Having a printer sitting right at your desk, ready to whip out printed pages for you at a moments notice is a great thing to have, at least it is until it starts giving you fits. If you are experiencing problems with your printer, a printer repair forum can be terrific resource to help you troubleshoot the problem.
Today, with the low cost of new printers, it doesn’t always make sense to take a broken printer into the repair shop, but there are many common printer problems that can be taken care of yourself and in the forums there is a wealth of resources, ideas, and real-world tips and tricks that can get you back up and running in no time.
One well-liked and often visited printer repair forum is located at FixYourOwnPrinter.com. There are hundreds of different topics on that forum that cover many different printing problems and which discuss specific brand related issues. Some of the topics that can be found are: Canon printer parts, HP printer repair service, Lexmark printer repair and Okidata printer repair, just to mention a few.
Like any public place on the internet, you do have to take some care to be sure that the information is accurate, and that someone with bad intentions is not trying to steer you the wrong way just for kicks. If you find information that you think might help your problem, and it doesn’t seem like it could do any harm, then you are probably safe to try it. But if someone recommends removing a part or suggests some type of jury-rigging with a different part, then it would be a good idea to seek a second opinion before carrying out something that could permanently damage the printer you are trying to repair.
Also, you will sometimes find conflicting advice about how to best repair your printer in the forums, and that can lead to more confusion regarding the matter. If the forum is enabled for private messages (PMs) then sometimes you can get clarifications about someone’s post and see if they can offer additional information that will help you know which way to go.

Another common frustration with trying to get your computer printer repairs figured out using forums, is that many times it takes days for someone to answer your specific question, and sometimes no one ever responds. If you are eager to get your printer repaired, then waiting for a forum response can be frustrating.
Rather than waiting for someone to respond to your question, or while you are waiting for a response, be sure to make full use of the search function. Most internet forums have a built-in search that you can use to find specific terms that have been used in previous posts. Try starting with a very specific term to start out with, then search on broader terms if the specific does not yield results.
It’s certainly not recommended to rely solely on a printer repair forum to resolve all of the problems that might come up with your printer. However, many times you can get useful tips or learn new tricks to help keep your printer running smoothly.