We meet minutes before an important meeting or printing
out a college paper for the next morning or preparing the report that our boss
urgently demands of us or getting the tickets for the train that we have to
catch in a couple of hours…
And suddenly, everything stops, our team pauses and the always feared (and almost always latent) message appears: ‘Paper jam‘.
You never stop having that threat present. There is never an opportune time for it to happen. And we will not deceive you, it is not possible to prevent this from ever happening to you.
But luckily, there are some little tricks and good practices that you can implement and that will greatly reduce the possibilities.
Printer Jam Types -
Although the message is unique, not all jams are the same, there are different types and origins. You must know how to identify them before trying to reactivate your computer and thus avoid damaging it irreparably.
False alarm: it is very common for our printer to confuse the lack of paper or the fact that there is not enough of it with a “paper jam”. Always check your tray.
Overfeeding: in the middle of the printing process, your equipment can take more than one sheet at a time (multiple feeding). In this case, the system has understood that the thickness or length of what has been fed is greater than that admitted and will give an error -jam-.
Be careful with the grammage: this type of jam occurs if the paper you have chosen has a grammage higher or lower than the limits established by your equipment.
Accordion paper: If your printer returns paper wrinkled, like an accordion, it may be a sign that the fuser is damaged or worn. It’s time for you to call technical support.
Four tricks to avoid traffic jams
To begin with, it is essential that you carry out optimal maintenance of your equipment, for this we invite you to follow the 6 basic tips that we have prepared at Lagom. Regarding traffic jams, we invite you to put the following tips into practice today:
Suitable paper: not all papers are suitable for all printers. Whether you have a laser or ink equipment; printer or multifunction, you must use the specific paper for each of them. Also always check that the paper is in perfect condition, no bent corners, that it is curved or wrinkled.
Respect limits. Each machine has a set paper feed capacity. It is advisable that you always keep it in mind and that you do not exceed it and that it can be too tight and end up producing a paper jam at the entrance.
We already mentioned above the type of jam due to overfeeding. You can prevent them in the future by simply fanning or shaking the paper a little on both sides before putting it in the holder. To finish, give it a little hit.
Cleanliness is
key. Dirt and dust accumulate inside our equipment, it is essential that you
carry out optimal maintenance as this can make it difficult to move the paper
and the work of the rollers, which leads to jams.
