PRO-1000 - access print head when printer is blocked by B204

[The Ninth]

Very interesting information, but very worrying at the same time, when you got a Service Technician to do the job, he couldn’t get the head to move to a favourable position to replace it, that’s a bit of a bummer, and poor design on the part by Canon.

Yes, me and the technician agreed that this is not well designed, there should be better access for such cases where the print head cannot move anymore.

Now looking at the costs involved, I reckon you’d have been far better getting a new printer and could have saved at least €100 on a set of inks that come with the new printer, that’s just looking at the ink price alone, how much of your ink was wasted in the change over ?..

In terms of economics a new printer would for sure have been the better choice. It is hard for me to guess how much ink was used in filling the new head, but I'd guesstimate it to be 50-150 €.

But like I said, there is a non-monetary value for me in fixing the printer I have instead of throwing it away.

The lesson from this is, if the head on your Pro 1000 goes west, than its time for a new printer, because this must be the first Canon printer that doesn’t have a consumer replaceable print head, now that’s some progress.. My opinion..

Actually, the print head is user-replaceable. Under "normal" circumstances when the print head is at the end of its life the PRO-1000 will say so and the user can make the switch themselves. And in that case I think the economics might also shift a bit towards replacing the print head instead of getting a new printer.

However in my case it seems there was some more catastrophic malfunction of the print head, which lead to the situation that it won't move anymore and the normal replacement routine was not accessible. From researching this error on the Internet it seems to be relatively rare.

 

[Peter-Parker]

Yes, me and the technician agreed that this is not well designed, there should be better access for such cases where the print head cannot move anymore.


In terms of economics a new printer would for sure have been the better choice. It is hard for me to guess how much ink was used in filling the new head, but I'd guesstimate it to be 50-150 €.

But like I said, there is a non-monetary value for me in fixing the printer I have instead of throwing it away.


Actually, the print head is user-replaceable. Under "normal" circumstances when the print head is at the end of its life the PRO-1000 will say so and the user can make the switch themselves. And in that case I think the economics might also shift a bit towards replacing the print head instead of getting a new printer.

However in my case it seems there was some more catastrophic malfunction of the print head, which lead to the situation that it won't move anymore and the normal replacement routine was not accessible. From researching this error on the Internet it seems to be relatively rare.

Hey,

I'm now in the same situation. The printer starts up and presents the the B204 error message right away. The print head doesn't move at all.

I've been in contact with the canon service and got almost the same quotation. They kindly provided me with the internal error overview however:

So the print head is the first but not the only potential faulty component.

By the way, I also tried to get other repair services in Germany (where I live) to repair the printer. But all of them refused: "We don't do that with this device."

I'm now thinking about trying to remove the print head by myself as the printer is broken anyway (although in mint condition otherwise).

If anyone has any more tips or even instructions on how to disassemble the printer, I would be very grateful.

 

[The Ninth]

I'm now thinking about trying to remove the print head by myself as the printer is broken anyway (although in mint condition otherwise).

If anyone has any more tips or even instructions on how to disassemble the printer, I would be very grateful.

Very interesting. With my printer it was fortunately solved with the new print head.

To be honest, after seeing the Canon technician work on the printer for two hours, I would not dare to try it myself. The technician even charged only for an hour in the end, saying it is not my fault that it took so long, so it seems he was really struggling and not only dragging his feet to charge more.

 

[Peter-Parker]

Very interesting. With my printer it was fortunately solved with the new print head.

To be honest, after seeing the Canon technician work on the printer for two hours, I would not dare to try it myself. The technician even charged only for an hour in the end, saying it is not my fault that it took so long, so it seems he was really struggling and not only dragging his feet to charge more.

You are probably right. But my thinking is that I have nothing really to loose. As I’m only using the printer privately, I’m not even sure if I would buy a new one if I would brake something.

 

[The Ninth]

You are probably right. But my thinking is that I have nothing really to loose. As I’m only using the printer privately, I’m not even sure if I would buy a new one if I would brake something.

Then let us know how it goes ... we want to see photos!

 

[mikling]

Then let us know how it goes ... we want to see photos!

I have experienced this.

#1. A good experienced Canon tech should have been able to remove the printhead within 45 mins. Provided they have had esome experience on this machine. I was charged an hour of service to remove this in Toronto Canada...tech is in ..https://downtownav.com/ (recommended spot for printer repairs and they have access to Canon software when required.)
#2. The B204 is an error that is detected while the printer is performing a mechanical maintenance routine and during this a defective printhead is detected. It freeze in a loop and it cannot get itself out of that. Yes, bad firmware design by Canon engineers.
#3. Replacement printheads in USA and Canada are similarly priced. Very costly. However if you head across to Ebay there are some Japanese sellers of the identical printheads from Japan. I rolled the dice and got one for less than half of what it would cost me (even at wholsesale) in NA. Delivery time was within days from Japan via courier. Oddly even at retail Pro-1000 printheads are very reasonably priced in the UK. Remember these exact printheads are used on the big wide format machines. Can someone purchase a quantity of these and resell them in NA and make a small profit?
Possibly but don't let Canon know.

Note a replacement of printhead is going to require a "charge" of the system. So you have to make sure your ink supply as well as maintenance box can handle this.
I suspect that like the Pro-1 early samples of this printer had "yield" issues as some electronic components during fab were weak. As time went along, they were able to improve yield just like chips.