Copier Maintenance in Fort Collins

Fort Collins Copier Maintenance

 

COPIER MAINTENANCE TIPS: A PRACTICAL USER’S GUIDE

This quick little help is not requiring that you buy flashlights or thosands of dollars in parts.  This is designed to help the average user with the average problems.

Configurations:  Are you having “weird” issues like your copier keeps beeping at you and says something like “paper size mismatch”?  If so, you probably have configuration issues.  The first place to look is the application.  You may have your peper set as a letter sheet in your application and then use the driver to try and print in legal.  Making sure everything is set like paper sizes and paper weights to the proper numbers will eliminate the need for about 35% of your service calls.

Paper Jams:  Probably the most common mechanical issue in a copier.  What can cause a paper jam?  Basically there are a few culprits that always seem to be in the mix when you constantly have paper jams.  What are these?

1. Bad pick up rollers in the tray.  If they are really smooth and have trouble getting some friction, you will have problems.  Solution — Replace the rollers (they are usually under $10)
2. Bad paper — Many people try and use the CHEAPEST possible paper and wind up costing themselves an arm and a leg in service calls.  Poor quality recycled paper is probably the biggest culprit in jamming issues stemming from poor paper quality.

How to Address the Jam:

• Make sure your media is within the copier’s specifications.  If it is not, you may cause permanent damage to the copier.
• Always clear jams by pulling the paper in the same direction it was travelling when it jammed.  There are fragile paper sensors which can jammed if the paper is pulled in the opposite direction!
• Finally, be careful to ensure the whole piece is removed.  Leaving paper trails in the machine is like to cause continuous paper jamming!

Print Quality:

Print quality is another issue we get a lot of calls about.  Here are some basics on print quality. 

Initial Information you Should Gather:

1. Which way the paper was travelling through the machine when the problem occurred.
2. Specs of the paper you are using.  We prefer the Grams per Square Meter (gsm) rating.  “Pound” gets confusing because there is index and bond and they are completely different paper thicknesses.
3. What is the nature of the issue?  Knowing how to describe in practical terms helps us have the right part and for you to get as high of quality of service as possible. 

Communications:

Issues of this sort are generally confounding because there is a “where did that job go” problem.  Communications issues are usually one of these issues.

1. The copier is set for the wrong port type.  The copier is set as parallel but connected as a TCP/IP printer
2. The copier has the wrong IP address programmed in (most common problem)
3. The network card is flaky
4. The memory is flaky or bad
5. The firmware has glitches and needs to be reloaded

Basic Trouble Shooting:

With most copier brands, the easiest place to start is by checking settings.  If settings look good, the print cartridge is the next logical place to go.  Swap the cartridge and see if the problem goes away.  If it gets much harder than this, it may be time to get your IT staff or professional repair group involved.

Errors and Messages:

Every manufacturer builds in a set of codes which can give clues as to what problems are happening with your copier.  If it has a fuser overheating, you may get a code like A2… If you see C3 that can mean duplexing motor error.  WRITING DOWN this error and having the make and model number of your printer makes our life much easier and it makes it far easier to get the correct diagnosis the first time. 

Are you looking for Copier Service in Fort Collins?  If you are, we deal with HP, Lexmark, Kyocera and Xerox for copiers.  Unfortunately we do not support other copier brands at this time.