Canon MP610 printer head

[duncan22]

Bit of an odd problem, when I send something from the computer to the printer the print head normally runs along the rail a couple of times and then prints the document. Recently it started to carry this out 9 or 10 times before doing the actual printing.
It prints ok and just displays the message printing from computer.
My concern is that each time it runs along the rail it is using a small quantity of ink so over a period of time a fair amount of ink will be wasted.
Have tried resetting the printer but this has not sorted the problem out.
Not sure if I should consider reinstalling the latest driver from Canon website but this is a fairly old model of printer so latest drivers are a few years old.

One thing I think may have messed things up is that I use Linux as well as windows 7 and an attempt to print something using Linux just came out as a garbled print.

Anyone any ideas or thoughts on this ?

 

[websnail]

My guess would be that the printer is checking that the paper is being pulled in, aligned properly or similar rather than actually trying to print.

Perhaps check that the paper is loaded correctly and that there's nothing lying in the paper path?

 

[IanYY]

1.
Is the paper moving up and down while the printhead does its 9-10 movements?
If so, websnail's suggestion is correct and the printer is attempting to straighten the paper before starting to print.

2.
If the paper is not moving (and there NO noises and pauses at the end of each stroke sounding like nozzle cleanings) then it is likely the printhead is trying to align itself to its correct starting position. This is most likely caused by a dirty timing strip, which carries the optical marks used for head positioning. Try cleaning the timing strip with a Q-Tip soaked in Windex (or your favourite window cleaning spray).

The timing strip is the very thin, transparent, hard-to-see plastic strip running the full width of the printer just behind the printhead. If you look closely, you can just see the fine timing marks printed on it.

3.
You will only be wasting any ink if the printhead pauses during the 9-10 passes to clean the nozzles - bearing in mind that regular nozzle cleans are a fact of life on printers which are working perfectly.

Ian

 

[duncan22]

Thanks for the feedback.

The paper does not seem to be moving but thanks for the idea about the timing strip, as you say it's almost impossible to see it, I can't see any timing marks but that's probably down to my eyesight,will give it a clean and see how I get on