How Do You Know If a Printer Needs Routine Maintenance?
Knowing when your printer requires maintenance will prevent you from making any existing problems worse and keep you from damaging your printer. If you’re having any issues with your office printer, such as frequent paper jams, streaks on pages, or poor-quality prints, your printer probably needs some maintenance.
However, you can prevent these common issues by scheduling routine maintenance visits from a professional once or twice a year and by caring for your printer in between visits. If you’ve never performed or scheduled routine maintenance for your office printer, it is more likely to start experiencing frequent problems.
Four Office Printer Maintenance Tips to Help Your Machine Last Longer
1: Use Your Printer Frequently
If your employees aren’t using the printer at least once a week, the ink can quickly start to dry out and cause problems with printing. Frequently using the printer keeps the print heads moist and free of clogs, to ensure that your printer keeps producing high-quality prints.
If your office doesn’t require much printing, a laser printer may suit your needs better. Laser printers use toner cartridges, which do not dry up, so you can go longer periods of time without printing and still avoid blurry or faded prints.
2: Load the Paper and Cartridges Correctly
To prevent jamming, make sure to use the right type of paper for your printer, and avoid loading any torn or wrinkled pages into the paper tray or overfilling it. You should also be cautious when replacing the ink or toner cartridges, as improper handling can lead to poor-quality prints and printing problems.
Avoid touching the bottom of the cartridges when you load them, and make sure to read your printer’s manual before inserting cartridges for the first time. It’s also important to replace your printer or toner cartridges before they completely run out to prevent damage to the printer.
3: Clean Your Printer
There are many components of a printer that can collect dust and affect its efficiency. The printer rollers, which feed the paper through the printer, and the printer heads, which put ink on the paper, are a couple of examples of components that may require cleaning every now and then. Before you clean any part of your printer, first make sure to turn it off and unplug it for your safety.
Avoid using any harsh chemicals when cleaning, as they can harm your device. You can use isopropyl or ethyl alcohol (not rubbing alcohol) to dust and disinfect the outside of your printer and also to clean the inside components. However, you should never spray the alcohol directly onto your printer or its components. Instead, you can dampen a microfiber cloth with alcohol and gently wipe down the printer.
4: Get a Service and Maintenance Agreement
If you want to extend the lifespan of your printer and keep it in excellent shape, a service agreement will cover the cost of replacement parts, supplies, and routine maintenance. You simply pay a monthly, quarterly, or annual fee to maintain the contract in exchange for professional service and maintenance.
Even with a service and maintenance agreement, you should still be using your printer frequently, loading it correctly, and keeping it clean in between the scheduled maintenance visits included in your contract.
