(Last updated on: July 18, 2016)
Do your tickets look like this?
- Clean the sensors and rubber platen with isopropyl alcohol and a cotton swab at least once a week.
- Use a can of compressed air to blow out all the dust in the interior of your printer once a week.
- We also recommend using a can of compressed air to blow the dust off your printhead.
- For those of you using Datamax E Class printers, we recommend your green dial be set between #2-4.
Are your tickets starting to look like this? You may have a worn out printhead. 
There are a few factors that can cause a printhead to wear out or go bad. Try lowering the heat level and darkness level, if that was adjusted. You should get years of use out of it unless someone scratches the printhead or the media are abrasive. Once the printhead is bad and is showing the lines, it needs to be replaced.
Other ways to keep your printer running smoothly:
- Store media and printer in a cool and clean environment.
- Always keep the label compartment of your printer clean and dust free.
- Never use an improper tool on your printhead to remove a stuck label, if applicable.
- If necessary, adjust media guides when changing media widths.
- Always keep the media door of the printer closed to ensure that dust and foreign material does not get on the media roll and subsequently dragged under the printhead.
Here are links to what can cause the printhead to fail: