How to Handle Office Copier Maintenance

Copier Maintenance Covers Annual Tasks as Well as Day to Day Tasks

Any type of machinery will require repair and maintenance over its lifespan. This is especially true of an office copier since it's likely to be used on a daily basis by multiple employees.

Some of the most common issues that can lead to copier maintenance include:

• Paper jam. A paper jam may seem like a fact of life in an office copier, but it is most often caused by user error. Frequent paper jams may damage a photocopier's internal components to warrant the need for expensive repair.
• Guzzling ink. A copier may go through ink quickly if it doesn't receive regular care on a routine maintenance schedule. While some models may use more ink than others, tracking ink use can monitor ink guzzling to detect a more serious underlying issue.
• Overheating. The LED panel of a copy machine should display a warning message if a copier is in danger of overheating; a copier that commonly overheats needs immediate attention before causing a building fire to endanger employees and property.

Preventative maintenance is the key to protect copier equipment

One of the best ways to cut down on routine copier maintenance and repair costs is to give your machinery the TLC that it needs each day. A photocopier should be thoroughly cleaned and inspected on a daily basis with a complete internal cleaning at least once per year.

Thorough annual cleaning may include:

• Cleaning paper path
• Cleaning rollers
• Cleaning filters

Daily care and maintenance may include:

• Clear paper jams
• Wipe out internal paper dust
• Remove paper drawers and check for stuck paper
• Close doors and drawers
• Check toner level
• Clean rollers and glass

Depending on the model of copier, you can follow further manufacturer's instructions for daily maintenance in your user manual. Many routine items will require regular care, like changing the toner and ink on schedule and cleaning dust from the machine intermittently.

Understanding your copier maintenance contract agreement

A maintenance service agreement can be purchased as additional protection when buying an office photocopier.

Most maintenance agreements will include regular service checkups based on estimated copy volume; when a higher copy volume is set in an agreement, the per-copy fee will lower automatically. To avoid overspending, it's important to establish your business's average monthly copy volume before entering into a copier service agreement.

If a copy machine experiences a mechanical issue, the maintenance agreement will cover the cost of a service technician to repair the machine. A standard maintenance service agreement should include both preventative and remedial repair tasks like scheduled service calls and unscheduled repair calls. Within a contract, maintenance service should cover the cost of transportation, labor, replacement parts, and other operating supplies.

When service is needed, a manufacturer or vendor can be contacted directly to take advantage of maintenance or repair warranty. Understanding a contract in detail before repair is needed is critical to ensure that all maintenance costs are covered in full.