220-1201 Practice Exam 54 — 20 Questions

Question 1

A customer reports that their laser printer is producing pages with faint, streaky text and occasional blank spots. The toner cartridge is new, and the printer's maintenance kit was replaced last month. Which component should be inspected next?

Accepted Answer

Imaging drum. Faint, streaky text and blank spots on a laser printer with a new toner cartridge and recent maintenance kit replacement typically point to the imaging drum. The drum transfers toner to the paper; if it is worn or damaged, it cannot hold a proper charge, causing these symptoms. The fuser assembly would cause smudging or toner not fused, the transfer roller would cause misalignment or poor transfer, and the pickup rollers would cause paper jams or misfeeds.

Answer

Fuser assembly

Answer

Transfer roller

Answer

Pickup rollers

Question 2

A small office uses an inkjet printer that has started leaving horizontal white lines across printed documents. The printhead cleaning cycle has been run twice without improvement. Which step should be taken next?

Accepted Answer

Perform a manual printhead cleaning using distilled water or a cleaning solution. Horizontal white lines on inkjet output indicate clogged nozzles in the printhead. If cleaning cycles fail, a more thorough cleaning using a manual method or a printhead soak may be needed. Replacing ink cartridges or the entire printer would be premature, and adjusting print settings does not address the physical clog.

Answer

Replace the ink cartridges

Answer

Adjust the print quality settings to 'Best'

Answer

Replace the printer

Question 3

A user's laser printer is displaying a 'Replace Fuser' error message, but the pages are printing correctly. The printer has a maintenance kit that includes a fuser, transfer roller, and pickup rollers. What should be done?

Accepted Answer

Replace the fuser using the maintenance kit. The 'Replace Fuser' error is a proactive maintenance indicator, not necessarily a sign of failure. If print quality is fine, the fuser may still be functional, but the printer's page count has reached the recommended replacement interval. Replacing the fuser as part of the maintenance kit prevents future issues and clears the error.

Answer

Ignore the error and continue printing

Answer

Reset the printer's maintenance counter without replacing anything

Answer

Replace only the toner cartridge

Question 4

A network printer in a busy law office is shared by 15 users. Several users report that their print jobs are not being output, but the printer shows no error lights and the print queue appears empty. The printer is connected via Ethernet. Which step should be taken first?

Accepted Answer

Restart the print spooler service on the print server. When a network printer appears idle but jobs disappear, the issue is often with the print spooler on the server or client. The spooler may be stalled or corrupted, causing jobs to be lost without error. Checking the print queue on the server and restarting the spooler service is the appropriate first step.

Answer

Replace the network cable

Answer

Power cycle the printer

Answer

Reinstall the printer driver on all workstations

Question 5

A technician is setting up a new thermal printer for a retail point-of-sale system. The printer uses direct thermal technology and will print receipts. After connecting the printer via USB and installing the driver, the test page prints, but the text is very faint. What is the most likely cause?

Accepted Answer

The printhead darkness setting is too low. Faint output on a direct thermal printer is typically due to insufficient heat from the printhead. The printhead's temperature setting or the media's thermal sensitivity may be mismatched. Adjusting the darkness or heat setting in the driver or printer configuration is the correct fix.

Answer

The printer driver is incorrect

Answer

The thermal paper is loaded upside down

Answer

The USB cable is faulty

Question 6

A user reports that their color laser printer is producing prints with a repeating vertical black line down the left side of every page. The line appears at regular intervals. Which component is most likely causing this defect?

Accepted Answer

Imaging drum. Repeating marks on laser printer output often indicate a damaged component that rotates, such as the imaging drum or fuser roller. The distance between repeats helps identify the source. A vertical line at regular intervals is characteristic of a scratch or debris on the drum.

Answer

Toner cartridge

Answer

Transfer belt

Answer

Fuser roller

Question 7

A small business has an inkjet printer that prints blank pages even though the ink cartridges are full. The printer passes the nozzle check pattern test. What should be done next?

Accepted Answer

Replace the printhead. If the nozzle check is fine but pages are blank, the issue is likely with the ink delivery system, such as a clogged or defective printhead. The printhead may need cleaning or replacement. Other causes like driver issues or incorrect settings would not produce a successful nozzle check.

Answer

Update the printer driver

Answer

Check the paper type setting

Answer

Perform a power cycle

Question 8

A technician is deploying a 3D printer that uses fused deposition modeling (FDM) in a school lab. After several test prints, the prints are warping at the edges and not adhering to the build plate. The filament is PLA, and the build plate is heated. Which adjustment should be made first?

Accepted Answer

Adjust the bed leveling or Z-offset to ensure proper first layer height. Warping and poor adhesion in FDM printing are often caused by an incorrect first layer height or bed leveling. If the nozzle is too far from the bed, the filament does not squish enough to stick. Adjusting the bed leveling or Z-offset ensures proper first layer adhesion.

Answer

Increase the nozzle temperature by 10°C

Answer

Apply a layer of glue stick to the build plate

Answer

Reduce the print speed

Question 9

A user's laser printer is producing pages with a gray background (toner dust) on the entire page. The toner cartridge is genuine and was recently replaced. The printer has printed several hundred pages since the change. What is the most likely cause?

Accepted Answer

The imaging drum is worn or damaged. A gray background or toner dust on laser prints is often caused by a faulty or worn imaging drum that cannot hold a proper charge, leading to toner being deposited where it shouldn't. It can also be due to a high-voltage power supply issue, but the drum is the more common replaceable component. The toner cartridge being genuine rules out compatibility issues.

Answer

The toner cartridge is defective

Answer

The primary corona wire is dirty

Answer

The fuser temperature is too high

Question 10

A technician is troubleshooting an impact printer that is producing faint characters on multipart forms. The ribbon is new, and the print head is clean. The forms are properly aligned. Which adjustment should be made?

Accepted Answer

Adjust the platen gap to bring the print head closer to the paper. Faint characters on multipart forms with a new ribbon and clean print head indicate insufficient impact force. Impact printers have a platen gap adjustment that controls the distance between the print head and the platen. If the gap is too wide, the pins cannot strike through all layers effectively.

Answer

Increase the print head temperature

Answer

Replace the platen

Answer

Change the paper thickness setting to a thicker setting

Question 11

A user reports that their laser printer is producing pages with a faint, ghost-like image of the previous page printed on the back of the current page. The printer has been in use for three years and has never had its maintenance kit replaced. What is the most likely cause of this issue?

Accepted Answer

The fuser unit is worn out and needs replacement.. This describes a ghosting issue where a previous image appears on the next page, often caused by a worn-out fuser that fails to fully bond toner to the paper. The fuser is part of the maintenance kit, which should be replaced periodically. Other components like the toner cartridge or drum would cause different symptoms.

Answer

The toner cartridge is low on toner.

Answer

The paper is too moist and causing toner to smear.

Answer

The printer driver is outdated and needs updating.

Question 12

A small office uses an inkjet printer that has started leaving horizontal white streaks across printed documents. The user has already run the printer's cleaning cycle twice with no improvement. What should the technician do next to resolve this issue?

Accepted Answer

Manually clean the printhead or replace it.. Horizontal white streaks on inkjet prints typically indicate clogged printhead nozzles. Since the cleaning cycle did not help, physically cleaning the printhead or replacing it is the next step. Replacing ink cartridges or adjusting paper settings would not address clogged nozzles.

Answer

Replace the printer's fuser unit.

Answer

Replace the ink cartridges with new ones.

Answer

Adjust the paper type setting in the driver to 'photo paper'.

Question 13

A user complains that their laser printer is printing pages with a vertical black line down the left side of every page. The line appears consistently in the same position regardless of the document printed. What is the most likely cause?

Accepted Answer

The toner cartridge's drum is scratched or has debris.. A vertical black line in a fixed position on laser printer output is often caused by a scratch or debris on the photosensitive drum, which picks up toner and transfers it to the paper. The drum is part of the toner cartridge in many printers. Other components like the fuser or transfer roller would cause different patterns.

Answer

The fuser roller has a scratch.

Answer

The paper feed rollers are dirty.

Answer

The printer driver is set to 'economy mode'.

Question 14

A technician is installing a new network printer in a corporate environment. The printer supports both USB and Ethernet connectivity. The office requires that all users on the same subnet be able to print without needing a dedicated print server. What configuration method should the technician use?

Accepted Answer

Configure the printer with a static IP address and connect it to the network switch via Ethernet.. To allow all users on a subnet to print without a dedicated server, the printer should be configured with a static IP address and connected via Ethernet. This makes it a network printer accessible by IP. USB connection would only allow local printing from one computer.

Answer

Connect the printer via USB to a user's computer and share it from that computer.

Answer

Use a crossover cable to connect the printer directly to a user's computer.

Answer

Set up a Bluetooth connection for the printer.

Question 15

A user reports that their inkjet printer prints blank pages even though the ink cartridges are full and the printer shows no error messages. The technician has already checked the ink levels and performed a nozzle check, which showed no ink on the test pattern. What is the most likely cause?

Accepted Answer

The printhead has failed and needs to be replaced.. Blank pages despite full cartridges and no errors often indicate a failed printhead that cannot deliver ink to the nozzles. The nozzle check pattern being blank confirms no ink is being ejected. A clogged printhead might show partial patterns, but a completely blank test suggests electrical or mechanical failure of the printhead.

Answer

The printer driver is corrupted and needs reinstallation.

Answer

The paper type setting is set to 'transparency'.

Answer

The ink cartridges are not properly seated.

Question 16

A technician is troubleshooting a laser printer that produces pages with a repeating smudge mark every 3 inches down the page. The printer uses a toner cartridge with an integrated drum. What component is most likely causing this defect?

Accepted Answer

The fuser roller is damaged.. A repeating defect at a regular interval is often caused by a damaged roller, and the interval helps identify which roller. A 3-inch interval matches the circumference of the fuser roller. The drum's circumference is typically larger, so the interval would be different.

Answer

The photosensitive drum is scratched.

Answer

The toner cartridge is low on toner.

Answer

The transfer roller is dirty.

Question 17

A user wants to print a high-resolution photo on glossy paper using an inkjet printer. After printing, the colors appear washed out and the photo has a grainy appearance. The printer is set to 'normal' quality and 'plain paper' in the driver. What should the technician change to improve the output?

Accepted Answer

Change the paper type to 'glossy photo paper' and the print quality to 'best' or 'photo'.. For high-quality photo prints on glossy paper, the driver must be set to 'photo' or 'best' quality and the paper type to 'glossy' or 'photo paper'. This optimizes ink droplet size and drying time. The default 'normal' and 'plain paper' settings use less ink and different halftoning, causing washed-out, grainy results.

Answer

Replace the ink cartridges with high-yield cartridges.

Answer

Calibrate the printer using the built-in utility.

Answer

Use a different brand of glossy paper.

Question 18

A technician is replacing the toner cartridge in a laser printer. After installing the new cartridge, the printer displays an error message that the toner cartridge is not recognized. The technician has verified that the cartridge is compatible with the printer model. What is the most likely cause?

Accepted Answer

The cartridge's chip is not making contact with the printer.. Laser printer cartridges have a chip that communicates with the printer. If the chip is not making contact, the printer cannot recognize the cartridge. This is often due to a protective seal or tape left on the cartridge, or improper seating. A firmware issue is less likely if the cartridge is compatible.

Answer

The printer's firmware is outdated.

Answer

The toner is low in the new cartridge.

Answer

The printer needs to be reset to factory defaults.

Question 19

A technician is setting up a thermal printer for a retail point-of-sale system that prints receipts. The printer uses direct thermal technology. After installation, the receipts are completely blank when printed. The printer feeds paper and makes printing sounds. What is the most likely cause?

Accepted Answer

The thermal paper is loaded upside down.. Direct thermal printers use heat-sensitive paper; if the paper is loaded upside down, the thermal coating does not contact the printhead, resulting in blank output. The printer still feeds paper and makes noise because the mechanism works, but no image is produced. Other issues like driver or connection problems would typically cause errors or no activity.

Answer

The printer driver is not installed correctly.

Answer

The printhead is dirty and needs cleaning.

Answer

The printer is set to 'thermal transfer' mode instead of 'direct thermal'.

Question 20

A user reports that their laser printer jams frequently, but only when printing on both sides (duplex). Single-sided printing works fine. The technician has inspected the paper and it is within specifications. What is the most likely cause of this issue?

Accepted Answer

The duplex unit is misaligned or has a mechanical fault.. Duplex jams often occur because the duplex unit (the mechanism that flips the paper) is misaligned or has a broken gear. Single-sided printing bypasses this unit, so it works fine. Other causes like paper path rollers or fuser issues would typically affect both simplex and duplex printing.

Answer

The paper is too thick for duplex printing.

Answer

The fuser roller is worn out.

Answer

The printer driver is set to 'duplex' incorrectly.