Blurred print recurring after RMA

[jamesgross]

Hello,
I have a Canon Pixma G650 printer, which I’ve found to be fantastic for my semi-professional board game prototyping. The colors are vibrant, the blacks are deep, and the details are sharp.

However, I recently experienced a sudden drop in print quality, with images becoming blurred and horizontal lines appearing in color blocks. This happened after printing only about 500-1,000 pages, all within warranty.

I submitted an RMA, and the printer returned from Canon fully repaired two weeks later, printing like new again. The RMA note indicated that the print head was replaced and the printer was thoroughly cleaned.

Unfortunately, a similar issue has resurfaced just a couple of months later. I suspect it’s related to the media I’m using—gloss vinyl sticker paper, which is a bit thick and tends to curl at the edges. This curling may be catching the print head, causing ink splatter inside the machine (I hear a strange noise when this occurs, and the paper comes out marked with black ink along the edge).

I could stop using this media, but it seems like a design flaw that a curled page can essentially ruin the printer.

Has anyone else experienced this, and do you have any suggestions for repair or prevention?

Thanks in advance!

 

[oliver666]

Check your head alignment settings. I had a similar issue with thick paper and a manual alignment fixed the blurring. If the paper is curling and hitting the head, it's definitely going to mess up the nozzles again.

 

[The Hat]

Has anyone else experienced this, and do you have any suggestions for repair or prevention?

Your printer is quite capapile of taking vinyl paper, and if your paper is curled at the edges then turn the paper over and de-curl it by rolling the edges back or roll the paper up on the handle of a brush for 24 hours, that will also cure your problem..

You might also need to go into Printer Maintenance and click on Custom Setting, in there you can tick the box for Prevent Paper Abrasion and that will raise the print head slightly, which should cure all your problems..