If you want to keep your printers running in tip-top shape for the next few years, this collection of printer maintenance tips will help you do precisely that. The first section provides you with general tips for all types of printers, and the last two sections cover special tips for Laser and DeskJet printers, respectively. I hope these tips will help you keep those printers out of the junk pile.

General printer maintenance tips

Use these tips for any type of printer you support. Keep in mind that consulting the printer's owner's manual is always a good idea before embarking on any major printer maintenance procedure.

Clean the inside of your printer

As simple as it may sound, one of the best preventive maintenance tasks that you can perform is to keep the internal areas of your printers as clean as possible. Doing this is easy if you look for excess paper dust or other debris whenever you open up your printer. At least once a month (or more often if your users print a lot), use a can of compressed air to blow all of the dirt out of the printer.

Refrain from using bent, torn, or used paper

Paper that is damaged can cause unnecessary paper jams. Anytime a paper jam occurs, there is a possibility that something else on the printer can break. To prevent unnecessary jams and other problems, always use high-quality, new paper that is not bent, torn, or damaged in any way.

Use high-quality paper

As a cost-saving measure, many organizations purchase medium- to low-grade paper for use in their printers. However, this type of paper can cause unnecessary paper jams, which in turn can cause further mechanical problems with the printer. Although a decent brand of 20lb paper should suffice for most printing jobs, to make your printing shine, you should use at least 24lb paper.

To help you determine exactly what type of paper should be used in the printer, manufacturers such as Hewlett Packard publish minimum paper standards. If your paper does not meet these specifications, the vendor will not provide warranty support until you are using the proper type of paper. Review the documentation that came with the printer or visit the manufacturer’s Web site to learn the paper specifications.

Don’t fan paper before loading

There is a popular misconception that fanning a ream of paper before loading it in the print tray will reduce the number of paper jams. This is not at all true, and you should avoid this practice because it can cause static to build up between the sheets of paper, which actually causes even more paper jams to occur. Unless your printer is located in an area that has high humidity, you should be able to load paper into the paper tray without worrying about the pages sticking together. Today’s printers do a very good job of separating pages in the paper tray.

Store paper in a low-humidity environment

High environmental humidity can cause paper to stick together and cause paper jams or paper feed errors. This is especially true for low-end printers or DeskJet printers, whose paper-feed mechanisms are not as finely tuned to separate pages in the paper tray. To prevent multiple pages from sticking together and feeding at the same time, store your paper in a cool, low-humidity environment and ensure that the area where the printer is located has low environmental humidity.

Use high-quality labels

Whenever a printer is used for making labels, always supply it with high-quality label stock. This is even more important than using high-quality paper, because cheap labels can completely ruin printer parts, such as a platen or fuser. When cheap labels are sent through a fuser or around a roller, they can easily peel off of the backing paper and become affixed to the first surface they come in contact with. This wreaks havoc on printer parts because you either have to peel the labels off, which can be an enormous task, or you are forced to replace the part. In the case of fusers, the cost of such a repair can be several hundred dollars. High-quality labels, on the other hand, do not come off quite so easily, so you can use them with less fear of damaging the printer.

Use straightest paper path for labels

When printing on label stock, eliminate as many bends in the paper path as possible. For example, use the manual feed tray, which allows the labels to feed directly into the printer without bending. If the printer has an additional paper exit path that eliminates the labels passing around another roller, you should use it. Reducing the number of rollers that label stock passes around will reduce the possibility of a label peeling off of the backing paper and sticking to something inside of the printer.

Replace old and worn rollers

One of the culprits of paper jams are worn feed rollers. When the rollers have come to the end of their useful life, they will have a glazed and/or slippery surface that allows the paper to slip off. This can either prevent paper from being picked up in the paper tray or cause paper to feed incorrectly while in the paper path.

In laser printers, rollers normally have a life expectancy that is as long as the printer maintenance kit. Therefore, if you change the rollers when you change the maintenance kit, you should not encounter too many problems with feed rollers. However, DeskJet and other types of printers do not normally require a tune-up like laser printers do, so you won't need to change the feed rollers on a regular basis. Often the manufacturer will offer a kit that can be used to rough up the surface of the roller so it will reliably pick up paper again. These kits include a very stiff Scotch-brite pad and a program that causes the feed roller to run against the pad so the surface of the roller is roughed up. Not all manufacturers offer this type of resolution, and if one is not available, you can do the job yourself with a small file. If you attempt this resolution, make sure that you rough up the roller surface evenly.

Close the manual feed tray when not in use

If the printer uses a manual feed tray for printing labels or legal-size documents, ensure that it is always closed when not in use. A quick turn of a chair or an accidental slip could cause a user to bump into the protruding tray and break it. Although it may be a slight inconvenience to keep unfolding the tray, it is much safer in its stored position.

Use care when replacing parts

Because printers are made of breakable materials such as plastic, you should use care when assembling or repairing them. This is especially true when working with covers and cases because the small plastic tabs that hold them in place can easily be broken. If you find yourself exerting a great deal of force when reassembling a printer, you should probably back off and take another look at how the parts fit together. The chances are good that the angle you are using to put the parts together is wrong, or that the parts don’t fit together the way you thought that they did.

Purchase a service manual

If you would like to know more about repairing your particular model of printer, you can purchase a service manual from the manufacturer. These manuals provide extensive troubleshooting tips, subassembly diagrams, and other useful repair information. When it comes time to make repairs on your printer, the service manual will make your job much easier. Depending on the type of repair that you are doing, you may even be able to read step-by-step instructions for solving your particular problem.

Laser printer tips

When a laser printer breaks down, the parts can be expensive to replace. These tips should help you get the most out of the laser printers on your network.

Install maintenance kits when indicated

Laser printers are designed to alert you when they need a tune-up, which is commonly called a maintenance kit. These kits typically include a new fuser, feed rollers, an ozone filter, and other easy-to-replace parts. While the printer may appear to be working fine, installing the parts in the maintenance kit will prevent a part with a limited life span from failing altogether. For example, the fuser will eventually stop working correctly, and the feed rollers will begin to cause paper jams. Replacing the parts in the maintenance kit will avoid these situations and keep your printer working normally without interruption.

Use new or high-quality refurbished toner cartridges

Toner cartridges determine the quality of your printing just as much as the quality of the paper does. They can also do severe damage to the mechanical parts of your printer. For instance, cheaply made toner cartridges can leak toner on the inside of the printer, causing paper jams and smeared reports.

If you decide to purchase refurbished toner cartridges, make sure that the cartridges are completely rebuilt, not just refilled. Although you can save a substantial amount of money by purchasing low-cost toner cartridges, especially those that have been refilled, you should do so with caution. Costly printer repairs caused by faulty toner cartridges may negate the cost savings. The rebuilt cartridges, such as those supplied by Hewlett Packard, are rebuilt and tested with the same standards required for new cartridges. Refilled toner cartridges, on the other hand, are simply refilled. Should the toner cartridge come to the remanufacturer damaged, the likelihood of it being repaired is low. The end result is that you may end up purchasing a damaged toner cartridge that can completely ruin the printer.

Use labels specially designed for laser printers

Laser printers require the use of specially designed labels that are made to withstand the extreme heat that is generated by the fuser. Using other types of labels will only increase the likelihood of your printer being damaged.

Refrain from excessive power cycling

Just as with a computer, power cycling the printer excessively can cause the power supply to fail. In addition, the fuser is powered by a low-voltage power supply that is more fragile than the one used to power the printer. When the low-voltage power supply fails, the toner may not be completely fused to the paper. Although both power supplies are designed to provide reliable use for the lifetime of the printer, unnecessarily power cycling the device will eventually take its toll and reduce the life of the power supply, and ultimately the life of your printer.

DeskJet printer tips

A DeskJet printer has special needs due to its use of print nozzles to spray ink onto the page. Use these tips to keep them working properly.

Use the printer utilities/toolbox to clean the print nozzles

DeskJet printer drivers include a feature called the Toolbox, which provides you with a handy function to clean the print nozzles of the printer. When you elect to clean the printer using the Toolbox, the nozzles where the ink is released will be cleaned, which should remove any debris or clogs that may prevent the printer from printing normally. You should perform this maintenance procedure at least once a week, depending on the volume of printing your users engage in. The cleaning process takes only a couple of minutes and can save you quite a bit of frustration should the print nozzles become clogged.

Use high-quality ink cartridges

Just as with laser printers, always purchase high-quality ink cartridges to protect your printer from ink leakages on the internal parts of the printer. Although high-quality ink cartridges may cost more, you do not run as high a risk of damaging your printer by using them.

Clean the ink cartridge cradle whenever you see ink on it

As I stated earlier, keeping the inside of your printer clean is a prime component of keeping your printer working correctly. One area specific to DeskJet printers that can accumulate dirt and ink is the ink cartridge cradle, where the ink cartridges are placed. Whenever you see any ink or debris in the cradle, you should clean the area with a can of compressed air or an alcohol wipe. Taking a few minutes to do this before a large amount of ink builds up will save you time and aggravation later on.