Feeling the heat – 5 tips for thermal ticket rolls
Thermal ticket rolls it seems, are ubiquitous. But there’s a considerable amount of technology behind this seemingly simple bit of print.
The first direct thermal printer was invented in 1965 and grew in popularity as the technology improved and devices became smaller. Direct thermal printing is where a print head is heated and the paper with a receptive coating develops the image. Indirect thermal printers by contrast rely on a separate ribbon to carry the ink which is then transferred by heat to the paper / substrate.
In the parking sector, thermal printers are used extensively for parking enforcement (penalty and parking charge notices), within pay & display machines and in pay on foot systems – within the ticket printer at the barrier and the receipt printer at the pay station.
Although thermal printers are generally reliable and consumable costs competitive, the cost of failure of the devices is high. Lost revenue through ticket machines, tailbacks at a barrier and lost PCN’s are all real examples. So being aware of some things to watch out for can be worthwhile and save time and cost.
Factors impacting the performance of ticket rolls include:-
- Paper specifications being outside the OEM tolerances
- Poor quality thermally sensitive coating resulting in poor images and short image life
- Quality of the head of form (“HOF”) mark resulting in tickets not registering properly when printing – especially important when you have a ticket that’s printed on the back.
- Poor storage conditions – damp or hot conditions will have an impact on the image quality when in use
- Poor or no maintenance of the thermal print head. This results in poor print quality and speed but also causes the printer to wear prematurely.
Next time you’re specifying your thermal ticket roll requirement, be sure to check these five points. If you need any support, get in touch with our team of experts.
