How do you become a copy tech ?

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  • gillje
    Trusted Tech

    100+ Posts
    • Nov 2010
    • 143

    How do you become a copy tech ?

    I was wondering about what kind of training & classes you would take to become a copy tech ?

    I'm a screenprinter, and in the past couple of years I've started working a lot with photocopiers and more recently duplicators... So while I don't have any technical training I am really interested in getting to know how these machines work. Where do I start? How did you become a copy tech? Let me know!

    thanks!!
  • blackcat4866
    Master Of The Obvious

    Site Contributor
    10,000+ Posts
    • Jul 2007
    • 22702

    #2
    Most of us started out green as technicians, by getting a job with the dealer. I had good mechanical & electrical skills back when machines were mostly mechanical, so I was in.

    This is one of those jobs that you can't sit back on your laurels. Most every day day you've got to learn a new procedure, or a new machine, or a new piece of software. If you're not up to walking in blank and trying to figure out a solution, then this is the wrong job for you. =^..^=
    If you'd like a serious answer to your request:
    1) demonstrate that you've read the manual
    2) demonstrate that you made some attempt to fix it.
    3) if you're going to ask about jams include the jam code.
    4) if you're going to ask about an error code include the error code.
    5) You are the person onsite. Only you can make observations.

    blackcat: Master Of The Obvious =^..^=

    Comment

    • nmfaxman
      Service Manager

      Site Contributor
      1,000+ Posts
      • Feb 2008
      • 1705

      #3
      You will never get rich fixing copiers.
      I think most of us do it for the challenge.
      Every day something new and different, except PMs.
      This forum is a very good example of die hard techs that enjoy this career, no matter how much we all bit*h.
      Why do they call it common sense?

      If it were common, wouldn't everyone have it?

      Comment

      • JR2ALTA
        Service Manager

        Site Contributor
        1,000+ Posts
        • Feb 2010
        • 2017

        #4
        Get an Associates Degree in anything mechanical or even computers. You're experience sounds somewhat applicable.

        My advice would be to apply at the big places, it might suck to work there, but smaller companies usually can't afford the time it takes to train someone from zero.

        Comment

        • ddude
          General Troublemaker

          250+ Posts
          • Feb 2009
          • 473

          #5
          Repairing office equipment is fun and interesting work, but most often you will not make a lot of money as a tech.
          2000 mockingbirds = 2 kilomockingbirds

          Comment

          • fixthecopier
            ALIEN OVERLORD

            2,500+ Posts
            • Apr 2008
            • 4714

            #6
            I got my first job in this as manual labor building copiers for a contract. They liked what they saw and kept me to train as a tech.
            The greatest enemy of knowledge isn't ignorance, it is the illusion of knowledge. Stephen Hawking

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            • gillje
              Trusted Tech

              100+ Posts
              • Nov 2010
              • 143

              #7
              Yeah I wasn't thinking about this as a way to get rich or anything, more so just to learn about how to take care of machines that I spend a lot of time with. The extent of my experience so far is pretty much just reading about problems people have on this forum and how they troubleshoot so... A school nearby offers a few courses in basic electronics maybe I should start there??

              Comment

              • blackcat4866
                Master Of The Obvious

                Site Contributor
                10,000+ Posts
                • Jul 2007
                • 22702

                #8
                Originally posted by gillje
                ... A school nearby offers a few courses in basic electronics maybe I should start there??
                Yes. You'll need some basic electronic skills. This is a great way to start. Computer literacy helps too (though I started with none). =^..^=
                If you'd like a serious answer to your request:
                1) demonstrate that you've read the manual
                2) demonstrate that you made some attempt to fix it.
                3) if you're going to ask about jams include the jam code.
                4) if you're going to ask about an error code include the error code.
                5) You are the person onsite. Only you can make observations.

                blackcat: Master Of The Obvious =^..^=

                Comment

                • jonhiker
                  Senior Tech

                  500+ Posts
                  • Apr 2010
                  • 661

                  #9
                  Include computer basics, some companies are requiring, or at least, rpreferring, A+ and some also give more weight if you have Network+ as well.

                  i started in dispatch and parts before moving into the field as a tech. a lot of us do it, because you are more independant in your work day than some other jobs.

                  Comment

                  • jmaister
                    certified scrub

                    Site Contributor
                    500+ Posts
                    • Aug 2010
                    • 755

                    #10
                    you have to be comfortable talking to high profile clients, or people in general.

                    If not yet, you can always train to be charming. watch tv shows and aspire to be the slick talker(j/k).

                    Learning electronics anywhere is great way to start. You dont need to get to the calculus part, just know how the "law" applies to your job.

                    and, safety first.
                    Idling colour developers are not healthy developers.

                    Comment

                    • CT Copier Repair
                      Trusted Tech

                      250+ Posts
                      • Mar 2010
                      • 304

                      #11
                      Got given a manual show how to use a Hi Pot Earth ground tester to not kill myself and that was it. Its a carreer that you need to read and read and figure things out and always understand that its your fault. HAve to have an inquiring mind, not take much personally and have fun cause if its not fun then you are shot.

                      Good luck

                      Comment

                      • jmaister
                        certified scrub

                        Site Contributor
                        500+ Posts
                        • Aug 2010
                        • 755

                        #12
                        Originally posted by ct copier repair
                        Got given a manual show how to use a Hi Pot Earth ground tester to not kill myself and that was it. Its a carreer that you need to read and read and figure things out and always understand that its your fault. HAve to have an inquiring mind, not take much personally and have fun cause if its not fun then you are shot.

                        Good luck
                        i thought its engineer's fault?
                        Idling colour developers are not healthy developers.

                        Comment

                        • cccjjn
                          Technician

                          50+ Posts
                          • Jan 2011
                          • 81

                          #13
                          Originally posted by nmfaxman
                          You will never get rich fixing copiers.
                          I think most of us do it for the challenge.
                          Tell that to the owner of my dealership who started 25 years ago fixing copiers out of his house. Now he's very well off with a company doing roughly $6,000,000 a year.

                          Comment

                          • Hemlock
                            Trusted Tech

                            250+ Posts
                            • Dec 2009
                            • 432

                            #14
                            Originally posted by cccjjn
                            Tell that to the owner of my dealership who started 25 years ago fixing copiers out of his house. Now he's very well off with a company doing roughly $6,000,000 a year.
                            How much of that do you see at the end of the week?
                            “Anti-intellectualism has been a constant thread winding its way through our political and cultural life, nurtured by the false notion that democracy means that 'my ignorance is just as good as your knowledge.'” (Isaac Asimov)

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                            • SGT_Snacks-64
                              Trusted Tech

                              100+ Posts
                              • Oct 2007
                              • 157

                              #15
                              Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600 2.4GHz (Oc'ed to 3GHz - Stock Volts)
                              Asus P5E-VM HDMI
                              4GB (2x 2GB) Corsair XMS Xpert II RAM
                              ATi Radeon 4870 512MB GFX Card
                              2x 74GB WD Raptor Sata HDD (RAID 0)
                              500GB Seagate Barracuda Sata II HDD
                              500GB Hitachi Sata II HDD
                              600W500att OCZ PSU
                              -TOTAL HDD SPACE 1148GB-

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