Cash Register Not Printing Receipts

[Joke Grinman]

Thereceipts we receive when we buy groceries, prescriptions, gas, clothing, restaurant meals, and much more are generally printed on thermal paper coated with either Bisphenol-A (BPA) or its chemical cousin Bisphenol-S (BPS). BPA and BPS are developers that assist in the heat-activated printing process.

BPA can be absorbed into the body through the skin. The chemicals have been shown to be hazardous to reproductive systems in humans and animals and are linked with obesity and attention disorders. Learn more:

BPA is commonly used in other products, such as hard polycarbonate plastic (like helmet visors, eyeglass lenses, and some water bottles), in epoxy resins for adhesives, sealants, food can linings, and in flame retardants. Some manufacturers have been removing BPA from their products to protect consumers; for instance, you may have seen water bottles that are marketed as "BPA-free."

We know that thermal receipt paper exposes people to BPA, particularly those who handle lots of receipts. Studies show that cashiers have higher levels of BPA in their bodies than people in other occupations. Regular receipt handling may be of particular concern to pregnant or nursing women or women of childbearing age and adolescents of any gender who are still developing.

Eliminating thermal paper use will lower BPA exposure for employees and customers. However, there are no known clearly safer alternatives to BPA in thermal paper. Some thermal-receipt papers advertised as "BPA free" actually use BPS, which has similar harmful effects. The best option is to switch to e-receipts that are texted or e-mailed to customers. Some businesses could designate a check-out lane for customers not needing paper receipts or those able to accept e-receipts, to encourage behavior change.

If you must use thermal paper receipts, offer your staff protective food grade silicone fingertips or gloves to wear when tearing receipts, changing receipt rolls, or cleaning machines. Direct your staff to:

Protect pregnant and nursing women, infants, toddlers, small children, and women of child-bearing age from unnecessary exposure to BPA and BPS. Discuss with pregnant and nursing cashiers the feasible means of minimizing exposures, including alternate job functions.

We recommend you do not put thermal receipt paper in your recycling or compost bin. BPA and other chemicals embedded in thermal paper can end up in wastewater from recycling plants or minimally contaminate other papers in the recycling stream. Some cities across the country consider these papers contaminants in the recycling stream.

@KayakingBear This looks like square for restaurants app. In this situation go to account ----> printers ----> "name of your printer" ---->scroll down to receipts ----> change to prints receipts "manually"

I know for me since we use the Square Stand we have the printer setup to only print when a customer wants one. In the bottom left of our Ipad we have 3 bars, press that for settings then hardware then printers. I believe there is a setting to toggle on or off for Manual print or Automatically print a receipt. If you are using a different device it should be similar.

I just slide a copy in through the slot in the drawer without opening it. I do that when a customer forgets a receipt in case they come back for it. No need to open the drawer and at the end of the day when counting the cash you can collect them all.

@KayakingBear Unless you are still having them sign receipts, there is no need, because you can print a copy of a receipt at any time. There is an option to only sign receipts over 25 dollars, but if you are using the square reader where they can chip/tap those transactions are card present and and you don't have the same fraud liability on those since the emv liability shift. If you a do a telephone order those are card not present, but they wouldn't be there to sign the receipt anyway.

Purchased a Square Stand iPad kit. The Printer Driven cash drawer is not recognized by Square POS app. The POS app is looking for a USB cash drawer. The printer works and prints receipts. Updated the POS app.

Hello @Jiveturkeylegs1, I'm sorry -- that sounds really frustrating. The detailed troubleshooting steps here (including rebooting your device) should help get your cash drawer back up and running.

My square stand recognizes the printer but not the cash drawer. In settings>cash drawers it says "cash drawers connected via a receipt printer will not appear here. To learn more about supported cash drawers and how to set them up, visit the Suppot Center."

I'm having a hard time finding anything in the support center, other than what I have added below, about setting up a printer driven cash drawer. All I am seeing is information about USB cash drawers. I am seeing at least 100 people confirming that they use this same drawer with Square stand. Perhaps there is some other variable in their setup that I am not aware of that is different from mine.

I'm sorry for the frustration this is causing. I've moved your post to this thread where another seller reported a similar issue. Can you check the cable is the right way around? It's a small step but an important one!

This was a case of user error on my part. The printer was new and had not been loaded with paper as it had not arrived yet. I assumed the cash drawer would work without the printer being loaded. Alas, it would not. Loading paper into the printer solved the issue and everything is working fine now.

Check the cable/cord connecting the cash drawer to the printer. Should be the old school, telephone type. READ THE LABEL ON THE CABLE/CORD!!! The side that says PRINTER needs to be connected to the printer box.

I started Shopify in May 2024, and purchased an Epson TM-m30iii printer (along with other hardware) directly from Shopify. The printer did not work from the first day. It would not change to the smaller receipt paper (I had 2-cases left from my old cash register). I called Shopify and they referred me to Epson. I got Epson Help on the phone who diagnosed the issue and let me know the printer was defective and they could fix it but I would need to send it in and it might be as long as 2-months to get it back. I elected to simply buy the larger receipt paper and just suck it up. However, once I got the receipt paper and started using the printer it would work for a while, then just stop printing receipts. It would still operate the cash drawer and print test receipts just not actual receipts. If I re-booted my tabloid and the printer it would work again. I went to the Shopify Help Center who suggested updating the tabloid and shopify versions -- I did but did not help. Our outside IT consultant suggested switching from Bluetooth to USB cable -- which we tried -- still just stops and won't print receipts at odd times and requires an update. I continued to contact Shopify Help Center who provided instructions on updating Epson Firmware for the printer saying Epson shipped printers with old Firmware and a known issue. I tried the directions and the update kept failing at 90%, over and over and over again. I called Epson and was told they don't support Firmare updates using an IOS Tablet and I need to go to Shopify for support. Shopify told me until the Firmware is updated there is nothing they can do. I paid our Outside IT Consultant to re-set the printer and pair it with his computer and update the software - he did so and the printer still has the same issue. Shopify Help Desk now tells me that the printer is past the 30-day return date and I need to prove it had an issue reported prior to the 30-day expiration of return. The Help Center Chat has all conversations and is dated from a couple of days after receiving the printer, isn't this proof? How do I get Shopify to take back a defective printer they sold me and return my money? I purchased another printer on Amazon as Shopify shows their printer back-ordered and I have to have a printer for my business.

You can try to submit all the conversation you had with your IT, Epson, and screenshots of your chats with Help center with the dates. You try to request for them to escalate your concern to another department if possible.

Why do cash registers not need a change of printer cartridges? Why does the paper of cash register receipts feel so funny? Why does the writing fade when the receipt is exposed to the sun? Why can cash register receipts not be disposed of as waste paper?

In the thermoactive layer, ink- and color-developer molecules are encapsulated by long-chain solvent molecules, for example, tetradecanol. Heat (thermochemical energy) sets chemical reactions in motion in this layer, the dyes change color and the type becomes visible on the paper.

A print head consisting of many small heating elements is used to write on thermal paper. These are controlled electronically. Wherever a dot is to be created on the paper, a heating element is turned on.

The heat causes a color reaction that proceeds as follows: The color molecules in the paper are pH-sensitive leuco dyes. Leuco is Greek for white. One example is crystal violet lactone, which is initially colorless. As mentioned, it is encapsulated by long-chain solvent molecules in the thermoactive layer of the paper.

If the receipt lies in the sun, it becomes warm and the solvent can melt again. In addition, non-polar substances such as plasticizers from transparent films or tanning agents from wallets can diffuse into the thermal paper. Here, they take over the function of an additional solvent. In both cases, the colored, metastable complex of dye and color developer is then no longer stabilized and the dye and color developer separate again. The dye returns to its colorless leuco form. The writing fades or disappears completely from the paper.

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