Frequently asked questions on Printers.
Printers:
What is a Bubble Jet Printer?
Bubble Jet is a trade name of Canon. It is a kind of ink jet printer using
pulsation heat to eject ink out of a row of nozzles to make prints.
What is a laser printer?
A laser printer is using optical principle with a single beam of laser light to
scan an image on an electrostatic optical sensitive drum to attract toner powder
depositing on it. The image is then transferred to paper and fixed by heat.
What is a page printer (LED printer)?
A page printer is using a row of light emitting diodes to sensitize the image
drum. The image is then transferred to paper and fixed by heat.
What kind of printer is more suitable for me?
Laser printer has sharper image because it is using optical principal. However,
it is more expensive to own, especially colour laser. Page printer is less
reliable, but it is cheaper than laser printer. Both kinds are cheap to operate
and have less trouble than ink printer. Maintenance cost is high. Trained skill
is usually required. Maintenance interval is less frequent.
Ink printer has brighter colour, and it is very cheap to purchase, but more
expensive to operate. Ink is difficult to obtain sharp image because liquid is
always spreading out on paper. Special paper is recommended on high
quality job. Ink printer needs more maintenance; they are usually very simple
cleaning job.
Third Party Ink:
What is third party ink?
Third party ink is an after market product manufactured by a non-authorized
third party.
Third party ink is cheaper in price, is its quality as good as original
manufacturer's ink?
Since it is a non-authorized product, its quality is not the same as the
original. The original manufacturer would not recognize these products. You are
using them on your own risk.
My third party ink has specified to be used on the same model of the printer
as I have, would it be save to use on my printer?
Not necessary, third party manufacturers don't do research as much as the
original manufacturer does. Through our experience, we understand many third
party manufacturers do not have any idea on how to manufacture the product.
Their ink does damage the printer.
What kind of problem does the third party ink has?
Most third party ink can dry up in the print head to cause head clog. If you
print with a clogged head, it can overheat and burn the print head. This problem
does not occur if you do lots of printing, that why many people does not
discover the problem until they have refrain from printing for a long period of
time. On certain model of the third party ink products, we have discovered
leaking problem. You could lose all your ink over-night, caused a big mess on
your work desk, cost lot of money to clean up your printer. Some manufacture's
ink can dissolve plastic. They can damage the pump of the printer.
There are some third party ink sold in bottles, they even provide a tool to
make hole on my ink cartridge to refill them, would it save me money to use
them?
Through the experience with our customers, we discovered many people have no
idea on how to refill the ink cartridge. Many people putting too much ink caused
a mess on the printer. If the ink went into the electrical contacts, it could
cause a short circuit. Some unlucky customer lost the printer by burning out the
control circuits. If you have successfully refill the ink cartridge, you may
find out that before you can finish the ink, the print head may have already
clogged or even burned out.
Remanufactured Toner Cartridge:
There are lots of remanufactured toner cartridges in the market, their prices
are much cheaper; is it safe to use them?
Quality control of remanufactured product is irregular. Through our experience
with our customers, we have found people always mistakenly thought their printer
broke down; in fact, it was the remanufactured toner cartridge.
What kind of trouble can I find with the remanufactured toner cartridge?
The most common trouble with a remanufactured toner cartridge is toner leakage.
Leaking toner can make your printer messy. It could cause you lots of money to
clean up. If the toner leaks on the image drum, it could leaves black marks on
the print out. Many people will mistakenly think that they have printer trouble
in this case. Image qualities on remanufactured products are usually poor,
because most manufacturers do not replace the image drum, which usually has only
a life of three thousand prints. The toner grain size, electrical properties,
and volume of toner content of a remanufactured product are usually do not meet
specifications. Therefore, you may have to replace more often.
Taking cares of printers:
How often and how do I clean my ink printer?
Give periodic cleaning on the print platen, rollers, purge unit area, print
head, print head contacts, paper feeder, and case. Manufacturers recommend you
to use alcohol as cleaning solvent. We found water will do the job.
Can I connect/disconnect my printer with my power on?
You must turn off both the printer and the computer before making any connection
or disconnection. Failure to do so may have the risk of permanent damage to
either printer or computer.
What caused my printer does not feed paper properly?
If your printer has attempted to feed paper but retract after first attempt,
then, you may have something blocking the paper channel. Canon printers will
start timing on beginning to feed. If the paper cannot reach the checkpoint
within a fixed period time, then, it will assume a paper jam has occurred.
Through our experience, we have found all kinds of debris people have
accidentally dropped in. If your printer does not attempt to feed paper at all,
then, the print head or ink cartridge could cause it. Your printer would not
attempt to feed paper because there is no means to feed if diagnostic failed.
I have several computers to share a single printer by installing a printer
selection switch. What should I watch out?
You must not change selection when the printer is active. Careless switching
could cause permanent damage. Vice versa is true on using several printers on a
single computer.
Which method is safest to share printer?
Networking is the best method to share printer.
What is a print head?
Print head is the device where printing actually occurs.
How do I take care of my print head?
Print head needs ink for cooling. You should monitor the printing event. Stop
printing right away when running out of ink.
What symptom is a damaged print head?
On a single head machine, you could have improper colour; or no print out at
all; or have error signal; or carriage move to central position on start up; or
some permanent white lines on print out; or even can damage the logic control
board.
Can I replace the print head myself?
Yes, most new models have user replaceable print head. You do not need to bring
in for service.
