It causes a lot of frustration when an important document fails to print out.  Many computer users have experienced this nightmare, however, with some attention and patience; it’s possible to overcome this and protect the problem from having to incur in future.  Below are some common printer problems and how to ensure they don’t happen once more: –

1. Paper jam

In most cases, paper jam is brought about by poor paper feeding in the printing paper tray.  When paper jam occurs, various nightmare possibilities can happen; the printer may ignore the problem, it may soldier onward, stop at the middle of the job by printing part of the document or the whole paper document is trapped inside the printer.

Whenever paper jam occurs, some printers blink lights while others make some sound as a way of notification.  Some printers will guide the user to locate exactly where the problem occurred.  Below are some basic steps that can be followed to correct paper jam during printing:

• Turn off the printer and allow the fuser to cool down for some time.  This will minimize any cases of trouble with electricity and fuser overheating.
• Open all the printer doors that lead to the paper path.  Open the input tray first then follow the path to the output tray.
• Pull out all sheets of papers and scraps that may be askew or stuck along the printing path ways.  Pull out all scraps papers carefully, one after the other until the trays are clear of paper jam.
• Close all open doors and turn on the printer once more.  If the printer reports any uncorrected paper jam, repeat the process and close all the doors gain.

To get rid of paper jams, users should insert only a specific type of paper in the trays at a time.  After changing papers, tell the printer what type of paper is available on the tray.

2. Loss of power in the middle of printing

When power is lost at the middle of a printjob, printing stops and starts again as soon as the PC and the printer are restarted.  Power loss happens abruptly and without notice; it can cause dangerous nightmares such as power surges.  To avoid this problem, users are advised to use power back up systems that will give them time to turn off the systems and every printjob on the queue.

3. Ink expiry

When a printer toner or cartridge is completely used, printing can not go on.  Many printers signal the user through a pop up window whenever cartridges are almost drying up.  To avoid printing jams, replacement or refilling should be done shortly after seeing the notification.