Canon Pixma MG6821 - Print head alignment

RickF

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I've had this Canon Pixma MG6821 for two years now with very little problems. Yesterday I printed out something fine. Then 10 mins later I try to print something else. It starts to print then stops with a message saying "Print head out of alignment". I tried the 'auto' print head alignment per instructions and the pattern looks different than it should so I place the doc on the tray and scan it as directions say to correct the alignment. Next head alignment printout still looks wrong. Try printing a page and there are big gaps in the printing (all black text).

Today I tried using the 'copy' function. It works but the printout is real light. Made a color copy of something and it looks okay. Really weird. So today I try to print out something again but is has big gaps of missing print.

See pdf of that messed up table here:
https://app.box.com/s/sss3owtc9yt9ij7ahrmn55nc9vdggmti

Thinking that I might have a device driver problem I tried to update the driver. It says it's working correctly and I have the latest.

Thanks for any help, I'd appreciate it.
 

The Hat

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In my honest opinion, a manual head alignment is by far a more accrete way of getting a good alignment and quality prints.
So today I try to print out something again but is has big gaps of missing print.
Please post a nozzle check so we can determine what exactly your printer is outputting right now, and don’t print any more test sheets of any kind till you can resolve this issue, nozzle check are acceptable..
 

RickF

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Thanks for the reply.

I printed out a nozzle check pattern and it looks good to me. Here are two images. Note: It actually looks better than the scanned copy. I also did a nozzle clean function just to be sure.

Q7n1fEY.jpg


Here's one on box.com site:
https://app.box.com/s/z8z5pa6u89jyfxcqbkofc1bsxpr89u1j
 

The Hat

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I printed out a nozzle check pattern and it looks good to me.
Ops.. sorry that’s not good at all, your pigment black is missing the top of its nozzles, the print head is beyond saving, and you’re going to need a replacement head, you can however continue to print your photos ok for now, but for your text documents you’ll have to set your media setting to matte to enable you to print just text..
 

RickF

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Thanks 'The Hat'. Appreciate the reply. I guess I need a new head then.

I tried removing the 'print head' by following Canon's help guide but can't figure out how to get it out. Then watched some videos... still a no go. Feels like the carriage for ink wells is going to break before it releases. Don't have a new print head to put in but thought if I got it out maybe I could see what was wrong - or clean it with alcohol.

Is replacing the Print Head a DIY for folks? Thanks.
 

PeterBJ

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Yes, these print heads are user replaceable. The first YouTube link in this post shows the procedure for removal of the printheads. Remember to remove the cartridges before removing the print head. And here is a post with photos also showing how to remove these print heads.
 

RickF

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Thanks PeterBJ for the video and post. (I replied to this already but it disappeared)

That video was very helpful - probably the best that I've seen for Print Head removal and re-install.
Since the price of a print head is nearly $100 - and 2/3 the cost of a new printer – I'll probably replace the whole printer. I tried cleaning the print head like in that video using hot tap water until there was no ink coming out but no go.

Thanks again for all the help with this problem... both TheHat and Peter.
 
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