"We need it fixed now" are the five words that laser printer repair technicians
hear most often.
Technology for printers for the home and office has come a long way in
the past few years. But computerized laser printers still require repairs
or maintenance. And when a printer breaks down, it has to be fixed quickly.
"Virtually every machine we work on is essential," says laser printer repair
technician Bob Adzima. "We fix them as soon as possible. Repair is done on
an as-needed basis and most people will postpone a regular expense as long
as possible. So when the machine finally stops working, the repair must be
done as soon as possible."
Most problems are routine and can be diagnosed simply from a description
over the telephone. The real challenges are the jobs that aren't obvious.
They also can be the most frustrating, like Adzima's bout with a particular
brand of laser printer.
"The display panel would notify the user that the fuser unit was bad and
wasn't heating up. From a service perspective, this means simply changing
or rebuilding the fuser unit. But on this particular model, it turned out
that the power supply wasn't energizing the fuser unit. I found this out after
changing the fuser unit with no result, and finally reaching a vendor who
tipped me off to the problem. I replaced the power supply and the machine
worked."
What was supposed to be a simple job for Adzima turned into a frustrating
learning experience. But he wasn't quite finished.
"Over the years, several more of this same model experienced the same problem
with the same fix. As this problem surfaced more and more in the repair industry,
word spread, and soon an article was published that described how to fix the
power supply. A simple solder was all it took. No new parts. No rebuilding
of anything. The problem with the printer model was solved by many people
over a period of time. It made me realize how important it is to read trade
publications regularly."
"Some secretaries are very attached to their printer," says Gaeza Mihaly,
a repair tech and business owner. "They like it when I can fix it quickly
and on the spot." Mihaly's background includes working as a tool and die maker
and a machinist before taking up computer technology and laser printer repair.
"Most of my service calls are basic and take about an hour. The biggest
problem for printers here...is static electricity. It gets really cold and
dry with no humidity in the winter and that harms the printers. You really
have to watch out for static electricity."
Now a master technician, Jeanette Engro started because she needed a part-time
job. "As time went on, I wanted to do more and so I applied to the laser printer
technical program that all new techs...go through. I've always liked working
with my hands and I find I can think problems out very well. It just came
naturally."
Stuart Elflett recalls a few memorable printer jobs while working in Australia
-- "like troubleshooting a dead printer for nearly 30 minutes before we came
to the conclusion that it was turned off at the wall! Or the day we found
a dead mouse in [a printer] that wasn't working and realized that its driver
was dead. Or a customer obliterating a machine with an ozone filter that crumbled
into the power supply as they were changing it."