How to Maintain an Inkjet Printer
If you own an inkjet printer, it is important to properly maintain it. This is going to extend the life of the printer, and the ink cartridges, ensuring you don’t need to purchase as many replacement ink cartridges, all while extending the life of the printer. This allows you to continue using the printer for longer periods of time. By just following a few simple rules and tips, you can do this task, and none of the tips take a considerable amount of time to perform.
To start, turn off the inkjet printer when not in use. There is no need to have the power running, unless you use the printer at all times of the day. This wears out the motor and internal hardware of the printer faster. Keeping the equipment turned off extends the life of the printer significantly.
Only feed paper meant for the inkjet printer through the equipment. Do not insert thick paper not for use in a printer. This is going to damage the inkjet printer and possibly wear out the paper feed in the printer. Also, if there is a paper jam, do not pull the paper out through the printer. This is going to tear and possibly damage the hardware, and even place spots on the ink drums, so you are no longer able to produce certain colors on the paper when printing documents.
Clean off the tips of the inkjet ink cartridges, if you are receiving smeared ink on the pages. If the printer is not used for an extended period of time the ink generally dries up on the cartridges, causing problems with the printer. Take a wet cotton swab and clean off the dried ink. This allows you to continue using the printer ink cartridge for longer, so you are not throwing away costly printer ink. If you are interested in learning more about how to maintain an inkjet printer, visit about.com for more details.