Useful Tips
Tips for Maintaining Your Printer
Our customers in Calgary know that they can rely on us to provide high-quality printing and computer products but our efforts don’t just stop there. We provide useful tips to show you how to work and maintain your printer to ensure it lasts over time. Here are some tips that might prove useful for your printer at home or the office.
Replacing Your Cartridge
The page yield of an ink cartridge or laser toner cartridge is rated usually at 5% coverage. Actual yield varies. Some printers will show the estimated life remaining and the estimated number of pages remaining. It is only an estimate. In some cases, the cartridge would need to be replaced before the ink or toner inside runs out.
Replacing Toner in a Printer or Copier
When your laser printer or copier shows toner low, the cartridge is low but not completely out yet. You should order its replacement as soon as possible. If the printout becomes a little pale or uneven in the meantime, you could take out the cartridge (if possible) and give it a gentle shake (up-and-down as well as side way) to even out the toner powder inside such that it could print a few more pages. Be careful, some toner powder may fall out. Therefore, please do it over scrap paper.
Replacing a Printhead
Never let your ink cartridge run completely dry. The remaining ink in the cartridge helps protect the printhead. Printhead (if replaceable) is expensive. If you need to replace the cartridge, you don't need to take it to us. Just let us know your printer model or cartridge model. You could then put the replacement in as soon as you take the used cartridge out for recycling.
Cleaning the Corona Wires
Most Brother and some Dell, HP and Lexmark laser or LED printers employ a print engine design that separates the drum unit from the toner cartridge in order to keep the operating cost down for the customers. You would usually need to clean the corona wires when you replace the toner cartridge, and you would usually need to reset the drum counter when you replace the drum unit. Please follow the instructions on your printer manual or contact us for more information.
Replacing the OPC Drum
The OPC drum inside the toner cartridge or in the separate assembly unit is light sensitive. If you need to take it out from the printer before you need to replace it for whatever reason, please cover it carefully with paper or cloth.
Protecting Your Printer in the Winter
The weather in Calgary could be very harsh in the winter. When you bring a cartridge indoor, please let the cartridge warm up to room temperature before installing it in your printer. Otherwise, condensation could form inside the cartridge, affecting its operation and print quality. Try to place your printers away from a window or air vent. Any abrupt change in temperature and/or humidity could affect the normal operation of your printer.
Give us a call if you have any questions about how to maintain your printer and other accessories you purchase at thinqINK Computer Supplies.