"Broken" Zebra GC420d Printer HEADACHE from eBay Canada, Let's Fix it! (or at least try)

Today we take a look at $53ish Zebra GC420d thermal label printer that was listed as for parts/repair on ebay.ca 🇨🇦
After some research I found that this was basically the "updated" version of Zebras LP2844.
4x6 Sample Label Download - fulfilledmerchant.com/need-a-sample-label-for-a-4x6-test-print/
Missing the power supply? -amzn.to/314IIJ1
Is the LP2844 the best 4x6 Thermal printer under $100? - kzbin.info/www/bejne/iamtXmmHlLhpb80
It was frustrating. troubleshooting the GC420d for over a day, which ended up being a sill mistake. We even changed the printhead on the GC420d with an LP2844 printhead (same printhead) and it was a no go. If you are printing light and need a printhead - amzn.to/2TikLtw Here they are.
But we finally figured it out 🤦‍♂️
We tested the Zebra GC420d on Mac OS ✅ (not in this video- use EPL2 Driver)
We tested the Zebra GC420d on Windows 10 ✅
We Tested the Zebra GC420d on Android ✅(not in this video use zp450 driver)
We Tested the Zebra GC420d on Google Chromebook ✅ (not in this video, use ppd from kzbin.info/www/bejne/pISxl2qupdiHmpo - this video, same process)
These printers take this type of cable -amzn.to/32LuyLK
Usually you can buy one at a thrift for cheap or find it around the house =)
These little compact label printing machines are absolutely awesome.
Don't forget to hit the thumbs up, feel free to ask any questions below and subscribe if you are new =)
Compatibility Testing
Rollo Thermal Printer - amzn.to/2HxDlHK
Mac ✅
PC ✅
Chromebook 🚫
Mobile 🚫
Wireless 🚫
Customer Service 👍(not from my experience just from people telling me)
Price (overall value) 👍
Non-Proprietary Labels 👍
OEM Chinese Sausage Printer on Alibaba - bit.ly/32Qa04O
DYMO 4XL Label Printer -amzn.to/2uT7eiN
Roasting Review - kzbin.info/www/bejne/emOxc6iwfKanhpI
Mac ✅
PC ✅
Chromebook 🚫
Mobile 🚫
Wireless 🚫
Customer Service 👎 (not from my experience just from people telling me)
Price (overall value) 👎
Non-Proprietary Labels 👎
The Brother QL-1110NWB -amzn.to/32wCu1V
Review - kzbin.info/www/bejne/iamtXmmHlLhpb80
Mac ✅
PC ✅
Chromebook 🚫
Android Mobile ✅
iOS ✅
Wireless ✅
Customer Service 🚫(I provide their support with videos and tutorials 🤣)
Price (overall value) 👍(~$100 more than but you get mobile printing)
Non-Proprietary Labels 👎
Meihengtong Chinese Thermal Label Printer
(Green one shown shortly in the video) -amzn.to/37zjMt8
Unboxing - kzbin.info/www/bejne/hmrcd3qLd6uArKc
Mac ✅
PC ✅
Chromebook ✅
Android USB-C Mobile ✅
iOS 🚫
Wireless 🚫
Customer Service 🚫(I provide their support with videos and tutorials 🤣)
Price (overall value) 👍
Non-Proprietary Labels 👍
Zebra LP2844 Thermal Label Printer
(Green one shown shortly in the video) -amzn.to/37zjMt8
Review - kzbin.info/www/bejne/iamtXmmHlLhpb80
Mac ✅
PC ✅
Chromebook ✅
Android USBC Mobile 🚫
iOS 🚫
Wireless 🚫
Customer Service 🚫(discontinued printer only available used)
Price (overall value) 👍👍

[@hunseder]

Bar code has more consistent dark areas, so it draws more current to heat the printhead. The inadequate power brick couldn't deliver enough to heat the whole head properly. Config page is tiny print which draws a minimal amount, so it printed well.

[@thecollegepicker]

Such a simple solution 🤣 live and learn.

[@brandonheath4955]

YES! I'm glad you gave this a shot. I stumbled on the GC420D on accident. I ordered a used Lp2844 and I received the Gc420d. When I complained to the company they assured me it was the same thing. Turns out this was correct. Keep up the awesome work!

[@thecollegepicker]

GC420d is actually more expensive usually so you got a great deal! GC420d works with Android phones and also google Chromebook. Lp2844 does not. Score!

[@thecollegepicker]

I don't think you can no

[@smokem555]

I love this printer content. Thanks to you, I bought a used printer vs buy new for more than twice the price.

[@thecollegepicker]

Appreciate it man, save that money!

[@emmieHD]

I have this model, also from 2013. It works great once I got the settings configured. Running on Win7. I have to download my labels and print from Adobe Reader for a crisp print. If I try to print from the browser I get a slightly fuzzy print. Installing the Zebra drivers (instead of the Windows drivers) might fix that, but the workaround worked for me so I didn't pursue it further. I'm really enjoying your troubleshooting fix it videos. Good catch on the power supply being the problem.

[@shittychannel4860]

If you are printing from chrome that's why, sometimes chrome makes labels and prints fuzzy. On windows 10 and 8 I think you can use "windows edge" as the browser, like Eric in the video. There is no fuzziness on edge from what I know. Maybe Linux works as well!

[@Gigislaps]

You really know your stuff! Wow. I’ll keep my eye out for upcoming videos

[@thecollegepicker]

Appreciate it, I dont know my stuff too well otherwise I wouldn't have had the power supply issue =) hahahaThanks for watching

[@Bossko1986]

Awesome video thank you. After I print a label the printer also feeds out 1 extra label which is blank. Anyway to stop this so I don't have to keep feeding the label back everytime

[@thecollegepicker]

Does it do it when you turn the printer on or open the top or does it do it every single time?

[@Bossko1986]

@@thecollegepicker I think I may of sorted it. I must of lifted the lid at some point and ever since it prints a label then skips one and prints another. I've just done a calibration again and now it's back to printing as it should. I was hammering the labels lol

[@d8alus]

I sell thermal printers (Wasp and occasionally Zebra/Eltron) for use in factory settings. Most printer manufacturers sell a "cleaning cartridge", which is really a marker-like-thing saturated with 99.99% alcohol that you can use to clean the print head. Wasp's is like $8 -- great way to rejuvenate "broken" printers that are guilty of nothing more than printing in a dusty environment for a few years. We keep a few around the office and send them out with customers who have issues. Most of the time it's the reason. The really old printers generally need a new print head but that's cost-effective considering there's nothing else substantial to wear out in them -- the chassis part will run for decades! Your seller probably didn't want to learn how to test it -- glad all that was wrong with yours was power supply!

[@thecollegepicker]

Appreciate it man. Yeah they are so we'll designed and built. Thanks for the tip 🙏🙏

[@gregdalton3786]

I have an LP2844 that will stop halfway through a label when the darkness is set to anything above 8. The power supply that it came with isn't the original, I'm guessing I should find a new power supply. Thank you for doing these videos!

[@thecollegepicker]

That is my guess as well. Probably not enough power, what volt/amps is your power supply?

[@marcomarco4879]

I experienced the same issue with my LP 2844... it would intermittently stop right in the middle of a print and would sometimes take 5 tries to complete a label. I replaced the power supply and solved the issue...

[@gregdalton3786]

I'll check and let you know when I'm home tonight.

[@thecollegepicker]

@@gregdalton3786 Greg is excited, its gonna work! =)

[@thecollegepicker]

@@marcomarco4879 Appreciate the intel Marco, totally makes sense =)

[@nellytrejo7904]

Hello Erick I'm just learning about thermal printers and I'm about to buy a zebra GC420T is this one compatible with chrombook and androy as well ? The one you tested is Gc420D sorry it may be a dum question 🙈 I don't know🤷‍♀️...

[@midwestdartfrogs]

That's awesome. Nice troubleshooting. Thanks for sharing 🙏

[@thecollegepicker]

Appreciate it 🙏 🐯

[@popiconroro]

Love your Channel! I have as question, I have the lp2844 Zebra but when I print a label, I get labels and labels of coded lines and no shipping label?

[@thecollegepicker]

It sounds like a driver issue, how did you install it?

[@Rickyfyied]

Packing is GRADE A! lmao I try to package everything as if I were the one to receive the item. Postmen aren't that gentle.

[@thecollegepicker]

Lol right!! You doing it right 😂

[@jhb9254]

I can't decide between getting the lp 2844, this one(GC420d), zp405, zp505, or the GX420d I just want it to be compatible with as much sites as possible including shopify, endicia, pitney bowes, ups, fedex, usps, ebay, etc and for it to work on mac

[@shittychannel4860]

It does not matter what you get, the printer does not effect what platforms its compatible with. As long as the platform supports a 4x6 shipping format, and you buy a 4x6 printer you should be good. All thermal printers will do the same job on the same label, the different is speed, proprietary labels or not and so on.

[@AndySoMeta]

Ayy Brothaman! Lets see what the edge crush test box certificate next time you receive a foreign box! 🤙🏾🤙🏾🤙🏾

[@thecollegepicker]

🤣🤣🤣 will do!

[@D0tanuki]

Nice. I'll give you $20 bucks for it. :p Seriously, though, love these videos showing how to fix/set up/work these different printers.

[@thecollegepicker]

hahaha, appreciate it! =)

[@VacationGetaways]

My Lp 2844 fails at printing a Fedex Smart post label consistently, that is the only one, all USPS, and all Fedex (except for the Smart post work) any thoughts? It physically stops about 1/4 of the way done, I need to then press the feed button.

[@thecollegepicker]

Oh no, what is your volts and amps on your power supply?

[@VacationGetaways]

@@thecollegepicker it was an adapter I ordered separately, so I think it may be an adapter after I saw what you went through. 20V 3.25 Amp

[@Quantum_ShotsTV]

My 2844 printer just stopped printing what can I do to fix this?

[@jacksparrowx1196]

did you make video how to use this printer with android and adaptor please?

[@gere364]

I bought one GK420t from eBay with 7,000 inch total use. Is it that much? How many inches do print heads last?

[@thecollegepicker]

That is not very much. Should last a million labels.

[@acidrain55]

Where is the config video for changing the "FEED OPEN". I can't see it?

[@thecollegepicker]

Havent made that video yet, so many videos such little time =)

[@acidrain55]

thecollegepicker Ahhhh I will have to keep an eye out then ;) cheers

[@shittychannel4860]

@@acidrain55 Hi! You can send commands to your printer from your software, i've got the command from Zebra and it should all be pasted in the following order, all in the same "text" or what you will call it. This is the command: ^XA ^MFn,N ^JUS ^XZ , if you have a windows computer and the software (zebra setup utilities), you can go to "configure printer settings", when you are on the "advanced settings", select "media feed options" and set that to "no feed", that worked for me. Hope that helps :) A screenshot of the ZSU program gyazo.com/f0a7e6af39348b64de749cce21e6258d

[@mikerudess4394]

I have a few ZP450s one of them I've had since 2014 but it is starting to print blurry labels every so often. I cleaned it but every now and then it comes back. Have you used a ZP450? Is the Dymo 4XL a better choice in your opinion?

[@thecollegepicker]

Printhead might be going out if it has some blur/faded. Zp450 is far better than the dymo 4XL and should be able to use with Android.

[@mikerudess4394]

@@thecollegepicker Yeah i thought it might be just dying slowly but got good use out of it. Thanks for the reply love the videos man

[@thecollegepicker]

Anytime man 🙏🙏

[@msuper7626]

Hey aren’t you going to Dubai comic con this year ? It’s after two days btw 😍❤️

[@thecollegepicker]

I'm back in the States 😥 sorry I wish I could go. Say hi to mo for me 👍

[@msuper7626]

thecollegepicker ok I will ❤️👍🏼 awwww it’s okay

[@totaldomain521]

hello i was wondering do you need to calibrate ur zebra everytime a setting is changed example being changing the darkness to the max?

[@thecollegepicker]

Hi, no those settings should not require a calibration.

[@totaldomain521]

@@thecollegepicker i was just wondering because I currently have the UPS LP2844. I finally managed to get it to work on specific settings. However when I change the darkness to be darker it prints the barcode of the label then stops completely and restarts. The power is more than enough because it requires 20vdc at 2.5 amps and im giving it 20 vdc at 3.25 amps. Is that just not enough power? Thank you so much for ur help i really do appreciate it!

[@ceelyacruz]

Very informative!!

[@thecollegepicker]

Thank you

[@monar3591]

Is the Zebra Eltron LP2442 good? Can’t find any videos on it.

[@shittychannel4860]

Should be pretty much the same, it's a old UPS printer i think so you may need a little more special driver for it. Eric do have a guide for installing a UPS zebra on the channel tho, may work for that to :)

[@monar3591]

Shitty channel wow thank you so much!

[@abdurrahmanalsibai6187]

Hello, I just purchased a zebra DA 402 label printer. I installed zebra setup utilities, but I can not find my printer listed there. So I found drivers online and installed the printer, but it does not print. I can see the document queued but just does not print. any tips?

[@thecollegepicker]

Hi, unfortunately I'm not familiar with that printer. Did you use the seagull driver?

[@abdurrahmanalsibai6187]

thecollegepicker yea I used that too, but the printer isn’t printing. It’s installed and I can see it.

[@thecollegepicker]

Is it hooked up via USB/serial/parallel?

[@abdurrahmanalsibai6187]

thecollegepicker The printer connects through a serial port. And I am using a cable that converts to USB.

[@thecollegepicker]

@@abdurrahmanalsibai6187 That is most likely your problem. The driver does not account for the converter. =(

[@shittychannel4860]

Really happy you got this working! At the end, around 12:30 you said that you have to use a command to stop it from feeding when it has been opened, i don't think you have to use a command tho, in the ZSU program, when clicking on the printer and opening "configure printer settings" you can, at the second last page select "enable feed", that should solve this and stop it from doing a "self calibration" i think the name is :P No command needed! :D

[@thecollegepicker]

Nice tip! I'll have to try that way 😁👍

[@shittychannel4860]

thecollegepicker wors perfect on the 2844 so it should do on yours to! 😃

[@TachirosLament]

I'm debating if i need to get the right power adapter for my lp2844 as well. I just plugged in a random adapter in my home that's 20v and 2A. It will print test pages and barcodes from Bartender just fine, but it will never successfully print one label no matter what i do. It'll print about a quarter of it and just pause indefinitely. anyone?

[@thecollegepicker]

It's the power supply. Needs more amps for the barcodes, draws more power to heat the printhead more than a few lines of text for a test page. It should say the vote/amps on the bottom of the printer I think it's 20v 3.25 amps

[@amomynous1]

Well Done!

[@thecollegepicker]

Appreciate it 🙏😊

[@teddylong2590]

Good job !!

[@thecollegepicker]

Appreciate it 🙏

[@shakos4105]

I dont get it, where do people find cheap prices for these things?

[@thecollegepicker]

eBay 🥰

[@tomwignall3256]

How do you see how many inches it has printed?

[@thecollegepicker]

Print a config page and it should say near the bottom. Hold button and release on first blink.

[@tomwignall3256]

@@thecollegepicker Ah I've done it on my LP 2844 but it's not as detailed as the one in your video and I can't tell which is the inches printed

[@reneepaz8077]

Will you be selling this printer?

[@thecollegepicker]

Going to be using it for comparison videos and testing. Then maybe selling it later on down the road. Long time from now though. Good question 🙏

[@quiglag]

Who won the giveaway?

[@thecollegepicker]

Which giveaway?

[@Johnxabdul]

You talk too much .. wasting time to watch

[@thecollegepicker]

Sorry you feel that way. There is a lot of information to cover 👍