Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE: Ticket printers?

This is topic Ticket printers? in forum Ground Level at Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE.

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Posted by Elise Brandt (Member # 5552) on 01-18-2012, 05:11 AM:

Long story short: what kind of ticket printers do you use? We're looking for a good deal on a new one, so again I'm turning to your expertise to help me look for one.

(the cinemark bathroom death was big news in Finland this week as well...)

Posted by Mike Blakesley (Member # 26) on 01-18-2012, 10:59 AM:

We use a Samsung thermal printer. It's a workhorse but the only downside to it is it uses thin rolled paper. It occasionally just stops printing for no reason, but a simple turn off/turn on fixes that.

Posted by David Zylstra (Member # 4230) on 01-18-2012, 03:57 PM:

We use Practical Automation printers, overall very reliable - downside is our older units while still functional no longer have print heads available since they changed the design (only 2 in 10 years have come up with bad print heads, besides that no real issues besides the ocasional paper jam). We also have Boca in some of our kiosks, also reliable.

We also have 2 locations using Epson thermal printers - we use a thicker paper with a perforation to facilitate tearing the ticket.

Posted by Aaron Garman (Member # 1653) on 01-18-2012, 04:29 PM:

I haven't encountered a Boca that wasn't good and reliable. Sadly, we don't have them here currently but a clone (Datatmax) that is iffy often times. It works via parallel or USB, with the USB being extremely unreliable. Also, often times in batches of 100 or more tickets, it will slow up. However, when not doing that, not a bad printer.

AJG

Posted by Dominic Espinosa (Member # 2122) on 01-18-2012, 08:33 PM:

Samsung/Bixolon/Epson SRP-350's (they're all essentially the exact same unit, just different brand names).

Used to use some Practical Automation printers but they would break down so frequently and cost ~$600+ to repair so we said to hell with it.

Posted by Jack Ondracek (Member # 1466) on 01-18-2012, 09:15 PM:

I use the Epson TM-T88 series thermal printers on my RTS stations. They print on everything I've thrown at them, from thin receipt rolls to RTS's thicker ticket paper.

This is the same kind of printer I see at Sizzler restaurants. MTBF 360,000 hours,
MCBF 52,000,000 lines.

In 9 years of use, I've had only one of 12 give me grief.

The highest price I see in a quick scan is about $340. You can get them for a lot less, if you have time to look around.

Posted by Justin Hamaker (Member # 2165) on 01-18-2012, 09:30 PM:

We started using Epson T-88 printers about 2 years ago. Mainly because the cost of ticket stock and printer repairs for our Practical Automation printers was too high. We now spend $250 for a case of 50 perforated rolls which lasts about as long as 5-6 cases of stock for the Practical Automation printers. And at about 1/5 the cost.

After making the switch, we have had some people upset because the new tickets don't really work as a keepsake. I think it's difficult to justify an extra $2000+ annual expense for this reason.

Posted by Bruce McGee (Member # 131) on 01-20-2012, 05:36 PM:

I've only had one Boca printer die in the last 7 years in my theatre.

Posted by Jussi Siponen (Member # 5572) on 01-23-2012, 02:52 PM:

The POS software used at Elise's cinema outputs FGL.

To my knowledge, FGL compatible printers are available from Boca and Practical Automation - please chime in if I'm missing a manufacturer here.

For you to be able to use other brands of printers (e.g. Datamax), the provider of your POS software will have to add support for it.

Posted by Eric Robinson (Member # 2966) on 01-23-2012, 11:30 PM:

The Boca printers do work well for a substantial period of time; however, the repair costs and part costs are high. If you repair them yourself like I do, then they will drive you mad. Especially the ones that have the loose chips on the motherboard that intermittently work or don't work.

Practical Automation, those look like a nightmare waiting to happen.

TM-88: Cheap and it always works. Save lots of pain, frustration, and money. But like it is stated earlier, the ticket is a flimsy piece of receipt paper. [Mad]

Posted by Justin Hamaker (Member # 2165) on 01-23-2012, 11:42 PM:

The Practical Automation printers work pretty well. They can be a nightmare if they jam, but that usually only happens when the stock isn't unfolding nicely - stack gets nicked or gets sticky. The main problem is they seem to be very sensitive to power surges. The main thing is they have be be blown out from time to time or dust will accumulate on the sensors.

Over the years I have had 3-4 go bad following power outages or surges - even when plugged into a surge protector. The repair cost is about $500 and I don't believe they will sell you parts so you can do the repairs yourself.

Posted by Richard Hamilton (Member # 321) on 01-26-2012, 01:29 PM:

Automaticket [thumbsup]

Go "Old School".

Posted by Thomas Anderson (Member # 5941) on 01-29-2012, 08:59 PM:

We have Boca at our location. They have issues from time to time but are usually easy to fix. Staying on top of cleaning them defiantly helps. Love your Boca and it will love you back.

Posted by Elise Brandt (Member # 5552) on 01-30-2012, 08:39 AM:

Thanks a bunch [Big Grin]

We have been using Boca so far and apparently will go with it this time as well. So far the relationship has worked _quite_ well, what with the odd delays and printer deciding not to play with you today but those occur very rarely and we know which spot to aim the curses at to make it go again.

Thanks for the input, again!

Posted by Jim Cassedy (Member # 4115) on 01-30-2012, 12:23 PM:

I agree with Justin's comments on the Pratical Periphals units.
I have 4 of them, and overall they've been pretty reliable.

But as he stated, they do need to be pulled out & cleaned a
couple of times a year or the paper-sensors start acting up.

As for the power surges- - I've learned to keep a spare package
of fuses inside the access cover of each printer 'just in case'.

Our printers are the type that are countersunk into the box
office counter. But we have one spare "tabletop" unit that can
be used in an emergency if one of the regular printers fails, since
it takes a bit of time to pull them out of the counter to fix 'em.