Canon MX870 print alignment. Only occurs

Cannaon Pixma print head alignment message

It may be that, if it's not the tray allocation settings causing the problem, some printer maintenance will fix this. I had this problem, after I had only had my MX870 a couple of months. Suddenly, it would not print from the cassette even when printing to standard A4 plain paper. Nor would it print from the cassette even when I changed the printer settings from 'automatic' tray selection to print always from the cassette. After seeing something online, I then ran some of the MX870 maintenance applications, first 'Cleaning', then 'Print Head Alignment', and finally 'Roller Cleaning' for the cassette rollers (for which you have to remove all paper from the cassette). The problem has been solved (at least for the moment).

Hi there,
When printing becomes faint or colors are incorrect, even if ink remains in the ink tanks, the print head nozzles are probably clogged. Follow the procedures below to clean the nozzles.

Step 1 : Printing the Nozzle Check Pattern.
If white stripes are noticeable
Step 2 : "Aligning the Print Head"
If print quality is poor
Step 2 : "Print Head Cleaning"
if the problem remains
Step 3 : Print Head Deep Cleaning"
if the problem still remains
Step 4 : Replacing Ink Tanks.

Note : * If the ink tank replacement does not resolve the problem, contact the Customer Care Center.
* You will be alerted if low ink warning is enabled.
* When the Maintenace button on the operation panel is pressed, the maintenance mode is shown. Numbers and functions that can be selected on the maintenance mode as follows :
01 : Printing the Nozzle Check Pattern
02 : Print Head Cleaning
03 : Print Head Deep Cleaning
04 : Aligning the Print Head
05 : Reset the ink counter.
06 : "Display" or "Not Display" remaining ink volume.
07 : Date and order setting.

Printing the Nozzle Check Pattern : Print the nozzle check patterb to determine whether the ink ejects properly from the print head nozzles and to verify print head alignment. Use this function when printed results are blurred or the color is incorrect,
1) With the printer on, load a sheet of Letter paper in the printer.
2) Print the Nozzle Check Pattern.
a) Press the Maintenance button,
b) The Maintenance icon and 01 appear on the LCD.
c) Press the OK button. The nozzle check pattern is printed.
3) Examine the nozzle check pattern output by the printer.
a) Lines missing in this pattern indicate that the print head of black ink requires cleaning. Perform the Print Head Cleaning.
b) White stripes in this pattern indicate that the print head of color ink requires cleaning. Perform the Print Head Cleaning.
c) Uneven patterns indicate that the print head requires alignment.
Perform Aligning of Print Head.
d) Noticeable white stripes in this pattern indicate that the print head require alignment.
Perform Aligning of Print Head.

Print Head Cleaning : Clean the print head if you suspect that the nozles might be clogged. Cleaning the print head consumes ink, so perform print head cleaning only when necessary.
1) Ensure that the printer is on.
2) Start print head cleaning.
a) Press Maintenance button.
b) Press right arrow once to display 02 on the LCD.
c) Press the OK button.
Important : Do not perform any other operations until the print head cleaning finishes. This takes about 50 seconds.
Note : After the print head cleaning finishes, print the nozzle check pattern to verify that the print head nozzles are clean.
If the problem persists, perform printhead deep cleaning.

Print Head Deep Cleaning : If print quality does not improve by standard print head cleaning, try print head deep cleaning, which is more powerful process. Print head deep cleaning consumes ink, so perforn this procedure only when necessary.
1) Ensure that the printer is on.
2) Start Print Head Deep cleaning.
a) Press Maintenance button.
b) Press right arrow twice to display 03 on the LCD.
c) Press the OK button.
Important : This process takes one or two minutes to complete so simply wait until the Power lamp stops flashing.
Note : After printhead deep cleaning finishes, print the nozzle check pattern to verify that the printhead nozzles are clean.
If the printhead is still not clean after the second deep cleaning, replace the ink tank.
If ink tank replacement does not resolve the problem, the print head may be worn out. Contact the Customer Care Center.

Hope this helps.
Please rate my response.
Thanks.

Have a good day.

Press the OK button.
- If paper is being fed at error occurrence, the
error is indicated after the paper is ejected.
- If the error occurs, the print head alignment
values are not changed.
- After exit from the error by the OK button,
the automatic print head alignment will not
be re-done.
The error will occur when the print head
alignment pattern is not printed due to no ink
or non-ejection of ink.

Press the OK button.
- If paper is being fed at error occurrence, the
error is indicated after the paper is ejected.
- If the error occurs, the print head alignment
values are not changed.
- After exit from the error by the OK button,
the automatic print head alignment will not
be re-done.
The error will occur when the print head
alignment pattern is not printed due to no ink
or non-ejection of ink.

pull the ink cartage back out to see if a clear film is not on the cartage??? Check the area by cleaning the ink cartage with rubbing alchole, and also the area that the ink cartage goes into. Use a cotton ball the clean these area with.

Hi all of you
this problem occures from bad quality ink cartridge, try to buy original product , and check exp. date.
hope this helpful for you,
thanks

Hamedo

hi, i was having the exact same problem with my printer. and i also tried reinstalling the driver. after reading your post i decided to see if the printing problem occurred when i used the other colors, and it looks like it's only a problem with the black ink. i printed out a sheet with the text in red and another in blue and they came out perfectly. but the black grid that surrounded the blue text, still looked problematic.

so... that means that the black ink is the problem. i haven't tried putting in a new cartridge. did you say that your problem occurred after you put in a new black cartridge, or did you try putting in a new black cartridge and you still had the same problem?

Well... here it is :

The POWER Lamp Flashes Orange An error has occurred in the printer. The number of flashes indicates the type of error, as outlined below. Check the cause and take the appropriate action.
When a printer error occurs, the POWER lamp flashes. The number of flashes indicates the type of error that has occurred. Count the flashes and take the appropriate action to correct the error.
Two flashes: Printer is out of paper /Paper does not feed
Reload paper to the sheet feeder or cassette and press the RESUME button.
Three flashes: Paper jam/Paper output tray is closed
If paper is jammed, remove the jammed paper, reload paper in the printer, and then press the RESUME button. If the paper output tray is closed, open it.
See Paper Jams
Four flashes: Empty ink tank
Press the RESUME button to resume printing with an empty ink tank. Replace it with a new ink tank immediately after the printing. It may damage the printer if you continue printing with an empty ink tank.
Five flashes: Print head not installed/Print head not installed correctly/Print head is defective
Install the Print Head. If the Print Head is already installed, remove the Print Head and check the electrical contacts for foreign matter, then reinstall.
After reinstalling the Print Head, you may need to realign it.
If this error still remains, the Print Head may be damaged. Contact a Canon service representative.
Six flashes: Inner cover error
To print on paper:
Close the inner cover. Then press the RESUME button to start printing.
Do not move or close the inner cover during printing. It may damage the printer.
Seven flashes: The CD-R or DVD-R is not set on the CD-R tray
Reset the CD-R tray feeder with a CD-R tray containing a CD-R or DVD-R, and then press the RESUME button. Printing will resume.
This function only works with models that support CD-R printing.
Eight flashes: Waste ink absorber almost full
The printer has a built-in waste ink absorber for the ink used during print head cleaning. Eight flashes indicates that the waste ink absorber is nearly full. Press the RESUME button to cancel the error so you can continue printing. Before the waste ink absorber becomes completely full, contact a Canon service representative.
Important
Canon recommends that you call for service as soon as this error occurs. Once the waste ink absorber becomes completely full, printing will no longer be possible.
Nine flashes: A specified period of time has lapsed without receiving no response from the digital camera / The digital camera or digital video camcorder connected is not compatible with this printer
Disconnect the camera cable, press the printer's RESUME button and reconnect the cable.
If the error is still not solved, there is a possibility that you are using a digital camera or digital video camcorder that is not supported by this printer. Use a digital camera or digital video camcorder compatible with this printer.
Ten Flashes: Cannot print on both sides of the page
The size of paper may not be compatible with automatic duplex printing. For information on the size of paper compatible with auto duplex printing, see "Automatically Printing on Both Sides of the Page." Pressing the RESUME button will discharge the paper, and restart printing from the front side of the next paper. The reverse side will not be printed when an error occurs.
Eleven flashes: Cannot perform automatic print head alignment correctly
Possible causes are as follows:
A4 or Letter-sized paper is not loaded on the sheet feeder.
Ink has run out or ink tanks are not installed correctly.
See Ensure that the ink tank is installed properly.
Ink level is low.
Print Head nozzles are clogged.
Press the RESUME button.
For information on how to print a nozzle check pattern, see "Printing the Nozzle Check Pattern."
The paper output slot has been exposed to a strong light source preventing correct print head alignment.
Press the RESUME button to resolve the error. Align the printer so the paper output slot will not be exposed directly to a strong light source.
After carrying out the above measures, if the problem continues after aligning the print head again, press the RESUME button to resolve the error, and then perform manual print head alignment. For details on manual print head alignment, see "Aligning the Print Head."
POWER lamp flashes alternate green and orange:
An error that requires contacting a Canon service representative may have occurred.
Disconnect the printer cable from the printer, and then turn the printer off and unplug the printer from the power supply. Plug the printer back in and turn the printer back on after leaving it for a while.
If the problem remains, contact a Canon service representative.