Canon Pixma MX922 vertical banding despite auto align, man. align...

[workingmomjd]

INSIGHT will be helpful! This is my 3rd Pixma 922 (I'm a fan), but it's the first time I've ever hit this road block! I've tried everything! Cleaned it every way I've found described in the support section, online and Google, aligned it and cleaned the timing strip for over 3 hours and I get improvement, but it doesn't offer the the option I need. The vertical branding that is the final sticking point is so pervasive that it is present in every option of the manual alignment options, no matter how many times I try it. On the 2nd page of the manual alignment process, panels C - F are identical from top to bottom within their own respective columns. None show a solid band, or even a more solid band. Any ideas?

 

[stratman]

Is it my eyes or is there significant ghosting/double printing of the text on the page? It is as if you kept changing the settings further and further away from alignment. Or, it could be a dreaded warped nozzles from too much heat, but this would typically have been a gradual appearance which worsened over time.

Please post a nozzle check.

A thorough history may be in order.

Was this a new set up of the printer? Why did you do a manual alignment?

What problems, if any, were present before the manual alignment and what did you do to resolve them?

Have you tried starting from scratch as if you just opened the box of a new printer, including removing the print head, the cartridges, unplugging the printer and even uninstalling the software?

cleaned the timing strip for over 3 hours and I get improvement

Cleaning the timing strip is a great thought. 3 hours, though, seems unusually long. There are marks on the timing strip that are supposed to be there. How dirty was the inside of the printer?

 

[PeterBJ]

I think the print head is defective. The test patterns should be regular rectangles with some vertical or horizontal striping, not saw tooth like.

Could you please upload a scan of a nozzle check?

Here is how the top of the alignment page 1 should look:

 

[workingmomjd]

Is it my eyes or is there significant ghosting/double printing of the text on the page? It is as if you kept changing the settings further and further away from alignment. Or, it could be a dreaded warped nozzles from too much heat, but this would typically have been a gradual appearance which worsened over time.

Please post a nozzle check.

A thorough history may be in order.

Was this a new set up of the printer? Why did you do a manual alignment?

What problems, if any, were present before the manual alignment and what did you do to resolve them?

Have you tried starting from scratch as if you just opened the box of a new printer, including removing the print head, the cartridges, unplugging the printer and even uninstalling the software?


Cleaning the timing strip is a great thought. 3 hours, though, seems unusually long. There are marks on the timing strip that are supposed to be there. How dirty was the inside of the printer?

It's not your eyes, that's exactly the problem. It varies throughout the pages. I took them with a small tripod, so shake isn't an issue. On line three it can look like complete double vision and by line six be perfect and then transition to a smudgy appearance for a few lines. It has been somewhat gradual in onset, but not from any significant heating conditions or heavy use. If anything, I thought it was a clogged nozzle from infrequent use, but cleaning convinced me that wasn't the issue.
I manually aligned when the auto-alignment wasn't doing it for me (probably because I no longer have the template sheet and can't print one out because my printer's bad) The three hours was largely because I have complex PTSD and my hands shake really bad, so comparing the lines took forever to make a final decision and I wanted to be very careful when cleaning the timing strip.
It's been set up in its current place and in use since late 2018, only moved for cleaning and as I said, just gradually got worse, most aggressively here the last six months.
I've reset it back to factory settings, reinstalled the driver's, etc., but I'm afraid when I bought it all I did was take it out of the box and plug it in. Take out the print head, huh? Have to google that one.
I bought a different printer, but got disgusted at the inferiority and decided to try to fix this one before I gave in to trying to find a truly competitive replacement (I *really* like this printer). I've included several more nozzle checks. I've also included a printed page using my manual alignment, and auto-alignment printout, and that same printed page using the auto-alignment settings.

 

[workingmomjd]

It's not your eyes, that's exactly the problem. It varies throughout the pages. I took them with a small tripod, so shake isn't an issue. On line three it can look like complete double vision and by line six be perfect and then transition to a smudgy appearance for a few lines. It has been somewhat gradual in onset, but not from any significant heating conditions or heavy use. If anything, I thought it was a clogged nozzle from infrequent use, but cleaning convinced me that wasn't the issue.
I manually aligned when the auto-alignment wasn't doing it for me (probably because I no longer have the template sheet and can't print one out because my printer's bad) The three hours was largely because I have complex PTSD and my hands shake really bad, so comparing the lines took forever to make a final decision and I wanted to be very careful when cleaning the timing strip.
It's been set up in its current place and in use since late 2018, only moved for cleaning and as I said, just gradually got worse, most aggressively here the last six months.
I've reset it back to factory settings, reinstalled the driver's, etc., but I'm afraid when I bought it all I did was take it out of the box and plug it in. Take out the print head, huh? Have to google that one.
I bought a different printer, but got disgusted at the inferiority and decided to try to fix this one before I gave in to trying to find a truly competitive replacement (I *really* like this printer). I've included several more nozzle checks. I've also included a printed page using my manual alignment, and auto-alignment printout, and that same printed page using the auto-alignment settings.

The first is using my manual settings, the second is the auto printout and the third is using those auto settings.

 

[workingmomjd]

I'm removing the printhead right now and will update. A random aside is that I use off-brand ink if that could possibly make a difference.

 

[stratman]

I am sorry to say that your Pigment Black nozzles are irreparably damaged. Note the tell tale ballooning railroad tracks in the vertical lines in the latticework of the Pigment Black nozzle check swath.

This is thought to happen from excess heat that warps the nozzles. The Canon print head is a thermal print head that uses heat to spit the ink out onto the paper. The ink acts as a coolant for the nozzles so they do not overheat and warp. The forum has seen this all too often, especially with third party aftermarket ink that, theoretically, fail to cool the nozzles sufficiently.

The only known cure is a new print head (or a new printer all together).

A workaround is to use a Photo Paper Setting even when using Plain Paper. This will bypass the use of the Pigment Black cartridge and use the other Dye-based colors to make composite black. The downsides are less black intensity, text that doesn't look as crisp, and no water / highlighter resistance to smearing.

You will still need to have a working Pigment Black cartridge for the printer to work. Know that the printer will still perform maintenance purges on ALL the cartridge, including Pigment Black, and so it will eventually run Empty and you will need to get a new cartridge (least expensive aftermarket) or refill and reset the empty cartridge.

I wonder if overriding ink level monitoring on the Black Pigment cartridge will allow you to keep printing on Photo Paper Settings (which does not use Pigment Black). Would make for a good experiment if you are up to it. I am sure others here would like to know.

 

[workingmomjd]

Well, an answer, even a bad one, is still better than being in constant uncertainty about whether or not it's salvageable. It's a relief. I'm going to price just replacing the print head. Is there anything I should look out for?

 

[The Hat]

Is there anything I should look out for?

Yes, Better quality inks, and switch to printing using quiet mode..

 

[workingmomjd]

I currently use high quality as my default, should I change that as well? Thank you! The new OEM print head arrives Sunday for half the price of a new printer, along with brand ink (that's gonna hurt!)