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PIXMA iP7250 prints "shadow/double" letters, words, sentences, etc... making the text unreadable

northern-servic
Apprentice
 
43 REPLIES 43

https://www.canon-europe.com/support/consumer_products/telephone_numbers/telephone_numbers_greece.as...

John Hoffman
Conway, NH

1D X Mark III, Many lenses, Pixma PRO-100, Pixma TR8620a, LR Classic

Hi,

I have the same problem - my letters are doubling.
I did the manual heads alignments, not helping.
http://ugp01.c-ij.com/ij/webmanual/PrinterDriver/W/MG5500%20series/1.0/EN/PPG/dg-c_alignment.html

Scans of printed pages are here:
https://drive.google.com/open?id=1Vm8PJhXEzdBERJ57OvQDq6WeBnLOR-Nf
https://drive.google.com/open?id=1cA7aOmr5gJv-yz0dknssQuVOL64loqjM

I did the automatic heads alignment by this:
http://ugp01.c-ij.com/ij/webmanual/Manual/S/MG5500%20series/EN/BG/bg-maintenance1600.html
I did try cleanup the strip by this manual:
https://support.usa.canon.com/kb/index?page=content&id=ART109134

Not better.
My most concern is that all the numbers a double-printed.. on both pages. And the black E column on the pattern_01 is definitely not rectangular...

And one more thing - letters above the columns looks good!! No doubling! Only numbers, + and - signs and arrows are doubling...

Any suggestions?

BTW - model is MG5500


Thanks,
Sergii

Looks like the "Experts" answers only the first message with reference to some phone-experts - and the real solution has to be elaborated by the end users...

 

This Canon printer is my first and LAST printer I bought from this company who do not care about customers.

Alina
Apprentice
Hi,

I have the same problem. Even when I only try to copy an A4 document. I am using windows 10 and printer connected via USB.

Please advise on what might be the main cause?

James_C
Moderator
Moderator

Hi  northern-servic 

 

In order to properly assist you, I will just need to know the specfic model Canon printer you own?

 

Please note, Canon's Forum is not intended for immediate help, but a place to allow for the Community to give you assistance and feedback. If this is an urgent support need, please use the link below to reach our friendly Technical Support Team:

http://Canon.us/ContactLI

Did this answer your question? Please click the Accept as Solution button so that others may find the answer as well.

saboking
Apprentice

Hello! I had the same problem on an MG7170. Tried everything in the canon FAQ and nothing worked. I was going to throw the printer away when someone pointed me to "extreme printhead cleaning". I was told it was how the printer repair shops (not canon authorised) do it. With nothing to lose, I tried it and it totally worked! The printer now prints like new with perfect alignment on all colors including PGBK.

 

Here's the video illustrating the method:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yYuBv0wgbPk

Note: Pay attention at around 8:35. You must flush until you get a clean, smooth spray to clear all clogged particles because the clogged particles are what's causing the jets to misalign.

 

Another example: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J61WxOduqQg

 

If you have a spray steamer (I don't), you can try that too:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sq6EN5il2AA

 

Good luck!!

 

Tried sabokings suggestion, it just made the printing worse and my hands are now covered in ink! Tried doing printer head cleaning run in the printer, nothing!

 

Also tried the suggestion earlier in this thread to clean the timing belt, all that did was leave streaks on the belt and I spilled half a bottle of Windex all over the floor!

 

I am about done with ever owning a printer again (Canon has been the least "worst" out of the countless other printer brands I have tried) and just sticking to printing stuff at work or going to Staples! Wasting 2.5 hours of work on my day off isn't worth it!

This is a common Canon printer problem which manifests itself amongst many models and is not a head cleaning issue, nor a timing strip contamination problem, nor a head re-seating issue, and is a problem that Canon Support has not yet released a solution for.

 

The problem normally surfaces after about two years of average use and begins by affecting the sharpness of black text but does not normally affect pictures.

 

As a test, print a body of text in Black ink which will show up as blurry, then change the text color and repeat. If the color text is sharp, then you have the same problem.

 

Some users have reported that changing the advanced print settings to photo and matt photo paper fixes the problem, however I have found that what this does is make the text consistent, but thicker than it should be. It is not a fix on the two units I've tested. Examples of affected printer outputs are:

 

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1Vm8PJhXEzdBERJ57OvQDq6WeBnLOR-Nf/view

 

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1cA7aOmr5gJv-yz0dknssQuVOL64loqjM/view

 

https://community.usa.canon.com/t5/Printer-Multifunction-Support/MX922-printing-double-lines-double-...

 

https://superuser.com/questions/1130333/text-is-not-printed-neatly-by-my-printer-how-to-repair-it/14...

 

http://multifunction235.rssing.com/chan-58362528/all_p279.html#item5574

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kK3u_XNvzGY

 

This problem is not limited to a particular Canon Model, but manifests itself across a range of models. It is possible that affected printers use the same model head, but I have not been able to validate this yet.

 

It appears that the problem may be related to firmware or an inner head mechanical / electronics problem, because since the printer can print some text perfectly (for example colored text) whilst displaying the problem on black lines in exactly the same region (for example red text surrounded by a black text box made up of a single thin black line). This infers that it is a logic / black print head section issue.

 

The other thing that is apparent is when performing a manual head alignment with this problem, many of the adjustment parameters are at +5 but the head is still out of alignment, suggesting that the required setting is out of range. Since the vertical alignment lines of the PGBK printer head alignment printout initially begin as a single line, then form two lines, and then converge back to a single line at the bottom of the 16 row printout, I tested a theory that this may be due to a bent rail, possibly caused by pressing down on the head assembly when loading and locking new printer ink cartridges.

 

On one faulty printer, I forced the printer head assembly upwards to try and bend the rail in the opposite direction and then conducted another print test. The result was identical to the previous output, indicating that the rail was not bent in the middle. Also if it was bent, I would expect that the color printout would be affected as well, which it isn't.

 

I also eliminated the possibility of faulty in cartridges or ink causing the issue by replacing them with new ones and retrying the tests. I even tried adding solvent to the black ink head input in order to clean it, but there was no change to the results. As a final test I added solvent to the black in and this resulted in a splattering of dots around the printed characters, but the inherent problem was still there, so no change. The splatter was expected due to the reduced viscosity of the ink.

 

In summary, none of the recommended solutions offered to date by Canon will fix this problem and I am currently engaging with Canon Support in order to try and identify the root cause of this issue.

 

 

It's now been a few months since my last post and Canon have still not acknowledged that this is a common fault.  Their only advice is to take the printer to a service centre where they will quote to have it repaired. 

 

I have communicated with a service centre and they have advised that they have never seen any similar faults and have no idea what the fault may be without further investigation, however I will have to pay for any such investigation.

 

According to other posts, this is the common scenario and the general response is that the printer is 'not worth repairing'.  I have not yet seen any conclusive information which identifies the root cause of the fault.

 

This means that we are in a hopeless situation.  Canon won't investigate further or acknowledge the fault and their repair centres simply advise to get a new printer.

 

This isn't good enough Canon !!

Same problem here, with a Canon MG5550.

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