Hello,
I solved the problem on the MP530 printer of a friend of mine.
BUT: If you are not a DIY, I would strongly recommend not opening this machine.
It took me more than a couple of hours to disassemble, clean and reassemble again.
If you follow the disassembly instructions below, you might be able to do this faster than I did, because I had to figure out how to open the case without breaking anything.
Also, in the end, you will need some less ordinary tools like a very tiny crosshead screwdriver and a slim stick with a hook at the end to get the springs back on their places again. I used a steel instrument with a hook my dentist gave me but I guess one can fix a tool with a bent paperclip.
SECOND BUT: I cleaned up the consequences of this problem so the printer works fine again without that black streak on the back side of the paper. This does not mean that I found and fixed the problem.
Because I have not been able to find out where all this ink comes from in the first place. It is obvious that this ink is NOT produced when the printer prints because in that case it would have been on the front side of the paper and not the back side.
In this printer, once I had disassembled all and was left with the bare printer basement and the unit which does the sheet transport out to the front, I discovered a real mountain of nearly dry ink. The bottom of this mountain was sitting on the basement of the printer which is covered with a special kind of absorbing material which is supposed to deal with waste ink. And the mountain was high enough to rise through the sheet transport unit. Which explains the black streak.
As someone else said, the top of the mountain is underneath the big black cartridge.
So, one might say that this cartridge is/was leaking. But I have not changed the cartridge and the printer does not leak anymore.
To check this, once up and running again, I have been sliding a small piece of paper underneath the inner cover (the one you have to open if you want to change a cartridge).
By inserting this piece of paper while you pull down the cover (which enlarges the inner height of the sheet transport unit) you will be able to push the paper way in, underneath the area where the leak should be.
Whether the printer is off or on, in economy mode or cleaning heads, no single drop of ink came out.
It might of course be that my friend had not completely inserted the cartridge as it should, but in that case the printer should have warned, don’t you think?
I also found that exactly on the spot where the mountain was sitting, there is a small plastic tube which goes right, to the area where the heads are cleaned. I know that this tube is to transport waste ink, but I don’t know in which direction. If it is supposed to suck ink out of this place and spit it out in a lower level absorbing reservoir then fine, but what if it operates in the opposite direction? Then it would be able to spit ink underneath the paper even while you are printing… I am sure that real printer technicians have the answer to this question, so if someone wants to help us out with this one…
Do you still want to clean your printer? (Because that is all I did in the end).
Here you go then:
Next steps in the next post, since apparently text length is very limited here.
- Instructions are given from the front view of the printer.
- Pull all cables off.
- Lift the cover as if you want to change cartridges.
- Take off the side covers:
o Left cover:
Unscrew the screw on the top near the front and the 2 screws on the back.
Push down the top retention hook on the top inside, near the middle of the edge.
This cover comes off top first, then hook off the bottom.
o Right cover:
Unscrew the screw on the top near the front and the 2 screws on the back.
Push down the top retention hook on the top inside, near the middle of the edge.
This cover comes off top first, then hook off the bottom.
- Take off the front covers:
o Left brown front cover:
Push the 2 retention hooks (on the far right edge and the inner right edge of the part above the silver open button) to the left.
This cover comes off top first, then hook off the bottom.
o Left silver front cover:
Push the retention hook on the right edge to the left.
This cover comes off bottom first, then move upwards to free the top.
o Right brown front cover:
Push down the 2 retention hooks on the top edge.
This cover comes off top first, then the bottom.
o Right silver front cover:
Push up the 2 retention hooks underneath the bottom edge.
This cover comes off bottom first, then move upwards to free the top.
Next steps in the next post (this text length limit is ridiculously short! How do you want to describe a decent solution for a complex problem in 10 lines?
- Take off the document handling top of the printer.
o On the right side, unplug the gray cable connector on the PCB underneath the USB connector at the back of the printer. Remember the hole where this cable goes into the printer or take a photo of the area if you can.
o On the right side, unscrew the blue grounding cable on the left side.
o Move up and to the back the document feeder unit until its feet come out of their sockets.
- Take off the metal plate supporting the PictBridge PCB and fax unit on the right.
o Unplug the top cable (yellow, red and black wiring) of the PictBridge PCB.
o Unplug the middle cable (2 white wires) of the PictBridge PCB.
o Unplug the bottom cable (2 black wires with an orange connector) of the PictBridge PCB.
o On the top of the metal plate, unscrew the black grounding cable which goes to the USB front panel.
o On the side of the metal plate, unscrew the black grounding cable. Remember where this wire comes from and which path it has (or take a photo).
o This metal plate is retained with 3 screws: 1 near the back of the printer, on the bottom edge of the plate, 1 near the front, on the bottom edge, and 1 in the middle, behind the plate.
o Remove the plate and put it up onto the scanner unit (otherwise you would have to unplug more cables).
- Take off the scanner unit.
o On the right side, pull off the 2 flat black ribbon cables on the PCB above the USB connector at the back of the printer. Remember their position (in my case, the left one has a magnetic ring around it).
o On the right side, unplug the gray connector with the yellow-black-orange wiring.
o On the left side, take the black and yellow cables out of the hole and unplug them. Remember their position or take a photo.
o Unscrew the 2 left side screws, underneath the jack. 'cnt'd)
o Unscrew the right side screw, in the middle, rather obvious location.
o Push in the retention hooks at the back in the basement part of the printer to unleash the scanner unit.
o Pull the scanner unit up.
Now you’re left with the printer basement containing the printing assembly.
At this stage, if your problem is the same as mine, you should be able to see the top of the “ink mountain”.
To take off the sheet transport unit, do the following:
- Unscrew the left side screw, completely at the bottom of the printer, to the right of the second indented wheel (seen from the front).
- Unscrew the right side screw, in the middle, obvious location.
- Lift the printing assembly out of the plastic basement on the right side only, just enough until you see appearing a screw on the front of the sheet transport unit, completely at the right.
In normal position, this screw is hidden by the edge of the plastic basement which is the back of the paper output tray. Unscrew this screw.
- At both ends of the sheet transport unit, take off the springs. There is another spring left to the middle, but that one is to keep the sheet transport unit together, you can leave it in place for the moment.
Now you should be able to slide the sheet transport unit underneath the print head carrier to the front of the printer and take it out. Be careful: Some wiring is still attached.
(cnt'd)
I preferred to disassemble all electronic stuff before cleaning the dirty parts, so let’s go on:
- Unscrew the screw on the top of the metal plate to free the upstanding “electronic eye”.
- Shift off the metal plate from the plastic roller holder (direction is obvious).
- Take off all the wiring from the bottom part of the plastic roller holder, release and disconnect the wires at the other end (at the back of the printer, on the right side, 2 connectors).
- Unscrew the very tiny screw on the plastic to free the second “electronic eye”.
Final stage: Now you’re left with some plastic and metal parts you will have to clean with hot water and an old teeth brush. As to the absorbing material in the bottom of the printer, I just cut off the parts that were really too dirty and replaced some of it by other parts of the first layer of the material which is “behind the corner” because I don’t think the ink will ever reach this place, even by capillarity.
Since in my case some of the rollers were really dirty, I also dismounted some of these:
- Pull up one end of the spring on which the roller is mounted and pull on it to release the roller.
Be careful: Some rollers are double, there parts fit correctly together in only one way (observe).
That’s about it. (cnt'd)
Clean it all, wash your hands (but it will take a couple of days before all traces will have disappeared), let the components dry and assemble the whole stuff again, just proceed in reversed order.
If you have traces of ink on plastic parts and so on which won’t go away with water, cleaning spray for glass might help or chemical products which we call “essence A” here in France (“A petrol”?).
Disclaimer: I am not claiming that my solution solves any and all problems with the black streaks on the MP 530 printer. I am not responsible for any damage you may cause to your printer by following the steps I described. It worked for me, I tried to describe as best as possible how I did it, I am even willing to answer questions if you have any, but I am not responsible for what you do with your printer.
Good luck!
Frutchy
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I spoke to Canon tech support on this issue and they suggested to run the maintenance function to "Clean bottom plate". This seems to have worked for me. I ran the utility 5 or 6 times per their recommendation.
Frutchy rocks! I found that the instructions are not 100% correct - but they are close enough to head you in the right direction. My printer now prints beautifully without the black line! I found that I have to follow the 'Take off the scanner unit' steps BEFORE I followed 'Take off the metal plate supporting the PictBridge PCB and fax unit on the right'. Also found there were a few more screws to remove the top half of the printer than were mentioned - but they were all straightforward.
I tried Frutchy's solution and it allowed me to fix my problem. While the instructions can't be followed exactly, it's pretty close. Earlof18th must not have plugged something back in correctly.
My problem wasn't the black stripe on the back, it was an issue with a message on the LCD stating the "INNER COVER DOOR IS OPEN" when it wasn't. Toggling the door open and close several times did not fix the problem. I figured an internal switch was not tripping correctly when the door was closed so I searched the web and found Frutchy's answer.
After getting down to the end of his instructions for opening the unit, I found the switch that was responsible for telling the printer the door was closed/open. It was saturated with sticky black ink. I think some of the ink actually made it's way into the switch and fouled the contacts. By spraying a high pressure stream of WD-40 into the switch lever, I was able to clear the contacts and tested the switch with a multimeter...it worked again!
I assembled everything in reverse and the printer fired right up and printed my last page I had sent to it. Problem solved...for now, in two years I might have to do it again...or maybe I'll have a different printer then!
Fix took 3 hours from open to repair and saved me a $100 or so. Prepare to get black ink everywhere...WD-40 does take it off of surfaces well though!
Thanks Epern!
I just got off the phone w/Canon, and am getting a refurbished replacement sent to me today. Apparently, the warranty is 1 1/2 yrs. They first suggested a local repair shop (covered under warranty), but when I asked what would happen if the issue continued in a month (when my warranty would be expired), they offered the refurb.
It's worth their effort ... we all buy enough ink to keep this thing going!
Really appreciate the repair tutorial, but feared I'd only make matters worse.
Thanks.
Frutchy is dead on in his fix. The ink is coming from a small diameter plastic tube that runs from under where the cartridges park at the far right end of the printer and terminates at the center of the printer atop some sort of blotter material which is supposed to absorb the ink. Problem is the ink is too viscous for all of it to be absorbed and it eventually starts to accumulate on top of the blotter material. Once the ink "mountain" builds up to the point where it reaches the rollers below the paper path it starts to leave the streak on the bottom of the paper. This ink must be from cleaning the nozzles which I believe the printer does every time the heads "park" for any extended period of time. A real stupid design if you ask me!! What really perplexes me is why Canon Tech Support didn't immediately know the reason. The "clean bottom plate" routine is like *****ing into the wind as far as this problem goes. It will never solve the problem for any extended period of time. The only way to truly solve the problem is Frutchy's way.
I had the same problem. I found the receipt , realized I was within one year. I called and had a 3 minute phone conversation that led to a new printer being sent to my business. It arrived in 5 days... brand new. I was extremely and pleasantly surprised at the responsiveness. I think it was sheer luck. An interesting side note, they didn't ask for a receipt , only the serial number. So, I wonder if "one year" really applies here. Good luck...
SOURCE: it's the Black Stripe thing
You need a new ink absorber kit with a guard sheet to stop ink from coming up from the bottom and getting on the exit rollers. It's a major job to remove the print engine and a messy one. Best done in repair shop..
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I have the same problem. Any solution?
Same Problem! The roller directly underneath the 5PGBK tank is covered in ink. I assume the tank is leaky or malfunctioning. But, no fix?
Same Problem
I have the same problem. A streak probably from a roller on the back side of the paper. Doesn't matter which paper tray you're printing from. Very annoying.
This seems to be a problem common with this printer - it's plagued mine for a couple of months now. Unfortunately, my printer is now out of warranty.
Black
When printing on Canon MP530 printer a black ink streak is printed across backside of paper. After third print the streak fades out but does not completely disappear. How can I clear this up, otherwise the printer prints beautifully especially pictures.
I have the same problem, black line down the back of the paper, and none of the maintenance solutions works permanently. Does any have a permanent solution.
Yes, and I love this printer. It's the only one I know that doesn't refuse to print unusual size paper without resetting the paper size in page set up.
But, it is driving me crazy wasting all this ink and paper to get a clean sheet. The line is so thick that it soaks thru even card stock. I've done all the maintenance that the manual suggests and still it doesn't help. When I have the chance I will take the printer apart. Guess I'll have to get a new one if I can't get it back together.
Bridget
I have problem that my printer is correctly conected the computer and power cable is also connected but when i give a command for print the document it does not give the print the cartridge is replace and check the connectivity
When the printer prints the first page there is a stripe of black ink on the backside of the paper.
Same issue and I just bought another boatload of cartridges from Amazon! Darn...
I tried Frutchy's solution. I am pretty handy. His instructions can't be followed exactly. I found the pile of ink and cleaned it out and put the whole thing back together. When i turned it on it was DEAD. Do yourself a favor. Buy a new printer. They don't cost much more than the ink they come with. I bought a Canon even knowing the same problem might arise.
Black streaks when printing
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