Printer Cleanup
Jul. 20th, 2022 12:50 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
kevin_standleeWhile we were at Tonopah, the large-format printer we bought for and took to the convention developed an ink leak. While it was unsightly, it did not seem to affect the actual printing, nor did it spread after the initial blotch appeared. Not wanting to accidentally disable the printer during the convention as we had no backup for it, we left it alone. Once we got it home, we left it in its packaging until we could find an opportunity to clean it up and investigate further. We did not want to do the cleanup indoors lest we spill ink onto the carpet, but doing any outside work was made difficult first by temperatures around 40°C, then by days with thunderstorms. Yesterday, we finally had a window where it wasn't quite so hot (only 35&;deg;C) and rain was not expected, so we took a shot at cleaning things up.
Because of the printer's weight and because (believe it or not) the easiest way to get it in and out of its original packaging (which we saved) was in the large plastic bag with handles in which it originally came, the ink leak didn't spill onto anything in Tonopah. It would have been bad if it had leaked onto the hotel's carpet. We kept the plastic bag on the printer and put paper towels around the area where the wet ink was and crossed our fingers.
Lisa and I carried the printer outside in its original box to the back patio, where she had laid down some pieces of cardboard. We lifted it out of its box and gingerly removed the plastic bag. There was definitely a bunch of ink all over the outside of the printer.
Opening the printer up as much as we could without disassembling it, we found some more ink inside, but as it happens, since we never used the lower paper tray, there doesn't appear to have been a way for the ink to get onto any of the documents we printed. Whatever ink leaked stopped doing so after a while, or else there would have been a whole lot more ink involved. We speculate that there might have been a defective cartridge, and when it ran out of ink and we replaced it, the leak stopped.
Lisa used paint brush cleaner and paper towels to wipe the ink off the printer. This removed most of the ink, but also left behind a sort of greenish stain behind. Ironically, it made the various notices molded into the printer frame easier to see, because the ink got into them.
Lisa carefully wiped off as much ink as she could from where she could find it, including underneath the printer.
She and I got most of the ink out of the plastic bag in which the printer is wrapped for packaging. We put these paper towels in the bottom of the bag before returning the printer to the bag and the bagged printer to its packaging. That way if we're wrong and there is still leaking ink inside, it will, we hope, be sopped up by the towels.
We returned the printer (in its box) to the house. We are not going to take it back out again until Lisa works out how she wants it to sit for some testing to make sure there is not a long-term problem. Maybe we'll put some newspapers under it where it sits on a desk.
If the leak returns, the printer should be under warranty and we'll try to replace it. Otherwise, it's just a little ink-stained, and as long as it works, we're okay with that.
Because of the printer's weight and because (believe it or not) the easiest way to get it in and out of its original packaging (which we saved) was in the large plastic bag with handles in which it originally came, the ink leak didn't spill onto anything in Tonopah. It would have been bad if it had leaked onto the hotel's carpet. We kept the plastic bag on the printer and put paper towels around the area where the wet ink was and crossed our fingers.
Lisa and I carried the printer outside in its original box to the back patio, where she had laid down some pieces of cardboard. We lifted it out of its box and gingerly removed the plastic bag. There was definitely a bunch of ink all over the outside of the printer.
Opening the printer up as much as we could without disassembling it, we found some more ink inside, but as it happens, since we never used the lower paper tray, there doesn't appear to have been a way for the ink to get onto any of the documents we printed. Whatever ink leaked stopped doing so after a while, or else there would have been a whole lot more ink involved. We speculate that there might have been a defective cartridge, and when it ran out of ink and we replaced it, the leak stopped.
Lisa used paint brush cleaner and paper towels to wipe the ink off the printer. This removed most of the ink, but also left behind a sort of greenish stain behind. Ironically, it made the various notices molded into the printer frame easier to see, because the ink got into them.
Lisa carefully wiped off as much ink as she could from where she could find it, including underneath the printer.
She and I got most of the ink out of the plastic bag in which the printer is wrapped for packaging. We put these paper towels in the bottom of the bag before returning the printer to the bag and the bagged printer to its packaging. That way if we're wrong and there is still leaking ink inside, it will, we hope, be sopped up by the towels.
We returned the printer (in its box) to the house. We are not going to take it back out again until Lisa works out how she wants it to sit for some testing to make sure there is not a long-term problem. Maybe we'll put some newspapers under it where it sits on a desk.
If the leak returns, the printer should be under warranty and we'll try to replace it. Otherwise, it's just a little ink-stained, and as long as it works, we're okay with that.
no subject
Date: 2022-07-21 12:39 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2022-07-21 01:44 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2022-07-22 12:21 am (UTC)I've also had a leaky toner cartridge once. That was a nasty cleanup.