Christophe Catesson asked:


How to maximize the life of your printer

With financial reports, project submissions, school assignments and lecture notes hanging precariously over our heads, the last thing we need during these busy times is a printer failure. Most of the work today is done or transported through electronic media, only to be printed before their actual utilization. Hence, whenever the printer starts its work, you can safely say that it’s doing something important. While getting a good printer always has its dividends, printer maintenance is just as important. Proper printer maintenance can make your printer last for years, providing valuable service and not breaking down when you need it the most.

Printer maintenance is an often overlooked area. People tend to believe that printers will suffer from wear and tear and components will need replacement eventually. While this is true, it must also be noted that proper printer maintenance can substantially improve the life of most printer components, significantly reducing the cost of ownership.

Printers come in various forms and sizes. Naturally, printer maintenance varies according to the type of printer that you may have. While some, like the hardy dot matrix printers, require less printer maintenance, other types of printers are preferably handled with a bit of care to ensure a long operating life.

Printer maintenance for the hardy dot matrix printers is pretty simple. The guide plates which guide the printing pins in these printers can wear out due to the accumulation of ink and grit within the plate. Timely replacement of cartridges allows less dirt and grit to form on the ribbon and permeate into the guide plate, thus increasing its life. In case of inkjet printers, printer maintenance mainly involves the printing heads. The heads contain numerous miniscule pores through which the ink is sprayed on to the paper. With time, dry ink may accumulate on top of these pores and close them. Inkjet printer maintenance should be performed by taking out the cartridges and wiping the print head with a moist cloth. Once the head is dry, the cartridges can be placed back. Inferior quality ink resulting from cartridge refills may cause hazards like leakage into the various components of the printer. Hence proper printer maintenance also involves the timely replacement of cartridges and avoidance of faulty refills.

Laser printers are very common today and have quite a few components that need care. Printer maintenance firstly involves cleaning the rollers periodically. They have a soft rubber coating on them which can be cleaned by using a damp cotton cloth. Vacuuming the insides may also be necessary to remove resident toner particles within the printer. Special HEPA filter based vacuum cleaners may be required for proper laser printer maintenance. Furthermore, after about 100000 prints, the fuser which melts the toner on to the paper may need replacement. Timely replacement and printer maintenance keeps it running and your prints clean and smooth.

In order to avoid the consequences of an unforeseen breakdown of your printer, a printer maintenance kit might be kept handy. Available from manufacturers like HP and Canon, these kits contain parts that have the tendency to wear out over time, especially in case of laser printer maintenance. Collectively, they also cost less and save you the headache of waiting for the technician if your printer suddenly decides to die on you.

Proper printer maintenance, coupled to a handy maintenance kit when you need it ensures less stress when you have important work to do. Not only is a well maintained printer very reliable but also produces high quality prints for a long, long time.