In general, you should update your printer maintenance kit every one to two years. However, once every year or once every other year is the bare minimum.
Even if your devices are running fine and you don’t think it’s necessary, it’s wise to perform regular checkups. The last thing you want to happen is to find out that you need a new printer maintenance kit just before the due date of an important print job.
Apart from situations that demand immediate attention, there are regular checkup periods that have been programmed into your printer. The machine will typically notify you when it’s time to conduct printer maintenance.
There are also a few scenarios that create the need for unexpected printer service:
1. If your printer sits for a week or more without being used, the ink nozzles may become clogged. This can occur due to the fact that once an ink cartridge has been inserted into the printer, its seal is broken. Once the cartridge’s seal has been broken, the liquid that the colors are suspended in begins to slowly evaporate. As the liquid evaporates, color particles can drop out of suspension or mix with impurities in the air and form a sludge that clogs the printer’s nozzles. To prevent this from happening, make sure that you print at least one page (color and black) each week.
2. Always keep extra toner cartridges on hand so you can replace empty ones right away. The longer an empty cartridge sits in a printer, the more likely the nozzles are to become clogged.
Regular Printer Service
Most printers have a pre-set limit at which they will notify you of the need for copier service. This timeframe is usually determined by a specific number of pages. For example, your printer might be set to display a printer repair notification after 100,000 pages have been printed.
The notification might read “replace fuser kit” or “perform printer service” or something similar. Obviously, this indicates that it’s time to update your copier maintenance kit. But you don’t always want to wait for this notification.
While your machine will let you know when to perform copier repair on a regular basis, a printer’s programmed schedule isn’t always accurate. The rate at which printer parts degrade or get dirty is never 100 percent predictable.
For this reason, it’s a good idea to keep an eye on your printer’s working parts on a more frequent schedule of your own making. That way, you’ll be less likely to find yourself in a sticky situation. The old excuse of, “my printer wasn’t working,” isn’t acceptable to most clients or bosses.
Fuser Kits or Printer Maintenance Kits?
After reading this, you may have realized that your printer maintenance kit hasn’t been updated in over a year. If that’s the case, you’ll want to get a new one as soon as possible. These kits go by two names – fuser kits and printer maintenance kits.
In reality, there’s not a whole lot of difference between fuser kits and printer maintenance kits. The biggest difference lies in the name, as they tend to include all of the same parts. A maintenance kit should include a new fuser assembly, and a fuser kit should include all the necessary maintenance parts.
The fuser assembly refers to the part of the printer that uses pressure and heat to fuse the toner into the material you’re printing on. The fuser assembly is subject to wear and tear due to the heat and pressure it must endure.
Always Maintain Your Printer Maintenance Kit
In the end, the frequency with which you will need to update your copier maintenance kit depends on how many pages you print on a regular basis. While one to two years is a good general rule, your printer will alert you when it’s time for maintenance based on having printed the predetermined number of pages set by the manufacturer. Remember, a maintenance kit is like an oil change for your printer.
Most printers that are regularly used don’t need much copier service. Even so, it’s better to play it safe and make it a habit to obtain a new printer maintenance kit each year.
Having that kit on hand even if you don’t need it is a lot better than having to tell someone “sorry, I can’t deliver due to printer problems.”
Make sure that you never lose an order, or worse, a customer due to something as simple as keeping your printer maintenance up to date. Should you happen to need printer repair or maintenance, ASE has you covered. Contact our team to order parts, or request a service call.
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