QL Series Battery 101

Zebra QL420/QL320/QL220 Battery Tips and Tricks

A healthy battery in your Zebra QL Series printer is crucial to your daily operations. Before using your Zebra QL Series printer you must fully charge the battery. To ensure maximum battery capacity, new batteries should go through two or three complete charge/discharge cycles before being put into service. When the battery is first installed, the control panel indicators may briefly turn on and off. This indicates a battery that is not fully charged.

Installing the Battery

• Rotate the belt clip to allow access to the battery compartment.
• Insert the battery as shown below.
• Rock the battery until it locks into place.

Charging the Battery

As seen above, your Zebra QL Series printer battery will have a jack for a charger on it. This jack will accommodate the Zebra LI72 chargers made specifically for the printer.

Zebra QL Series Yellow/Green LED Charge Indicators

Zebra QL Series Amber/Green LED Charge Indicators

Zebra QL Series Quad Charger

Your Zebra QL Series Printer can also come with a 4-Slot Battery Charger and can charge four batteries simultaneously. When using the 4-Slot battery charger, you must first remove the batteries from the printers.

• Ensure that the charger is properly plugged into a wall outlet.
• Slide a battery into one of the four available slots and slightly rock the battery back and forth until it snaps into place.
• The amber indicator directly under the battery being charged will turn on if the battery is properly inserted.

4-Slot Charger, Charging Times

When batteries are fully discharged, the approximate charge times to fully charge a battery are listed below.

Extending Battery Life

• Never expose the battery to direct sunlight or temperatures above 104° F (40° C).
• Do not charge the battery when temperatures exceed 104° F (40° C).
• Always use a charger designed specifically for Lithium-Ion batteries. Any other type of charger may damage the battery.
• Use the correct media.
• If you print the same text or graphic on every label, consider using a pre-printed label.
• Choose the correct print darkness and print speed for your media.
• Select Tear Off mode whenever possible (Peel Off mode uses more power).
• If your printer has the optional LCD display, use the display backlight only when necessary. Turn it off whenever it is not needed.
• Remove the battery if the printer won’t be used for a day or more and you are not performing a maintenance charge.
• Consider purchasing an extra battery.
• Remember that any rechargeable battery will lose its ability to hold a charge over time. It can only be recharged a finite amount of times before it must be replaced.