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Troubleshooting a Practical Automation Ticket Printer

Dave Carr
Dave Carr
  • Updated

This troubleshooting article is designed to help you resolve the most common problems encountered when printing tickets using your Practical Automation ticket printer.

Before you read this article, you should be familiar with:

 

Initial checks

Before starting to troubleshoot, complete these initial checks:

  1. Is the Spektrix Box Office app registered and running?
     
  2. Is the printer connected and switched on?
     
  3. Is ticket stock inserted the correct way round? Tickets should be inserted with the notch end first and thermal side up (the side you will print on).
     
  4. Is the printer regularly cleaned and maintained? For information about cleaning the  print heads, jump to Printer maintenance.

 

Quick links to troubleshooting steps

Find your issue by clicking the link which describes your problem:

 

Ticket Printing Troubleshooting

 

Ticket Cutting Troubleshooting

 

Installation Troubleshooting

 

Ticket Printing Troubleshooting

 

Why can’t I print tickets?

If you can’t print tickets, check the following:

  1. Is the printer status online in Windows? 

    If not, check all cables and USB ports. A successfully installed printer should show a status of Idle or Waiting. If the printer status is Offline, this indicates the wrong printer driver has been selected. Uninstall the print drivers and reinstall the print driver that matches your printer.
     
  2. Can you print using Test print from the printer?

    Run a test print directly from the printer. If you perform a test print, contact our Support team for further assistance.
     
  3. Can you test print from Windows?

    If you can’t, this indicates the wrong printer driver has been selected. Uninstall and reinstall the print driver. 
     
  4. Can you test print from the Box Office App? 

    If you can’t, check the printer is set up correctly in the Box Office App.

 

Why is my printer not printing the correct ticket design?

If your tickets are printing an incorrect design, make sure you’ve selected the correct design in the Event Instance. Follow the steps in How to Set Up Instances to check and update the Ticket Design assigned to the Instance.

TIP: If you need to change the Ticket Design across multiple Instances, use the Bulk Instance Updater Tool.

Once updated, go back to the Order in the Sales or Opportunities Interface and reprint the Ticket.

If the correct Ticket Design is set against the Event Instance, update the design using the Ticket Design Tool.

Gift Vouchers, Gift Membership, Cover Slips and Address Labels only have one design. If these items print an incorrect design, you’ll need to update the Document Design.

Take a look at the following articles for further information:

If you’re still facing issues with incorrect designs printing, contact our Support Team.

 

Why is the stub at the wrong end of the ticket?

If the ticket stub is at the wrong end of your ticket, you’ll need to change the orientation of the design.

TIP: To access the Admin Interface, you’ll need the General Administrator Role. If you don’t have this Role, ask the Settings Administrator in your organisation to add this Role to your User Account.

Follow these steps:

  1. Navigate to the Admin Interface > Document Designs > Tickets.
  2. Under Ticket Designs, find the name of your Ticket Design and click Edit.

  3. In the Ticket Design Tool, click Document Properties:


     

  4. In the Document Properties, under Orientation, if set to Landscape change to Reverse Landscape or vice versa:

    orientation_fgl.png


     

  5. Click Print to print a Test Ticket.
  6. When you are satisfied with your test print, click Save to save the Ticket design.
  7. To check that the Ticket design has been updated, return to an Order with the updated Ticket Design and reprint the Ticket.

 

Why do my tickets print out of alignment?

If your tickets print out of alignment, this could be an issue with your ticket design not matching the size of the ticket stock. If a ticket design is too large, even by a few millimetres, it may print across two tickets.

Measure your ticket stock in millimeters. Then check and correct the size Spektrix.

Ticket measurements differ depending on whether you’re setting the form size in windows or setting the dimensions in the Ticket Design Tool. Take a look at the table below:

  Windows Spektrix
Width Short edge of the ticket Long edge of the ticket
Height Long edge of the ticket Short edge of the ticket

To check your ticket size, follow these steps:

  1. Navigate to the Admin Interface > Document Designs > Tickets.
  2. Under Tickets Designs, find the name of your Ticket Design and click Edit.

  3. In the Ticket Design Tool, click Document Properties:

  4. In Document Properties, for Width, enter the long edge measurement in millimeters. For Height, enter the short edge measurement in millimeters:

    width_height_fgl.png
  5. Click Print to print a Test Ticket
  6. When you are satisfied with your test print, click Save to save the Ticket design.
  7. To check that the Ticket design has been updated, return to an Order with the updated Ticket Design and reprint the Ticket.

If blank tickets are still printed, you may need to correct the form size in Windows. Follow the steps in Configuring a Printer to work with your ticket stock.

 

Why do extra blank tickets print?

If extra blank tickets print alongside your other tickets, this could be an issue with your ticket design not matching the size of the ticket stock. If a ticket design is too large, even by a few millimetres, it may print across two tickets.

Measure your ticket stock in millimeters. Then check and correct the size Spektrix.

Ticket measurements differ depending on whether you’re setting the form size in windows or setting the dimensions in the Ticket Design Tool. Take a look at the table below:

  Windows Spektrix
Width Short edge of the ticket Long edge of the ticket
Height Long edge of the ticket Short edge of the ticket

To check your ticket size, follow these steps:

  1. Navigate to the Admin Interface > Document Designs > Tickets.
  2. Under Tickets Designs, find the name of your Ticket Design and click Edit.

  3. In the Ticket Design Tool, click Document Properties:

  4. In Document Properties, for Width, enter the long edge measurement in millimeters. For Height, enter the short edge measurement in millimeters:

    width_height_fgl.png
  5. Click Print to print a Test Ticket
  6. When you are satisfied with your test print, click Save to save the Ticket design.
  7. To check that the Ticket design has been updated, return to an Order with the updated Ticket Design and reprint the Ticket.

If blank tickets are still printed, you may need to correct the form size in Windows. Follow the steps in Configuring a Printer to work with your ticket stock.

 

Why do my tickets print an incorrect font?

Practical Automation ticket printers print using FGL. You’ll need to ensure that the Box Office App and Ticket Design are set to FGL.

To check FGL settings, follow the steps in both tabs below.

  • Box Office App

    To check FGL mode in the Box Office App, follow these steps:

    1. Right click on the Box Office App icon in the system tray and click Open:
       


       

    2. In the Printers tab, select your ticket printer under Spektrix printers and click Edit Printer:

      box-office-app-edit-printer-pa.png


       

    3. In the Add/Edit Printer screen check Print using FGL:

      fgl_checked_in_box_office_app.png


       

    4. Click OK to save your changes.

  • Ticket Design

    To check the printing mode in your Ticket Design, follow these steps:

    1. In Spektrix, navigate to the Admin Interface > Document Designs > Tickets.
    2. Click Edit next to your Ticket Design.

    3. In the Ticket Design Tool, click Document Properties:


    4. In Document Properties > Printing Mode, select FGL Basic or FGL Extended:

      FGL_in_ticket_design.png

    5. Click Print to print a Test Ticket.
    6. When you are satisfied with your test print, click Save to save the Ticket design.
    7. You can also check that the Ticket design has been updated by returning to an Order with the updated Ticket Design and reprinting the ticket.

 

Ticket Cutting Troubleshooting

 

Why do my tickets cut in the wrong place?

If your tickets are cutting in the wrong place, for example, before or after a perforation, this could be an issue with either your form size or the size of the ticket design not matching the size of the ticket stock.

To resolve this, you’ll need to measure your ticket stock in millimeters, then check and correct the size in Windows and Spektrix.

The ticket measurements differ depending on whether you’re setting the form size in windows or setting the dimensions in the Ticket Design Tool. Take a look at the table below:

  Windows Spektrix
Width Short edge of the ticket Long edge of the ticket
Height Long edge of the ticket Short edge of the ticket

First, check that the form size is correct in Windows. Follow the steps in Configuring a Printer to work with your ticket stock. Then, go back to Spektrix and print an Order from the Sales or Opportunities Interface. We recommend testing with an Order of two or more Tickets. If the tickets still don’t cut in the correct place, check the size of the ticket in the Ticket Design in Spektrix.

  1. Navigate to the Admin Interface > Document Designs > Tickets.
  2. Under Tickets Designs, find the name of your Ticket Design and click Edit.

  3. In the Ticket Design Tool, click Document Properties: 

  4. On the Document Properties screen, for Width, enter the long edge measurement in millimeters. For Height, enter the short edge measurement in millimeters:

    width_height_fgl.png
  5. Click Print to print a Test Ticket.
  6. When you are satisfied with your test print, click Save to save the Ticket design.
  7. You can also check that the Ticket design has been updated by returning to an Order with the updated Ticket Design and reprinting the Ticket.

 

Installation Troubleshooting

 

Why can’t I connect to my printer?

If you can’t connect to your printer, there may be an issue with the print driver not communicating with the printer.

First, check to see if your printer is displayed in Windows Device Manager.

  1. Right click on the Windows / Start button in your taskbar and select Device Manager.

  2. Scroll down to Print Queues and look for your printer:

    windows-device-manager-print-queues-pa.png

If you can’t see your printer, you’ll need to uninstall and reinstall the printer drivers.

 

Why is my printer beeping?

When a Practical Automation printer beeps, this is a notification of an issue with the printer. Click the box below for a list of error codes.

  •  

    S = Short beep

    L = Long beep

    Error beep sequence Error code description
    L-S-S Ticket Not Taken Condition
    S-L-S Ticket Not Present
    L-L-S Printhead Too Hot/Cold - wait
    S-S-L Average Power - wait
    L-S-L Data Communication Error - warning
    L-S-S-S Paper Path Jam/Error
    S-L-S-S Cutter Operational Error
    L-L-S-S Transport Presenter Error
    S-S-L-S Paper Output Error
    L-S-L-S Registration Mark Detection Error
    S-L-L-S Printhead Pressure Release Level Error
    L-L-L-S Out of Paper Error
    S-S-S-L Interface Data Error
    L-S-S-S-S MPU/System Error
    S-L-S-S-S RAM Fault Error
    L-L-S-S-S EEPROM Checksum Error
    S-S-L-S-S FLASH Memory Error
    L-S-L-S-S Character Generator Memory Error
    S-L-L-S-S IMAGE Memory Error
    L-L-L-S-S Analog to Digital Converter Error
    S-S-S-L-S FPGA/ASIC Error
    L-S-S-L-S Voltage Error
    S-L-S-L-S Printhead Thermistor Error
    S-S-L-L-S Printhead Data Error
    L-S-L-L-S Printhead Print Resistor Error
    L-S-L-L-S Cutter Initialization Error
    S-L-L-L-S Configuration Strap Error
    L-L-L-L-S Miscellaneous Error

    For any print head, ticket or paper errors, you should be able to resolve these by cleaning the print head and loading new ticket stock.

    For any other errors, your ticket printer may need to be replaced. Contact our Support team for further advice.

 

Printer Maintenance

Over time, ticket dust can accumulate on the print head. This can cause streaks, lines or faded text when printing tickets.

We recommend cleaning the print head when you notice a drop in quality or every time you change ticket stock,

Click the box below for cleaning instructions.

  •  
    1. Unplug the ticket printer.
       
    2. Open the cabinet door and remove ticket stock.
       
    3. Find the print head plate. The print head plate is covered by a metal shield. It is held in place with a green headed screw on the front side.
       
    4. Remove green screw. Lift up on the metal shield to remove. This will expose the print head plate.
       

    5. Lift the green print lever:

      pa_printer_cleaning.png


       

    6. Grab the back of the plate and release the plate from the mushroom screen. Carefully lift and pull out the print head plate towards the rear of the ticket printer.
       
    7. Tip the plate at an angle. Be careful not to touch the print head plate to other metal.
       
    8. Clean the print head with a cotton swab and rubbing alcohol.
       
    9. Reassemble the printer once more reversing the steps from above.