Office printers were thought to be obsolete in the years leading to the rise of the internet and newer technologies. However, this equipment has done the opposite. Office printers have morphed over the years to incorporate new features and technologies that make having them more essential. In fact, most offices that can’t purchase one have leased one. Find more info about printer leasing.
While office printers have become essential for many reasons, it is important to know they come with their issues. Below are the most common office printer issues and how to fix them.
1: Unresponsive Printer
It’s easy to get frustrated and flustered when your printer doesn’t perform the one job it has been purchased for – printing! However, an unresponsive printer could be an issue traced to anything from basic setup to complex troubleshooting.
Start by answering the following questions;
- Is the printer plugged into the socket and turned on?
- Is the printer turned on?
- Does the paper bay have papers in it?
- Are all the necessary cables connected?
- If using wireless technology, confirm that the wireless connection is strong
- Does the printer have ink or toner cartridges in it?
Answering the above question can help you troubleshoot the problem and get the printer working again. You may need to contact a technician if all the questions above are answered, but the printer won’t operate.
2: The Printer Won’t Print
This could be due to an error message on the printing machine or a jammed or stuck paper within the machine. A great way to troubleshoot this problem would be to hit the power button on your printer to reset the machine.
Pressing the power button can sometimes clear any jam or information break between the printer and the connected device. If this doesn’t work, consider checking the printing instructions and be sure you haven’t sent the instruction multiple times.
If unresponsive, check the printer display for any error message. This error message can help you identify the problem point.
3: Bad Print Quality
There are a few things as infuriating as a poor-quality print. Not only have you wasted your time, but you have also wasted paper and other resources in the process. One of the biggest causes of this can be traced to the printer settings. You may likely have selected the wrong print setting, thus encouraging a bad output.
To solve this problem, check that you have used the correct printing paper or printing medium, and ensure that you have selected the right print setting. If both are okay, you may have a problem with the toner or ink.
You may also get misaligned or weird-looking texts, common to inkjet printers. This is common after you’ve changed the cartridge in the printer. Check if the print head is misaligned and correct it for better print outcomes.
4: Streaky, Ugly, or Wet Prints
This problem often points to using the wrong paper type when printing. However, it could also mean you’re using the wrong ink cartridge and print heads – common to people using third-party products for their printers.
You can solve this problem by using the right paper type and ink cartridge. If you can, use the recommended print heads and cartridges.
5: The Print Color Is Different Than The On-screen Color
Sometimes you may find that the stylishster print color is much different from what you processed on-screen. This may sometimes be due to the difference in display between the screen (which is often enhanced) and what the machine can produce (often factory calibrated or due to ink contained in the machine). However, you should expect to get close to 99% accuracy. If you’re not getting close to accurate colors, chances are high that the ink in your printer may be faded or worn.
6: Prints Too Slowly
Slow printing can be annoying. This problem can often be traced to the type of printer you have as well as the type of print job you’re running. Most inkjet printers are known to be notoriously slow with ink drying times. Laser printers are better but also have their issues.
You can also consider the type of print job you’re performing, e.g., duplex printing mode – which uses both sides of the paper- is often slower than printing on one side of the paper.
7: Printing Is Too Expensive
Printers can determine how expensive their printing operation is by calculating how much they spend on toner cartridges. If you’re spending more than expected, printing has become expensive. This problem can be traced to different factors, including;
- The type of printing jobs you’re handling
- Are you performing a duplex or single-side printing?
- Is every page of the document to be printed needed?
- Are the ink cartridges made for the device? Am I using third-party ink cartridges?
The questions above can help you narrow down the problem and save costs on printing.
