RibbonMinder Operation
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again. If a different type of ribbon is installed, the density setting will remain as selected, but the end of life value for the new
ribbon type will be used.
By changing this setting, you specify a point lower or higher at which the “301 RIBBON INK LOW” or “146 RIBBON INK OUT”
message will display. The user can thus set ribbon life to match the required print density for a specific application. The graph
below shows the relationship between print density and the Ribbon End Point settings.
For reference, the nominal starting density of a new black text ribbon is approximately 1.2, with a yield to 0.5 density of
approximately 16 million HS characters. Incrementing the Darker setting will raise the density end point, while decreasing the
yield. Each Darker increment will decrease the yield by a percentage from the expected 16 million. For example, Darker +1
would change the expected yield to 12.67 million characters. Darker +3 would decrease the yield to 6 million characters.
Conversely, decrementing the Lighter setting decreases the density, which increases the yield. Each Lighter decrement
increases the yield by an additional percentage. For example, Lighter -2 would change the expected yield to 30 million
characters. Lighter -5 would result in an approximate yield of 52 million characters.
Changes to this setting can be made at any time during a ribbon’s life, and the new end point will be calculated accordingly.
However, once a depleted ribbon is removed and another ribbon installed, the depleted ribbon is added to the used ribbon long,
and may not be re-introduced into the printer.
Ribbon Action
Factory default is Stop At RBN End. When the ribbon life reaches 0%, the message “146 RIBBON INK OUT / INSTALL NEW
IBM RIBBON” displays on the operator panel. The status lamp flashes, the alarm sounds (if enabled), printing stops, and the
printer enters the fault state. Printing cannot resume until this condition is cleared. To complete a print job in progress, you can
return the printer to READY state by pressing START. This allows the printer to continue printing for approximately two
1.2
0.8
0.5
0.2
+3 +2 +1 -1 -2 -3 -4 -5 Setting
Density
X
Normal
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