Copy Quality Problems When Printing

LINES ON COPIES

Your scanner will most likely have a glass bed as well. Clean this with a glass cleaner to prevent unsightly marks on your copies. To one side of the main glass bed, you may see a small strip of glass known as a “slip glass” perhaps because the documents from the document feeder need to slip across it to be scanned individually. If there is even the slightest mark (sometimes not visible to you in the case of glue) then you will see a line down your copies. Clean the slip glass with a glass cleaner as well before calling out anyone. If there is no slip glass visible then don’t worry, it’s ok, it just doesn’t use one. Remember, if your device has a fax machine, the scanner glass being dirty will send faxes with lines on them.

If your printer is a laser printer/copier this line can be caused by the cartridge or drum. If your machine has a drum and cartridge it would be the drum. If it has just a single cartridge unit then the drum would be an integral part of the cartridge. Read the manual in the problem solving section where it will tell you how to remedy such problems. There will most likely be places also marked in green or blue that you can move in order to clean something. Usually, there would be a handle that you pull out. There would be some type of cleaning pad attached that you may not be able to see, that cleans a roller or wire as you pull it out. If you’ve tried all those things and the line is still there then, if you are shrewd enough to have another cartridge around, install it to see if the line disappears (this is often what the engineer that you called out may do in his elimination process!). If it works you’ve found your problem. If it doesn’t re-package the spare cartridge making sure it’s back in its foil wrapping with as many of the things that you pulled off of it, back on it as possible.

If you have a inkjet or bubble jet printer then feint lines can be cause by the individual print heads located on the cartridges themselves or the combined print head used in machines where the cartridges just store ink with no pint head on them. Print heads are also referred to as “Nozzles” and most inkjet machines have nozzle cleaning programs in them. Some are more effective than others. If your individual cartridges have the “copper coloured” print heads on them then you can try to clean them with an alcohol based cleaner if the cleaning program does not help before replacing them.

POOR COPY QUALITY
Copy quality can be affected by many preventable issues. A common one, for printers and copiers, is damp paper. Paper should be kept in a cool, dry place. Not flung anyhow under the copier. Not only does paper collect moisture from the environment, it also can become malformed if stored incorrectly. Ideally, if your machine takes a full ream, wait until the paper tray is empty before refilling and then empty a fresh ream of paper into the machine. If it does not then try to make sure you keep the paper in its original wrapping as this has protective elements in it (if you purchased a good quality paper). Damp or malformed paper is also a common cause of paper jams too. Of course, poor quality consumables is a common cause of poor copy quality. Ask others who may be using a similar machine to yours for advice on what cartridges they use and their performance. Cheap is not always best and if cheap cartridges leak inside your machine, they could cost you the whole printer.