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.

[Bankstyler]

I am having the same issue. After numerous attempts to reset it still has same error message. Please count me in for any remedies that others are looking to participate in.

[skicolorado]

If you are looking to participate in a remedy that others are invoking, you’ll need to use your internet search capabilities. Any specific references in this forum will be removed. The good news is, there are remedies out there.

[ReverseEMF]

They would also need to remove it from the Google Cache:

http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:m1Zo_A1hBpoJ:forums.usa.canon.com/t5/Personal-P...

It might also have been captured by the Internet Wayback Machine 😉

[g1234ray]

I do not think it is the hardware, I still think that it is software based, drivers supplied by canon are causing the problem and canon will not admit it.

[realfoneguy]

I consider the firmware software provided with the printer embedded in a chip. I believe there is a timer built into it which will shut down the printer and give an error. I don't believe it to be a driver because one can go back to the original and find it does nothing different.

[realfoneguy]

Really, for what reason do they think this will help them with the bottom line?> Defective equipment programmed to die in three years is not the way to provide a piece of equipment. If a driver caused the issue, why not just write another driver? I think people can accept a bug more than a piece of gear they have to throw away because it was programmed to go bad.

[carlson1038]

I have a Cannon MX860.  A couple days ago, in the middle of using it, the error message U052 popped up.  I did not change the print head or even open the machine.  This annoying message has now disabled the entire all-in-one printer!  No more scanning, faxing or anything!  I was a loyal Cannon customer.  i tried all of the recomended fixes, no good.  I am not going to order a new print head for the price of a new printer.  Most reports indicate this would not do any good.  I don't know if this is planned obsolescence by Cannon or simply an overlooked error.  Either way, I was more upset after talking to customer service and being told to just buy a new printer!  He even told me that parts wear out.  This is not a wear part.  They are willing to give me a slight discount and ship it to me.  Doesn't help much when my wife needs this for school.   I would be very interested in class action lawsuit if Cannon does not address this issue.  Perfectly good printer that is now a large paperweight.  If Cannon does not address this, I will never buy a Cannon product again.

Thank you for reading,

Casey

[realfoneguy]

To be honest, the printhead just might work for you. Here is how I know my printer is ok and they have an issue with printheads. I ordered one for $20.00 off ebay, it arrived and it worked but all colors except black, the big cartridge worked and works great. I just have absoutly no color at all.. 

I purshased yet another thinking maybe the knock off was not too good. This one was $40.00 in a OEM box and canon original. This one I put in and the colors are weak and black is spotty on the top. I pumped alot of ink and finally got the colors, but they are very weak and the big black cartridge is spotty on top.

So because I had just purchased 30 cartridges for $17.00, I decided to buy a used printer. It should be here monday. I felt since it is a working printer, I could check the heads I have in it and see if the issues are in my printer or the heads. I choose the latter. I like my printer and even thogh I am upset with this issue, I will see how another unit works. I will at least have parts.

[Gizmo1bw]

I did not have such luck, after my MG5320 showed the 052, I bought a new genuine Canon head for $108, and the printer did not come back to life with the new genuine Canon head... Canon knows that this is not a head issue, because when I called them, they offered to give me one set of ink cartridges for a newer model I have which is MX922, probably knowing the my MG5320 is dead. I then gave the printer to an authorized Canon dealer to check the printer, and he found that the main motherboard is not functioning. The cost for replacing the main motherboard is $250 he said, so I better not fix it and rather buy a new printer... so now I have a new $108 print head with no use for it, because I was a loyal customer and believed the printer when it said to replace the print head... but as we know this error is much more than the print head..., I am designing machines and build them, and I would never built a machine that would show the wrong error... I don't see the logic of doing that and upsetting the user... I think that this business model of throwing away machines all the time is not helping our planet nor us, I am willing to pay a little more for a good printer knowing that it will last long. Canon has good printers... when they work and don't upset people with unneeded drama and frustration, with these printers it’s like walking in a mine field, not knowing when the printer will surprise us... 

[MonkeyDude]

At this point you should all just buy a new printer. I personally bought a Brother printer a few weeks back after my MX870 got U052'd and am very happy with my purchase. While I enjoyed the robust construction of the MX870 and even though the model I purchased felt rather flimsy, the print quality is adequate and a bit more compact. I'll probably still purchase Canon products (I do like the camera I rarely use), but needless to say I will no longer purchase Canon printers and inks due to their abysmal response to this situation. I'm no businessman, but I'm fairly certain sticking your head in the sand and pretending the problem doesn't exist is a great way of losing customers.