6 ways to take good care of your printer

13 Mar 6 ways to take good care of your printer

How to service your printer;

The world might be moving towards paperless offices, but there will, at least for the foreseeable future, always be a need for printed documents.  Even with excellent document management software, there will be forms to fill out and boxes to sign.  This is why good printer care is important.

Printers are the workhorses of modern offices. They crank out heaps of pages and never falter – until they do.  But, with proper care and maintenance, asking your printer to work around the clock is not at all unreasonable.

Like cars, printers need a service every once in a while.  But, while these are scheduled for cars, we can easily forget to service our printers until it’s too late, and the printer spits out an ink-stained, crumpled page instead of the report we just tried to print. So, for excellent productivity, let’s give our printers the services they deserve.

1. Wash ‘n’ Wax:  Cleaning the outside of the printer keeps it free of dust, hair, and other airborne objects that could cause jamming.  Wipe your printer down with a slightly damp cloth once every week.  Take care to avoid using anything too strong; water will do fine for this task.
2. Gearbox:  Get under the bonnet and into your printer’s greasy bits.  Remove the toner and clean the gears and rollers used to feed the paper.  A cotton bud and surgical spirits will work nicely for this.
3. Valet:  You want to remove all the dust and debris from inside the printer, but avoid going all US Marines on this one.  You might be tempted to blast it with a high-pressure air cleaner, but this will only make matters worse, and spread the dust around.  Instead, use a low-powered vacuum cleaner to gently suck the dust out of the printer.
4. Oil change:  Sometimes toner gets slightly stagnant in its casing.  The toner being out of your printer gives you a good opportunity to get it flowing again.  Simply move it from side to side and let it swish a little.  This will allow for even printing after you replace it.
5. Test drive:  Once you have replaced the toner, print out a test page just to check if everything is in order.  This will usually remove any dirt that you disrupted during the service, and give you an indication of any inconsistencies with the toner.
6. Cover up:  You don’t see very many car covers anymore, but they had their virtues.  Covering your printer will prevent dust from settling into its working parts, meaning you have to service your printer less frequently.

Great document management software has your documents covered in soft copy, and a good printer produces their hard copy counterparts.  So, to make sure that your printer never falters, take good care of it.  After all, even a workhorse needs its fair share of carrots.