Printer and photocopier maintenance an owners guide

To ensure that your printers and photocopiers remain in tip top condition and give you the performance you expect, a few good housekeeping rules need to be observed. Follow these simple tips to ensure that your printer stays in tip top condition.

Paper Jamming

This is actually easy to prevent. Simply clean the rollers regularly with a lint-free cloth.  Lens cloths are best, although paper towels work too if you can't find anything else, along with some bottled water.  These items are 'contaminate free', so will ensure the rollers stay free of any microscopic particles.  If you are wondering which to clean, try any that you can see and safely reach.  Remember to turn off and unplug the printer before doing any cleaning, or before reaching into the machine.  Rollers should be cleaned at least once every 6 months or sooner if you have a dust problem. Be sure though, to read the instruction manual, because there are some parts of the cartridge you shouldn't swab.

Carefully Resolve Mechanical Errors

Like most products, printers last longer if they are looked after.  Often incorrectly resolved paper jams will lead to further printing issues in the future. We all get frustrated when jams occur, but instead of yanking the paper out, refer to the printer instructions to find the best way to fix a jam on your specific model.  To avoid leaving ripped paper behind or damaging the internal parts of the printer, the best practice is to use both hands to slowly pull the jammed paper out of the printer. Other ways to prevent jams occurring is by ensuring that the paper you load isn't torn, dog-eared or stuck together and that the tray is not overfilled.

Print Head Problems

If the print head goes, the only option is to replace it.  However, if this isn't replaceable, then a new printer is on the cards!  Either way, it can be very costly.  Maintaining your print head avoids this problem and ensures your printer has a longer working life.  Clean the print head whenever you replace an ink cartridge, and then align it at the same time.  The steps to do this, depends on which make of printer you have, so look at the manufacturer's instructions.  

Power Problems

Most printers these dayshave built in surge protectors. These are important because if you plug a surge protector into another surge protector, (or power strip), the equipment that you are trying to power won't be able to get the full amount of electricity that it requires.  Printers have 'sleep modes', which reduces the amount of power that they use.  When it starts to wake up, the printer uses more power than normal, which a power strip, or surge protector will read as a surge of power. It then blocks the extra power needed, and cause errors on the printer.  All this can be avoided by simply plugging the printer directly into a wall socket.

Invest in a Maintenance Kit

If you want to extend the life of your printer, you can order a maintenance kit from your printer's manufacturer when parts begin to show signs of wear. Such kits include a range of maintenance products, from cleaning supplies to changeable printer parts such as rollers, which, when dirty or worn out, are a common culprit in printer jams.

Conclusion

These days everyone wants to get the most out of their money, so you have to put in a little effort into keep things running smoothly.  Consider a printer being just like a car…if you want it to last for a long time, you have to do regular maintenance.  Similarly, if you want your printer to last for a long time, you need to do regular maintenance to it as well, with a little bit of routine printer maintenance, you can greatly reduce the occurrence of problems and enjoy happy, heathy printing.

• Paragon Comment

Once again some great tips here to keep your printer running efficiently.  Electronic devices are constantly being updated and upgraded, with the newest range of printers being even more impressive in their capabilities than past models.  Yet we have found that printers are still notorious for giving users more trouble than almost any other part of their office equipment.  However, this doesn't necessarily need to be the case.  With a bit of knowledge on how to clean a printer, you can avoid the paper jams and printing errors that often make printers so frustrating to use. The tips above will go some way in helping you to maintain and keep your printer running smoothly and your printed documents looking professional and clean.  However, Paragon Document Solutions can offer you even more!  In taking out one of our flexible leasing or rental packages, you can take away the burden of what happens when your printer needs that very expensive repair, along with the headache of having to do all the maintenance yourself.  We can provide a full range of printer and photocopier maintenance and repair services, all at an unbeatable price.  Why not check us out? 

For more details on of all our services and our Price Match Promise, contact us today. Or email us directly on info@paragon-ds.co.uk.