Canon support codes 6930 to 6946 (carriage, feed or purge unit error)
Support codes in the 6930 to 6946 range are internal mechanical errors in the print engine. They are raised when a motor, sensor or drive unit does not behave as expected during operation: for example the carriage, paper feed, purge unit (the pump that caps and cleans the head) or the automatic paper lift. Canon's public documentation groups them as 'printer error has occurred, turn off the printer and turn it on again'.
What causes it
- Paper fragment or foreign object jamming a mechanism
- Dried ink locking the purge unit on the right-hand side
- Carriage drive belt slipping or encoder strip dirty
- Paper feed gear or sensor fault
- Motor or sensor failure after years of use
How to fix it, in order
Work down the list and stop when the printer recovers. The steps are ordered from most likely and least invasive to last resort.
Turn the printer off and unplug it
Power down and disconnect the cord for two minutes. Reconnect and power on. Mechanical timeouts sometimes clear on a clean start.
Check the paper path thoroughly
Open the rear cover and the front cover, remove the cassette and look for paper scraps, staples or other objects. Use a flashlight to inspect the rollers and the area under the carriage.
Move the carriage by hand
With the printer unplugged, open the cover and gently slide the carriage from left to right. If it sticks at the right-hand end, the purge unit caps may be stuck to the head with dried ink; moisten them with a few drops of distilled water on a swab and try again.
Clean the encoder strip and rail
Wipe the clear encoder strip behind the carriage and the metal rail with a dry lint-free cloth.
Rotate the feed rollers
Turn the paper feed roller by hand through the rear tray opening. It should rotate without grinding. Resistance indicates a jammed gear or debris.
Run the reset sequence
With the printer off, hold Stop, press and hold Power, release Stop, press Stop five times, release Power. Turn the printer off and on after it finishes.
Try a test print
If the printer reaches Ready, print a nozzle check. If the same code returns during the print, note whether it happens at feed, during printing or at cleaning, as this identifies the faulty unit.
Stopping it happening again
When it is not worth fixing yourself
If you would rather not work through this alone, a printer specialist can take a look with you on a screen-share and tell you honestly whether the machine is worth saving.
Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between 6930 and 6940?
Canon does not publish the exact breakdown. In service documentation the 693x codes tend to relate to the carriage and purge unit and the 694x codes to paper lift and feed mechanisms, but the user-level advice is the same.
Why does 6936 happen after a paper jam?
A scrap of paper left after the jam is probably stuck in the feed or purge mechanism. Remove the cassette and rear cover and look with a light.
Can a reset fix these codes permanently?
Only if the cause was a temporary stall. If the mechanism is worn or broken, the code returns.
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