MX870...
If you see the photo at full resolution you should see the problem.. It seems like some white horizontal lines but it seems like that they are darker ?
I'm having a difficult time figuring out the problem as well. There seems to be some alternating darker and lighter lines. Was there a paper feed issue or stutter in the print head carriage at that particular moment? The other segments that use Cyan do not appear to suffer the same issue.
The bottom black also looks funky, but could this be an artifact of a higher resolution image?
Do you have a different Cyan cartridge to try? Your comment about leaving the printer rest for several hours usually point towards an ink starvation issue, whereby the intervening time allows ink to slowly work its way to the print head. Maybe the problem is in the print head itself. This is why trying a different Cyan cartridge would be helpful in figuring out where or what the problem is.
Is there a problem printing on plain paper or photo paper?
The problem at my other post occurred also when i had original ink cartridges....
The bottom black apperead like that since the first nozzle check ever...
I had previously put an @WORK blue cartridge there.. and when that finished i put my old original cartridge refilled again.. I had completely seaded it... Bottom and up for storage....
This problem gets worse after a head cleaning...
I have never touched the printhead...
I am scanning the current nozzle check
The least expensive first step would be to purge the cartridge in question, refill, make sure all refill/purge hole are sealed air-tight, make sure the sponges are seated correctly, and try printing again. Or, if you have a different, known working cartridge, to try it. The more expensive route, but the one that leaves the least amount of variables unknown, is to purchase a new OEM Canon cartridge of the problem color(s) and try printing again.
In all cases, it is best to just print nozzle checks at first till more is known or the nozzle check is OK.
One more thing to do early on is to check if the purge system is working properly. There will be two purge pads that the print head rests over when in the parked position (when not printing) to the extreme right as you look at the front of the printer. Flood those two pads with water (or a cleaning solution if you have it) until you see it pool on top of the pad, close the lid, and do a manual cleaning if the printer does not automatically initiate one after closing the lid. When cleaning is finished, open the lid, the print head will come to center, and look at the purge pads. The pads should have no more flooded/pooled water on them. If water is still pooled then the purge system is malfunctioning, possibly from a clog of ink.
If we know you have a perfectly working set of cartridges (the biggest reason to purchase a new cartridge to know they are not causing the problem) and the nozzle checks and/or prints are still bad, then you're most likely looking at a bad print head, a bad purge unit, or bad electronics in the printer.
I tried several things...
Last thing i tried was putting windex on the prinhead...Nozzle check is sometimes ok and sometimes has a minor problem...
Aftter the windex the first nozzle check had the problem but the second nozzle check didnt...
It seems like that the problem occurs after a head cleaning..
Then if i print blue in normal quality i get little banding (no whites) just blue is lighter sometimes at constant rate even i print 5 blue pages in sequence.. The problem doesnt get worse..
Here is a photo of the prob 5mb http://dl.dropbox.com/u/4499990/sites/nifty1.jpg