MG7520 Error B203

[katana]

Called Canon Support and they say it's unrepairable but past 1 year so unreplaceable too.  Tried everything including dismantling the printhead assembly to manually clean.  Barely used the printer, 1 or 2 prints a month.  

Anyone have recommendation on non-Canon I can buy to replace for around the same price range?

[EastCoastUser]

Like others who have commented on this thread, my MG7520 also just stopped working with a B203 error code after 3 years. Contacted Canon Phone Support and they confirmed it was cheaper to buy a replacement than trying to repair.  In fact, they have an "upgrade" program setup to offer a new printer at a discount to replace the non-functional one.  Apparently these models Canon is selling are disposable printers. So I bought another disposable printer to get me thru next few months while I shop for another more reliable longer term solution.

[ejgpus]

My understanding is that this problem is due to a clogged print head, which makes sense in my case because I hadn't used my printer in over a month because I had run out of black ink.  I had just purchased new ink for it and after installing, I got the B203 error.  

I removed the print head following the instructions here.  I then removed the oval shaped gaskets from the printhead where the ink wells seat against the printhead.  Using cotton swabs and alcohol, I cleaned the printhead thoroughly.

I put a drop of alcohol on the ink inlets (where the gaskets were) and using a syringe and a bit of tubing, I was able to force the alcohol into the printhead.  This got messy as the ink that was inside it was forced out the other side.  I cleaned up the mess and put the printhead back.  It was a bit tricky to get the printhead back in, but the instructions will help align things. 

Once everything was back together, I restarted the printer and ran a cleaning cycle.

[EastCoastUser]

In my case, I was actively using the printer and the print head was not clogged.  Produced good prints and picture up to 5 minutes before failing.  Service tech told me that he thought it was unlikely a clogged printhead but got overheated and some electronic component failed.  Even after sitting unused for several hours and manual hard reset, the printer produced this error on power-up.  I was also told by a store employee, a inkjet printer expected life is only about 2 years with occasional use.  Cost of replacing them at less than $100 is far cheaper than fixing them.  Hence as I said before, they are Disposable Printers.

[widgetwilk39]

I had this problem last Nov, it sloved it' self but went again this month, I just turned it all off, went to bed and next morning it was alright,

so don't think we will ever get a solution,

[Ptechllc]

Ok so my MG7520 Pixma gave me the same Error B203 code and got my feathers ruffled a bit thinking that maybe my beloved Canon had stooped to the levels of other printer companies looking to ripoff their customers with a crappy product or with a self destruct program embedded within the chips somehow. Not So!   Not sure why people are experiencing customer service agents advising otherwise but this one is actually very simple to solve: Using your computer, delete the job in the que. That simple. I found it on the following site: https://bizfluent.com/how-7649568-reset-canon-pixma-printer.html

Stick with Canon because Canon still rocks!

[ChicoTerry]

Your experience is very similar to what many of us have gone through with the Canon printers. I was previously an ardent fan of Canon printers. Though they all seemed to have a different lifespan, they were excellent printers. And it was possible to purchase off brand ink and still obtain fantastic print results. But eventually they would all suddenly display that dreaded Error B203 message. That is when you knew you were going to have to purchase another printer. Like some folks, I spent hours researching possible fixes. I spent even more time actually tearing the machine apart and trying some of the fix methods highlighted in various posts on this forum. Every now and then, I got one to work. But only for a very short time. Sort of like printer CPR. They all ended up with the error message. Ironically, that always seemed to occur right when I needed to complete a printing project. Very inconvenient. Deciding what to buy instead really took hours and hours of research followed by a lot of soul searching. Take HP for example. They make a great printer at a very reasonable price. The only problem is their OEM ink cartridges are extremely expensive. For example, one of their current all-in-one printers is the 8035 model. It has four cartridges. To replace them with the smalol, standard level cartridges (Amazon Prime) is just under $70. Obviously more for the higher capacity cartridges. It pains me to spend that much on ink for a homeowner model printer. The only solution for me was to upgrade to a more commercial printer which had additional options. I purchased a Brother Business Smart Pro Series model. Yeah, it's big. Yeah, the ink is expensive as well. But the capactiy is large and I anticipate thousands of copies per cartridge. The machine has incredibly large paper storage. The footprint of the machine is not going to be acceptable to many users. But I just got tired of purchasing a new Canon every other year or so. I think with Canon it's a crap shoot. They have serious quality control issues. You might get one to last 3-4 years. Or you might get one to struggle making it to the one year mark. When the printer is so poor that they have to have a forum to discuss the Error Messages, then you really need to punt and move to another manufacturer. I did and I have never looked back. So far, my small office Brother printer is doing a fantastic job. And I have printed a mountain of paper.

[Glacknor]

So, Having the ol' B203 on my MG7520 tonight!

The off-open-on-close thing did nothing for me.

Here's how I fixed it (hopefully for good) on Windows 10 Pro-

1. Go to Setting-Devices-Printers

2. There should only be ONE for the printer in question... somehow there were 3 on mine!

3. Clear all queues, even if empty, clear them -

      click on your printer(s), Open Queue, click Printer, then Cancel All Documents

4. Remove any printer that has something added to the name, mine had a "WS" and "(2)" at the ends.

      click on the printer, then Remove (you can also just remove them all and re-add yours)

5. Click Manage on the remaining printer and either print a test page, or go the printers setting page and print, well,

     anything.. a nozzle check pattern is a good idea!

If you have only one printer in Devices, try clearing it's queue, removing it and re-adding it. Then do you test page.

After I did all that I went back to Photoshop, had to re-select the printer from the options, and it worked! Printed without error codes!

However, the color cartridges needed cleaning. I have "Deep Cleaned" twice now, getting better.

This is basic printer maintenance stuff though, especially when you don't use it enough.

Worth a mention, while troubleshooting, I noticed my cyan cart was totally empty, but the printer said it was full. Also, I got some free, but open geniuine Canon cartridges off CL, and have been using aftermarket carts too. This all could have contributed to the issue, at least the filthy print heads. Aftermarket usually are not a problem, but that Cyan mentioned above was reading wrong was aftermarket and it went out of the box, so...

Just now finished printing, and it came out great. I ended up replacing a couple cartridges and deep cleaning a couple times, with an alignment too. It seemed to take longer than usual to start printing, but I've noticed it doing that since "upgrading to Windows 10", not sure why that is.

So, it seems the trouble codes are gone and the problem was fixed.

Likely the multiple entries in Windows causing the B203, and the rarely used,

    likely dried carts causing the crappy print quality affter fixing error code.

[Steven_C]

Error B203 is a software issue and there is a fix. Open the front cover AFTER switching the printer on and wait for the cartridges to move from right to left, then switch the printer off. This will initiate a self-check. Breathe a sigh of relief, as I did after 4 or 5 minutes, the all-clear. Thank you to whoever worked it out. Canon too.

(Pixma MG7550)

[Glacknor]

So, my "fix" only lasted a day or two. All other attempts, including various off/open/on/close sequences were all temporary fixes. When the code came up while trying to print taxes, I'd had enough of the BS. Went to Best Buy and got an Epson. There's an amount off (based on what you're buying) when you get an Epson and trade in an old printer, working or not, and any company. Not sure if that's a limited deal or not.

MN6902 - I got an Epson ET-4760, it uses ink bottles rather than cartridges (Canon does have a similar model), they claim this method uses WAY less ink, I haven't printed enough to make an assessment yet, but it does make sense. Prints good and the software is good. It's an all-in-one. There are cheaper versions, this is the highest priced one. You won't get better print quality than the Canon, period, Canon is just better in terms of color and ink. It's too bad they can't get their s**t together in the CS realm. This ET-4760 is pretty good though, and great for average day-to-day use. The few photos I've printed on glossy came out great too, probably as good as Canon for the content. Only issue I have (so far, still kinda new) is the wi-fi is unreliable, so I connected through USB.

BTW, new scanners suck! ALL of them. They use LEDS, they scan perfectly flat items amazingly well, but the tiniest micro-millimeter off the glass and it's blurry! It's the new tech, all companies. This has been the case for a few years now, the MG series is the same crappy LEDs. Glad my old scanner still works!

[EastCoastUser]

Not surprised.  Same issue as many of us on this forum experiencing this issue. I have two words that describe this,  “Disposable Printer”.  Especially at this price point.  Plan on replacing it every 2-3 years.  

 I only wish that since Canon is manufacturing and selling Disposable Printers, they would initiate some type of recycling program so that we don’t fill up our landfills with these things.  My local BB store won’t take them if I don’t by a new one from them. Since Canon offers an easy replacement program with a slight discount on a new model shipped directly to you, the only catch is, you still have a broken unit to dispose of.