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.

[mediajammer]

I had this problem too. After trying everything I could think of, I ordered a printhead from someone on eBay. In the week it took to get it, I had the printhead and cartridges removed. When I inserted the eBay printhead, it seemed to work for a moment before coming up with the old U052 error. So I went to Best Buy and bought a Brothers printer, brought it home, and then decided to stick all the old parts in the Canon MX700. Long story short, it proceeded to work, can 5 days later is still functioning fine. I can't say this is necessarily a reproducible fix; was it the period disassembled that caused it to work again, or the fear of being replaced by another brand? Hard to say. Give it a try, and let us know.

[ReverseEMF]

It wasn't clear to me what exactly it was that you did.  You said you "decided to stick all the old parts in the Canon MX700".  Now, when you say "MX700," are you refering to the printer that origianlly failed with a U052 error?  If so, then where did "the old parts" come from?  Do you mean you put all of the parts, originally taken from the MX700, back into the MX700, or do you mean that you acquired some parts from some other old, unnammed printer and put those parts into the MX700?

You see, you never explicitly reveal the model number of the failed printer.  When you make reference to an MX700, it isn't clear if you are still refering to the failed printer.

[mediajammer]

To clarify - Model number is MX700. Yes, I had removed the print head and cartridges and left them sitting out of the printer for a week. Then when I received a replacement printer head, I put the new printerhead, and the cartridges back in. Again it got a u052 error. I took out the cartridges and printhead.  I returned the replacement printhead I went and bought a new printer. When I returned, I put the original printhead and cartridges back in. And then it worked. Voodoo.

[Mamagull]

Media jammer - I wouldn't return the new printer right away. The Canon may be working again, but it is not going to do so forever. You didn't get a full pardon, just a stay of execution...........

[mediajammer]

Likely it is only temporary. I've been getting a lot of network errors that come and go. I think there is some sort of communication problem going on. It's a good thing they didn't put a Canon chipset on the Voyager - it is still working after 37 years in space. It currently takes 18 hour to communicate with the earth - a time still better than my current communication time between printer and computer. I fear I may have permantly lost communication with the craft, opps, printer. Come in MX700. ....

[wiredefx]

If the printer connects to a computer with Internet or its setup on a wifi network with Internet, the printer will get its firmware updates with or without your knowledge.

[djvalder]

Hallo everyone. 

While anything I guess is possible I really don't think this is caused by an unknown software/firmware update. Let me expalin why . For me it was working fine and had been for 20 months and then 20 seconds later it was not working. I don't see how there can have been a firmware update during that time without any beep or pause or reset or anything. 

And secondly this issue has been discussed in the forum for many months - as i now know - pre dating my purchase of the machine, I'm fairly sure that my everything was up-to-date at the time. 

One possible cause I think is that the inkjet cleaning pads become dirty with dryed ink after a time in use and this is reported to the system as incorrect print-head set up.

I did see a U-Tube on how to fix this by finding the cleaning pads and washing them. However my cleaning pads are certainly not as easilly accessible as those in the video. Any how for me my time is worth more than the cost of spending a couple of hours on trying to find remove clean and replace them and a new non-Canon replacement is the only economic solution. 

I now have a brand new HP laserjet, which hopefully won't have the same or similar issue.  

[LocalHero]

This makes sense to me too.  My MP600 went from working to non-working in an instant.  I'd had it for several years and it seems like it would have updated and had the problem earlier if it were due to the firmware.     I think it's an unintentional glitch in the original software and how it responds to the ink pads getting full.   Canon should still be doing something to stand behind their name.    

I was looking at buying a Canon Camera on sale before Christmas but there were reports of some folks having a problem and now that I've experienced Canon's customer non-service, I passed on the camera...

[lucidisco]

Hi, i ve washed the ,,cleaning pads" . The problem not solved.I put another head on my pixma mp610 i make 1 copy then suddenly error U052.No pins broken no oxide on contacts ...no working.No cloged printhead. Its a software problem i think.Why the scanner not function at all? I want to save some document but i can t do it. Why i need the printhead for scanning??I think an update its necesary to fix most of problem.But this firmware/update don t come never. they want to buy a new one or a new printhead maybe with a cost a new printer .The answer from Canon for this error....a bad joke.They cheating on us.Sad but true.

[magentawave]

I saw the Youtube video about washing the pads and followed it exactly and it was a waste of time. Has everybody joined the class action lawsuit?