5.6 Given a scenario, troubleshoot and resolve printer issues.

Question 1

Lines down the printed pages

Answer 1

Lines down the printed page
–Inkjet: Clean print heads
–Laser: Check for scratched photosensitive drum
* Faded prints, blank pages - Low toner or ink
* Double/echo images or speckling
–Laser printer optical drum not cleaned properly
–Ghost or “shadow” from previous drum rotation

Vertical white and black lines on the page. Replace toner cartridge and clean corona wires.

Question 2

Garbled print

Answer 2

• Bad printer driver / wrong model
  –Incorrect page description language
  (PCL or PostScript?)
• Verify the printer functionality
  –Check with a test page
• Bad application
  –Check the output
  –Upgrade the application

Question 3

Toner not fusing to paper

Answer 3

• Laser printer output smudges everywhere
  –Toner sticks to everything
• Toner not fused to the paper
  –Toner should be permanently melted and pressed
  –May not be hot
• Fuser problem - Replace the fuser assembly

Question 4

Paper jams

Answer 4

Careful when removing
–Don’t rip the paper
–Don’t damage internal components
* Paper not feeding or misfeeds multiple pages
–Check the tray
–Pickup rollers are part of a laser printer maintenance kit
* Creased paper
–Problems in the paper path
–Check the paper weight

Question 5

Faded print

Answer 5

Indicates that toner cartridge is just about empty. Could be that ink cartridge is dried out from lack of use. For Dot-matrix printers faded printing means you need to replace the ribbon which is source of ink for that printer type.

Question 6

Incorrect paper size

Answer 6

When a print job is printed on incorrect paper size it means that the wrong paper is loaded into tray, user chose wrong paper size or left it as a default, the printer has incorrect paper tray designations.

You need to specify which type of paper is in each tray.

Question 7

Paper not feeding

Answer 7

Paper is not feeding into the printer. Pickup rollers have hardened and lost their ability to pick up the paper. Replacing rollers usually resolves problem.

In other cases, paper feed senor may be the issue. Designed to tell when printer is out of paper. Try cleaning sensor before replacing it. High humidity can cause paper to not feed properly.

Question 8

Multipage misfeed

Answer 8

When multiple pages are fed at a time rather than a single page. Probelm could also be the paper. Paper feed issues can come from dusty, torn, wrinkled, wet, or folded paper in the tray. Issue may occur when tray is overloaded.

Question 9

Multiple prints pending in queue

Answer 9

Almost as if printer is frozen. Cannot clear or delete print jobs. Best thing to do is restart the print spooler service on the computer that is acting as the print server. All users have to resend their print jobs after this, but printer will be functional again.

• One job may be causing the issue
  –Monitor the queue for details

Question 10

Speckling on printed pages

Answer 10

Faulty ink or toner cartrdige is one reason that ink specks may appear on documents: paper dust and ink particles on the printers internal components can cause this problem. With laser printer ink specks can be caused by a faulty photo conductor unit. Buildup of paper dust and ink particles inside your printer can cause specks on your printed output as well as on blank appaer.

If specks are white the issue could be appropriate paper is not being used, damp paper is being used, drum in toner cartridge is deteriorated.

Question 11

Double/echo images on the print

Answer 11

When you see light images of prepviously printed pages on the current page. Caused by bad erasure lamps or a broken cleaning blade. Replacing toner Cartridge solves second problem. Need to replace erasure lamp to resolve first problem. Usually replacing toner cartridge will resolve problem.

Question 12

Incorrect color settings

Answer 12

• The output colors aren’t the same as the display
  –Important for publishing and color printing
• Calibrate the monitor
  –A third-party calibration tool will help
• Check the paper
  –Bright white paper provides good color representation
• Calibrate the printer
  –The proper amount of ink and toner

Question 13

Grinding noise

Answer 13

Whenever there is a grinding noise when you start the printer or print a job it means there is a carriage stall or a paper jam. Move the clutch actuator and move the arrow to the right of the plastic half gear. Once clutch and arrow are on the right the clutch actuator should move freely.

Question 14

Staple jams

Answer 14

– Larger printers will collate and staple groups of papers– Each printer manufacturer has a different removal
process. Printers hold staples n a stapling mailbox.

1. Press button to release stapling mailbox and slide it away from printer
2. Press the latch to release staple door.
3. Open the stapler door.
4. Lift green tab on the staple cartridge upward and pull staple cartridge out of slot.
5. Lift up small lever at the back of the staple cartridge.
6. Remove the jammed staples from the staple cartrdige.
7. Load new staples and reverse the steps to put the printer page back together.

Question 15

Hole punch

Answer 15

Hole punch system can get jammed if the hole punch waste container used to hold the small pieces punched out of each sheet is full. to empty it:

1. Open the finisher door
2. Slide the hole punch waste container our of the finisher.
3. Dispose of the waste.
4. Insert the emptied hole punch waste container into the printer.

Question 16

Incorrect page orientation