Printed characters misaligned/ no alignment possible, AIO 922

Question

Hello:

I am suddenly experiencing a character alignment issue with my 922 AIO. Also, it will not successfully complete an alignment telling me that I need to remove the shipping tape from the ink cartridge. Of course, the tape has long ago been removed. Any ideas where I start on this problem? The printer cartridges are not that old. Any help would be appreciated, as I am using this to print documents at work. The machine is about 16 months old.

Thank you.

Steve

william_the_sco · Answer

The computer error message telling you that there may be tape on the print head and not aligning may be caused by this. When you don't use your ink carts for a while, when you get new ink carts that have been stored in warehouses for a number of months, or when you have refilled a slightly too dry ink cart, the print head nozzles on the bottom of the ink carts get clogged with dried ink. The printer head cleaner menu will NOT dissolve the dried ink. Water will. Try this. Soak the bottom of the clogged ink cart in 1/2 inch of hot water for 15-30 minutes. Blot dry with clean paper towel (you should see the ink color on the towel). Retry.

NJSteve53 · Answer

I have done as suggested (soaking the cartridges in hot water) and the machine will now perform an alignment. However, there is still obvious misalignment of characters in my WORD documents. It is most obvious when looking at straight vertical lines in a table. Actually, the lines that comprise a straight vertical line for a table are misaligned. I have made sure that WORD is not using DRAFT format, as well as the 922 (it is set to NORMAL). Changing the 922 to PHOTO will not correct the problem. Any other ideas out there?

Thank you to "william_the_scot" for the advice so far.

Steve

NJSteve53 · Answer

UPDATE, UPDATE:

If I use just the color cartridge to print the document, I do NOT see misalignment. The only problem is that the "black" is sort of grey now because it is making black from the color cartridge.

Does anyone know of a problem with the recent batches of black cartridges for the 922? This is a "new" cartridge (although I understand that the cartridge may have been on the shelf for a while).

I guess I will have to spring for a new black cartridge and hope for the best?

Thanks to all who may reply.

Steve

xytrielle · Answer

Try running the Dell printer Solution Center and click on the Maintenance icon,  and click on the Align to fix blurry edges selection. You can also align the cartridges manually by selecting the best alignment value from the alignment page that was printed.  Just locate the number  under the darkest arrow for each alignment group. And using the arrows in the Align Cartridges dialog box, select the number that matches the arrow you chose from the printed page. then click OK after selecting a number for each alignment groups.   Hope this could help. Try it if you haven't tried this step yet.

NJSteve53 · Answer

Hi:

I do not see the arrows referred to in the last post on the alignment page, or the option to align manually. It really seems to be a problem either with the black cartridge or the printer when it uses the black cartridge nozzles. If I use the color cartridge only, I do not see the alignment problem, but the "black" on the printed page is not really black (even if I darken the image on the printer). So, this is not really a fully acceptable workaround when printing documents.

Thank you.

Steve

dalilas1022 · Answer

I also got a hit with alignment problems in 922 AIO.

Repeated failures in the Automatic Alignment in the same brand of printer on my Windows XP SP3 (service pack 3) desktop computer from Dell.

Took out the cartridges and saw that the tape was gone, and the only tape was on the non-exposed parts of the nozzles.

I even used tissue on my cartridges' nozzles as I took them out to make sure there was no tape residue in the cartridges. Re-inserted them. Ran AA again and again it failed...the alignment failed again.

So it is probably a dried-ink issue as you say above. I am filling the sink with hot water, then I will soak the cartridges for 30 minutes. Then dry them. I am doing them right now. Hope that this puts an end to automatic alignment failures in the future.

notes22 · Answer

I seem to be having the same problem for the last few days. I am now trying to soak in hot water, my ink is not that old either. Hopefully this will work. Thanks to all for the info.

PudgyOne · Answer

Are you using Dell Series 5 ink cartridges?

You can try, Cleaning Dell ink cartridges

Unplug the printer from the wall. Now remove the powerbrick for 60 seconds. This will reset any error message the printer is getting. Plug everything back in and power the printer on.

Open the printer with the power on and remove the Dell Series 5 black ink cartridge and make sure the tape is off the cartridge, then reseat the cartridge back in. Now do the same for the Dell Series 5 color cartridge. Now when you close the printer, it should print an alignment page. Any error messages?

Dell Series 5 ink cartridges have a sensor in them and cannot be refilled. Article on refilling Dell ink cartridges

They can be purchased at Staples, Walmart or Dell's website.

Black cartridge = black side(left side) Color cartridge = color side(right side)

Photo cartridge = black side(left side) Color cartridge = color side(right side)

It is also possible to get a new ink cartridge with a bad sensor. Please take it to the place of purchase for a replacement one.

Rick

dalilas1022 · Answer

Are you talking about a bad sensor in the new ink catridges that trigger a relentless and unending series of  'alignment failure' messages every time you print the re-alignment page again?

dalilas1022 · Answer

Pulling the plug out and pulling out the powerbrick - I did that, and re-inserted the plugs. Then I started the realignment thing again. Unfortunately, that does not work--still says 'alignment failure.'

PudgyOne · Answer

dalilas1022,

Are you using Dell Series 5 ink cartridges?

The printhead is on the Dell Series 5 ink cartrisge, so if there is an alignment problem, then it's the Dell Series 5 ink cartridge.

Rick

dalilas1022 · Answer

I tried everything to correct the alignment problem errors, including your suggestions. All of them failed.

PudgyOne · Answer

dalilas1022,   If the cartridges were new, take them to the place of purchase for a replacement.     Rick

dalilas1022 · Answer

So probably a bad sensor. This is so disappointing. The final cause of the problem is that.

dalilas1022 · Answer

It is over. The new catridges did not solve the alignment problem. :( :( :(

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Printed characters misaligned/ no alignment possible, AIO 922

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