Toshiba B-FV4T label printer

The Toshiba B-FV4T is a 4-inch desktop printer that prints thermal transfer with a ribbon loaded and direct thermal without one. Sold variants: B-FV4T-GS (203dpi) and B-FV4T-TS (300dpi). The GoodLabel Designer v3.3.22 list registers B-FV4T-TS14 as 203dpi and B-FV4T-GH14 as 300dpi, so both entries are the opposite of Toshiba's documents (TS 300dpi, GH 203dpi). For the TS variant, therefore, choose based on the entry that has the 300 DPI button, not the name.

Designer entry to choose for the GS and TS variants

The B-FV4T-TS14 entry in the list has only a 203 DPI button, and the B-FV4T-GH14 entry, named GH, has 300 DPI (by the Toshiba B-FV4D-GH user manual, the GH model itself is 203dpi). If you choose the TS14 entry for a TS printer, the label is drawn as an image with 8 dots per mm and the 12-dot spacing of the 300dpi head is not used, so regardless of the name, choose the GH14 entry to draw at 300 DPI. The principle that only the DPI and whether the entry prints through the driver affect the result, not the name, is explained on the BA420T page.

Label length of the TS variant

The maximum length per label differs by source. By the B-FV4T spec sheet (2021), GS is 995mm and TS is 453.2mm; by the media table in the B-FV4T user manual (EO1-33096), label length is 8-997mm without distinction by resolution. The designer Height field accepts up to 1000mm, so when printing labels longer than 453.2mm on the TS, test print one label first to see that it comes out to the end.

GS prints up to 152.4mm per second (6ips) and TS up to 101.6mm (4ips), and the speed is set in Print Speed on the Stock tab of the Toshiba driver.

Ribbon requirements and ribbon-out indication

• Ribbons are 40-110mm wide, up to 65mm outer diameter, with a core inner diameter of 12.7mm or 25.4mm, and the ink side must be out. Length is up to 300m and varies with ribbon thickness and core outer diameter.
• The ribbon must not be narrower than the media, and if the width difference is too large, it wrinkles. GoodLabel wax ribbon 300M is wound ink side out and comes in 8 widths from 40-110mm, so choose a width wider than the label liner.
• With a ribbon loaded, set Print Method on the Stock tab of the Toshiba driver to Thermal transfer; with only thermal paper loaded, set it to Direct thermal.

When the ribbon runs out, LED1 and LED2 both light orange; load a new ribbon and press FEED to continue printing. However, for labels with a media pitch shorter than 30mm, the printer sometimes cannot detect ribbon out even when no ribbon is loaded at all, so when printing small labels such as 30x20mm by thermal transfer, first check by eye that a ribbon is loaded. The other LED color combinations are the same as the direct thermal sibling model and are collected in the status table on the B-FV4D page.