Canon iP4200 printer problem

A couple years ago I needed ink for the 4200 printer and decided (because I was no longer printing pictures) that it would cost no more to buy a new Canon printer. I bought a 3500 Canon inkjet and kept the 4200 as a spare. The 3500 gave up the ghost 2 months ago and I went back to using the 4200. I print most of my paper using grayscale. Two things happened (particularly noticeable when printing the daily crossword) when I went back to the 4200: (1) the grayscale was much lighter in color and (2) there are horizontal bars evident on the crossword puzzle: the alternate bars are solid light gray alternating with s speckled bar in the same gray shade. Strangely the printed definitions for the puzzle are black and then gray in the same alternating horizontal pattern. I have tried the Deep Cleaning in Utility Maintenance a couple times. and I thought I uninstalled (3500) and reinstalled (4200) correctly. Any advice will be appreciated.

Posted on Jul 12, 2011 8:20 AM

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4 replies

Jul 12, 2011 10:13 AM in response to blountcomick

blountcomick wrote:


I print most of my paper using grayscale. Two things happened (particularly noticeable when printing the daily crossword) when I went back to the 4200: (1) the grayscale was much lighter in color and


Not sure why. Clogged ink nossles?

(2) there are horizontal bars evident on the crossword puzzle: the alternate bars are solid light gray alternating with s speckled bar in the same gray shade. Strangely the printed definitions for the puzzle are black and then gray in the same alternating horizontal pattern. I have tried the Deep Cleaning in Utility Maintenance a couple times.

The ink cartridge has gone bad. You need to buy a new cartridge. You can look on ebay for a good deal on a cartridge.


In particular, when you do not use a cartridge for a long period of time, the ink dries. Some cartridge holes get clogged. you could try applying rubbing alcohole on the cartridge head. Good luck. I haven't had much succes with unclogging cartridges.


Robert

Jul 12, 2011 7:17 PM in response to blountcomick

Are you saying that all the cartridges give the same bad printing results?


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You need to buy a new black and color cartridge. I assume the printer takes two cartridges. I assume both printers are canon. The print heads for canon are with the cartridge. This is why the cartridges cost so much.


This means the lines are cause by bad nosoles in the cartridge.


Using new cartridges should solve the problem. There are no guarentees.



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I have refilled canon cartrigdes myself. It's not hard. It's messy. See ink refill kits on ebay. I do not know about refilling your model. I'm guessing it would work. I doubt a refill will cure the streaked lines problem. Which are caused by dried ink or burnt out knossles.


Robert

Jul 13, 2011 8:04 AM in response to rccharles

The printers (both Canons) use 4 of the same cartridges; the 4200 uses a 5th cartridge. I am doing all gray scale printing which means (according to Canon tech service when I first went to gray scale) the only ink color being used is black. I am not seeing lines.; when printing an illustration; what is printing are approximately 1/4 inch horizontal bars, one solid gray, the other speckled gray. An article I printed off the internet has an illustration which printed as if the illustration had been overlaid with a convict uniform. The words of the article printed as either gray or black: Example the first line printed line is gray, lines 2 &3 ar black, lines 4 &5 are gray..

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Canon iP4200 printer problem

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