If You’re Cold –Your Printer May Be Too! How To Survive The Winter And Get Peak Performance From You

Cold temperatures can affect the performance of your printer just as much as static electricity. The following are some handy tips if you and your printer live in an area where you also have a snow blower! When a printer arrives from a cold environment, remove it from the box, remove all shipping materials and avoid turning it on right away; let it sit for about two hours before powering it on. This will allow the printer to come to room temperature and gives any internal condensation that may have developed a chance to evaporate. Static build up in office equipment is a concern every winter for those residing in cold weather climates, as it can have a dramatic effect on print quality. The reason for this is the air in heated rooms and offices can become quite dry. Most printer manuals will tell you that relative humidity of 20-80% is acceptable but 40-60% is probably closer to the mark. If you are in doubt get a humidifier and see the difference that it makes! Since laser printers use static to charge the drum and attract toner from the drum to the paper, the presence of excess static can interfere with the print process, and in some cases cause the following issues:

Light streaks

Dark streaks

Background haze

Faded print

Bold or darker print

Light patches

Dark blotches

Static not only interferes with the print process, it can also damage components when it discharges.

All laser printers are susceptible to static build up.

And, as always if you are having cold weather issues that the tips above can’t solve – call the experts at CLT, Inc. Technical Support. We can triage the problem and get you up and running fast! 800-704-9276

Compliments of “ImagingNow”