Archive for the ‘Printer Maintenance’ Category

Canon inkjet printers offer exceptional quality and excellent reliability, but some Canons, like the Canon i860 offer something else—an annoying Error 5100. This error indicates that the waste ink absorber is at its maximum capacity. To fix this error, you must clean the waste ink absorber and reset the error message.

What is the waste ink absorber for anyway? The waste ink absorber keeps ink residue off the internal components and printerheads inside the unit, essentially giving users the best, most high quality graphics possible. If it gets too full of ink, your prints will eventually have ink smears on them.

Cleaning the absorber is pretty simple, and all you need to do it is water and a cloth. Open up your printer, and find the waste ink absorber. This will be on the right side of your machine. Once you grab the waste pad, pull it out and remove it from the machine. You should place this on a paper towel or napkin so you don’t make a mess of ink.

Now that you’ve gotten it out, using a cloth or paper towel, clean the compartment that the ink absorber fits into.

Grab your waste toner and head to the sink. You will need to run warm water over the waste absorber pad. While running it under water consistently wring it out to get the excess ink from the pad. When the water turns clear, remove the absorber and wring it out again to get the water out.

Place your pad onto a clean towel or cloth and let it dry completely. Once it’s dry, you can place it back inside.

Now, click the “Resume” button on the printer and hold the “Power” button at the same time. Then, Release the “Resume” button and press it twice. The indicator light should turn from red to green. Release the “Power” button, and then hit the “Resume” button four times. Once you press the “Power” button, the error code will be reset.

If you own a Canon Pixma MX700, you are probably aware that there are quite a few things about it that make it different from all the other models on the market. One of these things that sets it apart is its small bulb, or lamp, placed inside that helps the machine print, scan and copy documents. Just  like any lamp or light in your house or workplace, that little light inside your MX700 will eventually burn out and need replaced.  When this light burns out, your printer will no longer be able to operate.

Don’t get too worried though, just like those lights you have in your home, the bulb inside the MX700 is easy enough to replace. You will only need two objects to get the ball rolling on the replacement—a pair of gloves and a new replacement bulb, which you can find online or in some printing stores near you.

The first thing you need to do is unplug the USB cable between your printer and your computer. Also, turn your printer off. Next, you need to disconnect the power cord from its power outlet, extension cord or surge protector. Once the printer has cooled down completely to room temperature, move the unitto a sturdy surface, like your kitchen table to work.

Open the panel on the top of the machine’s scanner, which should provide access to the glass flatbed scanner. Press on the unlock button on the left side of the scanner.

Now you should put on your rubber gloves, then lift the glass platform until the internal components are exposed. On the left side of the printer, you should be able to see a small bulb. Firmly pull the bulb out of its socket, like you would with any bulb in your home.

Slide the replacement bulb into that vacant space, and make sure you press down until it snaps into place. Put the machine back together, and your printer should work effortlessly. If this doesn’t work, you probably will need to seek care from your manufacturer.

It can get a little daunting owning a printer and trying to figure out what you are supposed to upgrade and when. One thing that often gets overlooked that many times needs to be upgraded is a printer’s firmware.

What is firmware? Firmware is a program that helps printers to function. Though most people tend to mix printer drivers and printer firmware up, these are not the same. Printer drivers are operating system drivers which are stored on a computer’s hard drive. Printer firmware stores itself in the actual printer. The firmware controls the basic functions of a unit. and operates as a layer between the printer and the driver.

Why would you upgrade your firmware? There are a couple reasons. First, upgrading your firmware will improve the overall performance of your printer. It will help it operate faster and more efficiently. It also will fix any firmware or hardware bugs that your manufacturer has fixed on the machine. It can add new features to your printer, and it can even help any compatibility issues your unit may have.

Should I upgrade my firmware? If your printer supports upgrades, you should do it. Check this on your printer’s manufacturer website or by calling them. You want to know exactly which one you should be downloading and know that it works before you install it.

How do you upgrade it? Go to your printer’s manufacturer website and type in your printer’s model. Make sure you are doing this in the “Firmware” section. For Dell, Canon and HP printers, you must go to the “References” link to find this. Once you find your printer and its newest version of firmware, you can easily update the machine by installing the firmware. Restart your computer next, then go to the control panel and click on “Printers and Faxes”. You next need to right click on the printer option “Properties”. To check to make sure the firmware has been installed, click the “About” section and then click “Version”. If your new firmware number is there, the installation was successful.

In order to get a printer operating, you have to have a printer driver installed. What’s a printer driver? You may be wondering that, and that’s pretty common. A driver is a type of software inside your printer which converts whatever data you are trying to print into the correct form that is specific to your Brother TN580 toner printer, for instance. 

If you need to have one, you need to know how to set it up, and installation is pretty simple as long as you follow a few steps. A user’s manual may be able to give you instructions specific to your printer; however, the instructions below should work with the majority of products on the market.

First, click “Start”, followed by “Control Panel”. After that double click on the options “Printers and Faxes” and “Add Printer”. This starts the Add Printer Wizard, a tool you will need to use to setup the driver. When the screen appears, click “Next”.

Next, click the option “Local Printer”. If the checkmark next to “Automatically detect…” is checked, you need to uncheck it. Then click “Next”.

You now need to set up a HP CB435A toner printer port. If you are installing a network printer, choose the printer’s port on the network. For printers that are attached to the computer, click “Use the following port” and click your printer’s name.

You need to install the printer software next so in this box, select the printer you have. If you have a disk that came with your printer, click on the “Have Disk” option. Click “Next”.

Next you need to name your printer, like Xerox 113R00721 toner printer. After you do this, choose whether or not the model in question is going to be your default printer or not.  On the next screen, you need to choose either “Do not share this printer” or “Share”.

The last step is to print a test page; however, this is not imperative but recommended. Click “Finish”, and you are done!

With all products out there on the market there are dos and don’ts that go along with it—this is even true for printers. For solid ink printers there is one major don’t—do not attempt to move your solid ink printer while it is hot.

You may have found a better location for your solid ink printer, or maybe you just want to move it from one edge of the desk to the other, but you need to resist the temptation to slide it over to that other corner or quickly pick it up and move it. This is imperative actually, because your swift little move could damage your solid ink printer.

Under no circumstance should you ever try to move your printer while it is on. If you do this, ink, such as Xerox 108R00727 ink, can spill inside your printer, and that will create a mess you won’t be able to clean up—you will probably need to replace parts inside your printer, like the motherboard or electrical circuits. These parts are not cheap!

When you must move a solid ink printer, turn it off. Give the printer time to power down properly. Once it has cooled down, clean the ink out of the printheads. Then give it about 30 minutes to completely cool off. If you do this, all of the hot ink inside will solidify, meaning it should be like it was originally—not a liquid. Think about a solid ink stick much like a candle. While lit, it melts, but once it cools, all the melted matter hardens and becomes a solid candle again—that’s what an Xerox 108R00605 ink stick, for instance, does too. Before moving the printer, take a look at your waste tray and make sure everything in the waste tray is solid as well. Removing the waste tray might be a good idea.

So what will happen if you do not take the advice, and you move the printer when warm? Most likely the liquid ink, like Xerox 10800669 ink, will move around inside the printer and solidify in places that won’t receive heat when the printer is turned on again. If this happens, your printer will probably either need new parts or need replaced. So take the time to let your printer cool down.

Wireless printers are an exceptional entity to any office or home, no matter the size, and they are as easy to use as any other form of connection. The only real problem for most users, though, is the process of setting a printer up. Though it may seem easy enough to do, setting up a wireless printer can become a real headache if you don’t follow these instructions closely.

If you have a wireless printer, a wireless router and a USB cable, you are ready to go. Also, you need to make sure your computer has a wireless network card, but if it doesn’t they are easy enough to find and install separately. Also, make sure you are using a secure network and router—which most the time is the case. Typically, you will need a password in order to use a network. This keeps people from using your wireless connection without permission.

One thing you should make sure of is that you find a good location for your printer. You should find the best place possible place that will reach the most people possible. Find an optimal position that works for everyone and makes it accessible to the entire office.

If your wireless router and your computer are already synchronized, this will make the process much smoother. If not, turn your computer on and wait for your printer to acknowledge the router. This should only take a few minutes. Once it’s been recognized, you need to install any software that came with your wireless printer onto the computer.

Next, click on the “Start” button, then on the “Control Panel” option. Click on the “Hardware and Sound” option, then on “Printers”. On the toolbar, choose the option “Add a Printer”. After that you need to choose the option “add a network printer”.  Once your computer searches for the printer and recognizes it, you are ready to print! If you are using Windows Vista, it is important that you also activate file and printer sharing. If you need to enable a password, go to the “Network Sharing Center” window, and click on “Password Protected Sharing.”  After that, click on “Turn on Password Protected Sharing” and click “Apply”. This will make it so only those who know the password can use your wireless printer connection.

Like all things, glitches can happen after the network has been set up. To prevent interruptions, try to keep connections to your wireless printer continuously active.

You may be attached to that printer you’ve had sitting in your home office for years, but don’t let the attachment, convenience or comfort of that slow as a slug machine that produces poor quality documents keep you from doing what you ultimately need to do—upgrade your printer. If you think it may be time for you to upgrade your Brother TN350 toner printer, for instance, there are a few things you might want to consider.

Paper tray handling—Many printers give the option of upgrading paper trays or buying additional ones. If your printer has one input tray that can hold 50 sheets, but you print 100 pages at a time, you should purchase larger trays. If the option of expanding isn’t offered, upgrade to a unit that more appropriately fits your needs.

Pages per minute—If your printer is not operating at the same quick speeds it once did, one easy but costly venture could be to upgrade your memory. This can increase the speed all the way up to 50 percent. Meaning if in 2003 it printed at 12 pages per minute, but in the past year has shifted to 6 pages per minute, your increase in memory could get it back to its original 12 pages. However, another thing to consider is what your machine and HP Q3964A toner can produce each minute in comparison to newer models. The Xerox Phaser 850, for instance, has been on the market for years, and can print at 14 pages per minute. The model that replaced it, the ColorQube 8570, produces 40 pages per minute.  In this instance, the smartest decision is to upgrade to a new printer altogether.

Toner cost—If your Dell 310-7945 toner cartridge costs are through the roof, upgrading something about your current machine isn’t going to save you money. However, buying a newer model with more inexpensive toner probably will.

Future needs—If you see your business growing, then upgrading your printer is imperative. You want a printer that will grow with your needs—not hinder you. Purchase a printer that not only fits your needs now but fits your future needs too. Often times, buying a machine with too much memory or power is a better route than buying a machine that will someday need to be replaced too.

When choosing a printer or figuring out your budget, it’s important to understand the cost of maintaining a printer in relation to ink and toner. You may think that the initial price is the most important factor when it comes to budget. However, this is very wrong! The cost per page and cost per month using your ink or HP C9722A toner cartridges is where the bulk of the spending comes from.

How do you calculate cost per page? It is actually very simple. All you need to do is take the price of your ink or toner cartridge and divide that by its page yield. Then, multiply that number by 100. For example lets assume your printer’s Lexmark 64035HA toner has a page yield of 2,500 pages and costs $31.00.  You would take $31.00 and divide by 2,500 pages and come up with the number .0124. Simply multiply that number by 100 and get 1.24. That 1.24 stands for 1.24 cents—or your cost per page.

Another thing you must budget is how many cartridges you will need monthly and their price. In order to figure this out, you need to know how many pages you will print monthly versus how many pages one cartridge will support. Let’s say in an average month, you produce about 24,000 documents, and your toner cartridge lasts 6,000 pages before expiring and costs $12.  In order to figure out how many times you are going to need to replace the Okidata 43459302 toner you need to take the 24,000 pages you produce and divide that by the 6,000 pages your toner is capable of. The answer is 4, meaning you will need to replace your printer toner 4 times each month. You then need to multiply the amount of times it needs replaced—in this case 4—by the price of each toner cartridge. In our example, that means you would take 12 and multiply it by four, which is $48 and the amount you will spend each month on toner.

Understanding your cost of maintenance is a great way to keep your finances straight. They also are a great way to figure out which printer is best for you and your budget before you make a poor purchasing decision that will put you in debt.

When something’s going wrong with your printer, your first instinct might be to clean the printer. You may even do preventative maintenance on it, meaning you clean it every month or every other month. A lot of people, though, don’t think about cleaning what could inevitably be a problem—the HP 15 ink cartridge.  Whether there is a problem or you just want to do preventative maintenance, cleaning your inkjet cartridge is a great idea. It’s simple and can be a lifesaver.

First, cover your workspace with newspaper or saran wrap to ensure you don’t make a mess because usually ink will spill out during the cleaning process. Then, take the cartridge out of the printer and place it onto the clean surface. 

Wet a lint-free or fiberless cloth with de-ionized or vapor distilled water. If you want to use tap, that is fine, but you should know there is a risk of minerals from tap water building up in your print cartridge, which could later cause damage.  Make sure you wring out any excess moisture from your cloth. If there is too much water, water can leak into the printer’s part causing damage. Make sure cloth is damp but not too wet. Use this cloth to wipe the print cartridge down gently. This will remove paper fibers, dust and excess ink from the Canon CLI-36 ink cartridge.

If you haven’t used the cartridge for awhile, clear the nozzles and wipe them down until ink comes out. The water should mix with dried up ink, forcing it out of the nozzle. Next, put the cartridge back into the printer and print a few pages to clear the water and ink mixture out of the printer.

Though this does not need to be done often, it is important to make it a habit every once in awhile. This won’t only keep your inkjet cartridge working, but it will prolong your printer’s life as well. Though you may get a little messy, the results will definitely be worth a little Brother LC51M ink on your fingers. It’s important to look over your user’s manual and make sure that all these instructions coincide with correct usage of your printer.

Inside your printer are a lot of parts and gadgets. One of these parts is your printer drum.  These are expensive, so you are probably not going to want to replace them often. However, you can clean it if needed. You must do so carefully with precision and accuracy, though, so you do not damage your HP C3903A toner printer or hardware.

First, it is suggested that you wear some sort of protective glove when handling your drum. The oil on your hands can actually damage the unit. Also, it’s very important to know that you should not, under any circumstance, use cleaning products on your drum or Brother TN115BK toner cartridge. These will do much more harm than good. Instead, come prepared with a few Q-tips and a few pieces of paper.

Before you do anything, make sure your drum isn’t damaged. If it is, don’t clean it—replace it. Also, you need to consult your user’s manual, because some manufacturers do not want you to attempt to clean a drum. You are going to need to disable your drum, and to do so, remove the clips, which should be attached to the bar that holds the photosensitive drum inside.  The best way to do this is to use a screwdriver—a small precision screwdriver is best. When these are removed, take the pieces underneath out individually and be very gentle. The bar should slide out easily. Now remove the top assembly, which should remove the photosensitive roller. Place the roller on a piece of paper, and use a Q-tip to pull the foamy roller out of the bottom assembly and place that on a piece of paper too.

To clean the main portion of the drum, hold it over a trash can and using a Q-tip, brush it off. A lot of excess HP Q7553X toner should fall out. Continue to brush using your Q-tip until toner is no longer coming out. Next, if your rollers look dirty, try using a piece of clean paper. Just slide it around the rollers until they look clean.

There isn’t a whole lot to cleaning your drum, but you must make sure you are careful and meticulous so you don’t ruin anything like the printheads or Canon L50 toner cartridges.