Expert: Rundletech - 11/11/2006

Question
My printer has started printing a vertical coloured line at the commencement and end of each line over about 4 lines i.e. 1st line yellow,2nd line red ,3rd line blue, 4th line black. Text and graphics print fine.

Answer
Not enough info! How long have you printed with the set of cartridges? Are the cartridges refilled or new?
I will try to answer without this knowledge:
1) This does occur with poor quality ink use. Some refill products are of very low quality
2)Over time the ink builds up around the bottom of the cartridge carriage and can cause banding
3)The cartridges are not flowing through the micro heads and can cause ink over flow into the carriage area.


Recommend:

1) Purchase genuine Canon cartridge to see if this still occurs sometime you can buy cartridges that have past their shelf life and this may have occurred
2)Take the printer in to a repair shop to have it cleaned a novice would not be able to get to the area to clean excess ink out.
3) When using the Canons or Epson it is a must to run clean cycles after each use the ink builds up one the micro peizo print heads and solidifies and clogs the flow of the ink.
4) Replacement of printheads may be require

Please not Epson, Canon and Brother use the peizo technology which can be a problem for the consumer. These problems are prevalent in these machines.
1) Clogging
2) Print head burn out
3) Having to run clean cycles after each use (ink usage)
4) Printers do not store well over time, if you go on vacation all of the above can occur.

Recommend your next purchase be an HP product. HP printers are products that will not cause you problems and have a much longer life expectancy.