Until we finally realize the elusive dream of a paperless society, it’s important to make sure your laser printer remains in tip-top shape.
Printer outages reduce your productivity, hold up legal proceedings, and ultimately affect the workflows of everyone else who depends on the unit to get business done. To prevent premature laser printer failure, perform these basic maintenance tasks occasionally to extend the life of your laser printer. You can visit www.itechage.com to see how to connect your printer to a wireless network.
Take Care With Toner
Whenever your laser printer is due for a new toner cartridge, make sure you replace the cartridge exactly as described in the printer’s manual. If you don’t have the printer’s manual, find one online; one wrong move and you could end up spilling toner all over the printer’s important moving parts.
Don’t Skimp On Consumables
Although bargain-bin toner and printer paper can be enticing, there is something to be said for using the toner and printer paper recommended for your device, sticking to the brand and weight when possible. Plugging in a shoddy toner cartridge could lead to a pricy problem down the road, and toner likely won’t adhere as well to the wrong printer paper, which will produce less-than-desirable results. Poor printer paper could also cause paper jams and expensive maintenance calls.
Don’t Push Your Printer
Most laser printers come with maximum and recommended duty cycles. For instance, the Brother HL-3075CW digital color printer has a maximum monthly duty cycle of 25,000 pages and a recommended duty cycle of 300 to 1,500 pages per month. Although the laser printer can probably sustain the maximum output volume in short bursts, consistently running the printer above the recommended volumes will reduce print quality, incur more frequent and costly maintenance, and ultimately shorten the printer’s life.
Control The Environment
Laser printers use heat to adhere the toner ink to the page. As a result, laser printers are temperature sensitive. An exceedingly warm or cold room can affect the printer’s warm-up period and also lead to other problems. Laser printers are also sensitive to humidity.
Be Warranty Aware
It’s a good idea to regularly peruse the warranty terms for your laser printer as long as it is still covered. Note especially the section about what is not covered under the warranty and what you can avoid doing that may void the warranty. Some of these things include any damage resulting from improper installation, incorrect use, failure to keep up on regular maintenance, and use of expired consumables or accessories.
Don’t DIY
It can be tempting to ignore the line in the manual that calls for a certified technician to perform some repairs or maintenance or in-depth maintenance tasks, but don’t. Trying to perform these tasks or repairs yourself could lead to more costly repairs or even personal injury.
Keep It Clean
Every time you replace the toner, take a moment to inspect the unit, remove the paper trays, wipe it down with a clean, dry cloth, gently brush off toner that has collected on internal components, inspect the moving parts, and see that everything is in working order. If anything appears out of sorts, consult your manual or a certified technician.
