We all clean our laptops, PCs and keyboards relatively frequently to remove smears and fingerprints.
But how often do we clean our printers?
Not often enough.
However, this really is something that we should be considering as part of standard hardware maintenance. As a clean printer – whether inkjet or laser – will continue to print for longer.
The majority of us, I’m sure, wait until the printer spews out a smeared and unreadable document before we start thinking a clean might be in order.
Cleaning a printer is relatively straightforward, and can be carried out with the same equipment used for the perfunctory clean of the PC and screen.
All you need is rubbing alcohol – or alcohol wipes, a cotton swab, a vacuum cleaner with a soft brush or canned air, and of course a clean cloth.
To clean an inkjet printer remove the cartridge and wipe the print head contacts with the alcohol wipes very gently. Wipe any excess ink off the nozzles and then replace the cartridge.
Run a print test to check everything is printing normally.
For a laser printer you need to turn it off and allow it to cool down. Then you need to blast the drum and corona wire (check your manual to find out where they are) with canned air or a vacuum cleaner nozzle.
Gently rub the alcohol wipe along the corona wire. This will remove any toner or dust which is still on the wire.
Once everything is dry you can switch the printer back on and run a print test to ensure it is all running smoothly.
Cleaning the printer is something you should do every 500 sheets of printing rather than waiting for the print quality to degrade.
If the printer is still not printing properly it may be time to change the ink cartridges. Here at Inksave we have ink and toner cartridges for various printer models for both inkjet and laser printers.