THE ERROR 5100 CORRECT FIX THAT NO ONE KNOWS

[davidperelli]

I Discovered Error 5100 Fix ! (1) Open Cartridge door, Wait for Cartridge Cradle to Park, Unplug Printer. (2) With a Flashlight look in the Doors Center where Cartridge Cradle Belt is. Belt is Horizontal going from Left to Right. You will see a 1/8 Inch Wide Clear Plastic Ribbon that's Horizontal going from Left to Right by Center of Cradle Belt. This Clear Plastic Ribbon has Tiny Vertical Gold Lines Printed on it that can be seen with a Flashlight. These Tiny Vertical Gold Lines in Clear Plastic Ribbon tell the Printer Program the Position of Cartridge Heads. (3) Inspect the Clear Plastic Ribbon for any Grease and Dirt that probably got transferred Transferred from Cradle Slide. Whenever this Cartridge Door is Open people sticking there fingers inside can Accidentally Transfer Grease onto the Clear Plastic Ribbon by touching the Greased Cradle Slide on the Button that is Horizontal going from Left to Right. (4) When Grease and Dirt gets on the Clear Plastic Ribbon the Program Can Not Tell where the Printer Heads are. At Location where Grease and Dirt is the Printer Head will not Print any Ink and a Blank Spot will appear on Print. The Blank Spot will appear in the same place throughout the Printed Page from Top to Bottom. After Printing and Heads Park the ERROR 5100 will appear on Screen. The Program will sense the Head Position Read Error because Requested Dots to be Printed don't Print at Location of Grease or Dirt on Ribbon. (5) The Fix Is; Simply Clean the Clear Plastic Ribbon with Alcohol and Q-tips until Ribbon is Completely Clean ! Power Unit On and Print Test Page. I read these Forums. Everyone thinks Error 5100 is Damaged Print Head. Yes that's the Definition. I tried all Forum stuff. Nothing there worked. I discovered Grease on Clear Plastic Ribbon. Cleaned it. 5100 Error Is Gone !

[bomberboybrad]

Yes!  This worked for me!

2 minute fix with alcohol and Qtip.

My ribbon had oil and mechanical muck on it somewhow.

[Steve_Canyon]

Many thanks!  I thought this was it for my Pixma MX340.  I even started pricing new printers.  Thanks to you it's fixed and cost me three cents!

[Joeyd55]

Yes! June 2021 and A LOT of searching and this is the only thing that worked! Thank you so much.

[Voyager]

I'm attempting your fix. Error 5100 on my printer indicates that there are foreign objects in the printer or cartridges are not installed properly. Neither of these situations are present. I get this error immediately after turning on the printer, and when I open the door, the cartridges remain tucked in on the right side. I cleaned the transparent ribbon as instructed, but the Q-tip remained absolutely white - so no dirt, apparently. I am running low on ink, but I can't change the cartridges until they move to the center of the printer.

I know there's nothing seriously wrong with the printer because sometimes after turning it off and on again, all will be well and it will print perfectly. It will continue to work just fine (many print jobs) until I turn it off (or it turns itself off).

The manual is a big help. It says to contact the service center.