The first test you should do is to just make sure that the printer is running and you have the power wired up right.
First up, pull the little plastic tab up top to open up the paper holder. Then insert a roll of 57.5mm (2 1/4 inches) thermal paper into the bay as shown below.
- For Product ID #597 "Mini Thermal Printer" The optimal length of the paper will be 50 feet (about 15 meters) so try to pick up that size. Sometimes if you buy paper from an office supply shop, its a little longer, around 80 or 85 feet in which case you'll need to remove paper from the roll until its 1.5"/40mm in diameter and fits easily.
- For Product #2751 "Tiny Thermal Printer" The optimal length of the paper will be 33 feet (about 10 meters) so try to pick up that size.
- For Proudct #2752 "Nano Thermal Printer" The optimal length of the paper will be 16 feet (about 5 meters) so try to pick up that size.
- For our Thermal Printer guts kit, there's no paper bay so you can use any size.
Make sure that the paper doesn't bind or stick in the bay, it should rotate freely.
As previously described, power the printer using a 5V to 9V 1.5A or higher power supply, such as wiring up a 2.1mm DC power jack:
Hold down the button on the top of the printer (or on the control board) while plugging in the power. You should see a receipt print out showing the font table and some diagnostics.
If you don't get a printout, check that the paper is inserted correctly and not binding, that the power is correctly wired, power supply is plugged in, etc. Then try again, holding down the button when connecting power.
Note the baud rate on the test page. This may be 19200 or 9600. We'll need this number later:
