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Can I fix your printer? I fix all sorts of computers for all sorts of people on an almost daily basis, but, what about printers? Can they be repaired?

The answer is a definite maybe. Possibly your defective printer can be repaired; however, the larger question could be, is your printer worth fixing?

After the world of printers segued from the era of cranky dot-matrix to less-cranky inkjet technology, most printers, especially Hewlett Packard printers, were built like tanks, tough as nails. They were easy to use and rarely needed repair. Many of those old HP printers are still in service, today.

Only once did I have an HP printer break back in “the day.” Purchased in 2002, my Deskjet 920C worked fine for about a year, but suddenly, the print cartridges would no longer move back and forth. A geared rubber belt was supposed to move the cartridges from left to right and back again as each line printed, but was no longer working.

Examination revealed a little spring that was supposed to keep pressure and tension on the belt had broken free of its mounting bracket. The cheap plastic part had simply snapped off. A broken 10 cent part had rendered my $100 printer useless.

Using some special plastic glue and a bit of steel reinforcing rod fashioned from a paper clip, I was able to repair my printer. Total repair cost to me: $5. Total repair time, including diagnosis and searching for non-existent repair parts: about two hours. The printer still works today, 10 years later.

These days, most printers are not built like tanks. Instead, they are built like cheap stocking-stuffer windup children’s toys, giving brief enjoyment before total failure. When they break, it’s usually not from simple mechanical failure, either, as modern all-in-one print/fax/copy/scan devices are complicated computers in their own right. Even formerly simple chores, like cleaning dried ink from clogged printhead nozzles, have turned into frustrating nightmares that usually don’t succeed. By the time you get through paying the printer repair guy, you could have bought a new printer.

Therein lies the rub of modern printer repair. Is it worth it? Unless you’re talking about an expensive, enterprise-class laser printer, the answer is usually “no.” You can buy some pretty nice (seemingly) all-in-one printers for $100 or less. Amortized over a year or two, that cheap printer still only cost you pennies per day to own and use; excluding, of course, the cost of those obscenely-priced ink cartridges.

With all this in mind, I am sad to report that most modern consumer-grade inkjet printers should be viewed as disposable commodities, temporary devices that will fail and need to be replaced every few years. This goes against my core “everything that breaks can and should be fixed” philosophy, but, unfortunately, it’s true.