Why Choose Monroe Ribbons: Quality and Reliability in Every Print

Do I go with a Monroe ribbon or a Generic ribbon? What makes a Monroe ribbon better than a Porelon?

I'm here to help make the choice easier for you.

The simple answer: you go, Monroe. And here's why...

Monroe has long been known for offering the highest-quality products on the market. And our ribbons are no different. We require our factory to load the highest concentration of ink per square inch of ribbon on the market today. This means that your Monroe ribbon has the highest grade of ink saturation available, bar none. So when you're tediously referring back to your audit trail to figure out why your credits and debits aren't reconciling, you can find some semblance of peace in knowing that you are viewing the highest-quality and darkest print possible.

When debiting an account, you want that number to appear bright and bold so you can easily differentiate it from the credits. That's why Monroe has developed True Red™, our exclusive custom color that is put into each of our ribbons. This red is darker, deeper, and bolder than any other red used in ribbons today. This red will also last longer than others, meaning that it won't fade over time when put away in storage. This solves a huge problem that many accountants have when physically storing their audit trails.

I just want to take a minute to address this concern, since it's one we've heard a couple of times over the past year or so. If you're seeing one of our ribbons producing a lighter print than it should, it is 99% of the time caused by one of three issues (or a combination of them).

The first issue stems from using thinner and lesser-quality calculator paper. We always recommend using Monroe 20lb. bond paper, the thickest calculator paper on the market, but sometimes people choose to go in a different direction. When they do, it means that their paper is thinner, and the print wheel will have to cover more distance to make that imprint. This means that the print wheel isn't able to make as deep of an impact on the paper, and won't be able to imprint as much ink. This leads to a lighter print than normal.

Low-quality or recycled paper will also often cause your ribbons to dry out faster. Our ribbons are designed to last through your use of 2-3 paper rolls in general. However, these types of paper are more porous than our 20lb paper, meaning they require more ink to produce the same dark print. The more ink the paper absorbs, the quicker your ribbons will dry out. This typically winds up being more costly for the end user in the long run.

The second issue is very similar to the first but occurs when the calculator's print wheel is wearing down. The print wheel is the component within the calculator that presses the ink onto your calculator paper. As this wears down, the print wheel has to cover a further distance to imprint the paper. Same as above, this means that it won't be able to make as deep of an impact on the paper.

Luckily, this is an easy issue to diagnose. Simply remove the calculator cover, and locate your printer. Your printer will look like this:

Examine your print wheel for any signs of wear and tear on the digits. The most common digits this occurs with are the decimal point and the "0" keys on the right-hand side of your calculator since they are the two used most often.

Your print wheel looks like this:

It's a little tough to tell in a picture, but if you run your finger across the print wheel you'll notice that the indicated decimal point on this print wheel is slightly worn down compared to the others. This difference could be as little as a few millimeters, but this difference is enough to cause a significant deviation in the consistency of your print.

The third and least often occurrence would be if your calculator's platen has developed ridges and grooves. The platen is the small, rubber roller within the calculator that the printer paper is held against. Over time, the platen can dry out and harden, causing these ridges or cracks. When this happens, the paper will sit unevenly on the platen, which can cause digits to appear lighter in some areas on your audit trail.

Luckily, it's also easy to check the platen in your calculator for this issue. The platen sits directly above your print wheel, as can be seen above. Let's take a look at what a good and bad platen look like in comparison to each other:

The image on the left shows the smooth texture of a new platen. Notice how there are no ridges or grooves, and that the paper can lay smooth against it. In the image on the right, you can see grooves developing on this platen. If you run your finger across it, you will notice little bumps and ridges that can throw your print off.

If you diagnose any of these issues on your own or believe you fall within that 1% of the time where you received a bad ribbon, you can call one of our customer service representatives at 267-580-2600 to discuss the issue and they will be glad to assist you.

If you've recently purchased from us, we'd appreciate it if you'd take a quick minute to leave a product review. To do so, simply find the product you purchased on our website, and click "Write a Review" in the upper right-hand corner, as shown below.

From there, you can rate the item on a scale of 1-5 stars, leave your first name, and review the subject (subject line) and your comments. And that's it!

Feel free to reach out if you have any other questions or comments about how our ribbons benefit you or any of the common issues people have with them.

Till next time!

- Joe