U052 Printhead Problem MX870

[chdevers]

Stopped printing while in the middle of a big job with full ink tanks, then when turned back on, gave the dreaded U052 print head error message.  I have tried everything given by Canon to re-start the printer, nothing works.

It dawns on me that maybe my ink tank stopped feeding ink despite the tank being full- the vent hole might not have been open all the way to allow ink to pass through.

I'm wondering whether this could somehow mess up the printhead, maybe it needs ink to keep it cool during operation or something??

It's completely aggravating that it stopped as it has and now that prevents even the scanner or fax from working-- this seems like a bad design.

Does anyone know whether the print head can be messed up if the tank stops feeding ink while in the middle of a print job?

Thanks!  And if you know that answer, then what do you do to get printer working again??

Thanks!

[bsaavedra]

I am having the same problem on my MX870.  The Canon solution posted did not work, and neither did a variation on the solution provided by one of the other posters.  What can be done to resolve this?

[Isac]

Hi bsaavedra,

If I were you, I would not waste any more time on your crappy and useless Canon Printer. It is dead. Canon know it and so do hundreds of other cheated consumers! At least Toyota Australia has announced the recall of roughly 98,000 RAV4 SUV cars due to potential damage to their seatbelts in the event of a crash. Well Canon printers have ALREADY CRASHED! and what do they do about it? ZIP.

I would take it to your nearest Canon dealer, stand at the front door and throw it over the counter so it smashes on the floor, tell whoever will listen that Canon and their CEO's stink and hope they choke on the last dollar that you are ever going to spend on the greediest, selfish and uncaring company that evere existed!!

Canon should have immediately responded with:

"Please give us you address, so we can express courier a brand new printer to you and please accept our most sincere appology for any inconvenience that the faulty printer may have caused you".

Don't hold your breath, simply because these types of people (who live under rocks) just don't give a **bleep**!

After all that, go buy an Epson !!

[Jill7]

I have had the same problem with the U052 Printhead Problem. I see that hundreds of other people have had the same problem and that there has been a class action which ended December 2015.

I have been a Canon product buyer for many years but will not buy another Canon printer because it is obvious that Canon does not stand by their products when their customers have to go to such lengths. Goodbye Canon!

[GuyNamedJoe]

A class action settlement has been reached in the U052 Printhead Issue. The official Court Decree is dated April 26, 2016. Go to this site for details:

www.canoninkjetprintersettlement.com

If you sent in your claim form be the indicate deadline date, you will get what you selected from the choice of $50 cash or $75 gift certificate to be used in the Canon Store ... I chose the cash!

[Isac]

Good news about the Cash offer OR Gift Certificate. PLEASE everyone who is eligible, take the CASH and put it towards another printer but NOT a CANON. Chose a brand that offers more than what CANON does - one that honours and backs it's products, unlike CANON. The very fact that that there was a class action against CANON, speaks volumes about that disgusting company and it's non-caring attitude towards it's loyal customers. I'm syre that all the head honchos of CANON are laughing all the way to the bank after the court decree - it will have a negligable effect on their business. Goodbye CANON!

P.S. You may have noticed that I used capital letters when I used the word CANON - that is because I have respect - unlike they!

Cheers and thanks for reading,

Isac

[ITgreybeard]

In my case the replacement printhead did not work, directly out of the package. I tried it on 2 Pixma MX860 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.

[kiki]

It worked for me; but I do have two white lines running through text, one near top and one near the bottom

[chrisbrit]

I have a PIXMA 882. Just got the dreaded U052 error message. I followed the instructions from Canon to remove the ink cartridges and print head.

Then I used Qtips and alchohol to clean the ink off the bottom of the print head. I made sure not to touch the contact panel on the side.

Using all full and fresh cartridges I replaced them and continued as instructed.

It worked.

So all good for now.

I have to say that when I was printing a lot of my own digital art and photography, I had several Epson printers. They were not trouble free either. But they did make outstanding prints on a variety of surfaces.

[chrisbrit]

Thanks, it worked for my MX882. I added a cleaning of the printhead with Qtips and alcohol.

[Isac]

You are one of the VERY lucky few chrisbit. If it happens again bin it and buy another brand. Canon do not care about you, it's all about the money. Look up the word "GREED" and Canon will probably be in the meaning. I had a TV just stop working a long time ago and Samsung sent a courier overnight to deliver a new TV and pick up the old one. Not so with Canon.