Call to Arms for the dreaded U052 Wrong Printhead Error

[macnicol]

This is a "call to arms" for all of you Canon customers who have had this problem and have had their printers disabled because of it.  Please respond with the model of your printer and if you were able to fix it, what you did to fix it. 

We need to put pressure on Canon to respond this product defect.  It appears to be bad firmware that does not allow the user to override the problem and to continue to use the printer even in a degraded mode.  From my investigations the problem is NOT a printhead issue - no way one can be printing fine and then have this error alert without having changed the printhead or ink cartridges!

Canon, PLEASE take this issue seriously and provide a solution across the affected models.  If nothing else there should be a trade-in allowance for those printers that have been affected by this product defect.

I have had many Canon printers because they have superior functional specifications. I want to be able to continue using Canon products but only if I can have confidence that this product defect will not destroy my investment.

If Canon is unresponsive our next step should be to aggressively publisize this product defect on social media and on major product vendor outlet sites as negatives reviews.

Forum Users, please reply with your affected model number(s) and with details of any succdessful fix procedure.

[skicolorado]

I received the following response from Canon's customer service center ( mfp@cits.canon.com 😞

Thank you for again for your response concerning your PIXMA MX892.

If you wish to inquire about purchasing parts, you can call our Jamesburg Parts Order Center.  They can provide you with the price and availability of the print head you're requesting.  You may call them at (866) 481-2569 between 9 am and 7 pm ET, Monday through Friday (excluding holidays). 

Please note that we are unable to provide you with instructions on how to conduct repairs, and you assume the responsibility of replacing parts.  Replacing the part may or may not resolve the issue you are experiencing, and the parts are not returnable. 

[Geomath]

Or, if you are a conspiracy theorist, it is in-built obsolescence - programmed printer death after a pre-defined number of pages.

[comgoddess]

I suggest to all of you experiencing this problem to go out and buy a printer made by another company.  After contacting Canon customer service (and I use that term loosely) twice, it appears they're not going to do anything about this issue so I went out and bought an Epson.  I warned the Staples salesperson who said she had a Canon printer that she'll probably be experiencing problems too. 

I imagine this post will be deleted like the majority of my posts.  You can't sweep this under the rug, Canon and your silence on this matter is deafening.  You've lost many, many customers and stand to lose more.

[mcaxley]

All with the horrible 052 error, join the class action suit. Google to find the law firm and email you for to join the class. My previous email on this does not appear for "some reason". Wonder why. Let's Ee if this one makes thee Forum

[mcaxley]

Oops, some misspelled word in my previous emIl

mcaxley
New Contributor

Posts: 5
Registered: ‎05-26-2014
Re: Call to Arms for the dreaded U052 Wrong Printhead Error
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‎06-25-2014 02:54 AM

All with the horrible 052 error, join the class action suit. Google to find the law firm and email your form to join the class. My previous email on this does not appear for "some reason". Wonder why. Let's see if this one makes the Forum

[ChrisReay]

The dreaded U052 print head error has arisen on my MP 610 printer. The error message is not even logical: "You have the incorrect print head". A cover for what appears to be temperature sensor defect that should not affect the other functions.

Cleaning and restarting does not help.

Canon, supported by Partserve in South Africa, does not stock the print head parts any longer. If they did, their own service rep advised that it was so expensive, it pays to buy a new printer!!

All the functions of the printer are dysfunctional as a result of this. An absolute waste of a good unit that appears, from the considerable like experiences on this forum, to have obsolescence planned into the product plan.

I am not impressed by their attitude, and the obvious firmware defect that seems to exist across most of the printer range.

As a consequence, I will never buy another Canon product, and will ensure the word gets into the network.

Mass action makes sense. It has my support.

[Tavistock]

Same problem as all the other contributors, printer is an MP610 with the UO52 error code. I followed the Canon recommended 'fix' which doesn't work plus I cleaned the head and changed the inks.

When I put the 'faulty' printer head in my older Canon MP 600 everything works and I don't get an error message; so I can only conclude there is a software issue. The 'good' printer head in the '600' comes up with an UO52 in the 610.

[ChrisReay]

Having read through most of the postings on this U052 error problem, it is clear that Canon has programmed a time or usage based instruction into the software to disable the printer and all its functions.This is supported by their complete lack of response to the multitude of unhappy customers.

Its the epitomy of planned obsolescence by big corporate.

Think of the huge waste and impact on the environment, but it must be the most myopic marketing strategy that has no place in a competitive market. Big bucks quickly, and to hell with the longer term impact and the growing resistance of the customer to this sort of outdated philosophy. 

We need  a sort of Asian Spring movement to address this. Mass action is necessary or it will simply be repeated by big business. I will ensure my own network of not inconsiderable engineering users will hear about this. Canon for me is  out.

[tomhock]

I have not checked every model that has been reported with the "dreaded U052 wrong printhead" error, but I think they are all multi function printers with a built in scanner. Are there any non multi function, stand alone, printers that have this problem?  I suspect it is not some planed obsolesent trick by Canon, but maybe some component failure in the scanner circuts causing the problem.  The failure of my MP530 printer happened after less than a total page print count of 400, and Canon would never set the life of the printer that low.

[puppylove]

Agree with this, don't believe it's planned but there's no excuse for the total lack of response. It's a widespread well known issue. It does sound like they're all AIO w /scanners - should not be too difficult to create a form affected users can submit to figure this out.