Light or Faint Printing
Faint, very lightly printed cards are most often caused when the incorrect Power Supply has been connected to the printer.
Q. Did you recently move office or move the printer and PC?
In our experience most cases for this error result from an office/desk move where the wrong power supply has been connected to the printer in error.
There could be other reasons but they can only be investigated once the correct PSU has been 100% confirmed and connected (which in most cases will resolve the issue immediately)
- Connecting an incorrect PSU may result in incorrect voltage to produce desired print quality = faintly printed cards
- Can cause other errors (16:00 Cant lift head commonly)
- And can invalidate your printers warranty ⚠
Your Magicard printer must only be used with the correct Power Supply.
Please see the related article below to identify the correct PSU for your printer.
My PSU is correct, what next?
Only if you are 100% sure the PSU is correct...
- Confirm that you are printing onto fresh cards. Open a new pack just to be sure.
- Print the built-in Test Card and/or print one of the Windows Sample Pictures from your PC's Pictures Folder.
How did these print?
- This will show if the issue is printer related: Still printing light/faint? Or OK?
- If your sample photo printed OK > check you application settings.
- Also try plugging the PSU into to a different power strip or power outlet. Sometimes the power strip or outlet might not be giving sufficient voltage or amps. Try a ring main with no other electrical devices running.
Doing these checks now could save time and avoid the need to ship your printer for us to investigate, only to find the printer is actuially OK and not the cause.
If required you can adjust the YMC Printhead Power via the driver:
*Ensure to close your badging application first and re-open afterwards, ensuring the changes get picked up in the application when it restarts after the following:
- Control Panel
- Devices and Printers
- Right click your printers icon and choose Printing Preferences
- in the Image tab
- select Options in Printhead Power section:
- Adjust the slider accordingly (Yellow, Magenta, Cyan)
*Please only make small adjustments and stay away from max setting.
This setting is intended for small adjustments only and it will not correct an extremely faint print if the PSU is not correct, or the head has damage.
If your printer is a Very old Enduro - double check the printhead support plates for any cracks or breakage as shown below. If this is the case you would need to purchase a new printhead and this may not be an economically viable option for such an old printer.
