B200 and beyond on an MP620

JBH

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I chose that title on purpose, because my MP620 started by giving me a B200 error, but now it's started to do something else—it turns itself off when I try to run the Canon Service Tool v3400 (which I learned about in another thread on this forum).

More info: I'm able to get the printer's little LCD panel to show "Service Mode," but the LEDs on the printer cover are alternately flashing green and yellow/orange. The Readme file of the Service Tool says that's a problem—but doesn't say what to do about it.

The much longer version, with background info:
I bought my MP620 in November 2010. Until 2015, I used only OEM cartridges or Office Depot cartridges and never had any problems. In May 2015, I got a bunch of free cartridges from a fellow member of "ReUseIt" (formerly called Freecycle). She described them as "off-brand." They were all sealed and appeared OK. However, some time after installing one or more of them, the printer stopped printing any cyan or yellow. :-( It would only print magenta and some black. So I bought a four-cartridge set of remanufactured Dataproducts cartridges from Micro Center, thinking that would solve the problem. But it didn't. Even with all new cartridges (except the PG-220 pigment black, which was still an OEM cartridge), yellow and cyan still wouldn't print at all. But it still printed in that limited fashion.

I kind of gave up on the printer for a while, but recently decided I'd try again to fix it. I did a lot of searching and watched a lot of YouTube videos (of varying quality and reliability, I now realize), and guessed the problem might be a clogged print head. I tried various soaking methods, which didn't help. So then I tried what I figured was a "last resort" strategy: I removed the two screws that hold the ceramic piece in place on the bottom of the print head, removed the little rubber gasket that connects the ceramic piece to the body of the print head, and looked at it carefully. The holes that serve the yellow ink were partially clogged, but you could still see some light through them. I decided to try flushing the printhead with water (again, figuring I could hardly make it any worse), and I also blew some canned air through the little holes of the print head itself (which blew some ink out of the screens). I was able to clear out some of the gunk. So I let the cartridge dry, reassembled it, put it back into the printer, and ... that's when I got my first B200 error.

So I did a lot more searching and decided to buy a new print head, which I got from Amazon. When I installed it, the B200 error went away, and I printed a nozzle check that seemed perfect. I assumed the problem was fixed. I turned off the printer when I went to bed that night.

The very next day, when I turned on the printer and tried to print a small photo on plain paper, the B200 error was back. That's right, I'd gotten exactly one page printed before it happened again. Yargh. :-(

After more research, I found this forum and a thread about the "service mode" (which I hadn't heard of before), and I downloaded the Canon Service Tool v3400. But, as I described in the first paragraph above, when I try to run it, the printer turns itself off.

At this point, I'm pretty much out of ideas. Anyone care to chime in? I welcome any and all advice, constructive criticism, even a bit of "if you had a brain, you'd be dangerous" kidding. I just want to get my damn printer fixed.
 

The Hat

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Hi @JBH and welcome, the only thing I can say is you came here too late to save you first print head, and I can’t say for sure if we can help you save the second one, but we’ll try.

You were probably right about your head getting clogged with the free cartridges, but unlike Epson a Canon printer will die quickly if you continue to print while you have clogged nozzles, that problem needs to be investigated first above all else.

Now your current situation could be caused by the new print head itself, Amazon is not the best place to buy one, and it’s very possible that you may have purchased a recondition head, that’s speculation on my part. !

Also, a Service Tool won’t solve a problem with your print head, it only gives detailed information on the printer’s operation to date, one of its main function is to reset your waste ink counter.

If you haven’t disposed of your old print head, try installing that in the printer without cartridges and wait to see what the on-screen message says, if as before you get the B200 error then remove it, turn off the printer and wait 5 minutes.

Again, turn on the printer and install the newer head without the cartridges and if everything is ok then reinstall the cartridges one by one, if that doesn’t work then the second head has also become faulty.

Please come back with details as to how you got on...
 

JBH

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@The Hat, I followed your instructions. The old print head gave a B200 error. I turned off the printer, waited at least five minutes and installed the new print head. It also immediately gave the dreaded B200. :-(
 

The Hat

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Hi @JBH, I was afraid that maybe the case and can only speculate further, but it seems very strange that both heads should give you the same error after a power on when the EPROM chip has been cleared of all errors.

You may now have two problems, one: Do you source a new genuine head from Canon and try installing that, because that might not work either, you may ask why ?
So then I tried what I figured was a "last resort" strategy: I removed the two screws that hold the ceramic piece in place on the bottom of the print head, removed the little rubber gasket that connects the ceramic piece to the body of the print head, and looked at it carefully.
Because you decide to investigate the print head further by removing the ceramic plate, screws and gasket, which is normally never done, but this action usually leads nowhere, except to satisfy your curiosity, but it does risk rendering the head becoming inoperative due to electrical failure. (Only soaking is recommended)

When you re-installed this head again, you could have shorted out a component on the logic board and this maybe the reason why the second head now refuses to function properly, so acquiring another new head may end with the very same error.

I reckon a new printer would be far cheaper an option than to try and purchase a new head and logic board for the MP620, if you watch for sales in the big stores you can pick up a Pro 100 for as little as $50 after rebate, or Craig’s List for a little more.

I am sorry for the bad news but many of us here have suffered a similar faith, that’s why where’re here to inform others not to do the very same, sadly too late to save your..
 

JBH

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Thank you all for your replies, and to Łukasz for the private message directing me to one more possible solution. Unfortunately, it does indeed appear that the logic board on my MP620 is damaged. If anyone is interested in acquiring it (for parts, experimentation or otherwise), please let me know. Thanks again.
 
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