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.

[flash23]

Hi Kekoehn: I received my Brother All In One MFC J870DW on Friday from Amazon 129.97, no tax and with free 2-day shipping. I use a Mac operating system, so it was a little more difficult identifying, locating and downloading the correct drivers and firmware. If anyone is interested and needs help I would happy to provide assistance to save you time. Once I had the drivers the set-up was very quick and easy. The Brothers is not as big or heavy as the Canon MX720 I was using but so far does the job including printing, copying, faxing, and scanning. Understand all printers are different so the print quality is also different but it is fine for my needs. I run a small business out of my home office and print, copy and fax' every day. I've read it also is far more efficientIt with ink usage. The printer comes with a two year warranty and for under $ 10 you can buy Amazons 2 year replacement warranty. The Brother's is noisier because of less weight however I think by adding a rubber pad under it should help. All in all 4 out of 5 stars. I would suggest going back to Amazon to read the reviews on it, they helped me to make my decision. The great thing about purchasing from Amazon: they have free returns so if you don't like this one you can return and order a different model. FYI I am a Prime member and shop at Amazon every week. An outstanding example of what and how Customer Service is and should be at Canon. Hope this helps you.

[flawedexistence]

As I have mentioned, I also have purchased a Brother J870DW.  I got mine from Amazon too.  I am quite happy with it so far.

[sandeepdhingra]

Same problem with a Canon MX860. Always been using Canon ink and the printer is about 4 years old. Very disappointing.

[cchristiano2730]

MX870

[Tootsy42]

I just know that after I contacted Canon by email, they were very nice & helpful, even after my printer was out of warranty by almost two months.  They send me a new printer head, but that didn't solve the problem.  After I email them back and forward a couple more times I was offer a printer very similar to what I had. I have been using it for a few days and it is very good.  I didn't have to spend any money to send it back either. Good luck guys.

[kekoehn]

Flash23: Thanks for the update. I'm ordering a new Brother from Amazon. No good news from Canon support, so it's "Goodbye Canon!"

[stuffed1printer]

Little more proof needed that Canon cannot fix printhead when responding to their own error message!!

Don't shell out any more money on parts or ink or waste more time. Dump the printer and switch makers.

As with cars, when you make lemons you suffer the market backlash.

[rkallish]

Same problem, owned printer for less than a year and now useless! Will be replacing printer today and will not be a Canon!

[dough]

Add me to the long, ever-growing list of previously thrilled but currently dejected and dissappointed (and now former) Canon printer owners.  I also used to brag and send everyone I knew to Canon, but I'm so angry about the whole U052 issue, that I'm about ready to post everywhere humanly possible about this mess, as a warning to an unsuspecting public.  My MX700, which I was thrilled with (while it worked) came up with this error.  It was a couple years old and I thought I could keep it as a dedicated fax.  WRONG!  If you get this error you can't use any other functions of the unit, like scanning or facsimile.  Are you kidding?!!!  Bad enough it's an error, but to have it make the entire unit completely useless?  I have unused cartridges as well.  I also own a canon camera and was thinking of buying a new one.  Never!  I'll buy a Polaroid before I buy anything Canon again!   If the class action happens (and I really think it should), count me in.

Moderator Note: Edited for language per forum guidelines.

[JLH]

They replaced my defective printer several weeks ago with model MG6420.