Canon Pixma MP130 prints BLACK in 6.75mm alternate stripes

[Johnmorag]

Product: Canon All-in-One Printer PIXMA MP130
Summary: No problem with Black copying. No problem with Colour printing and copying. Problem with BLACK printing ONLY. The printed result is in alternate stripes 6.75mm wide, one blank and one printed. The NOZZLE CHECK page also has a blank strip after the first 6.75mm Black hash printing. I have downloaded the latest Windows 7 64-bit driver. I repeat, as there are seperate colour and black printheads, I don't think there is a printhead problem because it COPIES in black perfectly. Any help will be appreciated.

 

[The Hat]

Johnmorag
The black print heads are probably a little bit blocked up and running a head clean
on just the black colour may well solve your problems.

Try that and then print just nozzle check to see if it improves at all,
if not do the same again and then check it for improvement.

If it is still not printing correctly I would suggest you remove the black cartridge and give it a good shake
and put it back in again then do a deep head clean this time but only on the black and print out another nozzle check.

The copy facility has nothing to do with black or colour printing, thats a separate fuction.
Your black ink cartridge is only used on plain paper and for text print but never used for coloured photo printing.

Report back on your progress and any improvements overall.

 

[Johnmorag]

Thank you 'The hat'. I have carried out all the head cleaning and nozzle checks, many times. I do not beleive that the printer is using the colour head to print a BLACK COPY when pressing the black copy button. Black copies are perfect, so I presume that the printhead is free along its leangth. When printing from the computer you can see that the paper is being advanced in, what must be 6.75mm steps, I say 6.75mm because 20 stripes measure 135mm. When copying in colour or Black the paper is fed through in much shorter steps. Is this a clue to why the the blank 6.75mm wide stripes are being formed, one black and then one blank?

 

[The Hat]

Thank you 'The hat'. I have carried out all the head cleaning and nozzle checks, many times. I do not beleive that the printer is using the colour head to print a BLACK COPY when pressing the black copy button. Black copies are perfect, so I presume that the printhead is free along its leangth. When printing from the computer you can see that the paper is being advanced in, what must be 6.75mm steps, I say 6.75mm because 20 stripes measure 135mm. When copying in colour or Black the paper is fed through in much shorter steps. Is this a clue to why the the blank 6.75mm wide stripes are being formed, one black and then one blank?

What I can gather from what you are saying is that your printer is working perfectly in standalone mode
but not from your computer is this correct.

Can you print a nozzle check from the printer without having to use your computer
and if so is it perfect or not.
Report back.

 

[Johnmorag]

Hello The Hat, thank you again for your suggestions. I have tried the, 'maintenance' Nozzle Check from the printer menu many times and again just now and it is the same, as mentioned in my first post. "The NOZZLE CHECK page also has a blank strip after the first 6.75mm of Black hash printing". The 3 colours on the Nozzle Check page are good. The printer accepts Colour jobs from the computer, that is I can print script or pictures in COLOUR from the computer. It is just that if I restrict the computer to print in GREYSCALE, then the striping problem occurs both with script and a picture.

 

[The Hat]

Hello The Hat, thank you again for your suggestions. I have tried the, 'maintenance' Nozzle Check from the printer menu many times and again just now and it is the same, as mentioned in my first post. "The NOZZLE CHECK page also has a blank strip after the first 6.75mm of Black hash printing". The 3 colours on the Nozzle Check page are good. The printer accepts Colour jobs from the computer, that is I can print script or pictures in COLOUR from the computer. It is just that if I restrict the computer to print in GREYSCALE, then the striping problem occurs both with script and a picture.

As I dont have a 3 in one printer myself, I have to ask you these dumb questions so bear with me.
What I can gather from your problem so far is that your black print head has blocked nozzles.

When you copy and print your printer is using only the colour cartridge and not using the black at all.
How much ink is left in your black cartridge, I am also assuming that this cartridge is OEM
and has not being refilled is that correct.

Do you have any clear window cleaner if so can you put a couple of drops of it into the inlet of the print head
where the black cartridge normally sits and leave it to soak for 15 minutes.

Pop the black cartridge back in, again I am assuming that there is ink still left in the cartridge
and try a nozzle check to see if some of the blockage has cleared..

 

[Johnmorag]

Hello again The Hat, this Canon printer has a separate and removable print head, with separate printheads for black and colour, the two cartridges are just ink storage, there are no 'chips' on the cartridges, one black and one three colour. When you change a cartridge, and closed the cover, the printer asks if you have changed a cartridge and you answer yes or no, if you answer yes, it asks if it was black and you can say yes or no and then it asks if it was colour and you can say yes or no. If you say yes to both black and colour then when you are doing a print job the 'status' window shows that both cartridges are full ( even if they are not !) BUT I can assure you that they are both full. I do not think that the BLACK printhead is blocked, if it was blocked it would have a problem with printing a black copy job. I have not tried it, but I expect that it would be able to print with one or other cartridge missing/not installed. I have a feeling that the problem is to do with a corrupt message being sent from the computer when asking for a black, 'Greyscale Printing', print job.

 

[The Hat]

Johnmorag
Thank you for your detailed description on the working of your printer.
Now lets talk about how to unclog your print head, despite you thinking that its not.

Have you tried any of the suggestion that I made earlier to try and remedy your print problem.
The problems you describe with your nozzle check have all the hallmarks of a clog and nothing to do with a software issue at all.

Can you also upload a nozzle check in your next post so we can have a good look at it?

I do not think that the BLACK printhead is blocked, if it was blocked it would have a problem with printing a black copy job.
I have not tried it, but I expect that it would be able to print with one or other cartridge missing/not installed.

Both of the above are incorrect, the printer as far as I know will not print anything with one or both cartridges missing
but it can copy and print even without the using any black from your black cartridge, it still has to be present.

Try some of the remedies I mentioned earlier to see just how bad the clog is and if its still blocked then
youll have to remove your print head and soak in a solution of warm water and washing up liquid 50/50 as a last resort..

 

[Johnmorag]

I have removed the print head unit, removed the cartridges, sprayed clear alcohol type window cleaner into the black well, which covered the outlet in the liquid, and left it to soak for a couple of hours, standing on a tissue, this washed the black out of the print head. I replaced all in the printer and did a Nozzle Check, the result was as before. I have just dome a Nozzle Check with the colour cartridge (more an ink tank) REMOVED and it has done the BLACK print out, as I expected, with the same faulty pattern but with no colour. I have just done the same with the black tank removed and done a nozzle check, this printed out the colour part of the check with no black. That proves that the printer does not know if a cartridge is there or not, if you tell it that you have replaced both tanks, even if you have not. I have scanned copies of the various print outs that I have done, I am not sure how to get them to you, do I use the 'Img' button? I am very new to this Forum, it took me quite a while to find out how to send this first POST. I will try tomorrow, Saturday GMT.

 

[jtoolman]

You need to upload them to the tab named UPLOADS. Then you will get sa link that you can use to paste in your text.