Printers are a necessity in our lives. Whether you’re printing off your latest homework assignment or a map to find the nearest gas station, printers will always be there for us when we need them. But despite that, they can still have some problems from time to time and might even stop working altogether if they aren’t taken care of properly. Fortunately, there are some things you can do to make sure this never happens!
Here is a list of 10 tips and tricks that everyone should know to keep their printer running at its best:
1) Make Sure It Has Enough Ink
Contents
- 1) Make Sure It Has Enough Ink
- 2) Clean The Ink Cartridges At Least Monthly
- 3) Be Careful With Your Printer’s Power Cord
- 4) Use Extra Ink For Photo Prints
- 5) Keep The Printer Out Of Direct Sunlight Or Other Hot Areas
- 6) Turn It Off Whenever You’re Not Using It
- 7) Clean The Printer’s Interior Regularly
- 8) Always Keep It Stored In An Area Where There Is Good Air Circulation
- 9) Always Use It To Its Fullest Potential (Or The Printer Will Fall Behind)
- 10) Clean The Printer’s Touch Screen Or Other Visual Components Regularly
- Conclusion
This one may seem obvious, but it’s worth mentioning all the same because many people don’t think about checking how much ink their printer has. If your printer is constantly running out of ink, it may be that you’re trying to print for too long without any breaks.
2) Clean The Ink Cartridges At Least Monthly
This helps keep them from clogging up and makes sure that the quality of each print job is optimal! However, different models will require different types of cleaning, so be sure to check your instruction manual before doing anything else!
3) Be Careful With Your Printer’s Power Cord
Another thing a lot of people don’t think about when it comes to printers is how much they move around every day. For example, if your Brother office printer is on a desk and you tend to move that desk around every once in a while, it’s going to damage the cord. If this happens, simply replace the power cord with one of longer length!
4) Use Extra Ink For Photo Prints
The extra ink setting might be what you need for printing off some nice pictures but rarely do you need to use it all the time. Rather than doing so whenever possible, stick to using the extra ink setting only when necessary, otherwise, you can end up wasting a lot of ink unnecessarily!
5) Keep The Printer Out Of Direct Sunlight Or Other Hot Areas
Another big one that people tend to ignore is how hot their printers can get. Just like any other electronic device out there, your printer gets hot and chances are you might not even realize it because most models have fans in them that conceal this fact from you. While it’s true that some places will get hotter than others, be sure to keep your printer away from places that will cause it to reach dangerous operating temperatures!
6) Turn It Off Whenever You’re Not Using It
This one is kind of obvious but also worth mentioning if you want to get the most out of your printer. Even though some newer models can stay on for longer, they still have heating elements that can overheat. Unless you have an auto-off mode, it’s best to turn it off when you’re done with it anyway! Just remember to avoid doing so during printing so as not to interrupt the process.
7) Clean The Printer’s Interior Regularly
Another one you may not think about that much is cleaning the inside of your printer. Even though you’re usually only going to see the outside of it, if it’s dirty or dusty enough, some of that mess can end up getting onto your prints! That’s why it’s so important to keep the interior as clean as possible at all times and this doesn’t just apply when replacing the ink cartridges either!
8) Always Keep It Stored In An Area Where There Is Good Air Circulation
Something else you should keep in mind whenever thinking about keeping your printer running is where you store it. For example, storing too many electronics in a small space without any ventilation can lead to problems like a thermal runaway. Basically, the components inside will heat up too fast without any vents or fans, making your printer run erratically! If that happens, there is a chance you might have to replace some parts, which can cost a significant amount.
9) Always Use It To Its Fullest Potential (Or The Printer Will Fall Behind)
This one may sound obvious, but so many people don’t do it until it comes back and bites them in the rear end later on down the road. While we’re not out to say you should use your printer to print off hundreds upon hundreds of pages each day, you need to take care of one thing especially: Do not waste anything! Just because you don’t need to print that many pages doesn’t mean you shouldn’t at least try to make the most of your printer, right?
Because otherwise, once you stop printing for a day or so, it’ll start falling behind and eventually break down from being under-used! So whenever possible, use as much memory or ink in each cycle as you can.
10) Clean The Printer’s Touch Screen Or Other Visual Components Regularly
Just like cleaning the interior of your printer, you need to clean anything outside as well when possible. So whenever you have time, be sure to clean off any smudges on your touch screen. This might seem like a waste of time, but keeping it free from debris will help ensure that it has a long life span! After all, nobody wants to use a touch screen that has who knows how many fingerprints on it!
Conclusion
These are just a few tips and tricks to keep your printer running at its best. There are many more tips out there for you to discover, but these will be a great start to help you get the most out of your printer before deciding to purchase a new one! We hope this guide was helpful.