Canon pro 10 error B200 - How to get to the printer head?

[JessBen]

I bought a second hand Canon Pro 10 (500 prints). I managed to print about 24 4x6 prints. I have been getting the B200 error. I have tried pressing the power switch for a while before plugging it in and it worked many times. My mistake was every time I got it to work I got so excited I went on printing some more until I got the error again and again hoping it will never come back. Now, it looks like it's never going away. I would like to try and clean the head this time hoping to revive this machine as the prints are great.

How do I get to the printer head when the machine is now not budging?
Could you please guide me and help me please?

 

[The Hat]

How do I get to the printer head when the machine is now not budging?

Sometimes when the printer is left off for a while (Unplugged) it will start up normally when powered on again, so try raising the top cover before switch on and listen and watch to see if the head moves slightly, when it does pull the power lead out of the wall quickly.. That’s one way..

The other method that I used was to remover the right side panel from the printer and cut a hole in the side of the frame to gain access to the gear that controls the locking catch that holds the print head on the purge pads.

When finished I hot glued the sidepieces back in but that was unnecessary because the side covers up the hole very neatly..

I used a Dramel tool for cutting..

P.S. Cleaning won’t work, you’re going to need a new Head..

click to enlarge..

 

[JessBen]

Thanks so much The Hat. You are right, after cleaning the head it still doesn't work. It will cost me $265 including shipping to buy a new head. Do you think replacing the head will certainly make it work?

 

[JessBen]

The Hat could you kindly analyze the nozzle check print out please? Thank you.

 

[The Hat]

The Hat could you kindly analyze the nozzle check print out please? Thank you.

It’s hard to tell whether the print head has sever clogs in it or is suffering from electrical failure, hence the B200 error, did you run a nozzle check first before starting to print when you first got the printer or did you just start to print.. ?

If it is clogs then a good soaking in warm water with a couple of drops of washing up liquid, and after several hours soaking that may bring it back to life again..

But if you decide to soak the head then remember to thoroughly dry the head somewhere very warm for an hour or so before reinstalling..

Is the printer running on OEM inks or compatibles.. ?

P.S. I reckon most likely that the head has suffered an electrical failure due to insufficient ink flow, but then again you might be luck because miracles sometimes happen..

 

[JessBen]

I printed right after I got the printer. I did not do a nozzle check or print head clean at all as I did not know I had to do that. The printer is running on OEM inks. For the first 2 days I was able to print then one ink ran out so I replaced the ink cart. I have replaced 4 inks carts so far and now I'm just realizing that everytime I replaced a cart I got the B200 error.

Today I got it to work again and so I was able to do a nozzle check. I also did a head clean 3 times but the print outs look exactly the same. I also noticed black powdery pieces of ink on the paper after the nozzle check. I am now soaking the head again and hopefully miracle will happen.

I am attaching the print out the seller did before I bought the printer.

 

[The Hat]

I am attaching the print out the seller did before I bought the printer.

Wow that printout is perfect, and I bet that’s why you bought the printer..

Just a taught, you would want to shake the carts before installing them and start with a nozzle check each time before you commence any printing, it’s the belt and braces approach to maintaining the print head in good condition.. And it costs nothing..

I am now soaking the head again and hopefully miracle will happen.

P.S. you can also run these carts to empty before replacing, but put the orange clip on them afterwards.. I’ll keep my fingers crossed..

 

[JessBen]

I don't quite understand, the nozzle check shows a lot of lines now but the prints I made are all perfect. I'm attaching an A4 one I printed of my niece.

 

[Artur5]

Printing photos in high quality mode, the printer makes several passes for each row and so a few missing nozzles are disguised by the working nozzles ejecting droplets on the same spot.
Now if the amount of non-firing nozzles were a high percentage of the total you'd see noticeable banding at a glance.
That said, looking at the stripes of grey and blacks in your nozzle check, it's obvious that the missing nozzles are at least 20-25%. In this condition, even using high quality mode, I'd expect to notice some banding.
Although the size of the image you posted isn't big enough to assess it carefully, I seem to detect horizontal banding on the black/dark grey parts of the image. Maybe I'm wrong, my eyesight isn't that good anymore. If you look directly at the print with a loupe you could see it better.

 

[The Hat]

The nozzle check showed very small inconsistency in some of the colour block and that is not good and they need to be watched, because if they get worse then your prints will be hugely affected to a point that your print head will become useless..

But continuing to print can also help clear up these issues, so there is no easy answer to your question, but if your happy with the quality of your output then that’s all that matters, just print nozzle checks regularly..