table 1 • Status of Printer As Shown by Indicator Lights STATUS light steady green (other lights steady yellow for 2 seconds during printer power-up) The printer is ready.
Preparing the Printer for Use Table 1 • Status of Printer As Shown by Indicator Lights (Continued) STATUS light flashing red The printer is unable to read the dpi setting of the printhead. ZebraNet wired Ethernet NETWORK light off No Ethernet link is available. NETWORK light steady green A 100 Base link was found. NETWORK light steady yellow A 10 Base link was found. NETWORK light steady red An Ethernet error condition exists. The printer is not connected to your network.
Load Media and Ribbon Load Media and Ribbon Use the instructions in this section to load ribbon (if used) and media in Tear-Off mode. Ribbon is used with thermal transfer labels. For direct thermal labels, do not load ribbon in the printer. For instructions for loading fanfold media or for loading in different print modes, refer to the User Guide. Caution • When you are loading media or ribbon, remove all jewelry that could come into contact with the printhead or other printer parts.
Load Media and Ribbon 2. Remove and discard any tags or labels that are dirty or that are held by adhesives or tape. 3. Pull out the media supply guide as far as it goes. 4. Place the roll of media on the media supply hanger. Push the roll as far back as it will go. 5. Slide in the media supply guide until it touches the edge of the roll.
Load Media and Ribbon 6. Slide the media guide all the way out. 7. From the media hanger (1), feed the media under the dancer assembly (2), through the media sensor (3), and under the printhead assembly (4). Slide the media back until it touches the inside back wall of the media sensor.
Load Media and Ribbon 8. Slide in the media guide until it just touches the edge of the media. 9. Which type of media did you load into the printer? If you loaded... Then... Direct Thermal media Continue with step 10. Thermal Transfer media Continue with step 12. 10. Rotate the printhead-open lever downward until it locks the printhead in place. 11. If necessary, press PAUSE to exit pause mode and enable printing.
Load Media and Ribbon Load Ribbon Important • Use ribbon that is wider than the media to protect the printhead from wear. Ribbon must be coated on the outside (refer to the User Guide for more information). 12. Place the roll of ribbon on the ribbon supply spindle with the loose end of the ribbon unrolling as shown. Push the roll back as far as it will go.
Load Media and Ribbon 13. Slide the ribbon under the printhead assembly, and then wrap it several turns around the ribbon take-up spindle.
Load Media and Ribbon 14. Push down the printhead assembly (1), and then rotate the printhead-open lever (2) until it locks into place. 2 1 15. If necessary, press PAUSE to clear any errors and enable printing.
Load Media and Ribbon Remove Used Ribbon Remove used ribbon from the ribbon take-up spindle each time you change the roll of ribbon. To remove used ribbon, complete these steps: 1. Has the ribbon run out? If the ribbon... Then Ran out Continue with the next step. Did not run out Cut or break the ribbon before the ribbon take-up spindle. Caution • Do not cut the ribbon directly on the ribbon take-up spindle. Doing so may damage the spindle. 2.
