How to Clean a Laser Printer

Cleaning a laser printer is quite a simple process and easy to follow. With the help of required tools and proper care, cleaning should not be difficult.

It is necessary that one takes enough care to prevent the toner powder from affecting the skin and more importantly entering the lungs at the time of cleaning. Masks that filter fine particles should be used. Use of latex gloves protects the skin from toner powder. Here is some useful information on how to clean a laser printer.

The cleaning activity should not be started without wearing latex gloves and mask. Other tools required for this cleaning activity include the cotton swabs, isopropyl alcohol, toner cloth, toner vacuum, paint brush, etc. Rubbing alcohol that is commonly used for cleaning purpose should not be applied to printers.

The isopropyl alcohol which is 99% pure should be okay for this job; one can also think of using chemicals specially prepared for cleaning cassette tapes, VCR heads, tape drives, etc. A paint brush with soft bristles is also needed for cleaning the laser printer. This type of brush allows to remove toner powder out of the crevices.

A specially made toner cloth is used for attracting and trapping the toner powder. Before using this cloth, the sides have to be stretched a bit. A specially made toner vacuum needs to be used for cleaning laser printers.

Steps in the printer cleaning process are presented here.

• Printer should be turned off and allowed to cool down.
• Cartridge need to be taken out slowly. It should be wiped with the toner cloth.
• Toner powder that gets spilled inside the printer cannot be wiped off. It has to be cleaned by means of toner vacuum.

• A brush with soft bristles is used for cleaning the tight crevices; one should however be careful not to damage thin wires with the brush.
• To avoid any kind of damage to thin wiring of printers, cotton swabs dipped in isopropyl alcohol should be used.

The drum of laser printer is an important component and cleaning it in a timely manner should help in smooth functioning of the printer. The printer should be turned off and unplugged before beginning the clean-up. Using gloves and apron is necessary for protecting you from the toner dust.

User manual should prove to be helpful in the process of opening the printer and taking out the drum. Surface of the drum should be wiped with a microfiber cloth; care should be take to see that this cloth doesn't touch the toner ribbon.

The ribbon should be cleaned with cotton swab and alcohol. Cotton swabs need to be discarded after use. The drum should be allowed to dry completely before putting it back to the printer.

The laser printer should be turned off and allowed to sit for about an hour so that it cools down. Cleaning the fuser immediately after turning off the printer can be dangerous. This is because the fuser cartridge attains a high temperature when the printer is on. Fuser is located on the back side of printer; it can also be present on the left side.

Fuser should be taken out by flipping down the retaining clips; the owner manual provides a step-by-step instructions for properly removing it. The fuser should be placed on a flat surface; a drop cloth should be laid on the surface to prevent it from getting messy, which could happen due to fuser oil leakage.

Wiping the entire area of fuser should help in cleaning it. Vacuum cleaners used for computers should help in cleaning the paper debris around rollers of fusers. These rollers can be accessed by means of knobs present on the printer. After this cleaning activity, a test paper should be used to check if the fuser is working properly.

The tips and instructions on how to clean a laser printer are presented here. These basic instructions on cleaning should help in increasing the life of printers. To do any kind of maintenance work associated with laser printers, call for professional help.