Why won't your printer print?

Answer 1

After so much paper goes through the rollers they pick up dust and does't stick. Some models you can unplug and then use a q tip soaked in alcohol to clean the roller. Others require you to take them apart to clean. If you have to take it in to get fixed then check out the new ones from a computer store. Sometimes its cheaper to get a new printer than go get yours repaired or cleaned. If you do decide to have it done look really close when they get done and ensure the rollers were cleaned with alcohol. Otherwise they might still have a oil coating on then and that causes them to slip also, especially on photo paper. They will argue in some places that the alcohol will dry out the rubber and it will age and crack. Although this is true I have yet to see a dry, aged or cracked pickup roller, even 15 years in the business. I think that's because it takes longer to age and crack a rubber roller than it does to just wear out the machine.

Answer 2

First check that all the cables are connected correctly, if they are and still not detecting it, try connecting the printer to another port. if it still doesnt detect it, then it could be that the printer is already damaged, you have a virus, or there is hardware conflict.

Answer 3

There may be multiple problems with the printer (or the ink cartridges):

Did you forget to set the printer/picture/document back to print in color? If so, use the software to change it back.

Does the printer have empty ink cartridges? If so, put in fresh ones.

Did you refill the ink cartridges? Use remanufactured ones? If so, then they may be: overfilled, heads/contacts worn out, ink level detector not reset (on some ink cartridges), etc.

Is anything (that's part of the printer or ink cartridges) broken? If so, it may be too broke to work.

Are the ink cartridges expired/dry? If they are expired, some printers say they don't detect them, thus they won't print. If they are dry, then they won't print. Try doing a head cleaning. Either with the printer's software, the printer's head cleaner button, or with cotton swabs and rubbing alcohol.

Did you touch the ink cartridges (where the printer's/ink cartridges instructions) said not to? If so, clean them.

Are the contacts on the ink cartridges/carriages dirty? If so, clean them.

Is the paper loaded/inserted? If not, load/insert the paper.

Are you using the wrong size/weight/amount of the paper? If so, please use the correct size/weight/amount of the paper.

Is the printer communicating with the computer? If not, plug 1 side of the USB Cable into the printer, then plug the other side into the computer.

Is the printer on? If not, turn it on. If this doesn't work, plug it in. Then turn it on.

Does the printer have a paper jam? If so, clear the jam.

Does the printer have objects in it? If so, get the objects out.

Is the printer dirty (on the inside)? If so, clean it.

Answer 4

Your printer may be unplugged, or disconnected (offline), or there may be either a shortage of ink or toner; a failure of the paper feed; or a problem with documents in the printing queue.

If there is no problem with the connection, ink, or paper, you should try a different (known to be working) printer before assuming that the current one is broken. It may be a problem with the data transfer or protocols, in which case no printer will work.

Answer 5

I agree with some of what Jonathn1 says but not all. Yes, the paper input rollers do wear out over time and this can happen in a number of ways. With inkjet printers, this is usually from embedding of wood fibers into the rubber of said rollers. This causes them to lose their "tackiness" and, thus, fail to grab hold of the paper, causing the printer to indicate a misfeed. Yes, a very temporary fix can be to use a Q-tip and alcohol to remove surface dust from the roller but that does not correct the underlying problem of the embedded fibers. The correct solution is to replace the rollers, if possible.

In the case of laser printers, while they have the same issue with embedded fibers, they usually are more robust than their inkjet counterparts and are also designed to be replaced periodically (sometimes for as little as $39 for parts and labor). The way they tend to show wear is by becoming about as smooth as silk. if you can run your finger across the roller and have it not "grab" at you, it is time to change said roller. It should feel somewhat difficult to get your fingertip to glide across the roller's rubber surface.

Most frequently, the rollers in inkjet printers are not replaceable as they are part of the print engine and, as such, it requires replacing the entire engine to accomplish the task. That most often is more expensive than just buying a new printer. This is because inkjet printers are designed to be "disposable" items. They are seen as low-usage technology that are designed to serve the needs of limited printing and, as such, not designed to need (or accept) much in the way of routine maintenance.

If you intend to do more printing than, say, a few hundred pages a year, you might want to consider a laser printer. While it will cost you more to invest in a laser printer in the beginning, you will save money in the long run for a number of reasons. First, toner cartridges do not "dry out" unlike their inkjet cousins. As such, you can depend on the cartridges to work when you need them.

Second, toner cartridges tend to allow higher print volumes per cartridge than inkjets (averages are about 1500 per cartridge for color lasers as compared to about 300 for inkjets).

Third, the cost of the toner cartridges are not that much more than inkjet cartridges and cost even less when you calculate the cost per page. As an example, the color cartridges for my Samsung color laser printer are $39 each (for all four colors of black, cyan, magenta, and yellow). All hold the equivalent of 1500 standard pages of toner. However, unless one does much color printing, the amount of toner used per page can be dramatically less. In my case, the color cartridges tend to last about 5000-6000 pages since they are used very little. The black tends to last about 3000 pages. I use this printer mostly to print invoices. So, the cost for the black cartridge is $39/3000 pages, which is about 1.3 cents per page. For the other colors, the cost is $39/5000 pages (I chose 5000 so as to show the price at the high end of what I tend to experience), which is about 0.78 cents per page. Compared to inkjets that get about 300 pages per $36 cartridge, which is about 12 cents per page, you can see that lasers tend to run much cheaper.

Fourth, when a single color runs out in a common inkjet printer, you have to replace the tri-color cartridge, thus wasting the ink in the other colors that still have plenty of capacity. With more expensive inkjets and with laser printers, each color is its own cartridge and thus you replace only what you need.

Fifth, maintenance on a laser printer is permissible and in many cases fairly easy. However, the need to do so is not all that common unless you are doing a great volume of printing. For example, the image drum in the same color laser printer I mentioned above has an average life of about 50,000 pages. At that point, the manufacturer recommends replacing it to maintain optimal print performance (but if it is still working well, you can choose to ignore that routine maintenance until that is no longer true). Replacing the image drum is quite easy in this model as it just slides out and another unit slides back in, a process that takes under a minute and is not very expensive (less than $100 for the part).

I hope all this information is helpful. If you have any additional questions, feel free to drop me a line and let me know.

Answer 6

just turn off your printer and restart your computer or laptop

Answer 7

If your printer isn't not working, then it is working! Just use it and quit worrying.

Answer 8

Something is broken or mis-configured.