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# Reporting and resolving printer problems

# Reporting and resolving printer problems

The problems feature in the maintenance system lets you and your team report issues with printers. Problem reports create a trail of what went wrong and when, and they connect directly to maintenance jobs so issues get tracked from discovery through resolution.

|| The maintenance feature (including problem reporting) is available on Print Farm, Enterprise, and School plans.

## Table of contents
- Reporting a problem
- Where you can report problems
- Problem types
- Managing problems
- Resolving problems
- Creating a maintenance job from a problem
- Custom problem types

## Reporting a problem
To report a problem:

1. Go to **Maintenance > Problems**.
2. Click **Report problem**.
3. Select the **printer** with the issue.
4. Choose a **problem type** (optional but helpful for tracking patterns).
5. Write a **description** of what you observed.
6. Click **Report**.

![Problems list showing reported issues with status and linked jobs](https://storage.crisp.chat/users/helpdesk/website/-/f/f/2/2/ff22a914001c1000/problems-problems-list_16sgokd.png)

The report is saved immediately and visible to everyone with maintenance view access.

## Where you can report problems
You're not limited to the problems tab. Problems can be reported from several places:

### From the problems tab
The standard way - click "Report problem" and fill in the details.

### From a cancelled print
When you cancel a print, SimplyPrint offers the option to "Report as maintenance problem." This pre-fills the printer and links the cancelled print to the problem report, giving context for what went wrong.

### From the printer control panel
The maintenance widget on a printer's control panel includes a quick "Report problem" button, pre-filled with that printer.

## Problem types
Each problem can be categorized by type. SimplyPrint includes built-in types for common issues:

- Clogged nozzle
- Damaged print bed
- Filament jam
- Layer shifting
- Under-extrusion / over-extrusion
- Stringing / oozing
- Warping
- Poor bed adhesion
- Motor / axis issue
- Sensor malfunction
- Firmware issue
- Connectivity issue
- Other

Problem types help you spot patterns - if you see multiple "clogged nozzle" reports on the same printer, that's a signal to investigate further.

## Managing problems
The problems tab shows all reported issues with:

- Problem type and icon
- Which printer it's for
- Description
- Who reported it
- When it was reported
- Current status (open or resolved)
- Linked maintenance job (if any)

You can filter by status (open / resolved) and by problem type. Use the search to find specific issues.

## Resolving problems
Problems can be resolved in two ways:

### Manual resolution
Click the resolve button on a problem to mark it as resolved. Use this when the issue was fixed without a formal maintenance job.

### Auto-resolve via maintenance job
When you create a maintenance job from a problem (or link a problem to a job), completing that job automatically resolves all linked problems. This is the recommended workflow because it creates a clear audit trail from problem discovery to resolution.

| Problems linked to a job show the job reference in the problems list, so you can always trace back to how an issue was resolved.

## Creating a maintenance job from a problem
This is one of the most useful workflows:

1. A team member reports a problem (e.g., "consistent first layer adhesion issues")
2. From the problem, click **Create job**
3. The job creation modal opens with the printer pre-selected and the problem pre-linked
4. Add relevant task templates, set priority, and create the job
5. Complete the maintenance job
6. The problem is automatically resolved

This connects the dots between issue discovery, the work done to fix it, and the resolution.

## Custom problem types
If the built-in types don't cover your needs, you can create custom problem types:

1. Go to the Problems tab
2. Click the settings/types management option
3. Create a new type with a name and optional description
4. The custom type appears in the dropdown when reporting problems

Custom types can be edited or deleted. Deleting a type doesn't affect existing problem reports that used it.

Read more about jobs: [Maintenance jobs: scheduling and completing printer maintenance](https://help.simplyprint.io/en/article/maintenance-jobs-scheduling-and-completing-printer-maintenance-gu6vev/)
Back to overview: [Printer maintenance: keep your fleet running smoothly](https://help.simplyprint.io/en/article/printer-maintenance-keep-your-fleet-running-smoothly-1vr27om/)