MP780 Wrong Cartridge Message

[leo8088]

I just ran into a very weird problem with my MP780. I loaded some paper and did a nozzle check. I saw that the paper was about to be jammed while it was pulled into the printer. I quickly pulled it out in the opposite direction. There was no tear and I pulled it out successfully. But then the printer turned on its alarm LED on the front panel. The LCD display flashes on and off a message Wrong Cartridge. I tried many common wisdom things to reset the printer with no success. Now it won't print anything but keeping on complaining Wrong Cartridge. Have I broken something in this printer by pulling out a piece of paper that was about to jam? Can anyone help? Thanks.

 

[ghwellsjr]

When it says "cartridge", I believe it means "print head". You might try removing it and then powering off and on and reinserting it to see if that clears the problem. Good luck.

 

[leo8088]

I did remove and re-install the print head and cartridges many times. I powered it on and off with or without the print head many times too. It made no difference so far. I discovered something strange today. I found I could move the print head out of its parking position when the printer is turned off. I thought Canon printers would lock the print head in the parking position after the power is turned off. Does this mean something is damaged when I pulled a sheet of paper opposite to its normal travel direction when I saw that it was about to be jammed? I did not hear anything broke and I did not feel too much resistance when I pulled the paper. Yes the cartridge does mean print head. On my MP780 manual it says the print head needs replacement. I don't believe the print head is bad. I was printing something right before I did the nozzle check. Everything was OK before that. I just thought to do a nozzle check to see how my printer was doing. I think I am going to have to take it apart and crash and burn it. I feel very lousy now.

 

[Manuchau]

Worth a call to talk to a Canon techie..

1-800-OK Canon

 

[leo8088]

Thanks for the suggestion. I took the print head to my friend and put it into my friend's MP780. It also showed the same problem. The printer flashed the alarm LED and displayed Wrong Cartridge" message on the printer's screen. That's it. It is the print head that has died. It died right after I pulled out a sheet of paper that was about to jam. I found that if I removed the print head the print head carriage would park correctly and be locked when the power is turned off. But with the print head in it the printer thinks it's a wrong one so it won't park it and won't lock it.

I don't know why it died. I was still printing some stuff and everything was perfect. Just thought to give it a nozzle check, as this is what I do whenever the printer is powered up to do some printing. I think I will get a new print head. I feel really lousy. It dies for no reason.

 

[leo8088]

I am really not willing to accept the sudden death of the print head with unknown reason. It just didn't make any sense. So I took the print head out one more time. This time I applied some pressure to the contacts on the back of the print head with my thumb. I pressed down especially the edge where the ribbon cable comes to interface with the PC board. When I put it back to the printer things changed. It proceeded to do the print head alignment to the end. It did not give me the crap wrong cartridge message any more. I ran a cleaning cycle and a nozzle check. Everything worked!!! It seems to be alive and well again.

 

[ghwellsjr]

That's great! But the confusing thing is that you got the same message in your friend's printer. Anyway, you can't argue with success!

 

[leo8088]

I still suspect that my print head is not really completely OK. It showed the same problem on my friend's and my own MP780. I believe the reason it suddenly woke up from comma was because I applied pressure on the PC board (contacts) on the back of the print head. If that made it wake up it may go back to sleep again any time. So I am keeping my fingers crossed. A new print head costs about $40 plus shipping. It is not too bad. So I am ready to buy one on the flea-bay.

 

[yupkime]

Hey there leo8088, any updates about your problem?
Still working?

I still suspect that my print head is not really completely OK. It showed the same problem on my friend's and my own MP780. I believe the reason it suddenly woke up from comma was because I applied pressure on the PC board (contacts) on the back of the print head. If that made it wake up it may go back to sleep again any time. So I am keeping my fingers crossed. A new print head costs about $40 plus shipping. It is not too bad. So I am ready to buy one on the flea-bay.

 

[sarenpa22]

I had same issue; I pulled this little black box out from behind the cartridges; what do I do next? I'm afraid I don't understand the terminology..