PIXMA TR4520 Printer Head Alignment Issues

[JayneCobb1973]

I have had my printer for about a month, and have run the alignment steps so many times, I blew through the initial ink cartridges that come with the printer.  I can get the bottom and top parts of a page aligned, but not the entire page, so print jobs are blurry.  

Are there things to check that could be causing the issue?

Do I reset the printer and start initial setup again?

Could the drivers from the other Canon PIXMA printer I had be causing issues?

Any guidance would be appreciated before I call into the support line or take it to a service center.

[Caemene]

Hi JayneCobb1973,

To troubleshoot this issue, I would recommend performing two Cleanings followed by printing the Nozzle Check Pattern.

Click HERE for information on performing the Cleaning process.

Click HERE for information on printing the Nozzle Check Pattern.

If the issue persist after printing the Nozzle Check Pattern, I would recommend troubleshooting with our support group to narrow down the cause of your issues. Please contact our support group at 1-800-OK-CANON (1-800-652-2666), Monday – Friday, 8:00 AM – 8:00 PM EST(excluding holidays).

[JayneCobb1973]

I will do that when I get home this evening and contact support if needed.  

Thank you for the quick reply.

[JayneCobb1973]

Looks like I will have to call in.  Yesterday I ran 2 cleanings, 2 deep cleanings, and 2 nozzle checks.  I printed out an email and everything looked fine.

Today, I turned on the printer and preceeded to print another email.  The skewed lines and "double vision" returned.  On top of that, I had 2 paper jams in a spamn of 30 secs.  

I didn't have a problem with my older PRIXMA.  

[Lev1]

Same here. I fell in love with CANON when a neighbor gave me her old one. It jammed up after some use so I figured it was just time to get a new one. I bought a similar one which happens to be this model. Exactly a year later the alignment problem occurred right after I replaced old ink cartridges. The new cartridges were emptied after I’ve tried a few times to print out the alignment sheets to scan - i don’t know if I got cheated on the cartridges or I really printed out that many. I followed all the video instructions I can find on it how to fix this alignment problem…I couldn’t get it fixed. Also I ran into a topic about entering alignment values….i had no idea where to enter those numbers….then I tried all the cleaning steps that the prompts offered. Nothing. Still gave me the double vision on my printouts. Very very sad because I loved this printer for the year that I was able to rely on it. So anyway, today I will receive a new printer….still CANON, TR8620 and I bought a 4Yr warranty/protection plan from Amazon with it. Hopefully it’s not a phony warranty thing because that would be really sad!!.  Aside from this, back to CANON - I have my fingers crossed because I really don’t want to try another brand because I’ve been through so many in the past already. I really just wanted to stick to a favorite. And I’m over here looking at the old one. I’m hoping I can find an entry here from a member on how to really fix the problem since I’d still love to keep this in another room in the house, perhaps for the kids’ school projects or something. It is still looking so shiny and new. 😞

[Patrick]

Hi Lev1,

Blurry printing/double printing from your PIXMA TR4520 is caused when the encoder/timing strip is dirty or smudged. To clean the encoder/timing strip, please follow the steps outlined in the following Knowledgebase Article available from Canon's web site:

https://support.usa.canon.com/kb/index?page=content&id=ART174876

[Lev1]

Oh wow I’m just seeing this response now. Can’t wait to follow the instructions tomorrow morning. Much appreciated. I will keep you informed. Thank you

[Halepixmatr4720]

thank you thank you thank you!! this fixed the SAME issue for me after encountering the same issue over and over and spending sooo much ink following the guidance from the manual. this needs to be added to the manual! Whew! thought I was going to have to return and get a different printer!