Three MG5250's with B200 error last month

[palombian]

June 2017 was a bad month for my refilling.

A 5250 I take on holyday every year showed B200.
With the spare at home same thing after 5 pages.
And my son told me a few days ago the one he has since 18 months had the same error too.

None of these printers had heavy usage (2 stocked with "printhead conservation" cartridges, 1 regular use with nozzle checks).
The first one was bought new in 2011 for € 85, the others second hand at about € 20.

I can't complain for the money, but maybe Canon's opinion was that after 6 years it was time to buy a new printer ?

 

[The Hat]

@palombian, just remove the heads one by one and mark them for identification and then use each head in a different printer, some of the heads should work again but some might not, it’s worth a try...

 

[palombian]

@The Hat, I tried indeed to place the head from the spare (with some clogged nozzles, not a big loss) in the first one, but after a few pages it had B200 also.
This seems to confirm the scenario that the logic board has damage and affects another printhead.
Since these printers have a low value, buying a new printhead doesn't make sense anyway.

I will avoid exchanging printheads in these consumer dye printers after a printhead error.

 

[PeterBJ]

I will avoid exchanging printheads in these consumer dye printers after a printhead error.

I think this is a good idea, Your story looks like a defective print head damages a logic board, that later damages another print head. Swapping print heads around between printers for troubleshooting is very risky in my opinion.

You might be lucky and find another MG5250 at a reasonable price at a thrift store or flea market. I found an MG5150 in perfect condition with a TPAGE of only around 200 at DKK 50 or € 7. I also found an MG5250 at the same price, but sadly with a defective print head. I wish it had been the other way around.

 

[palombian]

I still have an MG5150 in stock, but it has no Wifi and another printhead.
Will use it as holiday printer.

I am now on 4 525/526 dye printers in use (MX885, MG5250, IX6550, MG5150) and only one in stock (MX895).
Plus my MG8250 with a clogged BK, but I bought it for the CCD film scanner in the first place so no problem.
Those printers become scarce second hand (and older every year).

Maybe I should switch to the 570/571 series as long as they are still sold, the resetter is more expensive but with 3 families it is paid back fast.

 

[The Hat]

I’ve never had a problem switching heads with the B200 error between printers, they usually continue to work indefinitely, otherwise I wouldn’t recommend it...

 

[palombian]

I tried exchanging heads today between both printers.
The first one now gives U52, the other B200.

As said, it could be linked to these series of printers.

In the best scenario it is in the memory of the printer, so cleaning the heads won't solve anything.

 

[The Hat]

In the best scenario it is in the memory of the printer,

That is correct, it is the memory in each printer, but by turning the printer back on with no head, it then can only remember the last head that was installed, so any another head is all new to it...

 

[palombian]

Installed printhead on request (with power on and no carts), errors B200 and U52 on both heads as before.

 

[The Hat]

Installed printhead on request (with power on and no carts), errors B200 and U52 on both heads as before.

That’s a real pity, I am sorry for your great loss...