Free with trade in Panduit Label Maker

[kf4zht]

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If you have any dead or old label printers Panduit will give you a free one of theirs when you send it in. Our rep told me this is open to everyone. Label rolls are available from Mouser and other online places. We sent in several that took a swan dive off ladders and were non-functional and got new ones. I'm going to send in my failing rino 4200. Can't read half the text anymore, plus the replacement can print better shrink tube options

And yes, they are trying to sell their tape. That is where the money is. But if you've got one destined for the landfill at least get something out of it.

 

[mike93lx]

Tragically, my 20 year old brother pt1950 doesn't qualify. It works fine, but something more modern and compact wouldn't ****

 

[jwasilko]

Thanks! I've got an ancient Brady ID Plus gathering dust that will be going back today!

 

[jwasilko]

Friend of mine pointed out they are rebranded Epson Labelworks, which might make for cheaper sources of label materials: https://smile.amazon.com/stores/page/9CA3BB2C-D5C6-4E9E-8BBC-0B76CE3C5715

 

[todd_fuller]

There was a thread about this on another forum which I cannot recall, but apparently, the cassettes have some kind of code printed on the that the machine reads. It’s different between the two so panduit labels only work with it. It does seem like a trivial system to overcome if you know the right symbols though.

 

[jwasilko]

Oh wow. That's a kick in the shorts....

 

[kf4zht]

There was a thread about this on another forum which I cannot recall, but apparently, the cassettes have some kind of code printed on the that the machine reads. It’s different between the two so panduit labels only work with it. It does seem like a trivial system to overcome if you know the right symbols though.

Yeah, seems like that could be easily defeated if you have one correct one and can print coverups. Kind of like the keurig machines where cutting the outside ring let it bypass the DRM. None of these systems are complicated

I prefer the system of just using leftover from work projects.

 

[zeekh]

I have an old Brother i'd trade in but I just bought a bunch of tapes for it

 

[zktk01]

I am trying to trade in a Brady Label maker hopefully works out

 

[jwasilko]

Yeah, seems like that could be easily defeated if you have one correct one and can print coverups. Kind of like the keurig machines where cutting the outside ring let it bypass the DRM. None of these systems are complicated

Yeah I'm certainly going to check into that!

 

[todd_fuller]

I traded in an older clunky Dymo RhinoPro printer. It was a painless process.

 

[drboom]

I did this a while back and have ordered some of the Epson labels to put in it. Unfortunately, it isn't just the barcodes, there are slight differences in the actual cartridge that make fitting some of the larger cartridges difficult. They have moved a couple of holes and changed the shape a bit to make using the Epson cartridges in this difficult. So far, I've been able to make all of the cartridges I bought work, but, the lid doesn't always close properly and needs to be held shut for some cartridges. I've also found some where the unit didn't recognize the label type from the code.
There is some good additional information about half way down this page: https://www.reddit.com/r/homelab/comments/ooq3kv

 

[jwasilko]

Panduit sent an email confirming they rec'd my trade-in and were ordering a printer to ship to me.

 

[pbon]

My little Dymo 160 does not qualify.

 

[haveissues]

Just throwing it out there I have a brother pt-e500 that works really well. It does not have any sort of drm so it will take aftermarket tape which is plentiful. It costs a fraction to run as some other label makers.

 

[jwasilko]

My MP300 kit showed up today from Panduit. Thanks OP!

 

[zktk01]

I got my MP300 in yesterday, thanks for posting this.

 

[Miss the Pontiacs]

@kf4zht
Thanks my daughter is the proud new owner of a Panduit Printer. I had replaced the Dymo but never managed to recycle the old one. Had problems buying cartridges for it. But good grief I looked up replacement cartridges for the Panduit. $$$$. Guess that is where the money is anyway.

 

[tarbellb]

Did some research on Panduits proprietary consumables.

Panduit and Epson are indeed using the same cartridge, but only the Panduit has the proprietary pin+barcode system allowing the printer to recognize the type label inserted.

You can defeat the system with a bit of effort, ie drilling a hole in the cartridge for the pin key to register AND use a marker to draw a grid to tell the machine what it is. Ugh.

Each type of label has its own set of holes and box grid, making it a real pain.

Im not 100% sure this is all true, only what I have gathered from a Reddit thread.

I may sell mine and find a alternative, or buy some generic and oem carts and see what I can figure out.
-----------------------

If anyone has any insight on how this works or if its even worth it please lmk.

 

[gregs]

Does this go thru Panduit direct? I see on the form its asking for a distributors name and sales rep?

 

[Miss the Pontiacs]

@gregs
I believe the head office must be in Illinois. I submitted my info by email. Wasn’t sure if I would take them up on their offer. As I had already replaced my Dymo 1000 with another printer. I also have another printer, a Brady which I used to ID wrap structured wire. While I was deciding they emailed me twice and said they were prepared to follow through on the exchange. Mentioned this to my daughter and said she could use the replacement. So she sent it out with my original mailing info.
I live in Canada. Told them not to bother if all the taxes and duties were not paid. They used Fedex and along with shipping, duties and taxes and the private carriers fee on top would have cheaper just for me to buy one locally. The old printer was sent to Cummings, GA 30040.
In the end they just sourced it in Canada and our costs were simply shipping to GA. Which was approx $25.

As for sales rep and distributors name I just used my wholesaler where I have bought Panduit product. I doubt they even sell the printers. I don’t think Panduit really cares as long as they can sell the replacement tapes. $$$

 

[gregs]

@gregs
I believe the head office must be in Illinois. I submitted my info by email. Wasn’t sure if I would take them up on their offer. As I had already replaced my Dymo 1000 with another printer. I also have another printer, a Brady which I used to ID wrap structured wire. While I was deciding they emailed me twice and said they were prepared to follow through on the exchange. Mentioned this to my daughter and said she could use the replacement. So she sent it out with my original mailing info.
I live in Canada. Told them not to bother if all the taxes and duties were not paid. They used Fedex and along with shipping, duties and taxes and the private carriers fee on top would have cheaper just for me to buy one locally. The old printer was sent to Cummings, GA 30040.
In the end they just sourced it in Canada and our costs were simply shipping to GA. Which was approx $25.

As for sales rep and distributors name I just used my wholesaler where I have bought Panduit product. I doubt they even sell the printers. I don’t think Panduit really cares as long as they can sell the replacement tapes. $$$

Thanks for the heads up. I have an old brother PT-65 we use for misc. labeling and it died a while back. Unfortunately I don't see that as a qualifying trade in model. Oh well.

 

[Miss the Pontiacs]

@gregs
Fill in the email form and let Panduit decide. I think they want their product out there to sell the cartridges. Similar to Computer printers, the ink or tape is we’re the money is.

 

[gregs]

@gregs
Fill in the email form and let Panduit decide. I think they want their product out there to sell the cartridges. Similar to Computer printers, the ink or tape is we’re the money is.

Thats what I did. Will see if they take. Thanks again

 

[gregs]

@gregs
Fill in the email form and let Panduit decide. I think they want their product out there to sell the cartridges. Similar to Computer printers, the ink or tape is we’re the money is.

I did the online form and submitted it last night listing my Brother PT-65 for trade on the MP75. Basically got an auto reply a few minutes later with the information to ship it back. All my information is listed on it except the "trade in" information. So it looks like they dont care what you have to trade. Now to find the least expensive way to ship the old one to Georgia.

 

[Miss the Pontiacs]

@gregs
Good for you. Bet they would even take one of the pic below. But now that this one is old probably considered vintage probably now worth big money.

 

[gregs]

@gregs
Good for you. Bet they would even take one of the pic below. But now that this one is old probably considered vintage probably now worth big money.

Got my dead one shipped back and received the new MP75. Nice looking printer. Havent had anytime to mess with it as I dont have enough batteries on hand.

Now to figure out the replacement label cartridges....

 

[Miss the Pontiacs]

Got my dead one shipped back and received the new MP75. Nice looking printer. Havent had anytime to mess with it as I dont have enough batteries on hand.

Now to figure out the replacement label cartridges....

I didn’t check the printer out that much before my daughter picked it up. Is there a port for a voltage adapter? If so to bad one wasn’t included.
One thing is that it can print a variety of icons. My daughter says that using the icons can save on tape.
Good luck with your machine.

 

[gregs]

I didn’t check the printer out that much before my daughter picked it up. Is there a port for a voltage adapter? If so to bad one wasn’t included.
One thing is that it can print a variety of icons. My daughter says that using the icons can save on tape.
Good luck with your machine.

No voltage adapter port. That would be nice as mine doesnt get used much and I never seem to have batteries on hand. Thats what killed the old one. The last person to use it (not me) left the batteries in it and they leaked. Now I tend to use the energizer lithium batteries as they dont seem to leak. But I was going to open it up and see if I could add a tap to allow it to operate off a wall adapter. It uses 6x AA batteries, so 9v's .

 

[kf4zht]

No voltage adapter port. That would be nice as mine doesnt get used much and I never seem to have batteries on hand. Thats what killed the old one. The last person to use it (not me) left the batteries in it and they leaked. Now I tend to use the energizer lithium batteries as they dont seem to leak. But I was going to open it up and see if I could add a tap to allow it to operate off a wall adapter. It uses 6x AA batteries, so 9v's .

Buy the procells or industrials. Much less likely to leak, I get them from amazon

 

[gregs]

So I did some research on the printer cartridges. I looked on the Epson site and found the LW-PX300 is the same printer more or less. Figured out the Epson cartridge 3/4” white is a 218BWPX which is available in a generic for less than $7 each and less if you buy in quantity.

Figured out they are identical except for thing. The center post in the printer is shaped a little different that doesn’t allow the cartridge to seat all the way in the printer.

 

[gregs]

After looking at the post and the cartridge I saw that only one area needs to be modified. I used some small needle nose pliers to break out the small piece and it fit like a glove.

 

[gregs]

I also opened up the printer to see if there was some sensor that used the label on the side of the cartridge and found nothing. Maybe on the bigger machines the label does something, but on this one it doesn’t.

And if it did I would think you could just color in the boxes with a marker.

 

[gregs]

So I was wondering how it knows what size the tape is. Looking around on the inside I noticed what appears to be a switch. It has multiple wires coming from it. On the cartridge side you can see 3 small pins that also relate to holes on the cartridge. I believe this is how it knows. I haven’t looked at smaller width tape cartridges but suspect the hole pattern will be different.

 

[gregs]

So other than removing the small piece of plastic there is no other modifications needed to use these generic cartridges in these printers. I am going to order a narrower one to see if it works and maybe some of the colored ones as well.

 

[tarbellb]

Nice info gregs

Got my Panduit MP300.... sold it immediately

Bought a Epson, no proprietary consumables and cheaper consumables, similar features

 

[gregs]

The Epson version has a couple extra features including a wall plug and port so you can use it without batteries. Most everything else is identical. I would guess there target market is full commercial contractors and manufacturers that don’t worry about the cost of consumables.

 

[tarbellb]

Got my Epson into my modular storage (Husky 10 bins)

Nice printer, easy to use, lots of available consumables

 

[gregs]

Got my Epson into my modular storage (Husky 10 bins)

Nice printer, easy to use, lots of available consumables

Very nice. I need to find a some type of storage box for mine as well so I can keep all the supplies together.

 

[A-TownMatt]

Hi all. I appreciate the info in this thread. I was able to get a free MP300 from a broken Rhino. I am now dealing with figuring out cheaper tapes. I was able to use generic Epson tapes with a couple modifications.

First, is dealing with the center post. As gregs points out, that extra piece on the printer’s center post keeps the tape from seating. I was able to snap off the inside of a tape and it seated fine. The next tape I tried had a solid center ring so nothing to break off. Do you all know of any issues with breaking off the extra piece on the printer’s post?

Second, the printer would not cut the generic tape. That is, until I marked the code in the sticker. Apparently, that code is read by the printer and activates the cutter. I was able to use the picture above by gregs to set my 1/2” tape. If anyone has other actual Panduit tapes can you post the tape model and a pic of the code sticker?

Thanks!