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.

[ryokonyc]

My MX892 has the same Error - U052, cannot even use the scanner or fax since.

I spoke to a Canon Tech support person but all he could do was the same process that many of us had tried and did not work.  Since my printer is just out of warranty, he suggested that I take it to the local authorized repair shop.  I resented to waste more time just to be told that the repair would cost me as much as a new printer.   Error U052 is clearly a widespread issue as so many people are coming forward and it should not be treated as our gamble whether it breaks before or after the warranty.  It is only 1 year and 3 months old and it was barely used since it was a back-up printer.  I would love to know how to check the print counter, since it stopped working after so little use.  Anyway, this is NOT acceptable performance, especially for Canon product.  

The tech mentioned that the issue could be caused by A) print head malfunction or B) internal mechanical issue.  He then offered to send me a new print head for free of charge, which was a nice gesture.  I will repost the update of whether installing a new print head could resolve this issue or not.   I am not too convinced that the new print head can solve this issue, since I agree with others that the error appears to be software/system glitch, but it is worth a try so that I don't have to waste more ink-cartridge stock.  Hopefully it works!  If not, I will go with Brother printer as others here suggested and repost a review.  

[vcalvetti]

Well, this finally happened to me. Ive had this MP 560 that has served me admirably for several years that is only used once every few months mostly for scanning documents. Today when I tried to print up a pre-lease agreement for a new apartment, I got the U052 error. Went through all the suggested fixes, nothing works. I know this is not from over usage because the last time I touched the printer was 3 months ago. 

What the latest news on this issue? What can I do to get this resolved??

[rad]

I just received the U052 error on our MP530.  I tried all the fixes on the discussion boards but nothing worked.  Looking for advice from Canon.

[seniorelder]

Well all I can say is don't hold your breath!

[tumbler]

I have owned my pixma MP800 for a few years and always been very happy with the product, then yesterday I got the message telling me I had installed the wrong printhead. After reading all the messages on this page I now realise this is Canon's way of telling me to buy a new printer. Yes I will buy a printer but on principal it will not be a Canon.

[Fruitty]

I wonder what Canon wants to achieve with this attitude. Do they have too many customers and want to get rid of some? Have the stockholders complained about very good results? It's obvious that Canon doesn't care about loosing a few thousand customers who not only won't buy Canon products in the future, I have a camera made by Canon and I am wondering when it will give me a warning that I have installed the wrong imaging chip, but also won't buy their precious ink. My piece of junk made it to the landfill and I replaced it with an Epson. Another happy camper? Not really.

[tmorrow]

Good news! I had this problem for an mp560 and it wouldn't print. I tried cleaning it and everything Canon recommended, but nothing worked. So I ordered another printer. Before I installed the new printer (I have a backup printer I was using) I kept turning on the printer when I turned on my computer. After 3-4 weeks, one day the printer came up without an error message. Some days it did, on others it didn't. Then it started to work every day and has continued to work for the past several months. Glad I didn't rush to trash it!

-tmorrow

[kmikuta]

I'm glad it is working for you now, but who has months to wait and see if it goes away on its own?

[Geezer]

Pixma MG5250 - same U052 error

Tried all the Canon suggestions - no difference

Contacted Canon UK support 3 times over 2 weeks via "contact us" page in support section on Canons website - No replys

Phoned Canon support phone number on Canons support website - advised to send printer (at my cost) to authorised Canon service centre for service - what a crock!

Nothing but geniune canon inks ever used, and error came up 2 days after replacing pgbk and c & m cartridges, so all 5 cartidges are full - thanks canon, get your moneys worth before you pull your error message BS!

Found this forum after doing a google search, as i am obviously not alone in this error message, why have canon not announced that they have a problem across multiple printers?

Do canon really not expect us to find out they are pulling a money grabbing exercise?

Surely canon can't expect us all to believe that this U052 message is just chance/bad luck?

Come on Canon - own up to what you are doing to your customers across the globe!

[moonblades]

Another dissatisfied customer here.  

My MP600 had been working fine...until it didn't anymore.  Yes, the cursed U052 Wrong Printhead Error when I checked an ink cartridge.  

Amazing that in conversations with the Canon service tech and the parts department, nobody mentioned that this is a common failure mechanism.  No help offered.  Print head is no longer avialable.  Tough luck!  

Fortunately, i discovered this forum in a last ditch effort to avoid having to buy a new printer.......obviously NOT a Canon.  If they will not stand behind their product, this will be the last Canon product I ever own.