There are certain common printer error problems that most users face once or twice in the course of using their printer. However, these common printer errors do not always require you to take them to a service center.
Sometimes, you can fix these common printer problems with a few small steps. Below is a list of some of the most common printer problems and what you can do to fix them.
Table of Contents
The printer says it’s out of ink
The printer running out of ink is a basic problem when you use the printer. Every printer in the world today has become modern and comes with a low ink-level warning system.
The low ink warning is designed to give you enough time to get a replacement cartridge because if the ink runs out completely, printing will not continue, and the print will be blurry or blank, which can cause damage to the printer and waste printing paper. Such damage can range from irreversible to extremely expensive to repair.
This means your low toner warnings will start showing up very soon. So, if you just received such a warning, it’s possible that your ink cartridge still has 50% of its original capacity.
It is recommended by the Supplier/Manufacturer to order a new cartridge as soon as this message appears. However, it all depends on your printing frequency. If you print regularly, you should order a replacement immediately, but if you don’t print at all or print at a low frequency, it may take a while longer.
Paper jam
Printer paper jam- This is the most common printer problem.
Print paper jams have many causes, but the most common is paper jammed in the printer’s roller, secondly, the printer’s roller rolls two or more sheets at the same time.
If you experience a lot of paper jams, it’s likely that you have aligned your paper trays correctly or have loaded the trays with too much paper. If the printing paper is not aligned properly, some of the printing paper protrudes, causing you to face the problem of paper jams when printing.
If your printer is rolling too much paper at once, the problem is the quality of the paper. Poor-quality printing papers tend to stick together. So you should buy better quality paper next time.
In case the printing paper is jammed, you have removed the jammed printout from the machine but the machine still emits a warning sound, you cannot continue printing. Stay calm, turn off the printer power, remove the ink cartridge, and check to see if there is any remaining paper and take it out. Be careful not to damage the printer mechanism and print head. Sometimes you have to open the back cover on some printers.
The printer is too slow
The printer’s printing speed, fast or slow, has been calculated and given parameters before being released to the market. However, what if your printer doesn’t even work at normal speed? In other words, what if your printer is slower than it’s rated for?
The first thing you should try if your printer is performing slowly is to switch from a high-quality print setting to a lower-quality print setting.
Another way to solve this common printer problem is to uncheck the automatic duplexing setting. Duplex printing settings will always take time because they require the printer to turn over each sheet of paper being printed.
If the problem you are having is not due to the printer, but due to the connection from the computer to the printer. This problem is easy to detect when you send a print command to the computer, but it takes a while for the printer to print, so check the following issues:
The cable connecting the printer, the printer driver is old or maybe you are installing it incorrectly, please reinstall the latest driver version of the printer.
If you are connecting to the printer via a network connection, check whether the network connection is stable or not. Or you can try restarting the network device to fix the error.
There are also some major cases related to your computer being attacked by a virus, weak computer configuration, or a problem with the computer operating system. In case the computer has a software conflict that causes the print command to fail, try restarting the computer and the printer.
The image of the previous print is overprinted on the next print
Suppose you print 1 print with your printer but when it comes to the next print, you see a small image of the same print appear in the next print.
This common printer problem is called ghosting in the printing industry.
If this happens to your printer, your printer has likely been in use for a long time and some components are having problems.
It also means it now needs replacing. Specifically, this problem occurs when the printer’s ink cartridge or drum is old.
Please replace a genuine cartridge suitable for the printer to ensure the above problem is resolved. If the above situation continues, please bring it to the product’s warranty center for repair or warranty support.
Poor print quality
Poor print quality is also considered a common printer error we face today, poor print quality can make anyone feel uncomfortable.
Poor print quality can occur with text or photo printing.
No matter what problem you’re facing, the first thing you need to check is whether the printer is set up for the best output quality in the settings. Both photo and text printing have settings that produce the highest quality.
Next, you should also check the quality of the paper you are using. Many people choose cheap paper to save on printing costs. This can not only reduce the quality of the print but also cost more than initially expected. In the long run, it will cause more printer errors.
Similarly, if you are using third-party ink cartridges, they could be the culprit for poor print quality. If one of your ink cartridges is running low, that can also cause color deviations and faded prints.
In the case of laser printers, this common printer problem can be caused by too much toner settling in the cartridge. So the solution for you is to take out the cartridge and shake it around.
For inkjet printers, you may want to try cleaning the nozzles and printer heads through your printer’s built-in settings before trying other solutions to clean clogged printer heads.