3.8a-b - CompTIA A+ Core 1: Laser Printers

Laser Printer

A printer that uses a laser to produce high-quality prints and fast printing speeds.

Pro of Laser Printer

Very high-quality prints.

Pro #2 of Laser Printer

Fast printing speeds.

Con of Laser Printer

Very complex - has many moving parts, requires on-printer memory, and is messy on the inside.

Laser Printing Process - Processing (step #1)

Sending print data to the printer; building the entire page in memory.

Laser Printing Process - Charging (step #2)

Preparing the drum with a negative electrostatic charge.

Laser Printing Process - Exposing (step #3)

Laser begins writing the image to the imaging drum via a positive charge.

Laser Printing Process - Developing (step #4)

Adding negatively-charged toner to positively-charged areas of the imaging drum.

Laser Printing Process - Transferring (step #5)

Moving the toner from the imaging drum to the paper.

Laser Printing Process - Fusing (step #6)

Applying heat and pressure to melt the toner onto the paper.

Laser Printing Process - Cleaning (step #7)

Removing any excess toner from the imaging drum for successive print cycles.

Fuser Assembly

Component of a laser printer that combines heat and pressure to melt toner onto paper.

Photosensitive Drum

Component that responds to light and creates the electrostatic image for printing.

Transfer Belt

Holds four separate toner cartridges for color prints (cyan, yellow, magenta, black).

Pickup Roller

Feeds a single page into the printer from the paper tray.

Separation Pad

Pulls a single page from the top of the paper tray, preventing multiple sheets from being picked.

Duplexing Assembly

Allows double-sided printing by printing side one and then side two.

Toner Replacement

Replacing the toner involves checking printer messages for low toner, powering down the printer, and substituting the old drum with a new one.

Maintenance kits

Standard kits that usually include replacement feed rollers or fuser units for printer upkeep.

Global page counter

A measurement indicating how many pages have been printed, used to determine when maintenance is required.

Fuser assembly

A part of the printer that gets very hot; caution is needed when working around it during maintenance.

Printer calibration

The process of adjusting the printer to account for different toner cartridges' color densities, which can be automated or manual.

Cleaning agents for printers

Typical cleaning agents include water and isopropyl alcohol (IPA); harsh chemicals should be avoided.

Dust removal methods

Use a damp cloth or a laser-printer-specific vacuum to clean dust and toner from the printer's interior.

IPA

Isopropyl alcohol, commonly used to wipe print rollers clean in printers.