Canon Pixma MP620 printer woes - DUMPED IT!
davejames
Posts: 4,047
Hi All,
After contacting Canon, I thought I'd put out a query amongst the tech-wizards here.
I have a Canon Pixma MP620 printer given to me as a Christmas gift from my lovely wife around 4 years back. It has worked flawlessly up until a few nights ago when it suddenly reported an error code "U052 - blah blah blah incorrect print head installed blah blah blah".
No amount of reseating the ink tanks, reseating the print head, or powering up/down has cleared the error.
Searching the Interweb I discovered others having this problem, and that they "fixed" it by replacing the print head at $60 - $90!
All that said...have any of you dealt with the same issue? If so, how was it resolved?
I don't want to buy another printer right now. I really don't want to spend money on a part that might not fix the problem.
Thoughts? Pearls of Wisdom? Tips?
Oh - and I'm not interested in "raggin on Canon" type responses. The air around the printer is still tinged blue from my own "colorful metaphors".
Thanks much.
After contacting Canon, I thought I'd put out a query amongst the tech-wizards here.
I have a Canon Pixma MP620 printer given to me as a Christmas gift from my lovely wife around 4 years back. It has worked flawlessly up until a few nights ago when it suddenly reported an error code "U052 - blah blah blah incorrect print head installed blah blah blah".
No amount of reseating the ink tanks, reseating the print head, or powering up/down has cleared the error.
Searching the Interweb I discovered others having this problem, and that they "fixed" it by replacing the print head at $60 - $90!
All that said...have any of you dealt with the same issue? If so, how was it resolved?
I don't want to buy another printer right now. I really don't want to spend money on a part that might not fix the problem.
Thoughts? Pearls of Wisdom? Tips?
Oh - and I'm not interested in "raggin on Canon" type responses. The air around the printer is still tinged blue from my own "colorful metaphors".
Thanks much.
Comments
[FONT=Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif]Did the problem start after changing [/FONT][FONT=Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif]cartridges[/FONT][FONT=Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif]?[/FONT]
Hi Bob,
OEM cartridges, always.
Cartridges were not changed prior to the error code occurring.
It just may be internet myth, but I've heard there were (are?) printers that would stop printing and claim the drum was worn out or bad even though it was fine, just because a certain number of pages had been printed.
...thanks - did, no joy.
...well this does raise the question of just how long something like a print head is supposed to last.
I could see, that after around four years of frequent/heavy use, the print head might "wear out" (whatever that means). But in this particular case, we're talking infrequent use, maybe every couple weeks when I print out a schematic, Word doc, or the list of tunes for Sunday morning.
That eliminates one thing.
Q2 Are you getting the error as soon as you power the printer up or when you send it a print command? If it's only on a print command I would try a self test. This would eliminate the computer, computer program, Drivers etc.
Consistently on power up. Like, just outa nowhere. Worked one day, the next - nyet!
I have yet to find any printer that I am happy with as they all charge what the market will bear for supplies. There was a time when ink was cheap, but the inkjet and laser printer changed all that. We all know that the makers practically give away the printers just to lock us into regularly buying the over-priced supplies.
We are simply paying for printing on a 'per sheet' pricing model and all the key components are pro-rated to what the market will bear.
I suppose you could visit garage sales and 2nd hand stores to seek out a replacement. But that is pretty much a gamble.
BTW - Four years is a very long time for this sort of printer to give good service.
I pay out at less frequent intervals, but in larger amounts. I doubt that I am saving any money.
I finally learned that I can use "Print to File" in Linux to create a pfd. So the printer tends to remain off line. But the printer still takes up quite a bit of space in a small office setting.
++++++++++++++++++++
My feeling is that the printer is just an expense, the same as the telephone and personal transportation. These things may be necessary to make our daily lives work smoothly, but minimizing the expense is paramount.
Inkjets are also notoriously bad if they're left alone for more than a week.
I tossed out my old Canon BJC4000 many years ago, and don't really miss it.
(I have an old HP LJ2100 laser I salvaged at the office, and an Oki dot-matrix for all my home printing needs. The very rare colour print I do at the office)
Planned obsolescence...
On some HP printers, there's a plasticky 'transport belt' in a module across the toner cartridges.
This has a limited number of 'passes' (8000 on some older models), and there a colour print may count as 4 passes...
Others has a 'transfer drum' or similar that also has a fixed set of uses.
But in most models, it's possible to overrule the setting, and tell the printer to keep on working. you will get a warning about possible loss of quality, though.
(Generally, most 'low count' parts from HP has a very generous margin of error, so some can be run up to twice the page counts as listed. But by the end of that you start seeing degradation. )
It's really meant to only be used to keep a printer running until a new part can be sourced.
My LaserJet 4MV (purchased in the '90's for $2700) recently died, and I replaced it with an inexpensive Brother networked laser printer. I could not be happier.
-Phil
But the real solution is to make a concerted effort to become paperless. SDcard and USB memory sticks can make this possible.
CHECK CARTRIDGE U051 U052
For instructions to install the Print Head. If the Print Head is already installed, remove the Print Head and reinstall it. If this error still remains, the Print Head may be damaged. Contact Canon Customer Center.
Reseat the print head to correct print issues or clear an error.
Instructions:
remove the Print Head and reinstall it.
It's worth a shot to remove it and re-seat, install again. While you have it off you can check to see if any connections need cleaning.
Already done as noted in OP - no luck.
It would appear, that if I want to keep this particular printer, it's time to order a new print head. :frown:
I have an Canon MP560 which has been really good until 2 weeks ago. It printed a resistor calculation spreadsheet then died with a "B200" message. So all we need is a third person to confirm a planned obsolescence conspiracy theory.
I have a second MP560 (believing in spares) but changing it over seems to involve more than just copying across the wifi settings (driver re-install)... however it appears to function normally. There are other lasers in the office but the inkjet sits beside by desk, prints quietly and reliably on its $1 cartridges
We also have an HP A3 inkjet that sits in the corner, waiting for the 1983 vintage HP Pen Plotter to fail. Ironically its the HP printer, still on its original factory cartridges, that one day decided it had "non genuine cartridges installed" and we haven't bother with it since.
I've been an Epson fan since the Dot Matrix days. I freely admit I did take a break from them for a while. Never did like that Xerox thingie it was a Windows only joker, and the HP one never did work. The Epson ones did. However their service and support line reminds me of the ones that are outsourced. Really crappy that.
My current one, an Epson WF2540 did something like yours, and then after driving them out of their minds, (easy peasy!) a new one arrived. Oddly enough the first one refused to cooperate with my Linux system. Now? He even works wired. Which did not happen with the earlier one on XP. Now I have two Linux systems here, earlier and newer, and they work with it.
As for your I will see your theory and raise you your plotter. He's been avoiding it for the past several years.
Dave are you current on your drivers?
Unfortunately I don't see any other options at this point. Maybe you can find a new printer , same model, on sale at a local store for the same price as the print head.
Eventually, this might result in a consumer protection agency (state or national level) having products disclose and register code, but we are not there yet. I do suspect that my Fuji-Xerox has a counter/timer event approach to replacement of at least some of the parts.. but I can't prove it. And in some cases, the counter/timer approach may even be the best, most valid approach.
In sum, diagnosis and repair alternatives are less objective than they used to be.
On the other hand, disposible products without any chance of repair do provide a channel for more profit for the manufacturer. They don't have to provide information and parts to small repair shops with all the related overhead. And you generally have no choice but to go to their in-house repair service and accept whatever they decide.
Hi Buck - yes, always.
...roger that.
My dear wife purchased this at a really low price, so I guess I'm good for this level of investment to have the unit for another supposed 4 years. If she had paid full price at the time, I'd be looking at a new printer.
Tube - how old was the MP560?
ebay is always worth a shot
I'd say it's a stretch that any of these products are designed for planned obsolescence. What exactly do you expect for the $80-90 most cost online? They're sold slightly above cost in the hopes you'll make up for the difference in high priced ink cartridges. What you pay and the life expectancy is about right for something with tons of moving parts and a quarter cup of water (ink) inside.
If you think you can't live without color, add a cheap inkjet from walmart for $40 or so when the need arises. Other than envelopes and an occasional letter, you may be able to get by printing to a pdf files. Just don't forget to backup your data.
So not only am I out the $85 for the head, but $35 for fresh ink tanks.
I'm junkin' the thing and will be on the hunt for actually two printers now as the wife's 10 year old HP ink jet just died.
Good thing I have a money tree in the back yard! [/sarc]
-Phil
You could have almost paid for a Brother HL-2270DW
27 ppm, USB 2.0, Wireless 802.11b/g, Ethernet 10/100BaseTX, duplex printing. Still no 11x17 though.
-Phil