Black dots left on prints from Pixma Pro-200

[alexistate]

Hi all, hoping someone here has seen this before because Canon support is stumped.

My Pro 200 is producing a small black/gray dots in roughly the same position on every print — left of center, top surface of the paper. It looks like a pen touching paper briefly, pinhead size, roughly circular but not perfectly so. Appears on all paper types, including plain cardstock and printer paper.

Here's everything I've already tried:

• Multiple bottom plate cleaning cycles
• Paper feed roller cleaning
• Manual cleaning of platen protrusions with isopropyl alcohol (found significant ink and fiber buildup, removed it)
• Cleaned the cartridge rail
• Removed and wiped down the print head assembly exterior with a dry paper towel (removed a lot of ink)
• Inspected and wiped the ink connection ring on the black cartridge
• Enabled Reduce Abrasion setting
• Ran a 100+ print job to see if it would work itself out — dots unchanged throughout

The dots are on the top surface of the paper, not the underside, which rules out the platen protrusions. Position is consistent — left of center — which makes me think it's a fixed contact point rather than random dripping. New black cartridge arriving tomorrow which I'll try next.

Has anyone seen this and found a fix? Really don't want to replace the printer over something this small.

[JayC1]

Hi Alexistate. Thanks for contributing to the community. I see that you are seeing dots on the top side of the paper when you print. 
Since you mention that the marks are on the top side of the paper (not the bottom), you don't need to do a Bottom Plate Cleaning. You don't need to clean or deep clean the print head because that only helps when you see white streaks across the page. A printhead alignment is only necessary when you see vertical white streaks (not black). 

It's possible that a Roller Cleaning can help with this issue. You may need to do several Roller Cleanings (up to three). If the problem persists after the third roller cleaning, you are either dealing with a paper issue or a printer malfunction. 

I understand that this happens on all paper types. If that includes regular copy paper, I recommend that you contact Canon support, especially if the printer is still under warranty. If you try to print on regular copy paper, and you don't see the dots, please write back and tell us how thick (heavy) the other paper types are. 

If you would like to look at the supported paper types for a Canon PIXMA PRO-200, you can visit the following page:

https://ij.manual.canon/ij/webmanual/Manual/All/PRO-200%20series/EN/BG/bg-006.html 

Please note that certain paper types can only be loaded one sheet, or a few sheets at a time. Some types of paper (depending on the thickness) can only be loaded in the manual feed tray. To see the section of the manual that has this loading information, please visit the following link:

https://ij.manual.canon/ij/webmanual/Manual/All/PRO-200%20series/EN/BG/bg-007.html 

To contact Canon, you must first create a Canon account and register the printer. If you have already registered your printer, you can sign into your account to check your support options. 

Please use the following link to create or open your account:

https://myprofile.americas.canon.com/us/signin

After you create your account and register the printer, you can click on SERVICE & SUPPORT (in the left column). Then, click on the red box that says GET SERVICE & SUPPORT (on the right side of the page) to find information on the phone and chat support options. 

If the printer is no longer in warranty, it may be more cost effective to purchase a replacement. Through our Canon Upgrade Program, we can offer you a discount and free shipping on a new printer if the warranty is expired. If you are interested in that, please call (866) 443-8002 from 9:00 A.M. to 7:00 P.M. (Eastern Time), Monday through Friday to speak with one of our sales agents who would be happy to help you.

I hope this helps. Thanks again.