Humidity and Paper Jams.

[Anakha56]

Morning All,

So we have a huge problem here at where I work. We have recently purchased new printers and as a cost saving measure dropped our 120g A5 paper for a 80g typetek paper. We used to get paper jams with the higher grade paper but it was few and far between now we are getting a lot of paper jams. In order to combat this we have dropped the fuser temperature to the lowest possible temp and I have been loading the paper myself which works and does not work, still getting papar jams.

So how do I fix this problem? Any ideas?

[ghondar]

use the better quality paper, you won't be saving anything if you have lotts of paper jams wich can lead to even
more costier repairs if a piece of paper gets stuck where it's not suppose to.

[KillerByte]

crank up the aircons. If the humidity is affecting your office environment that much then your aircons are not at a decent temperature. 18 - 21 degrees C is optimum.

[Anakha56]

Factory floor has no aircon . 35'C Here in Toti and I am suffering...

@ ghondar Yeah I am trying to tell them that but when one of the managers used to work for Mondi its like hitting your head up against a brick wall...

[KillerByte]

Oh my. You are in Toti fighting against the summer heat and humidity. That is an issue.

Do the printers have to be ont he factory floor? Otherwise have you considered burng the car that belongs to that member of management... with him still inside.

[Stuart]

This is going to sound ridiculous, and tbh I don't know if it will even work for computer printers, but my dad was in the printing industry for 35+ years, and when he had that problem he used to take tinfoil and stick it on the machine. That was, of course, with far bigger printing machines, but we did it here at the office a couple of times with our Risograph and it worked wonders. Again, of course, a Risograph is larger than your average HP LaserJet printer.

It looks ridiculous (although around Christmastime less so! ), but it worked with bigger machines. As I said, I have no clue if it will work with smaller printers, or if you even want to tempt fate with the ridicule you might face from coworkers at such a suggestion.

[Anakha56]

Erm Stu I think I will pass on that one .

I have 2 options which I am currently testing.

1: Paper in plastic bag with Silica Gel packets to absorb humidity.
2: Wooden box with light bulb inside that will keep the temp high and get rid of humidity.

Not sure if either one will work but so far number 1 seems to be working.

[Stuart]

Erm Stu I think I will pass on that one .

That's what I said at first too. As a last resort I tried it. We now have a small box of tinsel stored in the print shop for the rare occasion when it gets too humid around here.

[Prime]

Erm Stu I think I will pass on that one .

I have 2 options which I am currently testing.

1: Paper in plastic bag with Silica Gel packets to absorb humidity.
2: Wooden box with light bulb inside that will keep the temp high and get rid of humidity.

Not sure if either one will work but so far number 1 seems to be working.

going on 1: Packets of silica gel in the paper tray?

Maybe give some to that manager instead of sugar

Is there no setting or adjustment for different types of paper?

[Anakha56]

@ Stu I will suggest it to my boss but the biggest problem I foresee is the covering of the fan vents. So we will need to get handy with scissors the I.T. Tech's least favorite tool...

@ Prime A lot of people have been contemplating the same thing . Also that suggestion is valid, will dig around for more packets just worried about what would happen if the printer picked one up! I know place it outside the guides but still it would funny...

[D3PART3D]

There was once this tip in Popular Mechanics, where you rub a bit of shampoo on the corner of each page.

[Prime]

@ Stu I will suggest it to my boss but the biggest problem I foresee is the covering of the fan vents. So we will need to get handy with scissors the I.T. Tech's least favorite tool...

@ Prime A lot of people have been contemplating the same thing . Also that suggestion is valid, will dig around for more packets just worried about what would happen if the printer picked one up! I know place it outside the guides but still it would funny...

You might has a bugger up or an excuse to send them back under warranty

Anakha, have you checked to see its not a common fault in those printers, like the laserjet 6L and 5L that pull through multiple sheets of paper if the paper is anything less than ideal or misaligned guides?

[Synthesis]

Stick a normal desktop fan in front or behind the printer.

[jee]

One thing that i have found out - keep your paper in a cool dry place. That helped when i was in Scottburgh - Also, before you put the paper in the machine, fan it like you would do with cards. It the paper is not sticking to each other, it will helps.
We also NEVER filled up the paper tray with a full ream of paper... unless you had to do a good number of pages. Its a schlep to add paper all the time, but better than trying to get a tiny piece of paper stuck in the thinnest of openings because the staff member who tried to clear the paper jam themselves just grabbed and pulled...

[Anakha56]

Right so far the problem seems solved.

We were not conditioning the paper correctly. What we were doing was taking the paper out of the aircon office and straight onto the factory floor. By putting them in a plastic bag with these silica gel packets and leaving them to come up to temp and having the silica gel packets absorb the moisture at the same time. If this works then the final plan will be to have the paper stored on line in a perspex box with one of those humidity pills to absorb the moisture.

[Siemens]

In Port Elizabeth we had the same problem, we just kept the paper in its packaging and took it out as we used it. It worked for us.