Copier maintenance – most office managers know it’s important, yet so many allow their copiers to just keep running without dedicating time to keeping them in good condition. Eventually, the copier starts wearing out, with the minimal maintenance that may have been conducted not being enough to keep it going.

Finally, it breaks down.

Your business ends up having to invest more in a new copier than it would have spent on copier maintenance. Don’t let that happen to you – avoid these five mistakes to keep your copier churning along for longer.

The Cost of Improper Copier Maintenance

According to Statista, the printer and copier market in the U.S. is a billion-dollar industry, generating $1.4 billion annually. The market is also expected to grow to 10.9 million new pieces sold per year by 2029 – great news for those in the industry. However, those high sales are buoyed by offices having to purchase new copiers because they’ve failed to maintain the ones they already have. As such, millions of dollars are spent annually on copiers that companies wouldn’t have needed to buy if they’d avoided the key copier maintenance mistakes.

Then, there are the energy-related costs.

The average copier uses between 12 and 17 watt-hours per sheet. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the average cost of a single kilowatt-hour is $0.178, meaning a watt-hour costs $0.000178. Granted, that seems like a minuscule amount. But multiply that by the thousands of copies your employees make per month and it soon adds up. Here’s where energy efficiency comes into play – a poorly maintained copier requires more energy to print a copy. Degrading components and internal equipment failures combine, raising the cost per copy to the point where it could cost you hundreds of dollars per year. Add the cost of having to buy a new copier when yours finally gives up the ghost and you have clear costs at play – costs you can mitigate with proper copier maintenance.

The Mistakes to Avoid

You don’t want improper copier maintenance to become a monetary burden for your business. You also don’t want to deal with productivity issues – a broken copier brings your people to a standstill. That’s where these mistakes come into play. Avoid them all and your copier will cost less money to operate and last longer.

Mistake 1 – Avoid Harsh Chemicals When Cleaning

Sometimes, the biggest mistakes in copier maintenance can come from an active attempt to keep the copier in good condition. That’s the case when you use harsh chemicals to clean your device – a copier is essentially a collection of delicate components that combine to allow you to copy documents.

Certain types of cleaners, especially those made using ammonia, can damage those components by seeping through the copier’s outer shell. More obvious are issues related to rough scrubbing pads – run those over the copier’s glass enough times and you get a device that struggles to read the documents you want to copy.

Mistake 2 – Ignoring Strange Noises

Hearing noises is part and parcel of using a copier. You’ll hear whirs, lasers scanning, and the light chug of the device as it prints out a document. Eventually, those noises fade into the background as you work, which should make it all the easier to spot strange noises that your copier doesn’t usually make.

Herein lies the mistake – ignoring those noises because the copier still produces documents is dangerous.

An unusual noise is a sign that something’s going wrong with a component of the copier’s internal mechanism. Contact a professional copier maintenance technician as soon as you hear a strange noise – they may be able to save you hundreds of dollars on a replacement.

Mistake 3 – Using the Wrong Paper

Every copier comes with guidelines as to what sort of paper you should use. These extend from size and weight through to specific paper qualities, with the failure to follow these guidelines creating copier maintenance issues in the future.

Let’s take weight as an example.

Your copier may be designed to handle paper that weighs up to 120 grams per square meter (gsm), which is a standard that works well for letterheads and general stationery. However, you want to print flyers, which means you use thicker paper weighing over 130gsm. The copier may still accept the paper – and print onto it – but you’re adding weight that it’s not designed to take. Eventually, its paper mechanisms will start wearing out faster because the copier has to handle heavier paper.

So, avoiding this mistake is simple – follow your technician’s guidance on the weight and type of paper you should use.

Mistake 4 – Ignoring Firmware Updates

Modern copiers run on software that allows them to connect to your network and – in many cases – a business cloud. That means they occasionally need to update themselves, which can be a problem for a busy workplace. Thus, it’s a mistake for the office to ignore the update requests and just keep using the copier.

Why is this problematic?

Your copier needs to complete these updates to shore up security vulnerabilities and ensure it works as efficiently as possible. Without them, compatibility issues can arise and your copier could become a route into your network for hackers and other unscrupulous parties.

Mistake 5 – Lack of Ventilation

This copier maintenance issue is less about what you do with your copier and more about where you put the device. It’s also an easy mistake to make – many people slot copiers in out-of-the-way spaces because they fit well.

“Fit well” is a misnomer here.

Like most electrical devices, copiers heat up when they’re used consistently. If you have yours slotted away in a tight space through which cool air can’t circulate, you create a situation where the copier is liable to overheat. Even if overheating doesn’t stop the copier from working, higher temperatures create more stress on the internal components upon which the copier relies.

Improve Your Copier Maintenance Routine Today

So, how many of these copier maintenance mistakes is your office making?

Thankfully, most are easy to solve. The ventilation issue can usually be fixed by moving the copier, for instance, whereas remaining vigilant of strange noises ensures you track internal problems without having to open the device up. And, of course, having a professional copier maintenance technician available allows you to conduct regular checks to keep the machine running longer.

That’s where Copiers Etcetera comes in.

Not only do we offer maintenance services throughout Mill Creek – and the surrounding areas – but we can help you find a suitable replacement copier if yours ceases to function properly. Contact us online or give us a call at (800) 481-2679 for help with any of your office’s copier needs.