I know this is an old video, but let me tell you, was ready to order a printer and thought I would give your advice a try and guess what? IT WORKED! You are a lifesaver!!!!
GOD BLESS. I cleaned out a paper jam and the print heads needed aligned afterwards. After attempting it manually and automatically and nearly tearing the whole printer apart, I found this video and cleaned the strip. Perfect print head alignment afterwards. Oh thank goodness!!
I was just getting ready to go and buy a new printer. I thought I'd check RU-vid just in case I might be able to salvage this printer. Thank you so much!!!! It worked like a charm after cleaning the timing strip! I was happy because I'd just replaced the ink cartridges too and thought I'd just wasted $60.00 on ink.
Wow, thanks for posting this! I was about ready to give up on my printer, and all that was needed was to clean the transparent ribbon with a Q-tip and rubbing alcohol -- a two minute fix after two hours of frustration. Nice going!
Downloaded new drivers, didn't work. Was all set to buy a new printer when I saw this video. Cleaned the transparent tape and it fixed the problem! Thank you!
OMG........Absolutely a life saver!!!!!!! Why they don't have this information in the user's pamphlet is beyond me....saved my printer from an untimely death, in less than two minutes! Thank you thank you thank you!!!!!!!! :)
Thank you! This video is very clear and it enabled me to take care of the simple problem of a smudged component quickly. The manual that came with the printer proved to be useless. Thank goodness for people like you who take the time to help others. (Canon apparently prefers to make a mystery of how to accomplish simple fixes.) Thanks!
We had a piece of paper stuck in the back but the 5100 code was still there when we removed the stuck paper. I would not have thought that cleaning the strip as described in the 2nd half of this video would do anything, but we tried it and it worked. Thank you!
Nice Video, I ended up having very small pieces of paper trapped on the back side of my Canon MP530 printer, where I could not see them. I unplugged the printer, then I turned the printer on its rear side and blew out the roller area with compressed air, low and behold a few small fragments of paper came floating out of the printer behind the ink cartridges. Works fine now.!!
Thank you so much... I had tried everything and nothing worked... 5100 wasn't even my error code it was 6000, but I took a chance clicking on your video and it worked, I cleaned the clear strip in the back with a napkin and that's what fixed it! Thank you so much, after an hour of researching and googling I found you! YOU MADE MY DAY!.....MUAH ♥♥♥♥
Cleaning the timing strip solved the 5100 error on my Pixma iP3600. I can now run the Print Head Alignment maintenance procedure again, and printing is perfect again. Thanks for posting.
Thank you so much, this fixed my printer error. Was considering opening it up to see if anything was stuck. With your help just cleaned the transparent ribbon with a baby wipe. Perfect!
You my friend just saved yet another printer, thank you so much! It was the transparent strip that got dirty, just had to wipe clean and it’s up and running!
THANK YOU. I had a Pixma before this one which came up with a fatal error; the printer was toast. (I did file for a refund as part of a class action suit against Canon; SO many people had experienced this.) Anyway, I was afraid that Error 5100 on my latest Pixma might be the same thing. Happily, it was not, and thanks to your taking the time and trouble to create and upload this video, the printer was cleared and works normally.
PIECE #2 On every single one of my three mx870 printers, I have experienced the 5100 error. I got these three printers used - one from my brother who stopped using it and stored it for 6 months, another from ebay for a total of about $133 with shipping, and a second on ebay for the same amount. The last one I bought has been the very best. But it exhibited the 5100 error, when I had it up in LA printing proofs and art pictures, with the printer sitting on a narrow wobbly table. After a few hours the printer suddenly showed the 5100 error. I re-seated the carts, then it resumed printing. But that scared me, so I took the printer off the rickety table, placed in on the floor, and never had a problem with it again. The rickety table exaggerated the head movement, and it may have loosened up the carts and caused one of them not to make a good electrical contact. Or it could have put pressure on the printhead movement - either way, it was a very bad idea. The printer should be sitting on a solid platform. My first printer from ebay began to display error 5100 problems at the beginning of this year, but NEVER in the plain paper setting. The error came when I switched either to matte paper, or to the glossy paper setting. When you switch from plain paper, the printer switches from printing all text and black lines with pigment black, to printing black text and black lines with dye black. It can also produce a muddy black by combining cyan magenta and yellow. IT WILL NOT USE THE PIGMENT BLACK CARTRIDGE on any type of fine paper setting.
This is where to start - 1. Make sure nothing is inside the printer. 2. Clean the timing strip. 3. Re-seat the cartridges. I own three of these great printers, and these 3 steps have helped. However, there can be much more to this problem if you experience the following: THE PRINTER WILL PRINT ON THE PLAIN PAPER SETTING, BUT YOU GET THE 5100 ERROR WHEN YOU TRY TO PRINT USING MATTE PAPER OR GLOSSY PAPER SETTING.
Brilliant! Really helpful. I had removed a paper jam on my MP620 and was getting the 5100 error message even though all the paper was removed. Cleaning the transparent tape/ribbon as described here fixed the problem. Many thanks.
Thank you so much for uploading this video. It helped me to save lot's of money. My printer made all of the sudden noise an stuck. No paper or something else inside so far. I followed your advise to clean that transparent tape and everything below the parking position of the printing head. That was it!
Thanks. Pressing the Stop button for 5 sections cleared the error for me for a printer I picked up for free at the dump. That must be why the previous owner discarded it. The printer works fine now.
Thank you for the tip. Worked on my Canon G1000 by cleaning the encoder strip. For me, the printer pulled in the paper halfway and the rollers would keep spinning for sometime. Then the paper would be pushed back. Again rollers spinning. Next, the paper was rolled down, just about where it would exit the printer and stopped. Then Error 5100 would come up on screen with both LEDs blinking alternately on the printer. It seemed like something was stuck inside but I found nothing. I tried cleaning the encoder strip, but didn't work. But then I noticed that I had missed the part where the cartridge carriage was resting (extreme right side). Pressed RESUME/CANCEL button for 5 seconds and the carriage moved to the Left, and there it was! A tiny line of ink on the encoder strip, exactly where the carriage would usually come to rest. So make sure you check the encoder strip all the way from left to right and clean it with a q-tip or tissue. Sorry about the lengthy comment, but it drove me nuts for 2 hours!!
Definately clean the ribbon! I opened & closed and looked and turned the machine over and over and no foreign material or paper stuck in unit. I have MX450. I tried all the on/off button pressing suggestions to no avail. So, I turned off printer and I used a swab to reach the clear strip a few times back and forth and turned on the machine expecting to continue to see the error code, but, VOILA ! All Fixed ! Thank you again and again !
A simpler solution that worked for me w/ the MX310 is to press the Menu > Maintenance > Deep Cleaning to let the machine clean itself. Worked perfectly.
Very helpful!!!! I couldn't find my model on the Canon site and the installed printer program kept showing me how to approach from the back and nothing about opening the front and checking for stuck paper, which I do anyways, or about cleaning the strips. Followed your suggestions and the printer is working fine again. Thank you!
So after doing all this, and then taking the inks out, cleaning the ink holder things, etc etc.... after an hour-2 hours of that shit, I got so frustrated, I slammed the printer with my hand, it hurt a bit... so I grabbed the nearest object (I had been working on the printer on the kitchen table), which was a jar of peanut butter, I slammed that against the printer about five time really hard. I turned the printer off and then back on, it now works...
I followed the instructions like in the video and it wasn’t working, until i read your comment and decided to try and give it some slams and IT WORKED RIGHT AWAY! Thank you!
Wow, thank you so much! I spent an hour trying all sorts of things to fix my misaligned printing and nothing worked. Then I tried your tip to clean the clear strip with tissue and now it prints perfectly! Amazing advise 🙇🏻👍🤗
Not being a tech saavy female but learning from a couple of tech saavy ladies where I normally get my computer fixed, I learned how to fix my own printer. Note my printer had not been used for 10 years and the bloody computer technician who came to my place lied and said that the printer was not working and to throw away the printer drive. Never again, I will get a 2nd opinion as I did end up throwing away the drive and then had to reinstall it. Anyway, I watched RU-vid videos turned on and off my computer for longer than 5 seconds. I checked to see if paper was jammed in it, but to be honest it was hard to tell if paper was stuck right down the bottom. I next brought some rubbing alcohol wipes and cleaned the computer as well as I could including the strip, making sure I did not touch it with my hands. Voila! my printer is now working. Makes me feel so good about myself being able to do this. So over the moon that I have not had to fork out a lot of money considering I am not working. Yes, Yes, Yes.
PIECE #5 Lastly, 2. the printhead might be your problem. At the beginning of this year, my previously perfect first ebay mx870, began giving me the 5100 error. I spent hours and hours, different sets of proofs, starting with plain paper, trying 6 to 10 proofs, switching to matte, trying to coax the printer to cooperate. What I didn't know, until 4 months later, is that the printhead was going bad, down at the bottom on the dye black ink line of the nozzle check. With the naked eye, it looked perfect like it always had looked. But after months of fooling around, being able to print matte, but not glossy for example - somewhere along the line I printed the nozzle check on actual matte paper. I call it matte paper, but it's REALLY cheap - so Canon calls it high resolution paper. It does have one side coated. It is very inexpensive, and very good for proofs - less than 10 cents a sheet - perfect for proofs - I use the matte setting with it. As good as the Canon mx870 prints on plain paper, print it out one time on the matte paper (high res paper) and the colors will pop! (I guess i could use the high res setting instead of the matte setting - but when we are completely satisfied with the proof - we print a title on each proof with the actual print color settings in the print driver, so if we just added too much yellow, we can go back to what worked better - the image has a title with the settings. So as I said, when we get ready to print to the final $2-4 a sheet Hahnemuhle art paper, or similar, on prints that we are going to frame and hang on the wall, I use the matte setting, so in making fine color adjustments in the print driver, I want to be consistent and continue with that same matte setting. For a cheap glossy paper, try the Kirkland glossy photo paper, $18 per 150 - about 12 cents per sheet, an amazing value in a heavy - I think it's 240 gsm - glossy paper. If you are putting a photo behind glass, you don't want glossy - because the glossy will reflect, and the glass will reflect - too much reflecting. A fine art paper causes the print to take on the quality of a painting - the texture in the paper changes the quality of the print - it begins to cross the line from a photo to a painting - I was always a glossy paper person, but when I saw that happen then I began to appreciate why those fine art matte papers cost so much. Pick up some sampler packs and give it a try.)
Thanks so much for this video! Someone sold me this printer and while I thought I got a cheap deal, I was super pissed to find this 5100 error. This video helped me resolve the issue and now I feel happy again :-) I am kinda laughing on the guy who sold me the printer probably thinking it’s broken :D
@ITjungles Thank you so much! 🙏 I (still) can't believe the dirty transparant strip was the culprit. I almost bought a new one after I could not find any paper jammed (as the errorcode saus on the printer).
Thank you!!!!!!!!!! I did not know to do this and it looked like it should have been cleaned, quite a while ago. Wiped it down and works great! Thank you again for having helped so many of us!!!! Have a good day!
Thank you so much for your help with this video! I didnt know that having those clear plastic parts smudged would cause such an error, but that was the problem! Now I do not have to replace my printer :)
wow this actually works. Wish I would've looked at this video before having 2 days of frustration and on the verge of throwing the freaking printer out the window. Thanks.
