There is a label stuck or jammed in the feed area of my LX Series label printer. How can I remove it and prevent it from happening again?

There is a label stuck or jammed in the feed area of my LX Series label printer. How can I remove it and prevent it from happening again?

A. Removal:

Usually, to remove the stuck label, the printer must be disassembled. This means the unit will need to be brought to Primera for factory service. However, there are ways to remove these labels without disassembling the printer.

1. Use another larger synthetic (polyester, vinyl, BOPP) label as a grabbing tool. 

You can use a larger synthetic label peeled off the liner and hand-feed it through the feed area near the sensor.  Synthetic label stock is resistant to tearing and has very aggressive adhesive.  You can use it to “grab” the stuck labels.   This process works if you remove the small label within 24 hours - before the adhesive cures. Important Note:  Turn off the printer before attempting this procedure.  You do not want the printer to feed this peeled synthetic label through the printer automatically.  Instead, you are using it as a tool to grab the jammed label.  If you don't have a label, you can even use a piece of strong tape, such as gorilla tape, to grab the label.  However, only use this if you can see the stuck label and are able to attach the tape to it to pull it out gently.

2. Use the blank liner to pull the stuck label out.

If you don’t have Poly or BOPP labels, you can get the stuck label out by feeding the liner into the printer.  Remove all of the labels from about 18” of stock.  Remove that 18" section from the main roll.  Leave the main roll on the roll arm.  Feed the blank liner section into the printer at a point beside the jammed label.  You may have to press the feed button to get the liner to feed. As the liner feeds, move it by hand into the path of the stuck label.  With some luck, it will grab the stuck label and pull it out.  Repeat the process.  It works best with a nonperforated liner. This process works if you remove the small label within 24 hours - before the adhesive cures.

3. Remove the Star Wheel plate near the front of the printer.

Occasionally, If the label is stuck under the star wheel guides near the front of the printer feed area, it is possible to remove this plate to get at the jam. The plate is secured by two T10 torx screws.

B. Prevention: 

Some labels are more susceptible to jamming because of their shape and size.  Extremely small labels easily come off the liner because there is so little adhesive holding them in place.  However, any size label can become stuck inside the printer.  You can reduce the chance of labels coming off and jamming by following these guidelines:

1. Do not backfeed labels through the machine by pressing “unload.”  You should always tear off any labels protruding from the front of the printer first. Even if the labels are blank, you can tear them off first and then tape them back onto a roll and feed them from the back. The printer was only designed to consistently feed labels from back to front.  

2. Better Label Design or Different Label Type.  If you still consistently have stuck labels, there may be a better way to design your label stock to prevent this.  For example, if you custom order your label stock you could have us “kiss-cut” the labels so that the waste is left on the roll and then put a black mark between each label on the back to sense the gaps.  This would eliminate this problem and also make it much easier to overbleed the stock.  Note: This method would not allow you to use an applicator unless you first manually strip away the waste after you have printed. 

Small paper labels are much more likely to pop off the liner and get stuck in the printer due to the smaller amount of adhesive present.  Using the kiss-cut design mentioned above can prevent this.  You can also try different types of labels, such as synthetic labels like BOPP, Polyester, or vinyl.  These tend to have stronger adhesive, and even if they do get stuck, they are easier to remove since they don't tear when you try to remove them. 

3. Decrease the Feed and Reverse Speed (PrintHub).



Note on LX2000:  If you have an LX2000, it is possible that the black plastic label flap that presses down on the labels as they are fed through the printer could be damaged by the label jam. If this is the case, it will need to be replaced by a factory technician.  However, to continue printing, you can remove part of it.  Using a utility knife, Carefully cut away the bent portion that is interfering with printing 

Article ID: 60614