What Should Production Teams Check Before Calling an Industrial Printer Engineer?

When an industrial printer stops behaving as it should, the temptation is usually to pick up the phone straight away.

And sometimes that's exactly the right thing to do.

If a printer has stopped working completely, is repeatedly causing production downtime, or is showing a fault you can't resolve, getting an engineer involved quickly can save a lot of frustration.

But there are also times when a few simple checks can tell you a great deal about what's actually happening.

The important thing is knowing what to check – and what not to touch.

You don't want an operator spending half an hour trying random settings, only to make the original problem harder to diagnose.

So, before calling an industrial printer engineer, here are some sensible checks that can help.

First things first: what has actually changed?

This is probably the most useful question you can ask.

What was happening immediately before the problem started?

Did you:

• Change the product?
• Change the packaging?
• Change the ink?
• Increase the line speed?
• Move the printer?
• Adjust the print position?
• Install a new message?
• Change a sensor?
• Carry out cleaning or maintenance?
• Start using a different supplier's packaging?

If something changed shortly before the problem appeared, make a note of it.

It might turn out to be unrelated, but it gives an engineer an important starting point.

Sometimes the most useful piece of troubleshooting information isn't an error code at all.

It's simply:

"It was working perfectly until we changed X."

1. Check the obvious things first

It sounds basic, but it's worth doing.

Is the printer switched on?

Does the display look normal?

Are there any warning messages?

Is the printer actually in the correct operating mode?

Is the emergency stop on the line active?

Has the production line itself stopped?

If the printer appears to be running but isn't printing, check whether the product is actually reaching the point where the printer expects it to be detected.

It sounds obvious, but production environments are busy places. A problem somewhere else on the line can sometimes look like a printer problem.

2. Look at the error or warning message

If the printer is displaying an error, don't ignore it.

And don't immediately clear it either.

Take a photograph of the screen first.

That small step can be incredibly useful.

Modern industrial printers can provide quite specific information about what's happening, and an engineer will often want to know exactly what the machine was reporting before anything was reset.

If there's an error code, write it down.

If the message keeps appearing, make a note of when it happens.

For example:

• Immediately after starting the printer
• Only when production starts
• After running for several hours
• When changing products
• When the line speed increases
• Intermittently throughout the shift

A printer that fails consistently at startup may have a very different problem from one that works for six hours before developing a fault.

3. Check the ink and consumables

If you're using a continuous inkjet printer, check the obvious consumables before assuming there's a major mechanical fault.

Is the ink level where you'd expect it to be?

Is the make-up or solvent level normal?

Has anything recently been replaced?

Are the correct consumables being used for that printer?

And, importantly, has someone accidentally installed the wrong fluid or cartridge?

If a consumable has recently been changed and the printer started behaving differently afterwards, make sure the engineer knows.

Don't keep changing things in an attempt to get the machine working.

Record what has happened and pass that information on.

4. Have a look at the printhead

The printhead is obviously an important part of the coding system, so it's worth checking its general condition.

Look for anything obvious:

• Ink build-up
• Dirt or contamination
• Damage
• Moisture
• A displaced printhead
• Anything obstructing the nozzle area

If the code has suddenly become poor quality, the printhead is one of the areas worth checking.

However, there's a difference between looking at the equipment and trying to repair it.

If you're not trained to carry out the required maintenance, don't start dismantling the printhead because something looks dirty.

You could turn a relatively straightforward issue into a much bigger one.

5. Check the product sensor

This is one of the easiest things to overlook.

If the printer isn't detecting the product correctly, it may appear that the printer itself has failed when the actual issue is with product detection.

Check:

• Is the sensor still in position?
• Is anything blocking it?
• Has its position changed?
• Is the product passing it correctly?
• Has the product shape or size changed?
• Is there enough space between products?

If you're running a different product from normal, the sensor may no longer be seeing it in the way it did previously.

This is particularly relevant when a production line has been changed or adapted.

6. Check the conveyor and line speed

Industrial printers are designed to work with production lines, not independently of them.

If the conveyor speed changes, the coding system needs to be able to keep up.

A change in line speed can affect:

• Code position
• Code spacing
• Print quality
• Product detection
• Encoder settings
• The amount of time available for the ink to dry

So if someone says, "The printer was fine yesterday but the codes are wrong today," it's worth asking whether the line is actually running at the same speed.

It sounds simple.

But production lines don't always stay exactly the same.

7. Check whether the problem affects every product

This is another useful clue.

Is every product affected?

Or is it only certain products?

If every product has the same problem, you're more likely to be looking at an equipment, setup or process issue.

If only certain products are affected, look more closely at what is different about them.

For example:

• Different packaging material
• Different surface finish
• Different product temperature
• Different shape
• Different supplier
• Different production batch

This can help narrow down the cause considerably.

8. Check the message itself

It is surprisingly easy for the printer to be working perfectly while the wrong message has been selected.

Before assuming there's a hardware problem, check:

• Is the correct message selected?
• Is the date correct?
• Is the batch number correct?
• Is the product information correct?
• Has the message layout changed?
• Is the print position correct?
• Is the required barcode or code included?

If the printer is producing a perfectly good code – just not the one you wanted – you've got a very different problem.

9. Take photographs and videos

This is one of the simplest things production teams can do to make technical support more effective.

Take a photograph of:

• The printer display
• The error message
• The printhead
• The printed code
• The product
• The printer's position on the production line

If the problem is intermittent, take a short video if it's safe to do so.

A photograph of a poor-quality code can tell an engineer considerably more than:

"The printing doesn't look right."

And if the problem disappears before the engineer arrives, having evidence of what was happening can be invaluable.

10. Write down when the problem happens

If the fault is intermittent, don't rely on memory.

Make a note.

For example:

10:15 – printer working normally
11:05 – first warning appears
11:20 – codes begin moving position
11:45 – printer stops
12:00 – restarted and appears normal

It might seem excessive at the time, but patterns can emerge surprisingly quickly.

Does it happen after a particular number of hours?

When the line gets faster?

After a product change?

At a certain temperature?

Once an engineer has that information, the troubleshooting process can become much more focused.

What you shouldn't do before calling an engineer

There's also a flip side to troubleshooting.

Knowing when to stop is just as important as knowing what to check.

Avoid randomly changing printer settings, replacing components or dismantling equipment if you don't know what you're doing.

In particular, don't keep resetting the printer and clearing error messages simply because you want the warning to disappear.

The warning is information.

Keep it.

And if the printer is showing signs of a potentially serious fault, stop production if necessary and get appropriate technical support rather than repeatedly restarting the equipment.

The aim isn't to become a printer engineer.

The aim is to give the engineer enough useful information to find the problem faster.

What information should you give the engineer?

When you make the call, try to have the following information available:

Printer

• Make and model
• Approximate age, if known

Problem

• What is happening?
• When did it start?
• Is it constant or intermittent?

Production

• Product being coded
• Packaging/substrate
• Line speed
• Number of shifts
• Whether anything recently changed

Printer

• Error codes
• Warning messages
• Ink/consumable levels
• Recent maintenance

Evidence

• Photographs
• Video, if appropriate
• Examples of affected products

You don't need to know what any of it means.

That's the engineer's job.

But giving them accurate information can save valuable time.

When should you stop troubleshooting and call an engineer?

Some problems are simply not worth trying to resolve yourself.

Call for technical support if:

• The printer repeatedly stops during production.
• The same fault keeps returning.
• You're seeing a fault you don't recognise.
• Print quality has deteriorated significantly.
• The printer is leaking.
• You suspect a component has failed.
• You've already carried out the appropriate basic checks.
• The problem is affecting production or traceability.
• You're unsure whether it is safe to continue running the equipment.

A few minutes spent checking the basics can be useful.

Hours spent experimenting with settings usually aren't.

Good troubleshooting starts with good information

Industrial printer troubleshooting isn't always about knowing the answer.

Quite often, it's about gathering the right clues.

What changed?

When did it start?

Does it happen every time?

Is every product affected?

What is the printer telling you?

And what does the finished code actually look like?

Those details can make a significant difference when an engineer is trying to diagnose a problem.

At Industrial Printer Services, we support manufacturers with industrial coding and printing equipment, including printer servicing, repairs, spare parts, consumables and technical support.

If your printer isn't behaving as it should, don't feel that you need to diagnose the entire problem yourself.

Check what you safely can, record what you've found, and give your engineer as much useful information as possible.

It could make the difference between a quick fix and a much longer investigation.

Need help? Contact us today.