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.

[Towboatman]

I ended up buying a New Printer and guess what it was not a Canon. I have also informed family, friends, co-workers of this and encouraged them to not buy Canon Products. I was denied the class action because i had no proof of purchase (it being toss out sometime after i purchase the printer).

[BW54]

I went through the BS to file a claim on the class action lawsuit on my Pixma MP830 and was denied the $50.00 due to my printer was not on the list of printers having problems. So why is my printer showing incorrect printhead and I hardly ever use it. I replaced the printhead and 13 months later same **bleep** and my printer was not on the list. Canon you suck and I will never use Canon products again in the future and I will advise everyone to not use Canon as well

[ITgreybeard]

In my case, the replacement printhead did not work, directly out of the package. I tried it on 2 MX 860 printers, on each of which an old printhead worked fine. I was tempted to return it - especially because the printhead as delivered was wet with ink and some other fluid, but found that a printhead cleaning procedure enabled it to function well (for me, this time).

For the procedure you will need: 1. Water; 2. Glass cleaner such as Windex; 3. Rubbing Alcohol; 4. A dish or bowl (plastic or glass or ceramic (or metal?) whose diameter is large enough to accommodate the printhead; 5. A heat source to dry the printhead after cleaning.

Procedure: 1. Spray the printhead liberally with glass cleaner. You may want to direct the spray into the incoming and outgoing ink orifices; 2. Soak the printhead in a water+glass cleaner solution dish for an indeterminate time; 3. Swish the printhead around in the solution to extract from the printhead ink that was presumably used in manufacturer testing; 4. Rinse the printhead off with clean water. Pat its orifices with a towel or paper towel; 5. Dispose of the solution; 6. Repeat steps 1 through 5 until no ink seems to be leaching from the printhead either into solution or onto the towel; 7. Pat the printhead dry with a soft towel or paper towel; Do NOT let the printhead dry any further yet!; 8. Soak the printhead in rubbing alcohol in the dish. Swish it around with the goal of displacing water left in the printhead with the rubbing alcohol. Let it sit in the solution for an hour or more; 9. Repeat step 8 with new rubbing alcohol another time or two; 10. Dry the printhead with non-destructive heat. I used a combination of soft toweling, sunshine and forced air house heat; 11. Try it out again in the printer. I hope that it works for you.

[wendybrandon]

this has happened to me. Followed the canon instructions to reset in the printhead to no avail. I got this message when I was trying to scan, didn't need to print anyway... at this point, it's a weekend so no support available.

[ITgreybeard]

Wendy, have you tried the printhead washing method that I posted in the last week or so? You will find it immediately above your own post. Perhaps it will work for you.  ITG

[gerschwiler]

Well after a year of getting "dreaded call to arms" emails I thought I would check on any new contributions answers etc

Latest suggestion - did you try washing print head .

that was one of the first things i tried.

My life is too short to waste YEARS trying to fix a product with a design fault.  My life has moved on.

The Canon MP600R was great until it reached a certain age then inexplicably it stopped working as tho programmed to do so..  So did my friend's Canon MP600R etc  at same age.  He threw his away after trying all sensible attempts to get it working.  After more than a year I am about to do same with my Canon. Canon scanners eg 9000 seem ok although user interface could be better  eg manual cropping before main scan - but I am now reluctant to buy another Canon product.

[GuyNamedJoe]

Has ANYONE heard about when Canon will begin making payments to those who applied via the serttlement?

[GuyNamedJoe]

You do know that the settlement was already approved by the Court, yes?

[ijohna]

MG5320

Three-year-old printer. Out of the blue, good one day, worthless the next. Bought new OEM printhead ($100), same. Occasionaly it will "print" out a black page before it throws U052 error. Needed a new printer, bought an Epson.

[Yankfroggy]

Well well well. Yesterday I finally received my $50 settlement check. Certainly not enough, but proof that Canon screwed us.