Microcom 520 Troubleshooting

The Microcom 520 printer is a thermal printer ideal for ticket printing and is the recommended printer for SaffireTix Laptop Kits. In this article, you will find troubleshooting steps that can help you with issues that you may run across with your Microcom 520 printer. If you do not find the information you are looking for in this article, please use the orange "Help" button on the bottom right corner of the page to use our Chat, email us at support@saffire.com, or call 512-430-1123.

Troubleshooting First Steps

• When approaching a troubleshooting situation, try to think about what you do know. Was it working before? If so, what changed? Perhaps the system was moved to a new location, or a new user has logged in. Thinking about what you do know can help you to figure out what the best questions are to ask.
• Have you tried turning it off and on again? Sometimes this is enough to get things moving as intended. We particularly recommend turning the printer off, unplugging all cables, powering down your system, and waiting a minute or two to let everything cycle down. Then plug everything back in, reboot your system, and try another test print. If this doesn't work, move on by finding the particular issue you are facing below.

• Is the printer plugged into the same USB port as when the drivers were installed? Making sure the printer stays plugged into the same USB port ensures your system is able to find it correctly. If you are connecting to a SaffireTix laptop or PC and were provided a USB hub, plug the printer into the port farthest from the hub cable (Make sure the USB hub is plugged into the port on your laptop or PC that is marked as the USB hub port as well):

  

  
  
• Is your system sufficiently powered? Sometimes when devices are set up at remote locations, there may not be sufficient power for everything to work optimally. This may result in behavior that looks like an equipment issue, but is really just because a printer motor is just a little bit under powered. Bear in mind that powering devices off of long extension cords or overtasking a single breaker with too many devices can have unexpected results. Even inside a building, trying to power too many machines off of one breaker can cause things to behave poorly. Talk to your IT team about whether everything is getting sufficient power.
• Check for duplicate printer instances. Sometimes when a printer is not being detected it is due to there being a previous installation of the printer driver that is being seen instead. To check for this, open Settings > Bluetooth and Devices > Printers and Scanners. Remove all instances of other Microcom printers, then reinstall the printer drivers. See our Driver Installation Guide for further details.
• Reinstall printer drivers. If none of the suggestions work, you may be able to get things working again by reinstalling the printer driver. We recommend removing the currently installed printer driver through the driver installation wizard, rebooting your system, and reinstalling the driver. For detailed instructions, see Microcom 520 Driver Installation.

Properly Loading Ticket Stock

Full instructions for loading ticket stock can be found on the Microcom 520 User Guide.

Sometimes, a ticket will get torn so that it is difficult to tell which is the correct end of the stack of tickets. If this happens, check the back of the ticket and make sure the control number is the same on the stub and ticket. The stub should be loaded first, with the logo at the opposite end.

• Press the button on the top of the printer to have the ticket feed through the machine and realign. Then, process a test print.
• Clean the roller inside of the printer using a little isopropyl alcohol and a cotton round/napkin.

Full instructions for loading ticket stock can be found on the Microcom 520 User Guide.

QR Code Printing at the Wrong End (Printing Backward)

Ticket stock may be installed backward. To fix, turn the whole stack of stock over and feed it in from the other end. Follow instructions above or visit the Microcom 520 User Guide.

If your stock is loaded correctly, you may need to change the orientation in print settings.

Open Control Panel, View devices and printers. Right click on the Microcom 520 and select: Printing Preferences. Rotation should always be set to 180 degrees.

QR Code Crosses Tearaway Line

You may need to adjust your printer settings. Stock should be set to Continuous (Fixed Length).

Text Printing Too Small

Check your printer settings to ensure the size is set to 2X5.5.

If you do not see the option in this drop-down menu for the 2X5.5 Boca L180 preset, you may need to download and add our configuration file to your printer settings. See details on the Microcom 520 Driver Installation page.

Print size can also be adjusted in your print preview, where the scale may be set to less than 100%.

Full instructions for printer configuration can be found on the Microcom 520 User Guide.

Tickets Print with URL at Top and Bottom

If the tickets are printing correctly, but the print is small and includes your ticket URL, date, and page numbers, your Chrome settings might have the headers and footers selected to print. To check this, look at your printer settings before the ticket prints. You may need to open up the More Settings dropdown at the bottom.

If your Box Office is set to bypass the print dialogue, you won't be able to do it there. In that case, you can open a Chrome browser, and open something to print (even just right clicking an selecting print works for this). You can look at this setting, make sure it is unchecked, and if you make a change here it will update the default for the whole browser.

You should then be able to refresh the Box Office page (hit Control-F5), and try printing again to see if it is looking better.

Ticket Print is Crooked

If the tickets are printing, but the text is crooked, check to make sure the stock is loaded correctly. Follow instructions above, or visit the Microcom 520 User Guide.

Blank Ticket Prints

Sometimes the first ticket will print fine, then leave a blank before continuing on.

Close the lid to the printer and press the round feed button on the top of the printer to prepare to print. Now press that feed button one more time to spit out a single blank ticket. This should calibrate the printer to the start of the next ticket without having to guess.

Tickets are Streaked or Smeared

If your tickets are printing with irregularities, you may need to clean the printer's print head and/or rollers. Follow instructions on the Microcom 520 User Guide.

Printer LED Flashing Red

If the red LED light is flashing and your printer is not connecting, the printer lid may be ajar, or the sensors may not be able to sense that it is fully closed. Sometimes cleaning the print heads can clear this up. Visit the Microcom 520 User Guide for instructions to clean the print head and roller, and clear any lint or debris from the inside of the printer. If it is still flashing red, you can try holding down the top of the lid. If the printer stops blinking, it may be an indication that there is a problem with the lid hinges that is preventing it from fully closing.

Tickets Not Printing

If the printer is installed, but tickets are not printing when trying to print a transaction order, or the printer is showing as 'offline', try the following:

• Make sure the correct printer is set as the default within the computer/browser settings
• When printing through Box Office, make sure the correct printer is selected in the settings.
• Make sure the cables are properly connected to the printer and laptop/computer. Be aware of any signs of severe wear/damage, as this may cause issues with establishing a proper connection.
• Even if the cables do not look damaged, it can be helpful to change the connection cables to rule out that option as what may be causing the printing issue.
• Try uninstalling, rebooting, and reinstalling the driver. Here is an article that provides those steps: Microcom 520 Driver Guide

PDF: Microcom 520 Printer User Manual