People use printers at home as well as in offices. If you are buying a printer for home use, it doesn’t need many things to consider but when you are purchasing a printer for your office or business use then there are many aspects to focus on. The printer duty cycle is an essential factor to look at whenever deciding to get a new printer. The printer duty cycle shows the capability and robustness of the printer and also helps you to select the perfect one for printing requirements. In this article, we are going to discuss what is printer duty cycle is. And how much it is important to determine the quality and performance of a printer?
What is Printer Duty Cycle?
That’s an interesting and frequently asked question: what is the printer duty cycle? The answer to this question is, it is the maximum number of pages a printer can print in a particular time frame which is mostly a month. Most printer manufacturing companies show the duty cycle in the terms of the monthly duty cycle.
By seeing the monthly duty cycle, you can get an idea that how many papers your printer will print per month without slow speed, poor printing quality, or jams.
So, if your printer can produce 20,000 pages per month, that is its maximum capacity to produce without any issue. Hence, it is of utmost essential to see the monthly duty cycle in the specs of your selected printer, if you want to print more sheets per month.
What is stress testing?
Whenever a company is manufacturing a printer, it passes that machine through a stress test. In this procedure, the device is pushed to its extreme capacity to check out how capable it is to perform the functions it is made for. Not only this but it is tested for the apps you’ll run and for other conditions also.
The result of this test confirms the duty cycle of a particular printer. That estimate shows how many pages that printer can produce without any interruption like jams, wear and tear, or breakdown.
Why companies quote the duty cycle:
The duty cycle actually shows how sturdy and robust the printer is. That is of utmost importance to buy a printer with more duty cycles than your monthly printing requirement. Otherwise, you’ll be having issues later on. The duty cycle is mentioned by the companies to help the customers compare it with their requirements and choose the one which fits their needs.
Consider your printing needs:
At the time of buying a printer, you should keep in mind the purpose of what you are buying the printer. Individual and official needs are no doubt quite different from one another. Home users don’t need printers with more duty cycles. The reason is that they only have to print some assignments, notes, or photos that don’t put a burden on the printer. While for office use, the scene is a bit different. Careful selection is more essential when you’re purchasing a device for a large office where every day thousands of prints are required.
Estimating the prints you need per month is too easy. Just count the pages you load every day and by adding them together you will get the exact figures. Then you can easily choose the printer that fulfills your demand.
Select a printer with more duty cycle:
Replacing your printer after a short time is not possible. So, make sure that you go for a printer with more duty cycles. Because it will save your time and money in the future when your printings may increase. If your printer has extended capacity than current needs, it is beneficial and up to the mark. Because if you purchase a printer with the exact numbers you need, that is not right. This way you’ll be overusing the printer that is not recommended at all and will ultimately damage it.
Monthly recommended print volume:
As we have discussed in detail the monthly duty cycle that is? The monthly recommended print volume is the term many people think resembles the duty cycle, but that’s not true. Both are quite different from each other. The duty cycle is the maximum printing capacity of the printer and it is what you wouldn’t like it to reach every day. Divide the duty cycle by 30, its answer will be the daily printing limit. But if you push the printer to its printing limits daily, that is threatening its longevity. On the other hand, the monthly print volume is the average prints estimate you should follow in routine. By sticking to print volume, you’ll go towards duty cycle occasionally which ultimately will be a good sign for the printer’s life span.
Recommended monthly print volume or maximum monthly duty cycle:
As we clarified above, the duty cycle and print volume resemble each other but are not the same in reality. It may come to someone’s mind which one is best to opt for. The monthly print volume is the better solution for getting optimal results. You can exceed the print volume and reach the extremes of the duty cycle but it should be occasionally, not regularly. Because printing according to print volume numbers makes your device function accurately. Moreover, it also ensures that the printer will keep on working normally and would never bother you to change it after some use.
Conclusion:
Above we were discussing the question: what is the printer duty cycle? And we came up with not only its answer but also some related issues. The printer duty cycle is the maximum output a print can produce in a given time such as, per month. Before buying a printer, it is highly recommended to see the duty cycle along with the other specs. And, for that, you should properly estimate your printing requirements and then match them with the one you’re preferring among others. It would be better to go for a printer exceeding your needs because you never know whether the mentioned duty cycle is correct or not. Spending time on your homework before buying a printer will save you from everyday tensions ahead.
