Saturday, April 14, 2012

Troubleshooting

Generally when it comes to troubleshooting computers, especially printers, it involves CDs full of drivers, many cables and fiddling with obscure system settings. However, today things where different.

The paper being drawn into our office laser jet was being spit out on an angle, crinkling the print into a mangled mess. It was on the verge of jamming with each document. Upon closer inspection I noticed that the top corner of each page was stained yellow. An earlier piece of paper even had an insect wing imbedded in the sheet! This was no missing driver fix, no sir!

I began dismantling the printer and after removing the toner cartridge two small white balls rolled out. I immediately recognized these as gecko eggs! But they were not the only culprit causing malfunction. I still couldn't see any insects so I pulled out the air blower and blasted the printer's innards. Nothing more came out so I decided to run a few more sheets through. This time they didn't crinkle or begin to jam, but mashed into the paper of the first sheet was an entire yellow-winged bug! I guarantee the printer manual doesn't have a section explaining a procedure for removing gecko eggs and insect carcasses!
Gecko Eggs