Should you turn off your Epson printer when not in use? Have you ever wondered if turning off or leaving your printer on for a long period time has an impact on the machine? There’s a lot of talks on whether printers left on or off for a long time causes the printheads to become clogged and also consuming a lot of energy when left on for a long periods of time. Printer users can be unsure of which is the best option (whether they should turn off their Epson printers or not).
We’ll, in this article we will clear the air on which is best, whether you should turn off your Epson printers or not. This article also serves to provide guidance on all kinds of printers, and not just for Epson printers alone. Here, we will not only answer the question, but also let readers know of the reason, or the logic behind this thinking. So do read on...Also read How would you know if you need a new printhead.
Should I turn off my Epson printer when not in use?
The answer to your question is no, it is not necessary to have the printer off when not used overnight, and here’s why. So, in simple terms, it is not necessary to turn of your Epson printer, but it won’t break if it is turned off. Now if you are concerned about power usage of the printer during the time that it is turned on, printers have sleep mode that allows it to draw tiny amount of power, sufficient to wake the printer up, but not too much that it wastes power. Leaving the printer on doesn’t mean that it can be left on for up-to one to two weeks when the printer users take vacation. A printer can, and should be, left of for a few days when your printing work is continuous.
In fact leaving the printer on also has benefits.
- It will be ready to be used whenever needed.
- It will be able to carry out self maintenance during idle times when it is on
- Does not need to be reinstalled on the network (don’t worry about this).
Turning off your Epson printer is beneficial because;
- It saves power
Printer should be left “on” for it to clean itself
As you may already know of the prevalence of printer inks drying up and also clogging the printheads, this is where the need for self cleaning comes in. Printheads are tiny ink nozzles that fire ink onto paper. Because of high temperature and humidity, these nozzles get blocked all the time, so printers are now programmed to be able to self clean these nozzles by themselves. This is done by excreting some ink from the nozzle. A printer will conduct regular cleaning purges of your print heads to remove unwanted air and debris over time and this is only possible if the printer is turned on. So consider leaving your printer on sometimes. The purge intervals are programmed into the printer, and this can only be done when the printer is left on (obviously).
Turn off printer if you need to save electricity and ink
On the other hand, it is a good idea to turn “off” the printer after use, here’s why. As soon as the printer detects high temperatures and humidity of the surrounding, the printer automatically does one round of purges or cleaning. This can be ink and electricity consuming (although not a lot). And so, to avoid regular cleaning as inks are being used, plus electricity, it is wise to shutdown the printer. Don’t get me wrong, if you are purposefully turning off the printer to deprive itself of it’s needed cleaning, then this is a bad idea, It is advisable to turn on printer from time to time. Once or twice every two weeks is a good idea.
To sum it up…
So to sum things up, a printer does not necessarily need to be turned off when not in use, unless it is not going to be used for an extended period of time. The reason behind this, is that printer nozzles or heads, need to be cleaned from time to time, especially when the weather is hot and humid, and this can only be possible if the printer is turned on. On the other hand, it is also wise to have the printer turned off, as it is a waste of ink and unnecessary usage of power if purges are to happen regularly. Although it’s up-to the users to choose if they are to shut the printer down immediately or to leave it on, one thing for sure, is that printers needs to be turned on and used from time to time, to keep the nozzle air and debris free.
