Canon Pixma MP500

This problem has plagued me for a very long time. The issue is that the printer head is "glued" in the resting position under the guard of the printer, so you can't remove the ink cartridges to clean it. Solution is to (I know this sounds stupid, but it works) turn the printer on the side where the printer cartridges are (if they are stuck on the left side, turn the printer on its side so the cartridges are on the bottom). Turn the printer on, and the cartridges magically start moving! I guess there are some sensors that get tricked out when you tip the printer on its side. If the cartridges are still stuck, click the "ok" button, and before it gets a chance to see if you actually fixed the problem, turn the printer off using the power button. It takes a long time, but you should see the ink trap lower (release the ink cartridges) and the ink cartridges start moving to prepare for shutdown! Grab the cartridges when they move out of their hiding place and don't let them go back until you clean the print head so it doesn't get stuck again. Remove the ink cartridges, then push the grey tab to release the print head. Wipe the bottom of the print head clean with rubbing alcohol (it will have a lot of gooey - sticky ink stuck on the bottom). I used nail polish remover since I didn't have rubbing alcohol available. You can also wipe down the ink pad which is where the ink cartridges were previously jammed to clean up more of the mess and prevent this sort of thing happening again too soon. Good luck!

Hi
To solve this issue unplug the unit and take out the cartridges then clean the print head which is the area beneath the cartridges with a hot water towel, let it dry out for a while and see if it works again. If the issue returns then its time for a new one as replacing the print head will cost you around same as buying a new one. Hope this helps...please post back for further assistance.
Daniel

The problem has to be with the print head for the yellow cartridge. When the sensors on the print head itself become dirty or damaged it can restrict the ink flow or stop it all together.

Try cleaning the print nozzles and performing an alignment first to see if that solves your issue. To clean the print nozzles, press menu, then scroll until you see maintenance, then press enter and continuing scrolling until you see clean print nozzle and press enter or "ok". Do it a couple of times then use the same steps to go back to the maintenance area and this time choose "align print heads". Then try printing a picture with the color yellow in it to check and see if it works.

If this does not work and your yellow still does not print then try checking your print head.

You can find them under you print cartridges. Open your printer to bring the catridges into the forward position. Then unplug the printer from the power source (with the cartridges in the forward front position). Remove all cartridges then pull upward on the plastic lever under the print cartridges carriage to release and view the print heads. The print heads look like a round hole with a center area that has an ink blotter on it. there is a plastic lever in front of each one, flip it up to use it as a handle and shake it right and left while pulling upward to pull the print head out of the carriage. The back of the print head has computer sensors on it that are similar to the print cartridges. Under them there are more brass sensors . Look for ink or debris on top of any of these brass sensors. If you see ink, get a few q tips some dry paper towels or other link free cloth and remove it. make sure the area is completely dry and then replace the print heads and cartridges. Plug the machine back into the wall and run a cleaning of the nozzles one more time and again align the print heads. if this does not solve your problem then you may have a bad printer cartridge and I would suggest returning it to the place where you bought it.

Ink is a lubricant for the print heads. Some color ink is used even if you only print in black or vice versa. If you printed with a color missing, you could destroy that print head from the friction of running without ink to lubricate it. That's why most printers won't allow you to print with a color missing even if you aren't using it.

If you allow a color to go empty, the residual ink in the head could clog and become permanently blocked. You would never be able to print that color again. So always replace ink cartridges as soon as they are empty.

Leaving your printer on takes very little power. Every so often the printer sends a signal to cycle the ink in the heads so it doesn't clog. If you turn your printer off, the next time you turn it on it will do a cleaning which wastes a lot of ink. The excess ink is soaked up by the waste pad beneath the printer. When the waste pad is full, the printer stops working. Unless you want to spend more than the cost of the printer or waste a lot of time on a messy cleanup you will end up throwing the printer out. So shutting it off actually shortens its life.

If you leave the printer off for extended periods of time, the ink in the heads will clog and you will have to throw the printer away. Someone I know with a Canon (though this can happen with any ink-jet) had to have the heads replaced twice within the first few months before the Canon tech told her to stop turning it off. Since then it has worked perfectly for over a year.

How to clear blocked print heads:
-leave the printer on for a day
-run several head cleanings and print the nozzle check pattern
-if that doesn't fix it, remove the cartridge(s) from the blocked head and drop alcohol where the ink enters the printer.
-reinsert the cartridges
-run one head cleaning
-wait about an hour then run some head cleanings.
-dip the print heads in Isopropyl Alcohol overnight, which you can buy from chemist

If after that still doesn't work, your heads may be clogged to the point where they need repair or replacement, which will probably cost more than a new printer.

Ink is a lubricant for the print heads. Some color ink is used even if you only print in black or viceversa. If you printed with a color missing, you could destroy that print head from the friction of running without ink to lubricate it. That's why most printers won't allow you to print with a color missing even if you aren't using it.

If you allow a color to go empty, the residual ink in the head could clog and become permanently blocked. You would never be able to print that color again. So always replace ink cartridges as soon as they are empty.

Leaving your printer on takes very little power. Every so often the printer sends a signal to cycle the ink in the heads so it doesn't clog. If you turn your printer off, the next time you turn it on it will do a cleaning which wastes a lot of ink. The excess ink is soaked up by the waste pad beneath the printer. When the waste pad is full, the printer stops working. Unless you want to spend more than the cost of the printer or waste a lot of time on a messy cleanup you will end up throwing the printer out. So shutting it off actually shortens its life.

If you leave the printer off for extended periods of time, the ink in the heads will clog and you will have to throw the printer away. Someone I know with a Canon (though this can happen with any inkjet) had to have the heads replaced twice within the first few months before the Canon tech told her to stop turning it off. Since then it has worked perfectly for over a year.

How to clear blocked print heads:
-leave the printer on for a day
-run several head cleanings and print the nozzle check pattern
-if that doesn't fix it, remove the cartridge(s) from the blocked head and drop alcohol where the ink enters the printer.
-reinsert the cartridges
-run one head cleaning
-wait about an hour then run some head cleanings.
-dip the print heads in Isopropyl Alcohol overnight, which you can buy from chemist
-if that still doesn't work, your heads may be clogged to the point where they need repair or replacement, which will probably cost more than a new printer.

Sounds like a bad ink cartridge. The ink is probably clogged up in the print head where the ink comes out of the cartridge. You should either bring it back to where you purchased it for a replacement, or you can try priming the ink.

To prime the ink:
1. Get a wet paper towel
2. Get a dry paper towel
3. Take the bad ink out of your printer
4. Move the ink back and forth from the wet towel to the dry towel touching the print head (part on cartridge where the ink comes out) to the towel.
5. You should begin to see the ink come out in a higher consistency

This will help unclog any ink stuck in the pores of the print head. If that doesn't work, you may need to get a replacement from where you purchased it.

Hope this helps :)

Make sure you didn't get an old cartridge where the ink is dried up. Check the bottom of the cartridge where the ink comes out. Does the ink seem fresh and liquid or old and sticky or dried out? This happens. If its not that then you might have clogged jets on your printer head. To clean these you have to drop a few drops of isopropyl alcohol down into the inkjet heads (the little holes that the ink from the cartridge goes into) and allow it to soak overnight. The next day wipe with a q-tip. Place a cloth beneath the inkjet heads to catch any drippings overnight.

hi, have you taken the clear plastic cover off the bottom of the cartridge where the ink comes out of, also remove the cartridges check for this little clear piece of plastic that needs pealing off if this is not on their or you have all ready taken it off then re-insert the cartridges ensuring they are fitted correctly.

Then try printing again and let me know what happens ok

the problem is very simple the magenta ink the cartridge is over or the head is been blocked from where the magenta ink comes out,
because red colour requires ---yellow plus magenta(pink)----to make it red.and ----dark yellow plus magenta(pink) -------- for brown colour.

Get the printer to move the carriage away from the side where it normally rests. Look inside there, and beneath the rest area, sometimes there is a little rubber stamp that presses up against the cartridges. It usually is filled with dry ink. Take a wet paper tower (probably several of them) and try to get as much ink as you can up. Also, there is sometimes a little rubber wiper that cleans the printhead as it passes by. Make sure this is clean also.

Now take the cartridges out. Get another clean paper towel, sopping with water. Press the nozzels down against it, but don't wipe. Just dab them, until you're getting some solid lines of ink on the towel.

Then look for the pattern of copper colored dots on the cartridge. Clean this with alcohol, and then look inside the printer where these dots (contacts) would line up inside the carriage. There will be a smilar pattern of dimples. Clean these with alcohol, and let it dry. 

If possible, you might want to try to fit a towel damp with water beneath the print carriage (where the paper runs through).  This collects a lot of ink sometimes.  Be careful not to force anything.

Finally, put it all back together and try your print.