Printer will pass a blank un-encoded card and give a mechanical error P-Series Zebra Card Printer

Article ID: 20010569

Details

Symptom

Printer will not encode a magnetic stripe but rather feed a blank card through the printer

Applies To

Zebra Performance Class Card Printers

Cause or Overview

This solution addresses the following problems:

Printer ejects a blank un-encoded card
Printer reports a reading or writing error

Solution

First make sure your printer has a magnetic encoder installed.
Check the gray label on the back or bottom of the printer. Printers equipped with a magnetic encoder will have the letter "M" included in the printer model.
i.e. A P310 equipped with a magnetic encoder would say: P310CM

For P620 and P640 printer models, the mag encoder, if installed, can be seen visually by looking at the card path just to the left of the cleaning station.

Many times the encoder option in the driver is not enabled.

Go to your printer's driver (start / settings / control panel / printers). Right click on the icon corresponding to your printer and select properties. Click on the device settings tab. Make sure that the "With Magnetic Encoder" option reads: "YES".

A failing encoder sensor can also cause this problem.
To check the encoder sensor go to your printer's driver (start / settings / control panel / printers). Right click on the icon corresponding to your printer and select properties. Click on the device settings tab. Click on the word tools. Click on properties. In the empty field at the top of the properties window (direct command for printer) type &L (make sure you have a magnetic stripe card in the feeder). Click on the "SEND" or "EXECUTE" button to send the command to the printer. If you get an error message the sensor is not working.

+ Product Codes

P100i
P110i
P120i
P330i Card Printer
P430i Card Printer
Value Class Card Printer