Get More From Your Cartridge

You can extend the life of your cartridge by lowering the print intensity on your machine. Lighter print means you can print more pages before running out of toner. Run a print test at several intensities to choose the best balance of yield and print quality. Turn on any Econo-Mode (Draft Mode) features your printer may have. This puts about half as much toner onto each page. Therefore this can greatly increase the life of your cartridge.

Proof read and spell check your documents before your print them to save both time and money. If you need to print draft copies use any Econo-Mode feature your printer may have.

When you first get a “toner low” message from your machine there is usually some toner left in the cartridge. So don’t replace it right away. Instead, remove the toner cartridge from the machine and gently rock the cartridge several times front to back to a 45-degree angle. This will allow you to keep printing for a while longer. The number of extra pages will vary. Don’t bother using this tip more than once because doing it again will not give you extra prints.

Does your machine print out a self-test every time you turn it on? If so, check your manual for instructions for how to turn this feature off.

Get More From Your Machine

If you work in an office you most likely leave your printer on all day. And like most offices, your printer may only be active about two hours a day. If this is true for you make sure that any Power-Save features are turned on. This will power down your machine, after a set period of time, and save on your electric bills. Refer to your User Manual for details on your particular machine.

Twice a year you should have a service technician perform a cleaning on your machine. This can give you better print quality and will lengthen the life of your machine. In fact, it could be better for you also. Your machine may be giving of dangerous levels of ozone gas. Its true. Machines with ozone filters help process the gas but it needs to be changed on a regular basis, roughly after one year or 30,000 prints. We replace these ozone filters during machine cleanings.

When you schedule a cleaning, ask us about our SSI Maintenance Programs. Our SSI Maintenance programs can save you money over just a regular cleaning bill.

Each time you replace the toner it's a good time to clean any loose toner from the inside of your machine. First turn off your printer. Then use a clean dry wipe. If your machine utilizes a corona wire use the included tool or a cotton swab to clean the wire.

If you would like help with this procedure please visit our Contact page and e-mail the Service Department.

How To Protect Your Supplies

Supplies are sensitive to temperature. And all drum units, OPC kits, and all-in-one cartridges are sensitive to light. If exposed to sun light, even fluorescent lighting, the photosensitive material can be permanently damaged.

To protect your supplies put the following to practice. Avoid extreme temperature, do not leave supplies in your car during the summer or winter months. Keep supplies stored at room temperatures. Keep supplies out of sunlight and fluorescent lighting. Always store your supplies in anti-static foil bags. Even tape the end of the bag closed.

How To Protect Yourself From Murphy’s Law

Murphy’s Law states that anything that can go wrong will. And when it comes to printers, this law starts to kick in just when you have a report to get out. And to make things even more “fun”, this will happen late Friday afternoon just after the toner place has closed. What do you do now?

Although you can’t do anything to prevent from running out of toner there are a few steps you can do ahead of time to prevent emergency situation. The first ting to do is have a t least one spare toner cartridge to get you through until you can get a replacement. But even more important is call us as soon the toner light comes on.

Using Labels With Your Machine

For the best results run each sheet through your machine only once. This means you will need to print a full sheet each time. If you run a label sheet back through the machine with some labels missing, it causes residue to enter your cartridge and the print quality can suffer.

Using Staples With Your Machine

Do nut run staples through your machine. For some reason a few of our customers run stapled paper back through their machines. This can cause damage to your cartridge and your machine. It’s best to reprint the documents instead

Tips

If you are having a problem with the look of the printing on the paper, try changing your toner cartridge first. 70 % of the printing system is in the cartridge itself. Only 30 % is built in to the printer.

Keep printers out of direct sunlight and away from windows. Paper jamming is more common during weather changes (i.e, beginning of summer, when it starts getting cold, before and after rain storms)

Don't trust any Bozo to clown around with your printer, even if your do love clowns. Static causes jamming and shortens the life of a printer. An inexpensive static spray can eliminate the most of these problems.

Paper can causes the widest variety of problems. Make sure that your paper is within factory specifications for weight. If it says 39 pounds is the max, believe it.

Label sheets are designed to be use only once. You may save a couple of pennies by running the sheets through multiple times, but will it ever be enough to pay for the repair one peeled of label can create?

Shaking your toner cartridge may get you a couple more pages, but do it carefully. Use a gentle rocking motion only.

In the dusty Las Vegas area a printer should be cleaned a minimum of twice a year, more if the printer is in a dirty environment. A compatible cartridge is only as good as the company that stands behind it. Will that company replace the toner and pay for the service call that a defective toner cartridge creates? If not, you should be buying from Systems Supply Inc.

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