Cold temperatures can have an effect on the performance and lifespan of your printer if the right precautions aren’t taken. The temperature change can also have a negative effect on your ink and toner cartridges. With such an important investment and such a vital component of your organization’s productivity at stake, it’s crucial that you take the necessary steps to protect your equipment from temperature changes. Keep reading for tips to protect your print devices from the cold.

Stock Up on Supplies

The inner workings of a printer are all sensitive to static and prone to leak during the colder months, which can hurt other parts of your equipment. Invest in these supplies in bulk ahead of time in order to protect your cartridges and your machine. Keep the spare supplies close to the device so that you can keep an eye on the temperature effectively. Make sure you don’t crowd your device. Give it room to “breathe” so to speak in order to prevent overheating.

Use Anti-Static Wipes

While performing basic regular maintenance on your equipment, be sure to clean the panels with anti-static wipes. Static build up can have an awful effect on the quality of your documents, causing streaks, hazy backgrounds, blotches, and more undesirable affects. It can also damage parts of the device and, unfortunately, all printers can fall victim to extreme static buildup. By wiping the inner and outer panels of the machine with anti-static wipes, you will be protecting your printer’s parts from harm and maintaining the quality of your prints throughout the cold. Take some wisdom from printing press operators and rub fabric softener sheets on paper before feeding it through to printer to eliminate excess static.

Print in Bulk

The name of the game during the colder months is energy conservation. Laser printers require a lot of heat to operate, hence the lengthy warmup process. During the colder months, you will find that your printer needs a lot more energy and heat to operate than usual. With that being said, you should try to get all of your printing jobs done at one time to take advantage of your printer’s warmup process while it’s already up and running. This will save both time and energy.

Store Supplies Safely

When storing your supplies, you should make it a goal to stock them at room temperature. A common mistake is investing in bulk amounts of cartridges before stocking them in an area where they’re more likely to become frozen or dried up before they can be used. While this may not cause damage to the ink itself, a frozen cartridge could pose a threat to your printer.

 If you anticipate that your printer or its supplies will be exposed to worrisome temperatures, it’s important to take the proper precautions to sustain the lifetime and operation of the machine. If you suspect that anything has gone wrong or that your equipment has become damaged, contact a technician as soon as possible.

Printer technicians giving you the cold shoulder? Reach out today to learn more about our managed print services and how our team of experts will never leave you in the cold.