How To Increase Your Printer’s Lifespan
A normal inkjet printer usually last for about 3 to 4 years before it finally retires, but laser printers generally last a few years longer. But no matter what kind of printer you have or how much longer a printer usually lives if you don’t take all the necessary maintenance you will end up replacing your printer every month. I have here some few tips that will help you maintain your printer in tip top shape for as long as possible.
- Do not force out the paper in case of paper jam. If you force the paper out, that may not only cause damage to your printer but it can also leave bits of torn paper inside which will definitely cause harm later on. To safely remove the paper out, most printers have a hatch at their back that you can easily removed. Once removed, you will be able to gain access on your printers paper wheels there you will see the jammed paper and you can easily get it out without harming your printer.
- Turn off your printer when not in use and avoid from shutting it down improperly. This will help your printer to function at an optimum level. Don’t turn your printer off if you are in a middle of something. Remember to use the printer’s power button and then remove the plug if need be
- Avoid using cheap ink cartridges or cheap toners. Sometimes we are tempted to use either a refilled ink cartridges or compatible cartridges because of their price difference. An original inkjet usually cost at around $30 but a refilled ink normally cost at around $5, Very tempting isn’t it? Those refilled and compatible cartridges may have perform the same function as the original but it would not definitely last long and it can also affect the performance of your printer.
The lifespan of your printer depends on durability of the machine, how much you use it and how well you maintain it. I’m not saying that if you properly take care of your printer it will last forever, as we all know printers like any other machines will eventually fail, but if you do it may be it will last as nearly as forever. Take good care of your printer and it will take care of you, for a much longer time. The monthly duty cycle indicates the maximum number of pages the printer is designed to produce. Buying a printer that has a duty cycle that is two to three times your expected print volume will help ensure its longevity as well.
Lifespan of ink cartridges depends on how often you use and how much you print. Light users might replace their ink two or three times a year, while heavier users may go through cartridges every few months. Me, I replaced my cartridge every 3 to 4 months depending on the printing volume. If you let you printer and cartridge unuse for several months it will dry out as well. You can consult your printer manufacturer to know how many pages your printer can print before it will fail.
Take care of your printer and maybe you will be surprised that your printer is growing old with you 
Happy Printing
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14 Comments
My friend have HP printer i will prefer him to read this post. It will be prove really very helpful for him to improve his printer performance.
I think my printer is about to give way soon and I can deinitely vowge for the tips you mentioned above. My HP model is one of those all-in-one combos, and i’m pretty suprirsed it worked for so long. Hopefuly a new cartridge will do the trick.
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These are very helpful tips for increase the lifespan of printers. Cheap ink cartridge is really affect to printers. Thanks for good tips.
Good tips.
Do you really have to change your ink cartridge so often? I might be better off printing all my stuff at my local print shop.
Cartridges has their lifespan, especially colored cartridges. If you want to save some money buying cartridges you can use continuous ink system but i don’t recommend this system for brand new printers because using CIS voids the warranty of the printer.
Thanks for the tips. I don’t have a good history with printers but I think these tips will help as I usually did the opposite. Any info or suggestions on which printers work best and last longest?
It’s always on how you use and maintain your printer. I’ve only use two brand of printers my computing life… HP and Canon.
if you print often its a better and cheaper option to buy a laser printer. companies don’t make money on printers itself, but on the printer cartridges.
turning of a ink jet printer is also not a very good idea, just because it uses up ink to clean the ink jets every time you turn it back on.
i usually just email stuff to people – way cheaper, faster and i don’t run out of bytes when i have to mail something urgent in the middle of the night
The best printer is still the Panasonic multi mode printer KX series. This printer can last for 10 years or more.
Thanks for the tips. I’m guilty of forcing the paper out if there’s a paper jam.
Really like the post. Hope brother printer resource could assist someone out there.
I was not aware of these printer tips. I know I am often guilty of yanking stuck paper right out of the paper. It’s not always so easy to access the inside of certain printers. I also didn’t know that refilled ink cartridges can be bad for your printer. I assumed they were basically the same thing as a new ink cartridge.
Re: paper jam, I plead guilty to it. I didn’t know it would leave bits of torn paper inside. And about cheap ink cartridges, yes I agree with that. While it would save you a great deal of money now, the damage it will cause eventually could not compensate to the savings you got.
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