Printers And Scanners : Tools To Troubleshooting Problems

7.Tools to troubleshooting printer/scanner problems

The basic tools used when troubleshooting printers or scanners are:

i. Multimeter

Multimeter is used to detect problems with power supply and also to perform resistance tests and then find the cause of problem with the device.

ii. Screw driver

Screw driver is a common tool that every technician uses. There are three types: flat-blade, Phillips and torx. When picking a screw driver it is important to note that the size of the screw driver head should match to the head of the screw. Using small o r large screwdrivers than the head of the screw is useless.

iii. Cleaning solutions

Cleaning solutions are to be used to remove dirt from the printer which may be the cause for some printer problems like lines in the output etc. Printers have self-cleaning utility that is activated through a menu option on the printer itself. It is good to run the cleaning-utility on the printer every time a toner or ink catridge are replaced.

iv. Extension Magnets

Extension magnet looks like a pen, has a magnetic tip which can pick up small objects fallen into unreachable area is one of the useful device for troubleshooting some problems.

v. Test patterns

Printers print test page containing both colors and patterns based on printer's capabilities. Test patterns measure gradients and resolution and letter qualities at various font sizes.

So test patterns can be run on a printer if any issues related to print-quality are experienced.