MP530-fried the logic board with a bad head?

[Chris Tipton-King]

My MP530 suffered through a brownout, and half of the pigment black nozzles stopped working. In the process of troubleshooting, I power cycled the printer, and it wouldn't come back on. At first it got to "CANON" and then immediately shut off, then it wouldn't start at all.

Thinking that it was a bad power supply, I replaced it, but nothing happened.

I found a used 530 on craigslist and it tested fine, but the previous owner had been using third party ink, so I swapped the print head and cartridges for my own from the dead printer, which were genuine Canon. Bad idea. It printed one photo OK, but when I printed a head alignment sheet, it appeared to run out of ink mid page, and the pigment black was completely missing, despite full tanks. I ran deep cleaning several times, but the results stayed the same.

I swapped back the other head/ink set, and ran deep cleaning, and still no image. The paper feeds, the head moves, but nothing comes out.

In case there was a problem with the purge unit or the carrier electronics, I swapped the good logic board into my old printer. It started up, but the results were the same: no image, not even a faint/distorted one.

What happened? I assume my heads, as well as my logic board, were fried in the brownout. What electronics in the head could be so damaged as to damage the new board? Is there anything else I can try before I give up, conceding a lost $30 on the PS and $60 on the used perfectly good unit that I've now killed? I'm also perplexed by the failure mode of the heads, why would they work for a little while and then act like they'd run out of ink instead of being just completely dead?

 

[stratman]

Welcome to the forum.

You have done more than most in trying to resolve your issues. Respect! Unfortunately, your descriptions do not portend well. But there are a couple things that can be tried.

At this point, do not try to print anything other than a nozzle check unless requested otherwise. Printing more than nozzle checks can lead to nozzle burnout, something that may have already occurred, but is something to follow in the future. You can stop with the cleanings at this point as well.

1) A bad logic board can cause a malfunction in a print head and vice versa. Swapping a print head from a malfunctioning printer may cause a malfunction in the new machine's logic board. At least this is the anecdotal scenario the forum embraces. By using a potentially malfunctioning print head from your old machine in your 'new' used machine you may have replicated the issue.

2) When you say the used 530 tested "fine"... what does that mean? Were nozzle checks, text and images printing perfectly?

3) Do you refill? You are using OEM Canon cartridges and did not like that the previous owner of the printer was using refill ink.

4) When there is an issue with printing a color oftentimes it is that cartridge having a problem with flow of ink. Trying a new cartridge (OEM Canon preferrable) or a KNOWN working cartridge is a good response, albeit costly. When all cartridges fail then it could be the print head, the logic board assay, or the purge system. It is unlikely that all cartridges would fail simultaneously unless the printer was dormant for a long, long time.

5) Loss of the pigment black or all colors could be due to malfunction of the purge system. Try this link to test. (H/t Turbguy).

Do you know whether the ink levels in your cartridges are dropping? Replacing a cartridge, or taking one out and putting it back in, will trigger a purging of ink. So will replacing a print head, and, possibly after changing out a logic board assay. If the ink levels are not dropping then the purge system may be at fault.

Maybe putting the original components back into your new "used" machine and trying new or known working (not your current ) cartridges may work. I am not hopeful for this given your description of events, but there is a small possibility.

 

[Chris Tipton-King]

Thanks for the suggestions. This forum is really cool!

1. The fact that neither print head now works seems to point to that. Is there some part of the electronics in the head that controls the supply of ink to the nozzles? It seems like that must be the part that isn't functioning.
2. The replacement printer printed a normal nozzle check, EEPROM check, and a completely normal borderless PP Plus Glossy 4x6. After I swapped the heads for my own, I printed a borderless PP Glossy Plus 4x6 and it came out fine, except for some out-of-ink type gaps at the end. I printed an alignment chart after that, and that's where it died.
3. Nope, I don't. Back in the day when I had a early-2000s epson, I tried refilling, and the colors never came out as accurate as the OEM ink, so I stopped.
4. Neither printer/printhead had been dormant terribly long.
5. I marked the ink level with a sharpie and ran PGI-Bk deep cleaning. The level did drop, so the purge unit is functioning correctly.

I tried reseating the carrier ribbon cables at the logic board just in case. No change.

It looks like the conjecture that a bad print head can damage a logic board is correct.

 

[stratman]

1. The fact that neither print head now works seems to point to that. Is there some part of the electronics in the head that controls the supply of ink to the nozzles?

I do not know what electronics in the print head cause malfunction. It has been discovered that burned out nozzle channels can be seen, sometimes needing a loop or magnifying glass, but this will require taking apart the print head, something you might consider for curiosity sake. The downside of taking apart a print head is that the odds of it functioning again properly are not in your favor. However, if the print head is kaput then it is an academic study for your own interest. Seems you might enjoy this!

2. The replacement printer printed a normal nozzle check, EEPROM check, and a completely normal borderless PP Plus Glossy 4x6. After I swapped the heads for my own, I printed a borderless PP Glossy Plus 4x6 and it came out fine, except for some out-of-ink type gaps at the end. I printed an alignment chart after that, and that's where it died.

That really sucks. Big time. One might think the the "out-of-ink type gaps at the end" may be from ink starvation, though one might wonder if the electronics were beginning to fry. If this was happening to ALL the inks at the same time then my suspicion for witnessing an electronic malfunction in real time would be higher. Otherwise, sounds like ink starvation from the cartridges.

Can you post an image of this borderless PP Glossy Plus 4x6 so that we can see the issue?

3. Nope, I don't. Back in the day when I had a early-2000s epson, I tried refilling, and the colors never came out as accurate as the OEM ink, so I stopped.

The techniques of refilling and the quality of inks has improved since your last refilling foray, especially with Canon printers like your MP530! Internet stores like Precision Colors in Canada and Octoinkjet in the UK are highly respected sellers of refilling gear and ink and are members on this forum. Precision Colors even has ICC profiles he made to match his inks to a variety of papers.

5. I marked the ink level with a sharpie and ran PGI-Bk deep cleaning. The level did drop, so the purge unit is functioning correctly.

Try the purge system test I linked to in my first post. The purge system may be working fine, but do you want to abandon the printer before making sure it cannot be fixed?

It looks like the conjecture that a bad print head can damage a logic board is correct.

I know this is little consolation but your story reinforces the appropriateness of warning people of the risk of cross-malfunction if a potentially malfunctioning print head (or logic assay board) is swapped to a different printer. I thank you you for your sacrifice in adding to the knowledge of this forum.

 

[turbguy]

Check the Purge system operation...

 

[Chris Tipton-King]

Forgive my ignorance, but wouldn't the only reason why the ink level dropped be that the purge system is operating?

 

[Chris Tipton-King]

First, I printed a photo, which came out unremarkable (perfect). Next I swapped in my old printhead and OEM cartridges, and printed the same image again to compare, and here's what I got: (scanned at high res if you click)

At that point, I noticed the cyan tank was low, and thought that might have been the cause of the gaps in the image, so I replaced the cyan tank. Then I thought I should also run alignment, since I swapped the head. This is the next page I sent, and the last page it printed.

I printed a nozzle check immediately after this, and it came out blank. Ran cleaning and it still came out blank. Swapped back in the other printhead and ran nozzle check, still nothing. Ran deep cleaning twice, blank again. Disassembled both machines, swapped the logic board, NCU and power adapter into my original printer, and still nothing. Swapped print heads yet again, still nothing. Reset EEPROM, hard power cycled, reseated head, reseated carrier ribbon cables, verified ink levels dropped with cleaning cycles, still nothing. I think it's a lost cause—but at least now we know that you shouldn't swap a head from a malfunctioning printer into a good printer.

 

[PeterBJ]

I think it's a lost cause—but at least now we know that you shouldn't swap a head from a malfunctioning printer into a good printer.

Yes, a damaged print head can damage the logic board and a damaged logic board can damage a print head, so swapping print heads between printers for troubleshooting is very risky.

 

[Chris Tipton-King]

I ripped apart the print head, the ink delivery channels were fine, and there were no obvious burned out nozzles. The brownout must have damaged the logic on the head die, not enough to make it stop working, but just enough to cause it to damage the logic board after a few minutes of operation. What a crazy way to fail!

 

[martin0reg]

I have to emphasize this (seems to be a special disease of canon printers..)

Yes, a damaged print head can damage the logic board and a damaged logic board can damage a print head, so swapping print heads between printers for troubleshooting is very risky.

Some say this could be avoided by a protective circuit...if the manufacturer was willing to avoid it...