What Are The Common Issues to Face While Using a Printer?
Only a few years ago, we saw printers only in large offices and commercial spaces; they were too expensive and too big for everyone to be able to afford them personally. However, these days, printers have gotten both smaller and more affordable.
Recently, we can see printers for personal use in homes, home offices and start up businesses. Because they are smaller too, it is not a problem to store away a printer inside a cupboard or on a desk.
With the more extensive use of printers in homes and home offices, we are also hearing a lot of problems faced by the users. There have been a lot of queries by users who are having problems with using their printers properly.
In this article, you can find the answers to some of the most common issues faced by users when using a printer.
What are the common issues to face while using a printer
Issue: The Printer won’t Print.
Solution: The first step would be to check whether the printer is properly connected or not. A printer has to be connected to an electrical power source to operate, and then to a device to be connected to it.
This connection can be made either via Ethernet cable or via USB cable. These connections need to be checked, removed and reattached. If there is no problem with the connections, the printer should ideally work.
Alternatively, if the printer is a wireless model, it has to be connected to the right network. Whatever device you’re using with the printer, both the printer and that device need to be connected to the same device.
Therefore, if you have multiple Internet connections in your home or workplace, make sure that both devices are connected to the same network,
At the same time, the driver of the printer and the right software needs to be installed on the computer or the smart device you are using. If the printer isn’t working suddenly, it could mean that the driver has become corrupted for some reason.
If this is the case, the driver needs to be uninstalled and reinstalled; if an updated version of the driver is available, the newer one should be installed.
All these steps should ideally be enough to make sure the printer is working again.
Issue: The Printer is giving out a “Low Ink” Warning, but it is still printing.
Solution: A “low ink capacity” warning sign from a printer doesn’t necessarily mean that the printer is completely out of ink. A warning indicates that the ink level is low and might need replacement in the near future, not immediately.
All printers come with a particular level of ink capacity that the printer considers to be low. This level varies from model to model and brand to brand.
In some models, you might be able to print out dozens of documents even after the “low ink level” is indicated; in other models, more.
In most brands, the warning sign flashes when the ink level reaches a critical level, not when the ink is completely finished. It will still give the user plenty of time to order another batch of ink and await their arrival.
With a new printer, it is a good idea to check exactly how many documents the user can print after the warning sign is first seen, the first time. This will give the user an idea of their ink level their printer considers to be critical, so that they can be better ready the next time.
Issue: Printing via Wi-Fi Connection takes too long.
Solution: If you are using a wireless, Wi-Fi enabled printer and it takes too long to work, try bringing the printer close to the Wi-Fi router. This should significantly reduce the printing time. The further the printer is from the Internet source, the longer it would take the machine to operate.
If it is not possible to place the printer closer to the Wi-Fi router, you can use a different network connection for the printer and the device you are connecting to the printer, or you can add a Wireless Extender or a Repeater in the house halfway between the printer and the Wi-Fi router to increase the performance of the printer.
Issue: The Printer is too Slow
Solution: All printers are different when it comes to performance speed; there are some models that are slower than the rest of the models. However, there are some ways to increase the performance speed of the printer if it seems too slow.
Avoiding duplex printing, i.e. printing on both sides of the paper can increase the speed of the printer. When you are printing on both sides, the printer has to flip the paper to print on either side, which takes time. If you are in a hurry, simply choose to print on one side of the paper and the time needed would be lower.
Issue: There are a lot of Paper Jams in the Printer
Solution: Paper jams aren’t very common, but they can nevertheless happen sometimes. In fact, paper jams have reduced significantly over the years.
The most common reason behind a paper jam is when the user has misaligned the papers in the paper tray. It is an important way to avoid paper jams, but sometimes – especially if we are in a hurry – we can misalign the sheets.
It is important to stack the papers together to see that they are all squared off, and that not a single corner is protruding, or that a sheet is horizontal instead of vertical. Checking the paper before loading the paper tray can be a foolproof way to make sure there are no paper jams.
Issue: Multiple Sheets are Drawn for a Single Print
Solution: This problem also occurs when the papers haven’t been aligned properly. If two or more sheets are glued together, attached together, or if the corners are joined together.
If the user checks the whole bundle of sheet well before placing the paper on the paper tray, multiple sheets won’t be drawn in by the printer.
Issue: The Print Quality is Declining
Solution: If the printing quality of your printer has suddenly declined, check if the printer has been set to the highest quality option available. Both for printing text and photo, every printer has a highest quality setting that is very important to follow.
The quality of the paper matters, as well. Using a poor quality paper won’t jut hamper the print quality, but will also use up more ink than necessary. It is very important that the highest quality of paper in affordable pricing is used when printing out important documents.
It is also important to use the ink from the same manufacturer of the printer. Although third party ink cartridges fit into most printers, their quality of printing isn’t the same.
Therefore, if you are not getting the highest quality of printing your printer can make, it can be because of the ink or the paper, or the setting of the printer.
There you have it, all the common problems you can face with a printer, and their solutions. Printers are smart machines these days, and they don’t give the user a lot of trouble.
However, when you are using a machine, there will definitely be a few troubleshooting to deal with but they can be solved very easily these days.
