MG5340 print head end of life

[Mori]

Hi everybody !
First of all thanks for a very useful forum.

I've had a MG5430 which, after 2 years of small office use, started showing B200 error which l'm told means end of the print head life. I'm also told that the main reason for the printer head death is use of non-oem ink.

Assuming the above assumptions are correct, I was wondering if there are other multifunction printers (preferrably with Fax function) Canon or other brands which can better withstand use of non-oem inks and repeated refills?

Appreciate your input.

Cheers, Mori

 

[The Hat]

Hi @Mori and welcome, first of all, you print head didn’t die from using 3rd party inks, if that were so then this forum wouldn’t exist because just about every member on here refills their own cartridges with non OEM inks.

The most likely cause of print head failure, is one or more of your cartridges failed to supply enough ink to keep the print head from over heating, which usually results in electrical failure every time.

Canon rely on you to keep buying their very expensive OEM cartridges which cost as much as a new printer, so when you use compatible cartridge and refill them, that’s the risk you take every time you refill and don’t get it right..

 

[Mori]

Hi Hat !
Thanks for a wonderful forum.

Thanks for the enlightening input. I guess I'm just misinformed about use of non-oem ink.

Is there a way to revive the print head, or at least to disable the B200 error so that to continue using other still working features such as the scanner ?

Cheers, Mori

 

[The Hat]

The B200 error can be a number of things, mostly it’s a high temperature in the print head but this error can also be caused by a bad chip on one of the cartridges, you can sometime clear this error but it comes back later when you least expect it.

I don’t use an AIO printer so can’t rightly say but powering off the machine and unplugging the USB and power cables for 5 minutes sometimes helps.

You could try removing all of the cartridges, just to see if the other functions on the printer will work without having the ability to print any documents.

Rinsing the print head under running water can be effective also but you must remember to thoroughly dry the head before reinserting it back into the printer, if you attempt to print again you risk this same issue returning, a new head or printer will be needed which ever is cheapest..

 

[Mori]

Thanks The Hat !

I've already tried washing the print head, and letting the printer stay off for some time. It removed the error and the printer worked for just a few days, but then suddenly again the B200 error returned and since then I've not managed to resolve it any more.

Also, I've tried removing the cartridges, and removing the print head which both lead to B200 error and renders the printer useless; no other function (scan ...) can be used.

Some people suggest that you can actually see the print head burns by inspecting it under a magnifying glass. Well, I did that too, but the print head seems quite OK from the outside (at least to my unskilled eyes); except for maybe some discoloration in the BLUE band of the print head. Please see the attached photo.

- Before going for a new print head, how can I check whether 'a bad chip on a cartridge' is causing the error?

- How can I make sure a new print head will not be fried because of malfunction in other electronic parts?

- Assuming the problem lies in the color section of the print head, can I somehow disable the color section and use the printer as a black & white printer (using only the big black cartridge) ?

Thank you, in advance for your advice.
Cheers, Mori

 

[The Hat]

Hi @Mori, It sounds like you have done all you can, but once this error returned it’s game over, so your still getting the same error when you have no print head installed, now that’s not good, have you tried powering off and then later powering on without a head present ?

If the print head has developed an electrical problem due to over heating then the problem occurred in the circuitry on the back, and the nozzles may only show damage if the head was run continuous due to lack of ink in one of the colour nozzles.

click to enlarge.

Now for the $64,000 question, you don’t know if the logic board was damaged by the power outage in the head and only by buying a new head will it tell you for sure.

A bad chip can only cause the error to appear but cant damage the head by itself, and inserting the cartridges one by one and closing the top lid each time will identify a bad chip.

I am afraid once you have this error present and it wont clear by powering off the machine then you cant print at all, and without a proper functioning print head present you cant diagnose anything either, sorry..

 

[Mori]

Sorry The Hat
I made a mistake. Error B200 persists even when I remove the cartridges. But, when I remove the print head, I get another error code saying that print head is missing. Anyway, the end result is that the printer cannot be used for any task.

 

[Mori]

Thanks a lot The Hat!
No problem. You've been most helpfull.
I will test some more and report back.

 

[Mori]

Hi Everybody !

This is to report back what I've been doing:

I've given the print head a thorough rinse again according to your instruction in some older posts. Then, I've let the printer unplugged for a few days, and today, miraculously, error B200 is gone and the printer is working again!

1- How reliable is this ? Is error B200 gone for good, or I should still buy a new print head?

2- Now that I have access to all service commands, can I disable the print function, and at least use the machine as a scanner (scanning speed is quite good, I much say) ?

Thanks in advance.
Mori