The Importance of Printer Maintenance

All machines should receive proper care and maintenance to prevent issues or mechanical failures. Similar practices apply to large format printers to ensure the longevity of the machine. Regular printer maintenance can also increase productivity and allow for consistent, high-quality prints.

Cleaning & Inspection Schedule

We recommend that once per month, printers receive a cleaning and thorough inspection. Of course, with a higher printing volume, it would be wise to increase this to twice per month. Additionally, each manufacturer will have its own recommendations for proper care. This can vary from machine to machine, so we recommended checking with the manufacturer or supplier for specific maintenance schedules.

DIY Printer Maintenance Kit for Your Shop

Keeping certain items on hand and building your own shop printer maintenance kit will help in maintaining the performance of your printer. Because they are all in one place, you will save time and effort. Here is a list of suggested items to keep in your maintenance kit:

• Lint-Free Cloths: This is an important supply! Lint-free cloths are the perfect tool to clean areas that accumulate dust and buildup. Your print-heads will thank you.
• Factory Maintenance Fluid or Isopropyl Alcohol: Use factory maintenance fluid to clean the sensitive areas of your machine such as print heads. Isopropyl Alcohol can be a general purpose cleaner for the areas that have contact with media, such as pinch rollers and the print heater.
• Tools: Certain areas of your machine will need to be gently disassembled for small tune-ups. Because of this, keeping these tools in a toolbox can save time during maintenance.
• Small Flashlight: A great tool to have to check the condition of the inside of the printer and locate the areas that need to be cleaned.
• Spare Printer Parts & Inks: Keeping productivity in check! Having backup inks and spare printer parts will keep downtime to a minimum. In our print lab, we always have a full set of inks and a full set of spare printer parts for each of our printers.

Best Practices and Next Steps

Having a printer maintenance regimen will help to keep your printer in the best shape. By creating a printer maintenance schedule and maintenance kit, you and your customers will see improved print quality and dependable results!

Is your printer ready to go? Download Arlon’s ICC Color Profiles and get printing!