Why servicing your DesignJet now will pay dividends later

06 September 2017

A commitment to regularly service printers is an outlay that some companies embrace - while others wait until a complete cessation of machine life (which normally occurs at the most inconvenient time) until they call out an engineer.

A service includes a full engineering clean*, lubrication, inspection and recalibration which is all designed to limit the downtime on your Designjet and keep it in optimal running order. Regular servicing can double the life of all Designjet parts as follows:

Health & Safety

Part of servicing a printer also includes clearing out dust and debris from the printer regularly. In certain instances lack of servicing and cleaning can lead to arcing, fumes and sparks which may ignite any combustible materials within the printer. In fact our own engineers have seen this happen onsite several times - and the Power Supply Unit is one of the key areas where this is most likely to occur.

As most businesses are aware, not maintaining any electrical equipment can lead to serious health and safety problems including electric shock and fire risks (and fines!!) - which is why businesses today must legally maintain all electrical equipment to the current fire regulations. The problem is that printers can accumulate a lot of dust inside them - which isn’t always visible or expected (you may have seen someone open up your PC and hoover out lots of dust…so it’s the same principle!). The dust source comes from both the paper that you use and general atmospheric dust and debris.

If you don't already ensure that a member of staff regularly performs Preventative maintenance on your printer(s) which is cost effective because it reduces wear and tear on your printer parts AND helps to protect your business and your staff from health and safety risks - then you should engage an outside company to carry out regular servicing either annually or bi-annually (if you don't print that much). Unfortunately the standard PAT testing of all your electrical equipment isn't going to remove the dust accumulation - so it won't help you to avoid all of the health and safety issues if you don’t also maintain your equipment properly.

Minimising Breakdowns

As detailed above, Designjets printers are vulnerable to contamination of dust and debris building up within the machine. We find certain industries or businesses suffer this more than others. Firstly if your working environment isn't as clean as a conventional office - e.g. the Construction/Building/Manufacturing industries or where print volumes are particularly high such as print rooms then you're more likely to require quarterly/6 monthly/annual servicing depending on your print volumes. The higher the dust levels, the more friction and strain on the mechanics which can consequently reduce the lifetime of parts within the plotter.

Dust and debris can also be minimised by our own-brand Dust Covers. Firstly you can cover the printer to reduce atmospheric dust/debris getting into the printer - and secondly you can cover the paper/media to reduce the amount of dust being pulled through the printer.

TIP! Cost Saving option

Services can also be alternated through our different options of Support Contracts. The Support Plus Contract not only covers the machine for unlimited call outs, unlimited labour and spare parts but also includes an Annual Service visit within the price. The Standard Contract offers all of the above excluding the Annual Service. Our customers with lower usage can choose to alternate between the Standard and Support Plus Contracts to make use of the service every other year but still have that peace of mind we are there if anything goes wrong.

If you would like more information on servicing your Designjet please contact Neil Quinby on 01256 783390 or email engineering@hpplotter.co.uk

*An "engineering clean" means the engineer cleans the paper pathways and internal workings of the printer, but it doesn't include cleaning the outside (exterior) of the printer which is more aesthetics and doesn't impact the printers ability to print.