topic Re: MG5620 PGBK print only distorted in Desktop Inkjet Printers

MG5620 PGBK print only distorted

Geekster — Fri, 28 Dec 2018 06:31:49 GMT

Hi! I have a Canon MG5620 printer that started printing distorted in PGBK only. The vertical lines print as vertical elipses between the second horizontal line at the bottom and the top of the graph display on the "nozzle test" page. My problem is, can this be fixed or is it time to shop for a new printer. I can post the print if required. Thanks for the guidance!

Geekster

Re: MG5620 PGBK print only distorted

shadowsports — Fri, 28 Dec 2018 14:35:55 GMT

All of the pigment ink based printers can suffer from a clogged print head due to dry ink and clogged nozzles. Cant say this is your issue 100%, but its a good place to start when print quality starts to diminish.

You can use instructions for 5460 on the 5620... see these posts:

https://community.usa.canon.com/t5/Printer-Multifunction-Support/MG5460-blurry-vertical-printing-with-PGBK-ink-only/td-p/100520

Re: MG5620 PGBK print only distorted

Geekster — Fri, 28 Dec 2018 15:46:07 GMT

Rick, thanks but I don't believe it is cleaning. This is not a random thing, the vertical lines are almost perfect ellipses with some distortion in the horizontal ones. Several prints show the exact same pattern, even when laying one over the other. I have used the clean, deep clean, even took out the printhead and washed it all out. I believe the printhead is OK and that the flaw is either in the hardware or the software. Nothing random here, looks like intelligence involved. Might be time to shop for a new printer but I really liked this one! Have lots of extra ink too.

Geekster

Re: MG5620 PGBK print only distorted

ArthurJ — Fri, 28 Dec 2018 16:17:37 GMT

Hi Geekster,

Could you please take a picture of your nozzle check and attach it as your next reply.

We look forward to your reply.

Re: MG5620 PGBK print only distorted

Geekster — Fri, 28 Dec 2018 18:21:21 GMT

Re: MG5620 PGBK print only distorted

George_- — Fri, 28 Dec 2018 21:29:27 GMT

Hi Geekster,

Based on the nozzle check pattern you provided, it seems that the encoder strip inside the printer needs to be cleaned. Please click HERE and follow the steps to clean the encoder strip.

Does this help resolve the issue described? If so, please click the Accept as Solution button so that others may find the answer as well.

Re: MG5620 PGBK print only distorted

Geekster — Sat, 29 Dec 2018 17:21:17 GMT

George, thanks for your help! Well, I cleaned the encoder strip again, first thing I tried, only this time I made swabs from pencils and soft cloth, one with alcohol and one dry. I thoroughly cleaned both sides of the strip and examined it carefully for flaws, and as far as I can see it is clean with no damage. So, I printed a nozzle check page and laid it over the old one on a light table and it is exactly the same. Surely if it was the strip I would have changed the pattern somewhat. I don't understand the printer's use of the strip, is it only for the PGBK ink and all others are random? Sounds to me like there is either a software fault or a hardware fault, but definitely not an intermittent since it is so consistant. Any other suggestions? Again, I love this printer and hate to see it go but maybe I'll shop around?

Geekster, (George as well).

Re: MG5620 PGBK print only distorted

Geekster — Thu, 03 Jan 2019 00:33:01 GMT

No comments? Is the printer pretty much toast?

Thanks!

Re: MG5620 PGBK print only distorted

George_- — Thu, 03 Jan 2019 19:10:33 GMT

Hi Geekster,

The nozzle check pattern is a maintenance function which is stored in the printer's memory. Since cleaning the encoder an additional time did not improve the print quality the printer will need to be replaced.

Please click HERE to contact chat or telephone support for the available warranty options.

Re: MG5620 PGBK print only distorted

ElectricalEngr — Sun, 11 Apr 2021 03:12:46 GMT

But why does it happen only to the PGBK cartridge? I am experiencing the very same problem that Geekster is reporting, and it's not the timing strip. Like Geekster's Nozzle pattern, the lines diverge by a millimeter in the middle but converge consistently at the top and bottom of the pattern. This is not a mechanical issue. I belive it is a software issue. The algorithm is consistently overcompensating for non-existent misalignment. It is mathematically perfect. The distinct symptom here is that text printed using the PGBK cartridge has suddenly started printing half a millimeter to the left and half a millimeter to the right of where the pixels should be appearing. This is particularly pronounced when attempting to print barcodes, as individual stripes appear curved in the middle, as though some smoothing function were being applied. Workarounds include printing barcodes sideways and using the ink conservation mode in Adobe Acrobat (to avoid PGBK use). I will see if resetting the printer to factory defaults and reprogramming it helps.

Re: MG5620 PGBK print only distorted

A2245091 — Sun, 10 Jul 2022 03:13:50 GMT

What do you mean by "the nozzle check pattern is a maintenance function which is stored in the printer's memory?" The PGBK image prints but ALL the vertical lines are ellipses. Also the number of pages and version that prints at the end of the nozzle printout are double printed on top of each other. The text printed in the column by the C/M/Y/BK/GY colors is perfect. It is only an issue with the PGBK printing, and ONLY VERTICAL printing.

If this was a encoder strip problem would not all text be off?

This is incredibly frustrating. Our business has over 20 of these Canon MG series printers and several of them have developed this exact same issue. To be told to replace the print head that costs what a new printer costs is nuts.

I can't believe there is a clear explanation for why this happens. The only reason why there are not hundreds, if not thousands, of people reporting this is that they don't know what to search for to find this thread. I have spend hours looking for an answer and finally found this thread. Most people I bet give up and trash the printer, of course this is what is desired by Canon (new sales). If we don't find a satisfactory solution we will stop buying Canon printers and ink period.

If someone can find an answer that is NOT to clean the encoder strip (never solved this) or replace the print head it would benefit many, many people.

Re: MG5620 PGBK print only distorted

Geekster — Sun, 10 Jul 2022 16:15:48 GMT

This happened more than a year ago. Solution likely involved print head replacement. Canon makes HP too. Go with printer with head in replacement cartridge or just go to a Brother laser printer. I did, didn't look back at wasting ink to clean nozzles, fantastic printers!

Re: MG5620 PGBK print only distorted

jlbloom — Fri, 02 Sep 2022 01:27:39 GMT

this is not a solution unless Canon wants everyone to switch to another printer manufacturer

Re: MG5620 PGBK print only distorted

satheshmarutham — Sat, 17 Feb 2024 20:38:45 GMT

I see exactly the same problem in MG5650

Re: MG5620 PGBK print only distorted

domnantas — Mon, 15 Apr 2024 08:03:31 GMT

I am experiencing exactly the same on MG5750. I have wasted a ton of ink cleaning the nozzles, and the timing strip but the issue stays the same. This is ridiculous.

Re: MG5620 PGBK print only distorted

uvahaole — Sun, 01 Sep 2024 19:28:31 GMT

Same exact issue here with my MG7520. I also have changed cartridges and cleaned the timing strip and print head.

Re: MG5620 PGBK print only distorted

schabelf — Thu, 14 Nov 2024 20:48:20 GMT

This is caused by warping of the PGBK printhead which is supposedly due to overheating of the printhead. I have replaced the printhead when this happens and had the new printhead go bad in just a few days. Don't know if this is because of the printhead heater getting too hot or the heads not cooling because of non Canon ink or printing too many pages without stopping. Supposedly turning on the quiet setting helps by making the printer print more slowly. There are ways to make the printer use the dye black ink to print text but that has to be more expensive. (If there was a printer from another company that would print DVDs I'd switch but no luck at present.

Re: MG5620 PGBK print only distorted

AlexBelz35 — Fri, 05 Sep 2025 08:23:01 GMT

Exactly the same issue with my MG6853. So frustrating !
Manually aligning the heads has no effect.
Backup solution : I now print only using dye cartridges, configuring "HiRes paper" or "Photo paper" to avoid usage of PGBK. But this will become more expensive.

Re: MG5620 PGBK print only distorted

AlexBelz35 — Fri, 05 Sep 2025 09:01:51 GMT

Note that manual alignement improved a bit the situation : values changes are listed below.
A : 0 -> +5, would need to go even higher like +10
B : +1 -> +3
C : +2 -> +5
E : -1 -> -4

So it seems that SW could correct the issue, if the settings could go further.