Even though many of today’s files are stored digitally, having a printer at home is still extremely beneficial. You can use it to print out everything from tax documents and concert tickets to coupons and photos.
Although modern-day printers are relatively affordable, it is still important to take good care of them. The better job you do of maintaining your printer, the longer it will last, allowing you to get more use out of your investment. These simple maintenance tips for home printers should help keep your current printer in great shape for a long time to come:
1. Periodically dust your printer. Over time, dust can not only accumulate on the surface of your printer but it also can find its way into the printer itself. If the dust accumulation gets severe enough, it can interfere with the printer’s ability to function, resulting in problems like paper jams or poor print quality. To avoid problems, purchase a can of compressed air. Every couple of weeks, unplug your printer, open it up, and use the air to blow any dust out of the inside. Finish by dusting off the outside of the printer with a microfiber cloth to keep it looking and functioning its best.
2. Use your printer regularly. If you leave your printer sitting too long without using it, the ink can dry out, clogging the nozzles. This problem is simple to avoid. All that you need to do is print a document at least every couple of weeks to keep the ink from drying out.
3. Clean the print heads. If you start to notice streaks or lines on the documents and photos that you print, your print heads most likely need cleaning. Read the user manual that came along with your printer to learn how to clean them on your machine. Usually, there is a built-in setting that you can use that will automatically clean the print heads. After they have been cleaned, print out a test document to make sure that the problem was fixed. Depending on the severity of the problem, you may need to clean them several times before the streaking or other printing issues go away.
4. Choose high-quality ink cartridges. When the time comes to buy new ink for your printer, invest in high-quality cartridges. That doesn’t necessarily mean that you have to buy cartridges directly from the manufacturer. If you want to save money, you can buy compatible cartridges. Just make sure that you buy them from a reputable dealer.
It doesn’t take a lot of time to follow these maintenance tips for home printers. In fact, all of these steps are quite easy to complete – especially when you consider how much longer they can help your printer last.
If you are like most people, the hardest part of maintaining your printer is probably remembering to do it. Life is so busy that it can be hard to keep track of everything that you need to do. To ensure that you stay on top of printer maintenance, consider setting an alert through Google Calendar or a similar program to automatically remind you to clean your printer on a regular basis.
