Printer Management

Patron printers

We have one black and white patron printer. The old color printer is out of commission and was unmaintainable.

The black and white printer is a Brother HL-2070N:

http://www.brother-usa.com/printer/modeldetail.aspx?ProductID=HL2070N

We also have a backup printer in case the black and white goes out. Click here for instructions in using the backup when needed.

Click here for a video summarizing some troubleshooting hints for the black and white public printer.

If a patron is trying to print, and nothing is coming out, the first thing to try is to do a test print from another computer (such as one of those near the printer). If that comes out of the printer fine, that indicates that there is something wrong with the computer the patron is printing from, rather than the printer itself. Typically, that is because the computer is not properly connected to the network. One thing to try if you encounter that situation and the computer is one that goes online (not a word-processor) is to go to internet explorer and see if it can pull up a web page. If not, that is the problem, and the patron should save their document to a disc, print it from another printer, and we should restart the printer with the connection problem so hopefully it will reconnect properly.

Also, sometimes the patron doesn't understand all the steps that they need to go through on the computer to print the document. Work with the patron and make sure that they go through all the steps to print the document (usually File-Print, select black&white, hit OK), and then see if it prints out correctly.

If the test print doesn't work, have a look at the lights on the printer.

The paper light indicates one of three things:

1. The paper is out. Replace the paper.
2. Paper is jammed. Unjam the paper carefully.
3. Someone has managed to send a job to "manual feed" (the slit on the front of the printer). We try to stop this from happening, but sometimes it does. The paper then needs to be fed a sheet at a time through that slit.

The drum light, from a practical standpoint, is meaningless either way. It's always on with this model of printer. It neither indicates that the drum is bad, nor that it is good. If there are persistent dark lines on printed pages, that indicates it's probably time for a new drum. Try replacing the drum. If that works, great. If not, seek IT help.

The toner light indicates that toner is out. This is more accurate, but it may be a "cry wolf" things as well. Try taking out the toner, shaking it very firmly for about a minute, and putting it back in. If you have to do this more than once or twice, it is indeed time to replace the toner, so please do so.

When you replace the toner or the drum, put the old unit in the box that you got the new unit from, along with all the paperwork that went with it, and put the box on the IT person's desk. This will ensure that they order a new backup and recycle the old one.

If you are having problems with paper jams in the printer, completely clear the paper path first. Remove the paper tray, the toner/drum unit, open the back door of the printer, and carefully pull out any jammed pages, taking care not to rip them and/or leave any paper scraps inside the printer. Separate the toner/drum unit and put it back together and in. Carefully click everything back into place and close everything. Hit the "Go" button. Then see if it prints anything, and , if not, try another test print.

As a last resort, if test prints don't work, and clearing the paper path doesn't work, try turning the printer off for about 30 seconds, using the switch on the side, and then turn it back on. Then do another test print if nothing comes out. This may work if a print job has been sent to the memory of the printer and gotten messed up there, blocking the queue for other jobs.

Another relatively common issue is people printing very long jobs accidentally. In this situation, we need to do the following:

• Pull out the paper tray for the printer, so as to stop the printing hopefully without creating a jam.
• MAKE SURE to find out from the patron what computer he/she was using. RESTART that computer before proceeding.
• Turn off the printer using the power switch on the side.
• Wait 30 seconds.
• Turn the printer back on.

Note: this may also result in other print jobs being messed up or deleted. One will need to deal with that, perhaps by asking patrons if they are printing, and to not do so for five minutes, if that's possible.

Replacing Toner

The toner cartridges need to be replaced periodically. The main black & white printer uses model Brother TN-350 toner cartridges. They usually come in blue boxes, but that won't necessarily be true if we use 3rd-party replacements. To replace the cartridge, you have to remove the entire imaging apparatus, and then take the old toner cartridge out of that. Then insert the new cartridge, and put the whole thing back into the printer.

Notes on the old color printer (outdated)

Staff printers

(Notes to be added)