Thermal Printer

SKU: COM-10438 Brand: Sparkfun

Retired Product

Replaced by: COM-14970

This product has been replaced by: COM-14970
This product is no longer available. This page is only for reference.

This is a thermal printer like you would find on a cash register or adding machine. It will print simple strings passed to it via TTL serial, bitmap images (poorly) and it even generates several different formats of barcodes!

The thermal printer takes 2.25" (57mm) wide thermal paper with a max roll diameter of 1.5" (39mm). Thermal paper is inexpensive and commonly found in most office supply stores in 85ft lengths. You may have to remove some paper from these rolls in order for it to fit into the printer. But, you can always use the excess paper in the printer, since you don’t need to have a ‘core’ in the paper for it to work.

The back panel has 2 3-pin connectors; one for power and one for serial communications. The thermal printer ships with default 19200bps baud rate. If you’re using this printer in conjunction with an Arduino, you’re going to need to connect it to the “Vin” pin and attach an external power supply, as the printer will draw more current than USB is capable of delivering. We’ve found that these printers can draw about 1.5A because they need to generate heat, the best supply for the job is our laptop-style power supply (see related products below)

The print head has a rated life of 50km! That means this printer can handle a marathon’s distance (~30 miles) of printing before the head hits its rated limit.

Use this printer in any project where you need a hard-copy of the output, or in an art project where you want to keep the output to stick on your fridge, or to build a DIY cash register for your lemonade stand!

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Exact shipping can be calculated on the view cart page (no login required).

Products that weigh more than 0.5 KG may cost more than what's shown (for example, test equipment, machines, >500mL liquids, etc).

We deliver Australia-wide with these options (depends on the final destination - you can get a quote on the view cart page):

$3+ for Stamped Mail (typically 10+ business days, not tracked, only available on selected small items)
$6+ for Standard Post (typically 6+ business days, tracked)
$10+ for Express Post (typically 2+ business days, tracked)
Pickup - Free! Only available to customers who live in the Newcastle region (must order online and only pickup after we email to notify you the order is ready). Orders placed after 2PM may not be ready until the following business day.

Non-metro addresses in WA, NT, SA & TAS can take 2+ days in addition to the above information.

Some batteries (such as LiPo) can't be shipped by Air. During checkout, Express Post and International Methods will not be an option if you have that type of battery in your shopping cart.

International Orders - the following rates are for New Zealand and will vary for other countries:

$11+ for Pack and Track (3+ days, tracked)
$16+ for Express International (2-5 days, tracked)

If you order lots of gear, the postage amount will increase based on the weight of your order.

Our physical address (here's a PDF which includes other key business details):

Unit 18, 132 Garden Grove Parade
Adamstown
NSW, 2289
Australia

Take a look at our customer service page if you have other questions such as "do we do purchase orders" (yes!) or "are prices GST inclusive" (yes they are!). We're here to help - get in touch with us to talk shop.

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