Scanner Maintenance Tips 3 – Electrical Protection

Following a surge of electrical activity in our office yesterday, we’ve decided to dedicate this week’s blog update on Scanner Maintenance Tips to protecting your devices from electrical surges. Electrical surges are one of the most common causes for total hardware failure, owing to their ability to render the inner components of a scanner completely ineffectual. At the same time, damage from electrical surges is also one of the easiest scanner issues to prevent – here’s how you can make sure your scanner doesn’t get destroyed next time there’s a thunderstorm in your neighborhood.
First, connect your scanner to a power source via a high quality surge protector. This is the most important step, in addition to being the simplest and quickest step. Surge protectors are power connectors which are specifically designed to resist high voltage levels, thereby shielding your device from incoming electrical waves which might otherwise be destructive. Surge protectors are also very cheap – you can usually get one for around $20 at your nearest hardware or electrical store, so there isn’t any good reason why you shouldn’t own one.
The second tip which we have to offer in order to help you avoid electrical damage is to unplug your scanner (and any other devices you’d like to save) if you have reason to believe that an electrical surge may occur. Look for the common signs – flickering lights, the power going off and on, lightning and thunder outside. If any of these symptoms are present, be sure to remove the power from any and all of the electronics which you value, including your large format scanner. By following these simple tips, you should be able to reduce the chances of an electrical surge damaging your large format scanner to next-to-zero. If you have any questions about how to protect your valuables from electrical damage, feel free to reach out to us at (866)-338-4464, or info@largedocuments.com for additional tips and information.