If you’ve ever worked in an office, or have your own at home, you know how frustrating it can be when your printer lets you down. We put a lot of pressure on these machines, and without the proper maintenance they can develop unseen faults that only a practised eye will spot before something breaks.
With a YouTube video and some fiddling you might be able to fix it yourself, but this comes at the risk of making the problem worse or simply wasting time.
Industrial printers are much more advanced than these office machines, especially if they’re label printers. They are more reliable, capable of churning out thousands of labels per day for months or even years but repairing them isn’t as easy.
Industrial printers need to be serviced and/or repaired by the professionals. However, there are some ways that you can help the process.
Why is My Printer Not Working?
This is a question many printer users find themselves asking. Whether it’s a printer small enough to fit on your kitchen table at home, or over a square metre of machinery installed on your factory floor, often the issues are universal.
The most common is a label jam. When working at full speed, some label printers jam as one of their labels gets stuck. This can be fiddly to fix by hand, especially with larger machines, but it is possible. Just make sure you turn off the machine, so it won’t suddenly spring into action when the jam is removed.
If your industrial label printer needs to be dismantled to access the jam, call in one of our engineers who will handle that for you.
A label printer that is having a lot of printer jams does indicate a bigger mechanical issue, which requires professional maintenance to identify and then repair. Other signs of this include:
- Misaligned Printers
- Inconsistent Media Advancement
- Stuttering or other abnormal mechanical noises
Older machines are more prone to mechanical issues, but brand-new machines can also be affected. Parts can be damaged during transport or installation, and it won’t be immediately obvious if something is broken inside.
Issues with Printer Peripherals
Like all advanced machinery, your label printers are made up of dozens if not hundreds of different parts. Each part has its own ‘shelf-life’, and some wear out faster than others. Your engine, for example, should last for years before it starts to slow down, longer if you have regular servicing. Whereas your print heads and ribbons will wear out sooner. Thankfully these parts are designed to be easily replaceable.
Print heads, when they’re reaching the end of their usefulness, will start to affect the quality of your prints. Streaky text, faded images, inconsistent colours, and visible print lines are all signs that your print head needs replacing. Your business needs every print to be crystal clear, with all relevant information plain to see. So if you see any fading or inconsistency, it’s time to replace your print head.
This is an easy task. As part of your regular servicing agreement, one of the first things our engineers will look at is the print head. If it’s starting to wear, we’ll finish the service and report it to you, so you can arrange a replacement to be fitted. We have a warehouse full of replacement print heads for all industrial printer brands, so can keep your machine running with minimal interruption. And since we found the issue before the prints were affected, you can keep using your machine until the replacement part arrives.
Ink ribbons are also parts that can go wrong. Thermal printers only have a print head, which keeps their systems simpler as a rule, but inkjet printers are still common in many applications. We work with all types of printer, from every brand you can imagine, and always have the expertise and the spare parts needed to fix yours.
If the issues are becoming more frequent, or you want to upgrade your industrial printer to keep up with high demand, we can help you find the best printer for your business.
Issues with Printer Connection
Sometimes your industrial printer will develop an issue that isn’t physical. One day you might arrive at work, turn on your machine, and are greeted by a stubborn blank screen. Most advanced printers will give you fair warning before shutting down, asking for updates or troubleshooting the issue itself.
Like all modern machinery, most industrial label printers require an internet connection and are very reliant on downloaded software. On the one hand, this is great, as your machine can be updated remotely to maximise efficiency and offer new features from the manufacturer. On the other, it’s one other thing to go wrong. But with us in your corner, we’ll keep your printer running at its best and can guide you through the process remotely if you identify the software issue. Sometimes the classic ‘turn it off and on again’ strategy is all that’s needed – and if an expert touch is required, we’ll be on our way as soon as possible.
Printer Maintenance and Servicing
No matter what your business does, often there is a printer at the heart of it. It might be a vital part of your production line, or an office label printer used to print those important shipping labels and receipts.
Keeping your machines running is what we do best. With a service agreement in place, we’ll ensure your printer won’t let you down, and we have all the spare parts and peripherals available only a phone call away.