CANON Printers

Make sure the cartridge is properly inserted into the holder, and that the printer cover is closed. Check the status monitor, both on the control panel of your printer and on your computer.

Note that the compatible cartridge does not light up to avoid patent infringement. If the error persists, then carefully remove the cartridge to make sure the chip on the cartridge is not loose. Then insert the cartridge back into the printer. If the error still persists, replace your cartridge.

The lighting of the cartridge has been patented by the manufacturer in order to prevent this feature being used for alternative cartridges. So it may be that no light appears when installing the new cartridge. The print quality, however, is not affected.

There is a variety of loose Canon cartridges available through the following websites:

Canon CLI-521 Black

Canon PGI-525 Black

Canon CLI-526 PhotoblackBlackCyanYellowMagenta

Canon PG-540 Black

Canon PGI-550 Black

Canon CLI-551 BlackCyanYellowMagenta

Lift the cartridge slightly upwards until it audibly clicks into position. You will feel some resistance when installing it, but you can just lightly push it through.

Did you first remove the yellow label and then the orange cap? If you removed the orange cap first, the cartridge will leak and the cartridge is then no longer usable.

If you removed the yellow label first, try the following:

When the inner foam in the cartridge is not correctly positioned, it can drip after the protective cap is removed from the ink nozzle. The dripping can be stopped in most cases by patting the ink nozzle with a folded paper towel.

Because of patents, the printer cartridge of the manufacturer may be slightly different than the original. However, this has no influence on the print quality.

If the cartridge isn’t used for long periods of time, it could cause the ink to dry out. In this case, install a new cartridge. If this is not the case, please follow the following steps for your printer type:

1. Remove the cartridge from the printer and wipe it very carefully around the chip with a clean, lint-free cloth.

2. Reinstall the cartridge and press firmly.

If this problem occurs, there is probably a fault / wear in the head cleaning mechanism of the printer. We encourage you to bring back the printer to your Canon dealer.

As long as the cartridges are closed they have a minimal life time of 2 years.

If the cartridge is low on ink or empty, you can clean the print head one or more times using the cleaning program. You can find this under “Printer Maintenance” (name may vary by printer).

You can also click on the following link, Manual for Canon Pixma printers. This redirects you to the site with Canon Pixma printers. Here you can select your printer from the list and then download the manual. The manual describes how to clean the print heads, how to align the print heads and how you can check the ink levels.

The black colour can look different  (slightly less deep) than the original. This has to do with the ink, but does not harm the printer.

If the black really looks grey, it can also be due to the printer settings:

Check the paper settings. This should be set to “plain paper”. If the paper set is to “Glossy” the print turns to grey. To change the setting, click on Control Panel> Devices and Printers> Select the printer and click the right button> Printing Preferences> Tab: Paper / Quality> Media: Plain paper

The grey cartridges are only useable by some printers, this is the reason they are not in the set. You can order loose grey cartridges on the following links:

Canon CLI-521 Grey

Canon CLI-526 Grey

Canon CLI-551XL Grey

First make sure you have removed the seal / tape from the cartridge. If removed and no error message appears, you can perform a cleaning program.

You can click on the link, Manual for Canon Pixma printers. You are then redirected to the site with Canon Pixma printers. Here you can select your printer from the list and then download the manual. The manual describes how to clean the print heads, how to align the print heads and how you can check the ink levels.

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