Printers are one of the essential equipment for office and home use. They’re used to reproduce and convert electronic data into a physical copy for personal, general, or business purposes.
However, like all equipment, a printer needs regular care for it to keep functioning. If you have a printer in your home or office for a while, it’s more likely that it already needs maintenance.
Here are four signs that show your printer requires maintenance or repair:
- Blurry Lines and Blots
This is the most common sign that your printer needs maintenance. If you discover that lines, no matter how little, are beginning to appear on your prints for no specific reason, it’s a strong indication that you need to take your printer for maintenance. If left unattended, these lines can become visible to the point that they blur off words, ruining the printed copies.
Another common sign that your printer needs repair is blotted lines. Blots are an unexplainable eraser of words from your document. They erase striking words, such that you end up missing some parts of the electronic copy in the printed ones.
Having blots on your printed documents shows that your printer’s thermal ribbons and ink roller are either loose or having issues. If this is the case, you may need to replace or tighten or ink roller.
- Producing Unusual Sounds
If you have a printer that makes unusual sounds/noise when printing, it’s a major signal that it needs repair. The normal sound is smooth. Anything short of this, most likely, means the printer has a problem. So, when you begin to hear abnormal sounds, such as a grinding or a whirling sound, it’s time to schedule for maintenance.
This problem can be solved by removing the paper that’s currently in print. You can also check the armor ribbons to see if the sound persists. If the sound still continues, then it might likely be a mechanical problem. You’ll have to address the mechanical problem immediately by taking it for repairs.
- Frequent Paper Jams
Paper jam is the term used to explain when a paper gets stuck inside the printer. This is a common problem as, once in a while, your paper might get stuck inside the printer.
Paper jam happens mostly because of the error in the paper’s arrangement. This causes an uneven distribution of paper available for the roller, resulting in the occasional paper jam. Sometimes, the paper jam occurs just because there are too many papers in the printer’s paper tray.
Most paper jams can be easily fixed by opening the roller and removing the stuck paper from the paper tray, then rearranging it in the tray. However, when paper jam becomes too frequent and persistent, it’s a sign that you need to take your printer for a routine maintenance check and repair to prevent your printer from malfunctioning.
- Persistent Error Codes
Error codes show that there’s a programmed error involved in the printing. This problem is usually caused by an error with the printer’s fused unit. The fusers get hot and prevent the bonding of paper to the ink. Most of the error codes are associated with this fluctuating temperature. If not checked immediately, it can damage the printer.
Fortunately, some error codes that you may receive can be corrected by switching off and restarting the printer. Switching off for about 10minutes will cool off the printer and allows the fused unit to cool enough to start printing again. However, if switching off and restarting the printer doesn’t solve the problem, you might need to go for a maintenance check or repair.
Another major reason for an error code is when there’s a problem with the main motor, which is the brain box of the printer. Once there’s an error with the main motor, it affects every other part of the printer, and you may need to go for a repair to get the printer in check.
A problem with the laser unit can also cause error codes. The laser unit is necessary to transfer the electronic image to the printed copy. An error message in the laser unit is indicative that your printer isn’t detecting the laser, hence the error code. Restarting your printer should also help solve this problem. If this doesn’t work, going for a maintenance check will be the best way to solve the problem.
Conclusion
Printers have become a must-have gadget in homes and offices. They make it easy to print documents, images, and other types of data. This is why you have to schedule your printer for regular maintenance to avoid any printer-related problems.
Some of the common signs to watch out for include blots, blurred lines, unusual noise, persistent error codes, and paper jams.