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How to fix error 6C10 on Canon Printers

MAJ 21/12/14

Error 6C10 appears on these Canon printers: MP110,MP550, MP560, MP540, MP600, MP610, MP630, MP800, MP810, MP830, MP970, MP980, MP620, MP640, IP3600, MP990, MG5200, MG5300, MG6100, MG6200, MG8100, MG8200... and others...
It's a "valv cam sensor error".


Solution 1:
  • Move the printhead to the center.
  • Disconnect the printer and check on the right: is the purge unit ok ? No peace of paper ?

Solution 2:
  • Do a reset of the printer:
  • Power on
  • Hold down the "Resume" button (triangle in a circle)  for 15 to 20 seconds.

Solution 3:
  • Power off the printer.
  • Open the door.
  • Power on.
  • When the cartridge is in the center, close the door.

Solution 4:
  • Open the lid and allow the ink cartridge carrier to center itself. 
  • Looking to the right, you will see a row of white rollers behind the carrier. 
  • At the end of the rollers there is a small, clear piece of plastic that sticks up. Take a small piece of a paper towel and wipe all of the ink off this piece of plastic. When that is clean move on to the ink pad.
  • About 1 inch, towards the front of the printer from that piece of plastic, is a small square, about 1/2 inch per side, that is a small foam pad. This is where the excess ink is collected. 
  • Take a piece of paper towel and press into the foam. Do this until the paper towel is no longer collecting ink. Close the lid, turn off the printer then turn it back on.

Solution 5: (thanks to Rebecca Korsgaard)

Solution 6: (Thanks to Anonymous)
  • Remove casing et look for the microswitch that is being pressed by one of the purge unit cams.
    Just clean it

Comments

Rebekah said…
This was the best suggestion on the net. Thanks! I had tried all the others but step 3 fixed my printer!
AdheringComic said…
It worked!! But now have inky fingers
ischmirfad said…
Yes.
Yes!
Real GREAT 'HowTo'.
Thank you so much!

Peter
Frutje said…
OMG! I really want to kiss you! Thank you so much it worked!! By just closing when the cartridge was in the middle!!
westerdaled said…
hi

I a still struggling .. I have tried all these now .. I am not sure where the purge unit is on my mp 620. BTW are these fixes fairly permanent or will they reoccur periodically.

Daniel
Brian said…
Number 4 worked for my MP550. Thankyou. I was nearly at the point of throwing the darn thing away.
Brian said…
Number 4 worked!! I was about to throw the damn thing out the window.
Thanks.
Why doesn't the manual tell us how to deal with this?
Anonymous said…
OK none of this worked the error keeps coming back. Any further suggestions??????
Daniel said…
Worked on my MG5250!
Picar said…
I had the same problem with my MP630. These tips worked for a while, but the problem came back. So I broutgh it to a mechanic, and he said that the purge unit is broken and has to be changed.
Anonymous said…
Thanks, solution 4 worked on my MG6150
heybrau said…
Awesome!!! Great instructions in #4. Qtips and TP did the trick. Thanks!
Unknown said…
hey nothings working its a mg5250 any othe suggestions?
theopisti2 said…
thanks a lot. i have an mp640 printer. that happens a lot!! unfortunately! i tried all of your suggestions, and futhermore, i tried one that i had find a while ago. i removed all the cartridge, and then the head of cartridge, i clean the head with a piece of paper and finally it worked
foolforlove said…
I've tried all of these today and for a moment I thought option 4 would work. I've contacted Canon directly now to see what they say. My printer is the ip3600.
Anonymous said…
I have a IP 4850 with 6C10 error. None of the steps above fixed it. Anything else i can do to solve this problem?
MummyJ said…
I don't normally post on these things but THANKYOU! Solution 4 worked for me, even though Canon said there was nothing I or they could do, I'd have to get it repaired by one of their expert technicians.
Unknown said…
I had this problem with MP640. Completely dismantled and cleaned out the ink waste absorbers and a block ink waste pipe underneath the transport mechanism. After re-assembly it worked fine for a while. The Error 6C10 re-appeared. Well, the ink portion was still clean, I tried resetting the ink waste counter, all with no change I reasoned that the only other change made during the first clean was to unplug connectors to the logic board. So took off the right hand side panel, remade all connections and have had no problem since.
Anonymous said…
Solution 4 worked!
Anonymous said…
thanks for the great post. Solution 4 worked for my MP 860MX model
Anonymous said…
Solution 4 Cleaning the foam pads and plastic wiper blades worked a treat on my Canon MP540 First time I have had to clean in over 3 years
Fly Me Friendly said…
Agreed - #4 worked fine on our iP3600. Just used tissues to clean the plastic to the right of the rollers & soak up excess ink from the foam pads in front of it.

Much appreciated :)
Dutchy500 said…
all the solutions did't not work for me, i clear the problem via youtube
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vvgneJYfVuI
test said…
Option 2 worked for me. Thanks.
Anonymous said…
Thank you. I struggled for hours using just the reset button, finding the manual online and looking for the solution to 6C10. The advanced manual gave no solution. it told me to contact tech support. All I needed to ffix the problem was some paper towels to soak up the extra ink. How cool is that!(model Pixma MX882)
Jezz Dresner said…
Solution 3 fixed it for me, thank you!
Anonymous said…
Solution 3 fixed it for me!
Ian said…
Thank you so much for this. Solution 3 worked for me. I've got inky fingers and a working printer.
Unknown said…
solution 4 worked for me. I actually had to take out the 2 foam pieces, that are actually hard, and wash them under water, larger square piece is actually white, let them dry and carefully put them back in.
thank you for this info. i was preparing to get rid of this printer but this was any easy fix.
Joan said…
Solution 4 worked for me on my MG6150. I found however it was the two pads on the right (one large,one small) that really needed to be cleaned with paper towels. Fiddly and messy. Very many thanks for this advice. Canon support manual...don't waste your time downloading...no support whatsoever and recommend you get a technician.
Anonymous said…
Thanks number 5 worked for me. I smashed the printer outside and bought a new one.
Anonymous said…
@Dutchy500, you save my life!
Ink Absorber Reset for Canon IP3600
>> http://www.fixya.com/support/t3839982-resset_ink_absorber_full_canon_ip3600
Anonymous said…
Solution 4 worked, with Melissa Blacknick's method, i.e., running water over the 2 foam pieces and drying. Also cleaned the clear plastic wipers with q-tips and alcohol. Printer works again!
Unknown said…
I and my MP540 thank you very much - solution 4 worked this time.

Best regards,
Alan
Unknown said…
Thank you.
Solution #2 worked for me on my MG5220
Ungwena said…
The solution 4 worked fine for my MP640, but I had also to clean the space between the tanks of the foam pads and the small white movable part opposite to the wiper blades. Thank you very much to the providers of these solutions.
Anonymous said…
thanks, no. 3 fixed it
antonella said…
ho usato il consiglio n°4, adesso la mia stampante funziona. Grazie
Ming Yang said…
Yes, solution 4 works. There was really so much ink stored in there. Now it have printed something already
Unknown said…
nothing works...please help
tony said…
Thanks for your great advice .I tried it and my printer is now working fine .
Anonymous said…
Thank you, solution 3 worked! Your blog is going in straight to my favorites!
Anonymous said…
Solution 3 worked. T u v m Why on earth is this tip not in instruction book. Not like Canon at all.
Anonymous said…
Step 4 worked for me! really thanks a million for the suggester. Can i offer him or her a beer? Alan
RayB said…
Solution 4 worked for me.
Hope it's not a problem that will come back too often as my fingers are covered with ink!!
Unknown said…
This problem should never have turned up in the first place if it was built right by Canon. Owners buy these printers/scanners to use when needed, not spend wasted hours of time fixing them. As far as I'm concerned, Canon makes a poor product. I'll not be buying anymore Canon products in the future. We should be screaming our heads off at Canon about this problem, and make them fix the problem at their cost. We, as buyers, should never have to go inside, and clean/repair an item. Screw up the insides, and Canon says that's your fault for diving into it,... too bad, NO warranty. Junk in my books, simply junk.
Unknown said…
After doing everything suggested, and with everything inside squeaky clean once more, it still comes up with error 6C10. Going to take the fellows suggestion of #5 method of repair, and use an 8 lb. ball-peen Hammer to it, and never buy a Canon product again in the future. My iP4700 is just wasting my time trying to get it going again. It's junk, plain and simple. I'd advise others to do the same, and not waste time trying to get it working again.
S Ali said…
Thanks a million - solution 3 worked for my MG5350. I spent hours resolving it resetting it earlier but wowwwww what an easy solution in the end. Thanks
Anonymous said…
hello
has a french seem to find the answer
http://xavier.fenard.free.fr/Canon_MP540.htm
watch the end (English)
henhawk said…
Solution 4 worked for me on MG6120-cleaning the clear piece of platic-Was completely black with ink. and soaked up some of the ink from the inkpads
Joanie said…
Thank you so much for your advice about fixing the printer.
I was thinking I would have to buy another one, I got all new ink cartridges , kept trying to find info on how to fix the error..
Then when I found this site, and followed the instructions, I thought at last !
The first time I tried , the printer kept making noise as if it was typing, then I got the message again! 6 C10 error.
I thought ... One more try ... And Yes ! It worked.
Thank you again.
Anonymous said…
Option 4 worked fine for me, used some cotton tips and gentle rubbed them along the plastic sheets at the end of the rollers and soaked up the ink from the pads with a tissue.
Printer is a Canon IP4700
Unknown said…
man you've just saved my day =))))
Sharon said…
Thank you so much, number 4 worked and yes I have inky fingers too but
saved my bacon on an insurance claim!
Anonymous said…
n4! great! i loveu whoever u are!Eli
Anonymous said…
Thank you very, very, very, and so on, much !

Solution 4. (the other 3 didn't help)
Also tried the Youtube link for resetting.
It worked not instantiously but after a night and de-conecting from electricity, it was repaired.

Tx, where ever and who you are !

Koen
Anonymous said…
Solution 3 fixed it for me, thank you!
Anonymous said…
Woooh ! it worked!
Thank you so much !
Anonymous said…
Hi - It worked for me over a period of a year on and off but then it just stopped with error 6c10 and wouldn't work. I then tried cleaning the printer head as last possibility and it works like new ;-) these are the steps for a canon http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pEkKGBUSwNg

So when all the other possibilities run out try this!
Rebecca Korsgaard
Anonymous said…
This worked for me thanks!
Anonymous said…
Yes, this was the best suggestion on the net. Thanks! Step 4 fixed my printer! Now I have black fingers;-)
Anonymous said…
FINALLY! I've tried everything I could find on the net, and your #4 seemed to work - only after several tries (I removed the "sponges"to clean them). THANK YOU!
Unknown said…
Suggestion 4 fixed my problem, thank you
Anonymous said…
The Pixma MP540 service manual states clearly:

Valve cam
sensor error

[6C10] The valve cam sensor was
faulty at power-on or when
purging was attempted.

1) Foreign material or paper debris
around the purge drive system unit;
remove foreign material.
2) Cable connection
3) Part replacement:
- Purge drive system unit
- Logic board

So the solution is to remove casing and look for the microswitch that is being pressed by one of the purge unit cams. Clean it and you're ready to go. The steps above are merely a temporary measures and I'm surprised they helped anyone.
Norm said…
All very helpful info but did not solve my 6C10 error on MP630. Took casing off for good access to absorbers and drive gear, Cleaned out absorbers and wipers and turned drive cog to activate drive cam BUT drive cog would not go down enough to engage with valve cam unit cog.
It appeared that the weight of the absorber pad block was greater than the driving force on the drive cog. If I pushed it down further, which lifted the absorber pads, the drive cog would engage with the valve cam cog and the cam would rotate through its cycle before dropping out again.
Any suggestions?
How to get a greater driving force out of the driven cog or to reduce the lifting force required for the absorber pads?
Anonymous said…
Solution 5 was the solution for canon pixma ip 4600. Now working fine and good, like new. Thanks Rebecca
Anonymous said…
This printer has been a great machine for many years. I can't understand why the price is so high. I bought mine for 80 bucks 6 years ago. Anywho I have been plagued by the 6c10 error for about a year. I have the solution for my error. The squeegee, at the end of the print head travel when it swings to the full right, get smeared with black ink (or a combo of all colors producing black). I take a 1 inch thick X 3 inch x 2inch piece of foam rubber and saturate it with rubbing alcohol. While the lid is opened and the print head has moved to the center of travel I set the foam on top of the ink blotter squares and the clear(now black with ink) rubber squeegees and let it drain the alcohol down into the tubes that drain away the ink. Then a Q tip or paper towel and clean off the rest of the ink from the rubber squeegees until clear (or as close to clear as you can get after 6 years of use). Unplug and replug in the unit and turn it on. Presto, no more error for me, for about a month or two, then I have to repeat the process. I print quite often (photos mostly) so YMMV or may not work at all as this error has a few causes. It is however 90% of the time ink clogging related. Not a circuit board thing. Ink turns to a thick creamy mess as it dries unto moving parts and can clog up springs and mechs quite extensively
Anonymous said…
What a JOKE! I've tried EVERY possible solution to clear this c610 error message, and I believe Canon built it into the software to force people to buy the newer crap they put out (I'm no technical slouch, and have had the damned thing apart three times - still can't get it to work!). I'm done with color printers - I've had an Epson, which clogged all the time, and now this one - I'm going to a laser printer!
Anonymous said…
I have a Pixma MP620. I tried all the above and could not get the printer to work, still displayed the 6C10 error. I cleaned all the parts mentioned in all the suggestions and even cleaned the printer head but nothing worked. I finally got it to work by pushing down the two sponge pads. Then I closed the top cover and then restarted it and it started printing. So relieved. Hope this helps you out
J.Lassalle said…
Hi,

Thanks for your tip !
Anonymous said…
Hi All,
I tried all of the steps involved.
I even cleaned the printer head.
I think they helped but I still had trouble.
In the end I did get it to work again.
I did the steps from the You Tube video that explains how to "reset the counter"
The first few times it did not work.
The video explains that after pressing & holding the power & reset buttons in an important sequence, you finish by quickly turning the power off by pressing the power button one more time
On my MP540, it did not turn off.
So on this last attempt, after doing all of the other steps, I pulled the power cable to turn it off instead.
I then reconnected the cable and powered it up, and now its working fine.
Hopefully this extra info may help someone.
Goodluck.
terrimac21 said…
Hi y'all
I need to take apart my mg6250- ANY instructions would be gratefully appreciated. am getting a 6A80 error and i need to get into the right side of printer to really clean out purge unit. have searched the net for hours and only found 1 very poor quality youtube video. please can anyone help?
J.Lassalle said…
Hi Terrimac21,

See here for error code 6A80: http://fix-your-printer.blogspot.com/2009/06/error-code-6a80-on-canon-printers.html
Anonymous said…
simple solution to an annoying problem! #3 did it for me!
MDolores said…
Solution 4 is the only one that worked for me: I have an MP640 and didn't know what else to do to get it working!!
Thanks so much!!!
Anonymous said…
My MX860 is networked and every time I try to print after printer has been asleep, I get the6C10 error. If I shut off and restart it works fine until it goes to sleep again. Even tried waking it up by doing an ink check via maint tool. It reads ink levels fine, but as soon as I hit print, 6C10. Seems like a pretty generic error. Any ideas?
Unknown said…
Many thanks for this post. I have the Canon MG-6120, Step 4 solved the problem in a matter of minutes! I used q-tips to clean up the clear plastic pieces. :-)
Anonymous said…
Solution 4 worked for me!!! I was so ready to trash the Canon and buy a Brother replacement. Many thanks!
Alfred said…
Solution 4 work for me
I used a wet napkin to absorb the excess ink from the pad by pressing it down and also cleaning up the plastic slip. My printer model is MG 5370.

Thank you for the tip.
Anonymous said…
Solution 5 finally worked for me. Thanks so much for the very helpful advice!
Unknown said…
Tried everything, cleaned ink from all absorbers and dried them. Still getting error 6c10.

Solution 6, Does anyone know where the purge unit micro switch is located. I can't find it to clean it.
Maggie said…
Solution #4 did the trick. Excellent. Gotcha bookmarked now.
Anonymous said…
Solution 3 work good
Anonymous said…
Solution 3 worked a charm, thanks!
Anonymous said…
Thanks! Solution #4 worked for me!
Anonymous said…
#4 saved my life, thanks!!
Anonymous said…
Tried all and solutions and #4 worked for me. Thanks
Eleanor said…
This was a GREAT HELP! Comment #5 fixed my MX870.
Anonymous said…
I did the things to fix the 6C10 error and now I have the 6A80 error. Can anyone help?
J.Lassalle said…
Hi,

For 6a80 error:
http://fix-your-printer.blogspot.fr/2009/06/error-code-6a80-on-canon-printers.html
Unknown said…
awesome number 3 worked for me!!!!!!
Unknown said…
Thank you so much for maintaining this blog. I love my printer (about to turn 9 years old!!) and I have been getting this error periodically for the last 6 months. I had been cleaning the heads and resetting to clear the error but today I finally decided to search the error code and see if there was a better solution...

Thank you for Solution #4!! I had some trouble with finding the clear bits initially as mine were completely black (so I just started wiping things to the right of the rollers lol). You maybe should note, after I completed Solution 4 I still had to deep clean the print heads.

My printer (Steve "Print" Jobs) and I are eternally grateful to you ;)
--iKmbr
Anonymous said…
#4 Worked for my ip3600! great solution
Anonymous said…
Amazing advice and such CLEAR instructions. #3 worked for me!! 5 + years after this was first posted as well.
Anonymous said…
Me too, #3 on Canon ip4700 - thanks very much :D
Anonymous said…
February 2018 Thanks for the info, solution 4 fixed my MP550.
Think I'll fit a paper towel holder to the side so I can regularly clean up.
Now I know where all that mega expensive ink goes :(
Unknown said…
oddly enough solution 3 worked for my Pixma MG6120.

Thanks didn't expect it to be so easy.
Cathann Smith said…
Thank you do much for these instructions because it really helped!!! I am really grateful I found your blog, because I was ready to throw my MP560,printer away because nothing was helping I was losing my patience!!The solution that helped was the third one.
Anders said…
Thank you so much! Solution 4 has worked for me every time! Lifesaver : )
Anonymous said…
I took mine to the shop and the tech did some cleaning. He printed off a copy of something and we thought we had it fixed. I brought it home and nothing but same old error. I found this site and tried solution 4. Cleaned that plastic and foam. Works like new. I guess the tech overlooked that mess over there on that side. Thank you for the tip!
luis said…
CANON MP 560- Solution Number 4!! Only cleaning the white rollers! WOW!Fantastic! TVM!
Keith Balmer said…
Had 6c10 error on my Pixma MG6150. Tried all the above techniques but none worked for me. Tracked the problem to the clutch which engages the cam system. It seems to rely on friction to rotate the mechanism into place and engage the gears. Must have worn over the years. Have had some success by bending its spring to increase the tension to press the clutch harder against the drive shaft. Still get the occasional error so not a perfect solution but can often print now when it had been a hard error before. If anyone has a better solution to fixing the clutch please post.
Lionel Orford said…
Thanks so much!!
Solution 3 worked for my 6C10 error on my Pixma MG8250.
1. Power off and unplug.
2. Open printer
3. power on and wait for the ink cartridge carrier to centre
4. Close the printer
5. Start printing.
Anonymous said…
Rebecca Korsgaard's solution worked for me.

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