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suggestion for kitchen printers
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Actually, for us, the dot matrix aren't as reliable as the thermals - we are fixing more tm-u200bs than tm-88s, even though we have a ratio of about 4 to 1 on them. We are open 24 hours a day and print thousands of tickets a day and food is constantly "flying" so they get food in them, paper out sensors wear out, all kinds of problems. I understand we will always have problems with our environment, but I thought we could save some time. One store kept using their tm88s as a backup to their kitchen printer and then just kept it in place since they liked the speed. But, we run into, as you know, the problem with the paper - ruins easily in a kitchen environment if not careful plus the cost is twice as much.
The Epson U200B's haven't been made in a few years. The 220 is a better printer and current model. And yes I agree, Impacts are less reliable than thermals (less moving parts). STOP fixing U200B's, despite the small $ in repair bills (vs buying a new ptr); after a repair of a ptr that old you will always have parts in the ptr that are a few if not several years old. IMO it's money down the drain. If your POS Dealer is swapping with U200B's than I would assume you are on a maintenance contract and that's the reason they are using older model ptr's (to keep their own necessity alive). New ptr's = less calls and the possibility you may cancel the maintenance can't be put at risk. If you're T&M, than your Dealer is enjoying service revenues.
What you can do to minimize reliability issues.
1. have clean power
2. as much as possible keep ptr's at shoulder height vs. on a standard height counter top (less things fall into a ptr the higher it is).
3. don't wait for ribbons to dry out (ptr's use the ribbon lubricants)
4. once in a while disconnect the ptr, remove paper & ribbon, and the print head plate and blow it out with canned air or reversal vac. and put a little lithium grease on the ptr shaft.
5. rotate your ptr's to spread usage more evenly
6. HAVE a backup ptr ready to go (maybe two based upon the volume you described)
What you can do to minimize reliability issues.
1. have clean power
2. as much as possible keep ptr's at shoulder height vs. on a standard height counter top (less things fall into a ptr the higher it is).
3. don't wait for ribbons to dry out (ptr's use the ribbon lubricants)
4. once in a while disconnect the ptr, remove paper & ribbon, and the print head plate and blow it out with canned air or reversal vac. and put a little lithium grease on the ptr shaft.
5. rotate your ptr's to spread usage more evenly
6. HAVE a backup ptr ready to go (maybe two based upon the volume you described)
strongly agree, unless you have a problem with heat a TM88 thermal is a much better kitchen printer than an impact printer. I have them in numerous kitches and they run for years with piles of grease and bits of chicken bone covering them. Once I had to replace an ethernet cable and couldn't even get it out of the back of the tm88. it had melded with some food substance years ago and become some kind of new life form, but the printer still worked. I have seen TM88s with part of their front faceplate melted like someone left a hot frying pan on it and it still worked.
Just don't put your kitchen chits under the heat lamp.
Just don't put your kitchen chits under the heat lamp.
I agree with TobeThor. The only time I put a T88 in one of our kitchens is in an emergency. They seem to burn out faster, they're a pain with the heat lamps, and with 24 restaurants averaging 7-9 kitchen & bar printers each the cost difference in paper adds up really quick. Plus, you can't put double ply in a thermal printer.
U200's are going to require more service, they're old. Remember, when they were introduced the Pentium II was cutting edge technology. To be fair, compare the service record of U200's to T88-I printers. Epson printers are workhorses and will all work well. I've got a few U200's & 220's that are going strong after being left too close to the heat lamps and now look like a puddle of ice cream on a hot sidewalk. However, nothing is going to beat the durability of those old, beige standalone roll printers they used to make. They were like parking a mini cooper on your line, but you couldn't kill those things.
U200's are going to require more service, they're old. Remember, when they were introduced the Pentium II was cutting edge technology. To be fair, compare the service record of U200's to T88-I printers. Epson printers are workhorses and will all work well. I've got a few U200's & 220's that are going strong after being left too close to the heat lamps and now look like a puddle of ice cream on a hot sidewalk. However, nothing is going to beat the durability of those old, beige standalone roll printers they used to make. They were like parking a mini cooper on your line, but you couldn't kill those things.
pmegan (n TobeThor) funny we have such different experiences. I only support 4 full kitchens and a total of 11 bars and clubs so it sounds like pmegan has a broader range of experience - however I have to say again I've replaced a kitchen printer ... twice (?) in 8 years (epson tm 88 IV and V, had a couple III early on) and I can't recall a single maintenance incidence - I might have cleaned the cut path on the III, that seemed to get gunked up more than on the IV and V series. I would never even consider using anything but an epson thermal as a bar chit printer. The V series have some decent paper-saving settings - I think paper use reduced around 20% after I got them configured properly. YMMV I guess. Consensus seems to be Epson rules the receipt printing world - you know, the price actually went *down* from the 4 to 5... who else builds stuff that never breaks and charges less as they improve it? No affiliation to epson whatsoever I just love how they make my job easier.
I'd consider using a thermal printer behind a bar, especially a service bar, just for the noise. And if you're running a bar or club with no kitchen, why have one printer that's different than the rest; keeping all thermals makes sense in that situation too.
Funny that you mentioned the paper cutting, that's one of the problems with the U200's. The cutters would jam or not complete the cut, and the cooks would yank the paper out. They had that old school setup where the paper had to be fed though a closed chute and it would get clogged. That's probably why Epson went with a thermal style drop-in paper load on the U220.
Funny that you mentioned the paper cutting, that's one of the problems with the U200's. The cutters would jam or not complete the cut, and the cooks would yank the paper out. They had that old school setup where the paper had to be fed though a closed chute and it would get clogged. That's probably why Epson went with a thermal style drop-in paper load on the U220.
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