Hi Everyone

[blondeandpolish]

I am new to this site and look forward to becoming a little more familiar with my printer options! I have a few problems and hope someone can figure them out for me. I am not a printer ace, but try to take care of problems on my own..........

 

[blondeandpolish]

I did not use my Canon MP530 for a few months and when I shut it down the last time I used it I had no problems except when trying to print photos, the colors were way off! Tried to use it yesterday and the printer head does not move when you turn it on........I am getting an error 511 and a 6A00. I have my manual packed away as I am undergoing some remodeling and so far have not been able to figure out the problem. The ink cartridges are the same ones I always use which I purchase on Ebay from the same source. Can anyone help with some suggestions? I think one solution I found online was to replace the printer head. I also checked the printer for any paper clogs and found nothing.

 

[The Hat]

You may have several problems with your printer all at once !
I have not heard of a 511 error but the 6A00 error is a problem with your purge unit, how many times does the orange light flash ?

You could try giving the purge unit a good soaking of Windex to see if that will clean it up but most lightly there is a blockage in the tubing causing poor ink flow to the print head, you may have to dismantle your printer to remove and clean the purge unit.

 

[PeterBJ]

Could the error 511 be error 5110? That indicates an error in the cartridge lift mechanism.

To help in diagnosing and disassembling the printer to look for mechanical errors a service manual is found here. Before download see this instruction. There is also an excellent instruction in disassembling the printer for absorber change here, or a Google translation to English here.

But I suggest you first try to clean the purge unit without disassembling the printer, as suggested by The Hat. Turn on the printer and open the lid as if you would change a cartridge. When the print head carriage is in the cartridge change position, pull the power cord with first turning the printer off. You can now slide the print head carriage to the left, so it is out of the way. To clean the purge unit you could make some oversize Q-tips from bamboo skewers and bits of cotton and moisten these. Use these to remove as much gunk as possible to free parts that might be stuck.

 

[nowhere]

Welcome to the forum.

I can't offer any additional help but have a related question. What can be done to prepair an inkjet printer for a period where it will not be used?

 

[The Hat]

Nobody really knows the answer to that for sure because everybody has their opinion as to how they’d go about, but if it were me then I do nothing but simply turn it off and unplug it from the wall then put a cover over it and walk away !