Hello, my zebra ZM 400 keeps giving me the message of paper out/ribbon out I have replaced both rolls, powered down. Printer feeds one time, then keeps giving the same message

Happend twice to me. What sometimes happens is that the paper roll was not changed at the time the ink was. Therefore the paper roll was allowed to remain in the printer until the very last sheet. On the last sheet there is a sticker that says paper out. (stupid idea) This sticker makes the last sheet of paper too thick to fit through the last paper guide / feed. Because of this, the ink film breaks and that specific error message is displayed until that last piece of 4x6 is pulled from the paper feed. Clear that out, and all is good.. Change the paper every time u change the ink.

Were the new labels thermal paper? Thermal printers need specially made paper to work right.

Could you please be a little more specific? do you even use a black ink ribbon? If not the printer should be set for thermal direct in the front panel. If you do have the ribbon installed then power down the printer and hold down the pause and feed keys. While holding them down turn on the printer and count to 6 and let go of pause and feed.

If you are using a colored ribbon it might be too transparent for the ribbon sensor to read. Re-calibrate the ribbon sensor.
If you're using black ribbon and you're sure that it's loaded properly and the sensor isn't being blocked, then print a sensor profile and re-calibrate the sensors if necessary.

Check and clean the sensors, also the reflective surface. Make sure there are no lables stuck to the reflective surface. Use Isopropyl Alcohol to clean.

make sure that the maximum lenght for the label is set to something greater than the physical length of the label. I was having this issue with a 4x3 label. As soon as I increased the maximum lenght to 5 inches it worked.

If you are using a ribbon remove it and perform a calibration, hold down feed key for 2 seconds as you power on, release key and wait for it to complete its calibration, when it has stopped shifting labels (wait for 10 secs to be sure) HIT THE FEED KEY to exit dump mode. If it has successfully calibrated it will feed a label each time you hit feed key. Re-install ribbon, make sure ribbon is pushed formly onto drive sprockets and then re-run the calibration..

If this does not fix problem. download firmware to latest version. This will automatically reset printer to factory default condition.

Hello, assuming the supplies are Zebra and there is no discernible damage to the ribbon, it could mean that the ribbon sensor on the printer is broken. if your printer is still under warranty you can ship back to Zebra (Illinois) to get it repaired. The zebra website has info on how to return printers for service. Hope this helps.

The zebra ribbon has ink on one side and the other side has a backcoating which protects the printhead. simple way to check is to peel off a label and momentarily stick to ribbon and remove. This will show you which side is inked.

If ribbon is installed correctly then reset the printer and re-calibrate it. 1. install labels and ribbon 2. power on printer. If you have a solid green light on then 3 turn printer off. 4 hold down feed key 5 power printer on and after 2 seconds release feed key. printer will perform a calibration routine and eventually print out status page. IMPORTANT 6 Hit Feed Key once more. Printer will display Out Of Dump message. Your printer has now been sucessfully calibrated.

If you are using thermal paper and don't have to use ribbon, you will only need to spread apart the roll holsters and place the roll in there, At the front of the printer, next to the printhead and the pressure roll you will find two paper guides which you can spread apart (depending on the exact model by muving them with the fingers or by turning a wheel in the right hand side of the pressure roll. feed the paper through them guides and close the printer.

Ensure that the printing surface is at the top.