‘I cleaned the printer, now it won’t print': Employee calls tech support to inform them printer stopped working, IT discovers printer is completely soaked

Author image for Eleonora Bader
Eleonora Bader
Apr 16, 2024 12:00 PM EDT

You are typing away, your keyboard going clickety-clack as your fingers fly across the different buttons. When you look down, you notice that your keyboard is a little bit dusty. Hmmm, that's not right. You guess it's time to deep clean it. How do you go about it? Well, probably not the way this employee did.

One tech support worker took to r/talesfromtechsupport after they got an unusual call regarding a printer. Apparently, the printer wasn't working, but it had been just before. So IT sauntered in, only to find the display completely dark. It was indeed, not working. After a careful evaluation of the situation, it became very clear what had happened. The person who complained about it also happened to be the person who had last seen the printer up and running. Scroll down to read the hilarious series of events and then check out these wholesome posts for overworked employees who are in dire need of a vacation.

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  • 01
    ERSON "I cleaned the printer, now it won't print."
    via Canva
  • 02
    "I cleaned the printer, now it won't print!"
    via u/Jays_Dream
  • 03
    Me: me; LW: Line worker I work in a production facility and was doing my usual rounds. Just walking around checking if everything works and is running the right programs. I get a call from one of the production line workers that their barcode printer doesn't work anymore. Even while walking up to it I already knew something was off since all lights on it were out and the display was dark.
    via u/Jays_Dream
  • 04
    Me: Hey, you called? What happened? LW: Oh, hey! Yeah the printer just stopped printing after our break. We don't know why! Me: Has anything happened during the break? Did you switch the program, turned it off or something else? LW: No, all I did was clean it because it looked dusty. Me: Well, wiping the top shouldn't have done anything to it... let me see what it could be. LW: Oh no I cleaned everything, not just the top.
    via u/Jays_Dream
  • 05
    | Me: ... What do you mean by... "everything"? LW: Well I only had window cleaner but I sprayed and wiped everything because it was dirty. Me: By "everything" do you mean you opened the side drawers, bottom paper compartment, scanner cover and maintenance flap and "cleaned" them? LW: Yeah that's right. Of course I took out the power cable beforehand. I cleaned the port as well just to make sure it still worked. Me: ... Did you use water too?
    via u/Jays_Dream
  • 06
    LW: Well yeah of course, the rag was wet. Me: Ok uhm.. We have an unused printer at the other production line right? Go get that one and I'll set it up until I fix this one ok?
    via u/Jays_Dream
  • 07
    I set up the new printer, load the program, everything works. Me: Ok I'm done here. I'll thake the old one with me for now. LW: Alright thank you! Me: And I'll tell you this now, even tho your boss will tell you again: Do NOT clean any IT/electrical equipment anymore. If you think a printer, scanner, laser, sensor or light barrier is dirty, tell your boss or just call us. Don't touch it ok? And especially not with water or window cleaner. A dry rag to wipe off dust on top is more than enough. Ne
    via u/Jays_Dream
  • 08
    LW:.. okay I'll remember.. In the end, we send in the printer to be fixed by the manufacturer. She really managed to get water into everything. I'm pretty sure the rag she used wasnt just a little but wet but literally dripping. I found pools of water in ridiculous places like in the cartridge compartment.
    via u/Jays_Dream
  • 09
    VanorDM 2 days ago A user that actually admits to doing something? Guess they had no clue that they did something wrong. 339 Reply Share . Ol_JanxSpirit 1 day ago Well, yeah. They were basically saying they did IT's job. F ng keyboard jockeys, not giving the printer a bath like they're supposed to. 141 Reply Share ...
    via u/VanorDM, u/Ol_JanxSpirit
  • 10
    VanorDM 1 day ago True. That would explain why they admitted to doing it, because they thought that It just sits around scrolling thru Reddit all day long... 61 Reply Share Jays_Dream OP. 1 day ago I make computer go beep-boop Not even that haha. I'm basically maintenance tech here. I do IT and electrical work so the workers know I don't actually sit around all day. I'm in the office and by the production lines 50/50 since I'm always on call for problems 41 Reply Share
    via u/Jays_Dream, u/VanorDM
  • 11
    Throwaway_Old_Guy . 1 day ago It could be much worse. Last place I worked had some pretty high voltage electrical substations to power the field equipment. A small single motor breaker could be 440V, and some went into the 14KV range. An Electrician was walking through one of them and found the cleaning contractors wiping down the front of the larger switch-gear enclosures with damp cloths because they had been told to do so by their Supervisor. Fortunately, no injuries. I don't know how long th
    via u/Throwaway_Old_Guy
  • 12
    . Schrojo18 1 day ago Wow. I've heard stories of electricians blowing "dust" of near some HV breakers but unfortunately it was conductive and there ended up being an arc going through them via the dust in the air. + 41 Reply Share Throwaway_Old_Guy . 1 day ago Yep, that's why we didn't mess with anything electrical. 21 Reply Share
    via u/Schrojo18, u/Throwaway_Old_Guy
  • 13
    gadget850 1 day ago Back in my GENICOM days we got a call from Walmart that the line printer in one of the stores caught on fire. After some panic and a lot of calls, we found that the store clerk decided to clean the printer by spraying some aerosol cleaner into the head fans while it was running. 39 Reply Share
    via u/gadget850
  • 14
    TheTasmanianTigress 1 day ago Many years ago I was the 'go to' support person for our operating room IT system, so I got asked to help with anything. One day someone came to me to tell me the keyboard for an OR wasn't working, so we went to it to trouble shoot. Plugged in, to correct port (PS2 days), not swapped with mouse. OK so far. Then I tried to reboot the PC, no response from the keyboard. Then I noticed it was sitting on a folded towel. WTH? When I picked it up to look closer, a steady st
    via u/TheTasmanianTigress
  • 15
    Apparently a nurse was told by a senior nurse to 'clean the keyboard'. He said he didn't know how. She told him not to be ridiculous, just clean it! So he did - the way he cleaned everything. In a sink full of hot soapy water. A good old scrub, rinsed, shook it out as best he could, then returned it and sat it on a towel because it was still dripping. The really ridiculous part? All the keyboards had skins - all he had to do was take that off and clean it. And the senior nurse should have know t
    via u/TheTasmanianTigress
  • 16
    justking1414 1 day ago • My mom once cleaned my laptop s keyboard this way. She was so confused why it stopped working immediately afterwards 14 Reply Share ozzie 286 1 day ago I once had a user scrub off an imaging drum with antibacterial wipes. It's how I know the drum was made of aluminum. 13 Reply Share
    via u/justking1414, u/ozzie286
  • 17
    LeaveTheMatrix 21 hr. ago edited 20 hr. ago Fire is always a solution. So your saying that dunking computer parts in water may be a bad idea? Because I did that last week and everything worked out just fine. NOTE: I am a kidding around a bit, as I actually know what I am doing, and was doing a full strip down of a system that was REALLY rough.
    via u/LeaveTheMatrix
  • 18
    Like caked on dirt, possible mouse , and water damage rough. Water wash, al cleaning by hand, then distilled water dip, along with proper drying. It is running perfectly fine for almost a week now. ;) NOTE: Dismantling/putting back together the video card and re-seating the processor to the motherboard with only 1 1/2 hands was a real pain in the . Recently had surgery on my left hand and it's still mostly useless. 9 Reply Share
    via u/LeaveTheMatrix
  • 19
    JTD121 21 hr. ago the cartridge department I am going to use this now to confuse everyone 5 Reply Share Jays_Dream OP. 18 hr. ago I make computer go beep-boop Wait is it not called that? English is not my first language but I though I did a fairly okay job using correct words ahhhh 5 Reply Share
    via u/Jays_Dream, u/JTD121

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