Who is this article for?

Users responsible for maintaining hardware.

No special access or permissions are required.

This article walks you through the process of troubleshooting issues with a card printer.

1. Card jam

A card jam can occur for several reasons, with the most common being two cards stuck together causing the printer to feed two cards instead of one.

To resolve the issue, unplug the power cord, wait 5 seconds, then reconnect it. The printer will attempt to eject the jammed cards automatically.

If restarting doesn’t eject the jammed cards:

1. Open the printer’s front cover.

2. Remove the ribbon and film cartridges carefully.

When the HDP5000 front cover is open, the two buttons become “Forward” and “Back” buttons. These control the printer’s card path rollers, turning them forward or backward.

3. Lean the printer back and inspect the area above where the ribbon and film are normally loaded.

4. If you see a jammed card, press and hold the “Forward” button and gently guide the card out with your thumb or finger toward the exit side of the printer (left).

5. Once the cards are removed from the printer, reinstall the ribbon and film cartridges.

6. Restart the printer.

If you are unable to eject the jammed cards, open a ticket with us for further help.

2. Separating cards

Before loading cards, ensure they are properly separated.

Never touch the printing face surfaces of the cards. To avoid contamination, use a cotton glove to handle cards at all times.

To separate printed cards:

1. Hold the cards by the sides.

2. Hold the cards vertically against a flat, clean surface such as a desktop.

3. If the deck is too thick to hold comfortably, use about half a deck at a time.

4. Push the stack back and forth at an angle of about 45° from vertical to separate all of the cards.

Static charges and edge burrs from the die-cutting process can cause individual cards to stick together with significant adhesion force. These cards must be physically separated before inserting into the feeder.

Failure to do so may result in feeding issues or printer jams.

3. Replacing transfer film

Replace the film when the card printer displays “Film Out” on the LCD screen.

The film is in the left-hand cartridge. The film spools are green and yellow for easy identification.

4. Replacing colour ribbon

Replace the colour ribbon when the card printer displays “Ribbon Out” on the LCD screen.

The ribbon is located in the right-hand cartridge. The ribbon spools are blue and orange for easy identification and installation.

5. Cleaning the printer

To clean the printer:

1. Remove the film and ribbon cartridges.

2. Remove any card stock from the input hoppers.

3. Place the cards in a clean area to prevent dust contamination.

4. Remove the card input hopper.

5. Locate and remove the adhesive cleaning roller underneath the hopper.

6. Take the adhesive cleaning card and peel off the protective layers on the front and back to expose the adhesive surface.

7. 2Press the Windows key to open the Start menu.

8. Type Control Panel into the search bar

9. Select Control Panel from the results.

10. Select Devices and Printers.

11. Right-click the HDP5000/HDP5600 icon.
12. Select Printing Preferences.

13. Click the Toolbox button.
14. Switch to the Clean Printer tab.

15. Click the Clean button

The adhesive cleaning card will now feed into the printer and move back and forth several times, passing over the printer rollers in the card path to remove dust and dirt.

Once completed, please reinstall the ribbon, film, and cards.

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6. Patchy image transfer

When the thermal transfer roller temperature is not hot enough, the entire image may not transfer from the film onto the card.

Different card stocks may require adjustments to this setting as some are easier or harder to print on.

 

To adjust the transfer settings:

1. Press the Windows icon to open the Start menu.

2. Navigate to Devices and Printers.

3. Right-click the HDP5000 Card Printer icon. 

4. Select Printing Preferences.

5. Click the Toolbox button.

6. Switch to the Advanced Settings tab.

7. Find the Transfer Temp Offset setting.

8. Decrease this setting by 3.
   The range for this setting is -20 to 20.

Increasing the temperature makes the card stock more malleable due to the heat absorbed during printing. Higher temperatures increase the risk of card jams.

If the card stock becomes noticeably malleable, reverse the adjustment to reduce the temperature.

Heat tolerance of card stock can vary between batches. It’s important to monitor print quality over time and adjust settings as needed.