I have discussed the action of reducing the “Tension Adjust” setting value from 50 to 0 and they confirm the results reported from the field are exactly what they would expect when using 30/35mm wide 3520 Xtra ribbon in a printer installed in the “printing up” orientation.
In the above illustration you can see when the printer is operating in the printing down orientation the tension control roller weight is accurately accounted for in the tension calculation. In the printing up orientation the weight of the roller is working against the tension of the ribbon which results in a lower tension value, to compensate the printer increases the ribbon tension until it reaches what it believes is the correct setting. The printer does not account for the printing orientation and only has one tension setting value. It is this discrepancy that results in the over tension in the ribbon and the subsequent core crushing. The 3520 Xtra ribbon is affected due to the thinner backing material.
We have calculated that the setting change of 50 to 0 equates to roughly a 50% reduction in tension. We can consider this setting adjustment a long term solution.
I hope this is clear, if not perhaps we can discuss on the next Lync call.
Regards,
Steve