Canon Printer not producing good quality prints

[oceanauk]

I have a Canon i350 printer which until recently was such a great little printer - my photos were always excellent quality. I haven't used it for a while and when I connected it up to print some pics the quality was just abysmal. There are lines running horizontally across whatever I print out, including ordinary text. I have done a roller clean (several times!) a realignment several times too to no avail. Does anybody have any ideas? Perhaps somebody has this printer and could give me some tips? Thanks!!

[Dagman]

Hi oceanauk, I have just the exact same problem! same model etc. I tried contacting canon loads of times with no reply so if any canon employees are out there, read your e-mails! The only way I can get mine to print ok is each time I use it change the property settings to High quality and Glossy paper settings. It slows the print time but prints ok. Give it a go, let me know here if it works for you, good luck!

[oceanauk]

Hi Dagman - thanks for your message.  I have tried changing the settings to the highest quality - again it seems to make no difference.  I actually reinstalled the driver last night from the Canon web site - again this seems to have had no effect whatsoever.  I have been searching the internet for answers and have come across a couple of possible problems that it could be - one is the print head could be damaged and two it could be  the cartridges are clogged/dried from sitting for long periods of time.  Well I've run several deep cleans on it so I know it isn't my cartridges - if it's the print head then it may mean a new printer.  I am going to see if Cartridge World will look at it since the specialise in Canon printers.  I did purchase my replacement cartridges from there and I do wonder if they were a bit "cheap" if you know what I mean!!! LOL!!  Let me know if you have any further solutions!!  Thanks ...... Jackie.

[Dagman]

No probs, hope you get it sorted :)

[mattoc66]

i have exactly the same problem with my canon i350 printer.. when i bought it from new i couldnt fault it for quality and now im getting the familiar white lines running verticaly through the prints.. ive tried using the cleaning program several times to no avail.. what was the out come to solving this problem Jackie? did you have to buy a new printer in the end or did you get the problem fixed?

[oceanauk]

hi mattoc66 - I tried everything and wrote to canon for updated software for the printer but in the end nothing was resolved - I was told the print head was probably damaged. I searched for new print heads but they were as expensive as the printer itself. I was furious but there was nothing I could do. I have since bought a new (cheap) printer for normal text/document printing and purchased a really lovely photo printer. Sorry this news is not good!

[mattoc66]

Thanx for your reply Jackie.. this sounds like a common problem for this model and it looks like im resigned to buying a new printer myself :( not good news at all.. Many thanx once again.. Matt p.s. Can you recommend the make and models of the new printer/s you bought to replace the old one? im in need of a good reliable printer lol.. thanx Matt

[cgrower]

A really helpful engineer at Electroversal http://www.electroversal.com told me that the best way to prevent this from happening is to use the printer regularly and only using manufacturer recommended inks.