MP 830 won't power on

[Hennmann]

I have an Pixma MP 830 that up to now has been working very well with very little use since I bought it new when this model first came out. I got sick and tired of my Lexmark printers always acting up and decided to step up to the plate and finally buy something considerably more expensive and deluxe compared to the other junk I had in the past. When not in use I always unplugged the power cord and covered the printer. When i plugged it in this time and tried to turn it on or power it up it was totally dead. As mentioned on the internet before I found this forum was to unplug the printer, press the on/off switch while unplugged and then plug the cord back in and retry. Nothing happens at all. I downloaded the Canon service manual and removed the power supply and checked the connectors etc. All seemed connected properly. I brought the printer to a friend of mine who repairs Radio and TV and after checking out the power supply (and getting that damn screw out!) to check the fuses etc. he figured the power supply is okay. At this point he figured one of the boards inside may have died and didn't figure it payed to go through all the work of dismantling this beast that probably wasn't worth much anymore. After doing a great deal of googling I read about how a print head can either damage the main logic board or prevent the printer from powering on if defective. There were suggestions of disconnecting the print head and then turning on the unit and of course if it did power on it should display a defective print head code. Of course with this MP830 not powering on the print head is locked in the parked position. At this point they mentioned the printer would have to be disassembled in order to unlatch the print head and disconnect it. Using the manual I started carefully dismantling and opening up Pandora's box. I have only gotten to the stage where the top hinged cover, paper feed, side, front corner covers are removed. I examined all of the ribbon conductor connectors to the now exposed logic board. This is where I stopped, thinking If there is a print head malfunction and this possibly damaged the logic board how do I determine what i need? Because I did spend a fair bit on this thing and it is still in very good condition cosmetically this is why i'm still willing to try to resurrect it. I also noticed new print heads and good used and new logic boards are easy to find on Fleabay at very reasonable cost. If disconnecting the print head is the next thing to do, what is the easiest way to get to it to unlatch and disconnect without having a major basket case sitting in front of me?

 

[Hennmann]

Okay no response to my question. Instead of disassembling the entire printer to disconnect the print head, is there anywhere else I can disconnect it?? Where does this ribbon cable connect to?
Anybody out there know how to access the print head without total disassemble of this unit. Help and support from Canon is not very good to say the least!

 

[palombian]

I would dump the printer, for what you will pay for replacement parts from dubious sources you can find a working second hand printer.

 

[Hennmann]

Replacement parts depending on what I actually need. That's why I'm presently trying to determine where the print head cable is connected to for the disconnect test to see if anything happens. This printer has probably only printed at most a couple hundred pages and cosmetically it looks like new. Also I have $100 worth of ink tanks for it as well because I'm miles away from replacement ink cartridges. Not to mention how expensive it was to buy in the first place. Canons suggestion was an MX922 and of course it required different ink as well. As crazy as it sounds if there is possibly a not to complicated way of diagnostics to possibly get it to power up to possibly puke out an error code I'm willing to give that a try.

 

[jimbo123]

your MP830 is up there as far as build quality, etc. i have had several over the years, have taken them apart to chance the waste pads, etc. i've had the no power on before, never figured it out, so i kept the scanner unit to swap in. i've had a 2 scanner unit go, 1 no power, 2 logic cards fail, etc. i just keep moving around the old parts to keep it going.

to answer your Q, the only way to get to the print head is to disassemble. you need to get the scanner unit off in order to removed the case t0o get to the print head.

taking the 830 and other MFPs apart is not easy. the service manual helps some, also PeterBJ posted some translated links from druckerchannel that may help.

if it were me, i'd look for working 830s on craigslist to ebay. make sure to test it with a nozzle check either personally or by the seller.

also there are other printers that used the same ink carts, PGI5 and CLI8s

this may help
http://www.printerknowledge.com/threads/mp830-looking-for-detailed-disassembly-instructions.10702/

J

------------------------------------------------------------------------------
• Active Printers: MP830, MP980, PRO-100
• Stored Printers: MP830, IP4500, MX700, MX860, MX870
• Method: German Durchstich Method
• Ink: Hobbicolors and OCP
• Misc: Squeeze bottles - so much easier than syringes

 

[Hennmann]

Thanks jimbo!
Earlier today after giving up trying to get a discussion going with you after the suggestion of throwing out the printer because I kept getting blocked with the reason of my material was like spam and/or wasnt appropriate but in reality was very descriptive of what i was trying to do and what I had already done!! I gave up on trying to disassemble the printer to gain access to the head but instead focused on the service manual showing the ribbon cables and figured out where the cables went on the logic board. I set the scanner cover/paper feed back on and plugged in the wiring with the print head cables both disconnected, one and then the other reconnected, disconnected if you know what I mean, and still nothing. Either the power supply is defective, or the logic board is roached, or? the relay board? I haven't dissected this thing apart enough to determine exactly where the wires from the power supply actually go to first. Also I need to find the actual voltages out from the connectors leading out of the power supply to determine if it is actually good. More than likely the power supply probably goes into standby and is fully turned on by the logic board or the control panel. I would assume (a dangerous thing to do) that if the logic board is bad and if I get one from fleabay for $35+ and try it with the printhead disconnected for just in case reasons the printer should fire up hopefully showing a printhead error code and if it does the next thing would be to get a new print head there as well for $35-50 and replace it anyway just in case. Some have mentioned that a bad print head can also croak the logic board so replacing the board and reconnecting an unknown printhead condition could send me back to the beginning. Alot of whatifs and maybes going on here but what gets me is what the ink and the printer cost me with very little use keeps me clinging and its safe to say the so called service manual isnt very descriptive in areas that I need to know about.

 

[Hennmann]

jimbo
Re trigger's manual mentioned in the above link.
Is it different than the actual Canon service manual PDF available online or is it more extensive?
BTW I phoned Canon customer support today as well and that wasnt much help with only the suggestion of a loyalty discount on a new printer. The suggestion was an MX922 for $199 minus a piddly discount bringing it down to $160 and of course the $100 worth of new ink tanks I got on hand dont fit so thats another $60! Then I read the reviews of this printer and it sounds like it is a snail compared to the MP830.
The only advantage of the snail was duplex scanning, wifi, and seems to me bluetooth. Oh and after I hear their so called discount I see see a new one on Amazon for $99.00 and ink cartridges or tanks a set for $38 and yes like you said the MP830 does look like a better quality unit with the exception of a few bells and whistles and that in its self also motivates me to flog this dead horse.

 

[jimbo123]

other than the build quality the advantage to the older printers/carts is that they are so easily refilled.

trigger's manuals($) helps some, but if you are good at taking things apart just take pics each step of the way so to put it back together. lot of screws and make notes/pics of ribbon cables.

poke around craigslist, you'll sometimes find 830's in supposed working condition for under $50. than keep the old one for parts.

then learn how to refill, you'll get back your $50 on the first set of carts you refill.

J

------------------------------------------------------------------------------
• Active Printers: MP830, MP980, PRO-100
• Stored Printers: MP830, IP4500, MX700, MX860, MX870
• Method: German Durchstich Method
• Ink: Hobbicolors and OCP
• Misc: Squeeze bottles - so much easier than syringes

 

[Hennmann]

http://forums.steves-digicams.com/p...-1-ip4300-dead-after-changing-print-head.html
Who knows? This could be the culprit to croaked logic boards. It would almost be safe to say if the board is replaced (if this is actually my problem?) replacing the print head at the same time would probably be a good idea. Surprising how hard it is to find used printers and so far very few located on Craigslist and Fleabay. Jimbo as for your no power on I suppose the logic board or the power supply were not the problem? Makes me wonder if it might even be the control panel?

 

[Hennmann]

jimbo123 have you recently found any information on these power up problems? As for poking around craiglist, I decided to look on Kijiji and ended up wit a second one BUT it won't print black, then recently I was stupid enough to purchase yet another from an estate sale, where the owner died leaving behind another one of these lemons (perhaps the stress and frustration of owning one of these turned him into worm food?) It worked with low hours or printed pages of use so like a fool I purchased it due to the fact I had a number of new OEM ink cartridges on hand. Today I powered it on (yes it powered on) to scan a document I needed to email and when I lifted the cover on the scanner to place the document in the entire printer powered off and will not power on. I even swapped out the power supply with no success leading me to believe these MP830 have a chronic problem!! One not powering on with less than 100 pages printed, okay it is a lemon, but now we have two leading me to think there was definitely a product defect here. As you can tell by my posts I have a number of these (some fools don't learn!!) and there are a number of control boards in them which can cause this to happen. Now from what I have read here it sounds like I would have to pull the entire printer apart just to solve the no black print problem, but other than this does anybody else have any ideas of what board to swap out to possibly repair the no power up problem? Other than the online manual which pretty much tells you how to disassemble one (or open Pandora's box) is there better documentation showing how to properly diagnose one of these units?