PIXMA MX850 Error Code B200

[grampatex]

Suddenly error code B200 no explanation in manual have canon pixma mx850

[PeteL]

Soaked and cleaned the printhead twice. The B200 error code went away, but it will not print black.

Canon Support says the printhead was possibly damaged by the water rinse procedure.

As a new printhead is $76. and a replacement printer in $99. at the A..... store,  this is a no brainer.

Too bad the new printers use different ink cartridges.

[nrlplano]

Re: Error Code B200

Options

‎11-20-2013 09:49 AM

Hi,

I suddenly got this same error...I tried something that I found online and worked. You simply need to clean the printhead and replace. Let the printhead dry overnight before replacing. Here's a youtube link below to remove and clean Canon printhead:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZheZf-vdho8

When replacing the printhead follow these steps.

With the printhead removed and cleaned go ahead and plug in your printer and turn it on.

The printer will turn on and instead of reading the B200 error it will say that you need to insert the printhead.

Open the cover and replace the printhead that you have cleaned.

Printer will now ask for the ink cartridges to be replaced.

Replaced the ink and "Praise God" the machine will work.

I watched the video and followed the instructions. PROBLEM SOLVED! After cleaning the print head as per video instructions, I replaced the print head, replaced the ink cartridges, closed the inner door in front of the ink cartridges. Turned on the printer and it went through its "little dance" of calibrating the ink heads. I then printed.   THANKS!!!!!!

[nrlplano]

Hi,

I suddenly got this same error...I tried something that I found online and worked. You simply need to clean the printhead and replace. Let the printhead dry overnight before replacing. Here's a youtube link below to remove and clean Canon printhead:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZheZf-vdho8

When replacing the printhead follow these steps.

With the printhead removed and cleaned go ahead and plug in your printer and turn it on.

The printer will turn on and instead of reading the B200 error it will say that you need to insert the printhead.

Open the cover and replace the printhead that you have cleaned.

Printer will now ask for the ink cartridges to be replaced.

Replaced the ink and "Praise God" the machine will work.

[FlyGirl]

Hi -

I read through a lot of the postings here. I own a PIXMA MX870. What I ended up doing and had sucess with, was this:

1.  Turned printer off, unplugged printer and opened the cover of the printer.

2.  Removed all ink tanks from the printer. (If the printer cartridges are all the way over to the right, gently slide them over to center.)

3.  Lifted up the gray locking lever on the side of the ink tank holder.

4.  Gently removed the black print head from the carriage unit.

5.  Placed the print head into a shallow bowl of rubbing alcohol (just enough to cover ink heads) and let sit for about 15 minutes. (DO NOT USE WATER!! There is a small circuit board on the print head, water will eventually corrode the head. Thus people have complained about how their printers eventual don't print after they "fix" them with a soak in water. I used to build and repair curcuit boards, water and electronics do not mix.)

6.  Wiped excess alcohol with a dry with a soft cloth. Then used a hair dryer on warm to blow out residual alcohol and dried the heads. About 5 minutes to do.

7.  Placed the black print head back in and locked grey head lever down.

8.  Placed all of the ink tanks back in the printer.

8.  Closed the cover, plugged printer back in.

9.  Turned printer on.

10. Waited for it to reset itself and it printed like a charm.

I hope this works as nicely for you as it did for me.

Diana

Update: It's March 17th and the printer is still working ike new. 🙂

[desotowag]

Diana,  Thanks for the info.  It worked.  From the comments it looks like Canon doesn't want to us to know the cause (I strongly believe it to be a dirty printer head) or the solution (what you have given).  I guess they want us to get a new printer.  Again many thanks.  Bill G.

[FlyGirl]

Hi Bill -

I am so glad that my suggestion worked for you. I do believe that this error occurs due to a ditry/dusty connection on the print head's connector. I also believe that if one of the printer cartridges is left in the printer on empty (or super low) for a long period of time, that printer pad get dry and gunked up with old dye. Nothing like rubbing alcohol to soften, dissolve and to do the job of a good cleaning.

Cheers!

Diana

[andreafc]

I also find it very unprofessional that Canon doesn't give more detailed explainations about this error and about how to correct it. They may want us to buy a new printer, but who told them it's going to be a Canon?

Anyway, I have an MX850 and Camille fixed my problem: by turning the printer off and then pushing the "back" button (the one with the arrow that goes back to a small dot) and simultaneously the ON button together many times, I heard a lot of beeping, but the printer somewhat reset itself without me having to remove any paper, any cartridge, any printhead or to unplug it. It's working now: I'll keep you posted.

By the way, I got to this error while trying to print to the back tray. I got a message that there was no paper, when there was a lot. So I moved the paper around a little, just in case the switch was not catching it. Suddenly it gave me the B200 error.

Thanks @Camille!

[Mworrick]

I tried your fix for this code message .  Did not work.  Please advise another solution.

[FlyGirl]

Hi -

I'm sorry this is happening to you. I was going to write in as a few days ago, the B200 code came up once again for me. I have utimatley figured out (for me), that the print head needed replacing. Period. And this may be your final solution as well. I found print heads on eBay for around $60.00, but instead I chose to buy a new printer. One reason is that this code wasn't my only issue. Prior to my PIXMA coding for the 3rd time, it wouldn't print certain .pdf or word documents. Some would be blank or have half a page printed, it also was having a hard time staying connected to Wi-Fi for the first time ever. There were more problems than just this code. So, for $89 I bought the new PIXMA 922 at BJ's. I am not happy having to do this, but in the end it was the better option. I am also not happy that I only got 2 years out of my first machine with moderate usage.

I have no other advice but to either get a new head or a new machine. I wish I had better news. The new printer works great! But will it for only two years? Who knows.

A bit disgruntled. 

Diana

[andreafc]

Hi Mworrick,

Sorry it didn't work out for you. I don't have any other solution to suggest. You may try the cleaning of the print heads, but, as you see in other posts, that's not guaranteed to work either.

My MX850 has been running fine for 5 years and I'm fairly happy with it. The solution I gave has worked for me and I haven't had a problem since my last post. Apparently this error doesn't call for only one solution.

Bye.

[desotowag]

Here's my 2 cents worth.  I tried Diana's solution to clean my print head (never had done and probably 4+ years old) and it worked.  At least for awhile.  About a week later the dreaded B200 came back.  I cleaned the head again and it worked for maybe a week before the B200 came back.  This time I tried the solution of pressing the power key simaltaniously with the back arrow on the OK key and after about 5 presses I could hear the printer reset and the B200 error went away.  Yeah, for several days.  I have been able to get it back running by using the last solution although it might take 15-20 presses or turning the printer off for several hours and retrying, but it eventually comes back.  I have found that if I have to change cartrigdes or run out of paper I will certainly get the B200 back, but it also comes back just printing.

I talked with someone more knowledgable than I who said it was probably caused by a bad printer head or the hard drive on the printer was going bad.  Since it worked after cleaning the print head, it most likely was the hard drive going bad.  I will try to keep fixing it until I can't any more and the buy a new printer.

Bill G.