Copier Maintenance to Avoid Paper Jams

When you need to print important, sensitive documents or have a large print run for a major campaign, there are few things more frustrating than discovering that your copier isn’t working. It can feel like falling at the final hurdle. The best way to avoid this kind of mishap is regular copier maintenance, which helps prevent issues before they happen and saves your business money in the long run.

Read on for some of the ways that regular copier maintenance saves money and boosts productivity.

What Is Preventive Copier Maintenance?

Copier maintenance, often referred to as “preventive,” involves a variety of elements:

• Routine cleaning to remove paper dust and other debris from trays and mechanisms, unblocking air vents, and cleaning copier glass to prevent document streaks.
• Inspecting important elements such as rollers and inkjets to ensure they are working as expected, and emptying the waste toner reservoir for quality printing.
• Replacing consumables, such as toner cartridges, at regular intervals (for example, every 2,500 prints) and checking and replacing other essential parts to ensure that they are still within their life and warranty.
• Firmware updates to ensure security is maximized and to troubleshoot common problems, such as connectivity issues.

Contracting an expert third party to handle maintenance is one less thing your team has to worry about, and if you do have issues, help is just a phone call away.

How Copier Maintenance Saves Money

For many businesses, the main reason they don’t invest in copier maintenance is cost, but it will save you money in the long run. It is estimated that regular copier maintenance saves around 33% on overall maintenance and repair costs due to malfunctions. It also improves the lifespan of your copier machines, saving money over time. You are also less likely to have to outsource any printing while waiting for repairs, saving you additional time and money.

If you do a lot of printing or professional print jobs for publication, copier maintenance is essential for peak copier performance. Clean printheads and properly calibrated sensors are essential for print jobs that look perfect every time.

Finally, avoiding paper jams and misprints reduces the amount of paper you use. This matters as U.S. businesses still use 12 trillion sheets of paper each year, while 50% of business waste is composed of paper. Considering it takes five liters of water to produce one piece of A4 paper and 380 gallons of oil for every ton of paper, reducing waste can contribute to your green credentials.

Key Copier Issues Prevented by Maintenance

For businesses primarily concerned about reliability, efficiency, and convenience, regular copier maintenance can help prevent some of the most irritating problems:

Paper Jams

Jams and misfeeds happen when paper dust clogs the mechanisms or rollers that feed the paper need replacing. Regularly cleaning internal components and removing dust and debris from paper trays can do a lot to minimize these problems. Professional maintenance services will also check the room humidity where your copier is located, as excess humidity can cause “static cling,” another common cause of jams.

Poor Quality Printing

Smudged printing and inconsistent color and tone can be caused by dirty internal components, dry ink levels, and the incorrect ink being used in the machine. Copier technicians ensure your machine has high-quality toner and ink and run print tests to prevent ink from drying out. The result is uniform print that is up to standard every time.

Overheating

When your copier overheats, it can just refuse to work or go into power failure. This usually happens when vents are blocked, which restricts airflow. Maintenance will remove dirt and dust from your vents, meaning that your machine is less likely to overheat.

Connectivity Problems

If you are having trouble sending jobs to your printer, it often means that your firmware is out of date or there are issues with the software that are preventing standard connections. Copier technicians regularly check for updates and the reliability of network connections. They will usually catch problems before they affect you.

Do You Need Professional Copier Maintenance?

Unsure whether your business actually needs professional copier maintenance? Do you ever encounter these problems?

• Recurring hardware failures with jammed papers and folded sheets
• Excessive machine vibrations, strange or loud noises, or heat buildup
• Frequent error messages such as “low toner” or “job not found”
• Inconsistent print quality, such as streaks, faded text, or images that aren’t true to color

These are all signs that your copier is not standing up to the challenges of a busy office or is underperforming due to a lack of proper use. Regular maintenance can quickly solve all these issues.

Things You Can Do In-House

Of course, having a maintenance check once a month won’t be enough if you aren’t doing the minimum in-house to treat your copier well. At a minimum, you should be:

• Using high-quality supplies: Cheap paper and counterfeit toner are a false economy, as they are likely to clog your machine and cause issues.
• Load paper correctly: Badly loaded paper causes jams and can damage internal mechanisms through repeated misfeeds. Ensure the right paper goes in the right tray, and paper dust is removed before loading.
• Monitor copier performance: This will help you identify signs of a growing issue before your machine finds itself out of action. Train staff to report issues such as paper jams and error messages, so you can identify patterns before they become problems.

Outsource Copier Maintenance for Maximum Performance & Convenience

In many offices, the copier is a key piece of equipment that everyone believes should “just work.” But they probably don’t have anyone on their team with the time and knowledge to address copier maintenance. For small businesses like this, or large businesses with multiple copiers, outsourcing copier maintenance is often the best option.

This guarantees that an experienced professional is checking your machine regularly, and if you do have issues, you have someone to call to get it sorted fast. With regular copier maintenance, you are much more likely to have a machine that “just works.”

If you are looking for copier maintenance services in the Tulsa area, contact the team at JD Young to see how their flexible service can work for you.