Photocopier Service Milton, Toowong and Inner Brisbane

Proofs and the colour that has to match

Creative offices live and die by colour. A proof comes off the machine and it has to look like the screen, or at least be close enough that the client does not squint. When a colour copier drifts, the cause can be several things: a toner that has run low in one channel, a developer unit past its best, a transfer belt that has picked up a stain, a dirty laser window, or simply a calibration that has not been run for months.

We ask how bad it is and where on the page it appears. A band across every page at the same distance from the edge points one way. An overall cast on the whole print points another. We try the least invasive thing first, and we will not swap a drum if a clean does the job.

Four calls we get

The scanner stopped sending to email after the office changed its mail provider. The multifunction in the corner prints black with a faint line down the left. The copier says it needs service and shows a code that nobody can read from across the room. The finisher is stapling at an angle.

They are all ordinary problems and all fixable on site. The common thread is that nobody in a ten person office has time for a long diagnosis.

Who prints what in the inner ring

The ring changes character quickly, so here is a short guide.

What the old buildings do to the machine

The converted woolstores in Teneriffe and Newstead have big timber floors and high ceilings, and a copier there tends to run in a room that is cooler and drier than a house. Floors flex though, and a heavy machine near a corridor with foot traffic will vibrate. We check that the machine sits level, because an unlevel copier gives skewed pages and the occasional jam that has nothing to do with the rollers.

In the older stone and brick buildings near the river, power can be fussy. Old wiring and a dozen devices on one board will upset a copier before it upsets anything else.

Sort the paper before the machine

If a copier jams more when it is wet outside, look at the paper. Brisbane humidity gets into the ream, and paper that has soaked it up curls and sticks. Keep it in a sealed box or a cupboard, and do not leave open packets stacked on top of the machine.

We often fix a jam by changing nothing on the copier at all. We would rather say that than sell you a roller you did not need.

Moving, expanding and the lease question

Inner ring offices move often. Someone outgrows a shopfront suite and takes a floor in a bigger building, or a studio shrinks to a hot desk and sells the plotter. We move machines, set them up at the new address, connect them to the network and check the scan paths. We also buy used commercial machines, so if you are clearing a floor we can look at what you have.

If the machine is leased, check the agreement first. A repair or a move without the lessor's say can cause problems.

Start ups and the machine nobody owns

Shared offices and co working floors have a particular copier problem. Five businesses use one machine, and each assumes one of the others set up the scan. Passwords go stale, the toner low message gets ignored because it is someone else's job, and the tray is left half loaded with three kinds of paper. When it finally stops, nobody is sure whose contract it is.

Find out first who owns it. If it sits with the building operator, ring them. If it belongs to one of the tenants, that tenant decides. Once that is sorted we are happy to look at it, and we can set up scanning for each business so the next change of password does not stop all five.

Toner, drums and what they cost you

A machine that is used lightly by many people goes through consumables unevenly. Toner in the colour you rarely use sits for months and can clump. A drum that has seen sunlight from a window loses life faster than one in a dim corridor. Inner ring offices with big windows and glass fronted copy rooms should think about where the machine stands.

We do not push consumables. We explain what the symptom points to, and if a change in how the machine is used would fix it, we say so.

What we look at when a colour copier drifts

A technician working through a colour complaint on a Milton floor goes roughly in this order.

• Print a test page and see whether the fault repeats at a fixed distance, which points to a roller or drum of a known circumference
• Check each toner channel for level and for caking
• Look at the laser window and the corona or charge parts for dust
• Inspect the transfer belt for stains and wear marks
• Run the machine's own calibration, then compare a fresh print against the old one
• Only then price a part, and tell you which one and why

Fridays before a long weekend

Offices in the inner ring have a habit of waking up to a dead machine on the last working day before a break. Contracts need signing, drawings need to go, and the machine picks that morning to show a code. Ring early in the day, say what has stopped and say how urgent it is. Same day service is available, and a short, clear call saves the most time.

If we have to order a part, we tell you before we leave, so nobody is surprised on Monday.

Buying and selling, briefly

Sometimes a machine is finished. We say so straight. If you need another, we sell new and refurbished commercial copiers and every one we supply is warranted. We keep the repair advice separate so you can trust it.

What you get from us

We match the technician to the machine, and each one is trained, experienced and certified. 98% get fixed on the first visit, spares on board. Faults that come back are fixed again at no charge. We work independently and do not speak for any maker.

A busy line means the call is logged and we ring back.

Keep reading around Brisbane

Inner westMilton to Sherwood, the river suburbs and the hills behind them→Brisbane CBDQueen Street to Eagle Street, William Street to Roma Street→Fortitude Valley and NewsteadFortitude Valley, Newstead, Teneriffe, New Farm and Bowen Hills studios and offices.→South Brisbane and WoolloongabbaSouth Brisbane, West End, Woolloongabba, Kangaroo Point and Dutton Park: clinics, studios, towers and event offices.→Canon repairsimageRUNNER ADVANCE, DX and imagePRESS, on site.→Plotter serviceHP DesignJet, Canon imagePROGRAF and Epson SureColor plotters, repaired at your premises.→Copier black lines and streaksLines on copies or prints and where they come from.→Relocation and setupCopier moves, installation and network setup, tested before we leave.→