Mx870 And 5c00 Error Code

[sterlinggold]

Hi all; I'm new to this forum and will be thankful for any help.

I have this 3 years old or so MX870 which I've been refilling with the German method with the blue resetter and the original cartridges. Today I woke up and noticed all my cartridges are drained (refilled them less than a week ago) and the 5C00 error code will not go away. The waste area looked pretty messy and the bottom of the print head was also a mess.

So did my MX870 commit suicide? I don't get why it would drain all the cartridges at once like that. Also not sure if it's worth salvaging?

Any advice will be greatly appreciated.

Sterling

 

[The Hat]

I don’t know why your cartridges were sucked dry when they were left sitting on the purge unit.

But if you give the whole area around and including the purge unit a good early spring clean and soaking,
that may eliminate the error code.

Remember to pull the power plug after the print head moves to the centre of the printer,
and please report back on how you got on, good luck ..

 

[PeterBJ]

Like for many other Canon printers the error code 5C00 indicates a purge unit problem. You find a service manual for the printer here: http://elektrotanya.com/canon_pixma_mx870_sm.pdf/download.html . For download instructions see this post: http://www.printerknowledge.com/thr...-post-them-here-sticky.5071/page-9#post-36684

Like The Hat I wonder how the purge unit could suck the cartridges dry overnight, but maybe the purge unit was not the cause of the problem, but was damaged being flooded by ink from leaking cartridges?

So could you please give some details about your refilled cartridges, are they OEM or third party, and have they been used for some time without problems?

I have had a print head in a Pixma 4200 ruined by leaking bad quality third party cartridges. The leaked ink crept under the foil at the underside of the print head and created a short that took out some of the yellow nozzles.

The German refill method is very good, if done properly. The cartridges will not leak unless the cartridges are overfilled. But a leak in such case will not drain the cartridges completely. The most common cause of leaking cartridges is an air leak into the ink compartment, so I suspect the cartridges are defect. Did you remove the sealing ball to purge the cartridges ? If so how were the cartridges sealed after the purging?

 

[sterlinggold]

Thanks all for the replies. I am only using OEM (originals) cartridges. I recently had a problem with the PCBK pattern so I got a new canon original print head. After replacing the print head I still got pattern problems with the PCBK (no problem with the color patterns) so went through around 4 deep clean/regular clean cycles only on PCBK which fixed the pattern issue. That was two days prior to the full purge event.I agree with the theory that the purge event happened above the purge unit and covered the purge unit with ink. after looking at this page smoothprinterservice.com/tag/sensor/ it looks like the cam sensor. I can see the cam turning properly so I'll follow Hat's advice and pull the cord at the right moment where the cam sensor is accessible and spray some solvent (any suggestions?) with a an extension straw directly into the sensor slit.

 

[sterlinggold]

Update: I sprayed the main cam sensor with a mass air flow sensor cleaner and extension straw and the error is gone. I also cleaned the print head (gut wrenching to open up a brand new head with windex, all colors are back except the red (M). Also tried a brand new M cartridge with no help so something is still wrong with the head. any ideas?

 

[PeterBJ]

Congrats with cleaning the APP sensor in the printer but I would not recommend using any solvent stronger than water or a window cleaner with ammonia to clean inside a Canon printer. Strong hydrocarbon solvents might damage plastic parts. I guess the mass air flow sensor is a part of the fuel injection system of a car/automobile? so what does the used cleaner contain? Hopefully no damage is done.

I agree with trying a new OEM magenta cartridge to see if the magenta problem is caused by the old cartridge. Taking the print head apart is the last thing I would do, and only if I have tried all more gentle methods of print head unclogging first and I accept the risk of damaging both the print head and the logic board, making the printer a total loss.

One of the dangers when cleaning a print head outside the printer is that the tiniest amount of water/window cleaner left behind the ribbon cable or the circuit board on the print head can cause a short that not only ruins the print head but can ruin the logic board as well. A damaged logic board can damage a new print head.

It looks like the printer uses the QY6-0073 print head that is also used in the Canon iP3600 and MP540. Here is how I cleaned such a print head successfully using a gentle method. In stead of pharmacist's cleaning solution you could also use a window cleaner with ammonia. Link here: http://www.printerknowledge.com/threads/canon-mp540-saved-by-pharmacists-cleaning-solution.8176/ . If this method fails you might try this method, but be careful not to apply too much pressure: http://www.printerknowledge.com/threads/pro-9000-printhead-unclogging-video.8334/ . If this method also fails then this could be next step: http://www.printerknowledge.com/thr...so-applies-to-ip4500-and-others-similar.8340/ As the very last attempt you could try this, very risky procedure, but note the warnings in the thread: http://www.printerknowledge.com/thr...-not-clearly-showing-electronic-failure.8147/ If you try this tough method I recommend replacing the dishwasher powder solution with a window cleaner with ammonia, heated to around 50C/122F.

Remember that there is always a risk of damaging not only the print head but also the logic board when cleaning a print head outside the printer, so try a few more regular nozzle cleaning from the printer driver's maintenance tab. There is no reason to use the extended nozzle cleaning, it only wastes more ink and fills up the absorbers quicker. Some say that the nozzles are fired during the cleaning, so the extended nozzle cleaning stresses the print head more than the regular cleaning.

There may be a quarantine period before new members can post links and upload pictures, but if possible could you upload a scan of a nozzle check?

I still don't understand what caused all the cartridges to dump all the ink, so something must be wrong either with the cartridges or the refill procedure. It is important to correct this error, or the ink dump could happen again! Here is a link to an excellent instruction for refilling the PGI-x20/CLI-x21 cartridges using the "German" AKA "Durchstich" method: http://www.printerknowledge.com/thr...thod-for-the-pgi-520-cli-521-cartridges.3806/

What brand of refill ink do you use? A bad ink brand will not cause leaking, but can cause nozzle clogging. Only a quality brand refill ink specifically made for the printer is recommended. Universal inks are not recommended.

A test to determine what is causing the problem with magenta not printing is to do a regular nozzle cleaning and then remove the print head and press the nozzles against a piece of paper towel/kitchen paper. If no magenta is present in the "footprint" then you have a clog that might be removed. If magenta is present, sadly the print head most likely has suffered an electronic damage.

 

[The Hat]

It seems you were having two problems, one was the leaking cartridges causing the original error
and the other one was a clogged magenta nozzle ?

You should also avoid doing too many deep head cleans as they only waste unnecessary ink
and can also put your purge unit under awful big strain !

You seem to be having a lot of problems maintaining your printer in good order,
you would need to start out fresh and read up on the German refilling technique once more
just to iron out some of the little mistakes you have been making.

Ops, you haven’t gone and pulled the print head apart have you, because if you have
then all bets are off as to whether or not you’ll ever get the magenta working again,
you could try using the old one if that's the case.

While you were working on the cleaning up of the purge unit and surrounding area
you should have just put the print head under a good flow of clean water
and then left it to dry in a warm place for an hour or two..