Level 2 - printer maintenance and troubleshooting

Laser printer components (6)

Imaging drum - draw image onto drum using laser, then transfer toner to paper

Fuser assembly - applies heat and pressure to melt toner powder, permanently bind toner to paper

Transfer belt and roller - 4 different toner cartridges hold colors for laser, which are then transferred to the roller

Pickup rollers - pickup page one at a time

Separation pad - pull only the top sheet

Duplexing assembly - mechanism that allows double-sided printing

Laser printing steps (7)

Processing - build the entire page in memory

Charging - prepare drum with negative charge

Exposing - write image with lasers

Developing - add toner to the charged areas of the imaging drum

Transferring - move toner from the drum to paper

Fusing - heat and pressure to bind permanently

Cleaning - remove excess toner

Laser printer maintenance

Replace toner cartridge - power down printer first, toner is sensitive to light

Fuser units - should have extra in maintenance kits, VERY HOT

Printer calibration - adjust density of toner to have accurate colors

Cleaning - use damp cloth outside, use antistatic cloth inside, NO vacuum or compressed air

Inkjet printer components (4)

Ink cartridge - CMYK

Print head

Feed rollers - for paper, duplexing possible

Carriage and belt - move ink cartridge over paper

Inkjet maintenance

Clean print heat - clogs

Replace ink cartridge

Calibration - make sure nozzles are aligned to paper properly, allows crisp lines and no overlap

Clear paper jams

Thermal printer components (3)

Feed assembly - pulls paper

Heating element

Thermal paper - like receipts

Thermal maintenance

Replace thermal paper - very specific type, has difference sizes

Clean heating element - gentle swab with isopropyl alcohol

Remove debris - use damp cloth or antistatic vacuum

Impact printer components (3)

Print head - has pins that hit the paper

Ribbon

Tractor feed - paper has holes that are used to pull continuously

Impact maintenance

Ribbon replacement - when ink is too light

Print head replacement - gets hot

Paper replacement - hole alignment must be perfect

3D printer types (2)

Filament - prints layer by layer from bottom up
Less mess

Resin - hardened using UV light from top down
More mess, resin is hazardous
Prints are more detailed

General best practice?

Print a test page

Use built-in diagnostic tools

Issue: lines down the page

Inkjet - clean print head

Laser - replace drum, check for scratches

Issue: faded print

Low toner or ink

Issue: Double/echo images

Laser drum not cleaned properly

‘echo’ from the previous drum rotation

Issue: bad printer driver

Incorrect page description language

PCL or PostScript?

Print application not updated

Issue: toner not sticking to paper

replace fuser assembly

fuser may not be hot enough

Issue: incorrect paper size

Check letter vs legal size printing

Check tray selection

Issue: paper jam

Check paper tray or pickup roller

Check paper weight

Issue: Multiple prints pending in queue

Check printer app logs - find problematic print job

Issue: Incorrect color settings

Calibrate monitor

Check paper type

Calibrate printer ink or toner levels

Issue: grinding noise

Paper jam

Or mechanical issue - check manufacturer info

Finishing issues

Occur after ink or toner is applied

Ex: collate, binding, stapling function, incorrect hold punch

May need driver update

Issue: incorrect page orientation

Check settings: landscape vs portrait

May need driver update