iP7220 doesn't print black

[symbiount]

Hello,

I have an iP7220 which is used exclusively for CD/DVD printing.  It was working fine yesterday but today it won't print black, just a very light shadow that looks to be blue.  I pulled all the cartidges, replaced them and ran a Nozzle Check which came out fine.  The alignment appeared to be off a little so I ran the Print Head Alignment which tossed back an error, Support Code: 2500.   The message box suggested that the heads may be clogged but another run of the Nozzle Check said everything is fine.  The printer is 4.5 months old.

Any help will be appreciated.

[Patrick]

Hi symbiount,

Please try printing the alignment manually.  First open the printer driver:

 1.  Click on Start and then Control Panel.

 2.   Click on Printers.

 3.   Right click the PIXMA iP7220 and left click on Printing Preferences.

Once the Printing Preferences appears, please follow these steps:

1. Click on the Maintenance tab.

2. Click Custom Settings on the Maintenance tab

   The Custom Settings dialog box opens.

3. Switch head alignment to manual

   Check the Align heads manually check box.

   Note

   • If the printer is off or if communication between the printer and the computer is disabled, an error message may appear because the computer cannot collect the printer status.
     If this happens, click OK to display the most recent settings specified on your computer.

4. Apply the settings

   Click OK and when the confirmation message appears, click OK.

5. Click Print Head Alignment on the Maintenance tab

   The Start Print Head Alignment dialog box opens.

6. Load paper in the printer

   Load three sheets of A4 size or Letter size plain paper into the cassette (lower).

7. Execute head alignment

   Make sure that the printer is on and click Align Print Head.
   Follow the instruction in the message.

8. Check the printed pattern

   Enter the numbers of the patterns with the least amount of streaks in the associated boxes.
   Even if the patterns with the least amount of streaks are clicked in the preview window, their numbers are automatically entered in the associated boxes.

   

   When you have entered all the necessary values, click OK.

   Note

   • If it is difficult to pick the best pattern, pick the setting that produces the least noticeable vertical white streaks.

     

     (A) Least noticeable vertical white streaks

     (B) Most noticeable vertical white streaks

   • If it is difficult to pick the best pattern, pick the setting that produces the least noticeable horizontal white streaks.

     

     (A) Least noticeable horizontal white streaks

     (B) Most noticeable horizontal white streaks

9. Confirm the displayed message and click OK

   The second pattern is printed.

   Important

   • Do not open the top cover while printing is in progress.

10. Check the printed pattern

    Enter the numbers of the patterns with the least amount of streaks in the associated boxes.
    Even if the patterns with the least amount of streaks are clicked in the preview window, their numbers are automatically entered in the associated boxes.

    

    When you have entered all the necessary values, click OK.

    Note

    • If it is difficult to pick the best pattern, pick the setting that produces the least noticeable vertical white streaks.

      

      (A) Least noticeable vertical white streaks

      (B) Most noticeable vertical white streaks

11. Confirm the displayed message and click OK

    The third pattern is printed.

    Important

    • Do not open the top cover while printing is in progress.

12. Check the printed pattern

    Enter the numbers of the patterns with the least noticeable horizontal stripes in the associated boxes.
    Even if the patterns with the least noticeable horizontal stripes are clicked in the preview window, their numbers are automatically entered in the associated boxes.

    

    When you have entered all the necessary values, click OK.

    Note

    • If it is difficult to pick the best pattern, pick the setting that produces the least noticeable horizontal stripes.

      

      (A) Least noticeable horizontal stripes

      (B) Most noticeable horizontal stripes

[symbiount]

Many thanks for the help.  I was able to successfully run the alignment.  Unfortunately, the problem persists.

Printing from the paper cassette in black, color or a mix was working fine and continues to do so.  The problem is printing directly to inkjet printable CD's and DVD's.  I have tested with three different disc manufacturers and two different software applications, however the results remain the same with each test.

When set to print a simple set of black text the output is a faint blue with an intermittent thin black border around some characters.  When set to print in color, 6 colors across the spectrum were tested, the result is perfect.  Again, this was tested with both multiple disc and software manufacturers for both black and color tests with uniform results.

Once again, any help would be appreciated since an inability to print black text renders this printer useless for our needs.