Posted on Tue, Sep 27, 2011
I have run into many customers who mostly print black and white on color laser printers. This is a very expensive way to use a color laser printer. This is because there are consumable units that are unique to color laser printers, such as image belts, transfer belts and color cartridges that wear out quickly when printing in monochrome. There are some modern color laser printers that disengage their color cartridges when not in use, but most do not. All above color laser printer consumables still wear out from rotating when printing monochrome.
It would be more cost effective to print your monochrome forms on a monochrome laser printer and not have to pay the expense of the color laser printer’s consumables. If your printing needs are mostly monochrome then a heavy duty monochrome laser printer and a medium duty color laser printer would cover your needs better than a heavy duty color laser printer.
Joe Churma - Hardware Technician
Give Us a Call 617-731-6319 and Ask a Professional IT Support Technician Any Questions You May Have!
Sincerely, Terminal We Serve All of Greater Boston and Cambridge, MA
Posted on Mon, May 16, 2011
Laser printer paper jams will occur! Even if the correct paper is loaded properly, you will occasionally still have paper jams in laser printers because it is their nature. Standard paper is thin and very pliable which makes it susceptible to jamming as it moves through a machine.
To cut down on paper jams, check the paper for any dents or folds on the edges. I am a firm believer in fanning your paper before loading it. This will break up any interlocked paper fibers between forms. There are some laser printers that freshly fanned paper may cause a static problem in. With such printers, fan the paper a day before you use it and let it sit where you normally store it for the day. This will dissipate any static build up on the paper.
When you do have a paper jam with your laser printer, follow the instructions on your printer's Operator Panel, if applicable, or use your Operator's (Owner's) Manual. Follow the instructions to remove the type of paper jam you have. Do not just grab the jammed paper and quickly attempt to pull it out or pull the paper out in at an angle. This could damage your printer! Always pull the paper out in the angle that it was moving in. If you cannot clear the paper jam please Contact Us for a call and we will help.
Joe Churma - Hardware Technician
Give Us a Call 617-731-6319 and Ask a Professional IT Support Technician Any Questions You May Have!
Sincerely, Terminal We Serve All of Greater Boston and Cambridge, MA
Posted on Tue, Apr 12, 2011
Recently, I was at a customer's site working on a multi-function color laser printer. Its image drum unit life had dropped to zero percent, which stops the printer from running. The printer was the only one in the customer's department and it was critical to have a printer up and running. As a temporary fix, I reset the printer and tricked it into believing a new drum unit was installed. The printer is up and running with no guarantee on print quality. The customer is very happy and we are waiting for the new drum unit order to come in. This goes against the printer manufacture's specifications. As far as they are concerned, it should never be done, but it will not hurt the printer and it helped the customer out at a critical time.
Another customer had a plotter that went down because its carriage drive belt went south and started to fall apart. A fiber string from the carriage drive belt had wrapped around the carriage belt drive pulley. Normally, I would leave the plotter as is, order a carriage drive belt, and wait for it to come in. The customer asked if there was anything I could do to get the plotter up and running in the meantime. I was able to work the carriage belt fiber string off from the carriage belt drive pulley and cleaned it. I also doctored the carriage drive belt and removed all hanging fiber strings. This temporary fix is against the manufacture's specifications on how to handle this call, but it will not hurt the plotter and has helped the customer in a bind.
Joe Churma - Hardware Technician
Give Us a Call 617-731-6319 and Ask a Professional IT Support Technician Any Questions You May Have!
Sincerely, Terminal We Serve All of Greater Boston and Cambridge, MA
Posted on Fri, Jan 07, 2011
Remanufactured toner cartridges, which are less expensive than Laser Printer Company manufactured (or factory) toner cartridges, are for the most part only drilled and filled. A drilled and filled toner cartridge is a toner cartridge that has had a hole drilled in it to insert more toner into the toner compartment and a 2nd hole drilled in it to remove any waste toner from the waste toner compartment. Then these drill holes are sealed. These toner cartridges are usually not rebuilt or remanufactured.
When using these remanufactured toner cartridges if you keep track of how often you replace them you will find that you are using 3 to 2 or 2 to 1 compared to how many factory toner cartridges you use. Since these remanufactured toner cartridges for the most part are not rebuilt you have worn image drums, bushings and seals. The worn image drums will in many cases cause image quality problems with your laser printer printouts. You may also experience toner cartridges leaking toner from worn bushings and seals.
The above problems can also generate service calls on your laser printers incurring more expense and lost business time. Most modern toner cartridges also include the image drum and the developer for the laser printer, with some just being the developer with a separate image drum unit. The image drum and the developer are the heart of the laser printers printing system and you should use new or guaranteed rebuilt ones for your laser printers!
If you are using remanufactured toner cartridges look at the image drum of the cartridge before you first use it and if you see scrapes on the drum you know it has not been rebuilt. Another way you can tell if the toner cartridge has been rebuilt is to install it in the laser printer for a short period of time then remove it and look closely for any toner spills around either end of the toner cartridge, if you see any you know the bushings and seals have not been replaced. There are also cleaning blades or cleaning rollers for the image drums and if they have not been replaced it will also cause image quality problems on your printouts.
Your best bet is to use your Laser Printer Company’s manufactured toner cartridges which in the long run will cost you the least with less down time to your laser printer. But if you are going to use remanufactured or drill and filled toner cartridges check them out as I have stated above until you find a remanufactured toner cartridge company that actually rebuilds the cartridges. There are a few that really do rebuild them, but they will be the most expensive remanufactured cartridges. The best is still the Laser Printer Companies’ manufactured toner cartridges!
Joe Churma – Printer Technician
Give Us a Call 617-731-6319 and Ask a Professional IT Support Technician Any Questions You May Have!
Sincerely, Terminal We Serve All of Greater Boston and Cambridge, MA