My Canon Pixma MX700 printer died the other day as it was printing. It just went completely dead, as if the power cord was unplugged. I tried a few things and I did in fact manage to bring it to life, but only for a couple of days. Then, it died for good.

Here is what happened.

First, I tried a different power outlet. That was not it. Then, I checked the power cord. No problem there. Then, I took out the power supply box and disconnected it from the printer, then I reconnected it and put it back in. No improvement. Then I opened up the power supply box and examined the circuit board in it.

I am not terribly familiar with hardware, so I could not tell if the smell was of burned electronic components or if it was just the regular smell of electronics that have been sitting inside a closed box for a few years. Nothing looked burned though, and all the electrolytic capacitors seemed intact. I located 3 fuses on the board, and I checked each one of them for continuity. They were all fine.

So, I decided to give up, and I started putting things back together. I placed the circuit board back in the power supply box, I closed the box, and then for some reason I did something backwards: first I connected the power chord to the power supply box, and then I connected the power supply box to the printer. As I was attaching the connector, I noticed that one of the pins was momentarily making a little spark. And then lo and behold, the printer came back to life! The printer had fixed itself!

And that, ladies and gentlemen, is why I hate hardware.

UPDATE 2012/07/13: nope, the resurrection was only temporary. The printer is dead. Dead as a doornail. And that, ladies and gentlemen, is why I hate hardware even more.

Old comments

• Greg Jenkins 2014-01-23 18:31:28 UTC

  False alarm. Now it’s displaying this alert; “UO52 The type of print head is incorrect. Please install the correct print head.” It’s print head is the only one it has ever had on it. Grrr Cullman Alabama

• Anonymous 2013-03-19 12:56:38 UTC

  Thank you, Michael! MX700 has been a steady workhorse of a printer until it was completely dead this morning. Unplugged & left off for over 5 mins; replugged to printer & outlet. Poof! It worked. Saved me $ $ $ & lots of frustration. Thank you for using your misfortune to help the rest of us!!

• michael.gr 2014-02-14 09:49:54 UTC

  LOL, Mark! C-:=

  • Don 2014-03-16 17:26:54 UTC

    I also have the problem of the printer dying. so I tried your cure and I did get the power light back on. but nothing is working and now I can’t turn the power off. The light stays on but nothing is working. So I turned it off to write this and I will check later. I hope it will start up, I bought a Epson 2540 and it works ok but is very noisy.

• Anonymous 2013-11-02 23:22:44 UTC

  ^ Thank you for the reply, I actually hooked up the power supply with the power cable to the outlet, and got +, and - 7.5 V on the middle and 2 leads, so looks like that unit was working just fine. I spent the entire day today dissembling the printer down to its electronic components. Checked all connections, and tested the wiring….all looks good..but the printer just doe snot turn on at all. One thing though the middle choker emitted a reasonable loud buzzing noise. Then again they look to be low quality chokers…which tend to do so (know it form graphic card’s experience)…..Frankly I am about to give up….2.5 days sitting on this…and nothing…not even a clue whats wrong…. I guess I can blame the solar flares ….which actually happened the same day the printer went down…and the day I tried to send a fax…it was turned on, i left the room and it was dead when I got back…..or it was just some darn power spike, since the printer is the only equipment that I never secured with a power strip. with a voltage regulator :(

• Greg Jenkins 2014-01-22 23:36:31 UTC

  Wow. I was skeptical because my problems seem to never just fix themselves. But I took your advice, left the printer unplugged from the wall outlet while I ran errands and whenever I plugged it back in, it went right to work. Many thanks to all of you for sharing.
  Cullman Alabama

• Anonymous 2013-08-30 23:18:56 UTC

  Thank You!!

  My MX700 died right before one of my grad school classes and I needed to print papers.

  Just popped out the power box and re-attacked the corner and it booted up fine. Thanks, I couldn’t afford to buy a new printer on my college student budget.

• Anonymous 2013-11-13 01:37:59 UTC

  New Power Supply didn’t fix problem Have power supply for sale print on way to dump

• Anonymous 2013-04-11 05:39:09 UTC

  This approach just worked for me on a PIXMA MX882. We too had had a power interruption, and the printer was totally dead after it. I tried unplugging and replugging without any improvement. Then I found this blog, took the power cord out of the plug and out of the printer, put it back into the plug and then back into the printer, and wala! (April, 2013)

• Unspecified 2015-07-29 03:48:40 UTC

  I definitely tried the reverse plug in trick and it did nothing…I guess i’m the 1 out of 10 that doesn’t work. smh

• Mark 2014-02-14 08:19:34 UTC

  well that was an hour of my life I’m never getting back …my MP610 died mid print, I removed the power supply, cursed at the tabs that are damn near impossible to press at the magic angle in order to remove the PSU cover (the trick is to angle the screwdriver down into the box not straight into the hole …it’s a clip that needs to be pressed in to release the tab that’s locked into it….and make sure you curse a lot…that seems to help too) …but I digress…I bridged red and yellow and presto 24v and 32v so I guess the PSU is ok …but the printer is still as dead as my faith in Canon. And that, ladies and gentlemen, is why I hate hardware. (I’m also not too fond of the evil masterminds that came up with that clip on lid thingy …those guys are just a Siamese cat and a monocle away from being super villains)

• Anonymous 2013-12-27 13:19:33 UTC

  My MX700 has “died” on me twice due to blips in house power due to outages in area. I have found that just unplugging the printer from the wall and leaving it unplugged for 5-10 minutes “resets” the printer somehow. It powers right back up. If I unplug it and plug it right back in, it remains “dead”. Needs several minutes unplugged.

• michael.gr 2013-06-03 22:47:10 UTC

  Thanks for the comment, Mike. I have heard that the cost of a new power supply for this printer is quite close to the price of the printer itself, but I hope that you prove me wrong. If possible, please post a comment with your findings, along with your country of origin. Cheers!

  • Verlyn 2013-06-21 00:20:57 UTC

    I called Canon support. They are shipping a new AC Adapter to me in North Carolina for $35. I was unable to find any other source on the web. (I think the part number is K30290.) I hope this fixes my dead MX700.

  • Anonymous 2014-03-16 14:38:45 UTC

    I have ALL power it will copy from above but it will NOT print anything from monitor onto printer I bought new ink unplugged downloaded and more still no printing paper just slide right out if I demanded nothing with a blank sheet????

• Anonymous 2014-07-31 16:47:57 UTC

  MX700….just died. Printed something perfectly, and died. It’s been unplugged for….days. Replugged it in…..nothing. Nothing.

• Anonymous 2013-04-11 05:36:45 UTC

  This approach just worked for me on a PIXMA MX882. We too had had a power interruption, and the printer was totally dead after it. I tried unplugging and replugging without any improvement. Then I found this blog, took the power cord our of the plug and out of the printer, put it back into the plug and then back into the printer, and wala! (April, 2013)

• ProvaPersonaleProva 2015-07-30 17:21:46 UTC

  I wanted to tell you that the problem of the MX700 are two chips uquali marked SN0507087 which contains 4 motor drivers and 2 dc-dc converter having them mounted without heat sink leads them to burn even considering how the printer gets old engines make more effort to turn and require more current. riquarda as the spark that you said and ’normal because there was still tension in the power supply capacitors, and as you may have noticed the power supply produces a two voltages 24v and the other a bit’ more low,

  • michael.gr 2015-07-31 06:19:26 UTC

    Thanks for the insight, Sergio.

    If that is true, then I think that this is a product with a defective design, which Canon should have recalled and fixed free of charge for everyone.

• S/V Waypoint 2014-01-15 19:41:11 UTC

  Add one more!

  Thanks

• Unspecified 2013-10-13 04:54:15 UTC

  Hey, this fix worked for me. Printer was dead as a doornail. I disconnected the power cord, removed the power supply and disconnected it from the printer. Then I reconnected the power cord, reconnected the power supply to the printer, it powered up, and I replaced it in the printer. When I placed paper in it, the darn thing printed a document that I sent to it days ago. Go figure!

• Anonymous 2015-03-28 17:30:09 UTC

  Thanks Michael for the post. It didn’t work for me, but I did get to earn some brownie points with the missus for my diligence:)

• Unspecified 2013-06-03 18:47:12 UTC

  I just had a quick power outage and besides the clocks all being reset the only other victim was the printer. I found this site and followed the instruction and sure enough it worked. Dont know for how long however knowing that it is only a power supply problem means that I can just google for another power supply for a whole lot less that buying a new printer….I hope!

• michael.gr 2014-01-23 21:56:50 UTC

  Weird.

• Anonymous 2013-11-02 04:32:38 UTC

  How did you open up the power adapter case Sir? I am having a hard time opening it.

• Doug 2014-06-10 19:26:59 UTC

  WOW. As with many others, I found this thread on Google because I had the same thing…unplugged from the printer, plugged immediately back in and nothing. Checked voltage at the printer plug, and had 119v. I waited 5 minutes after reading the tips here, plugged it back in, and voila! Hope it stays that way - it’s been a great MFP.

• Anonymous 2014-01-08 21:05:07 UTC

  Wow. I can’t believe that worked. I purposely plugged the connector in a couple times until I saw the spark. Then it worked.

• Emilia 2012-08-12 17:09:30 UTC

  August 12, 2012. I can’t believe this!!!! Had the excact same problem today. Tried all the usual stuff, dead.. . and then I decided to Google it and found your posts. Did the same thing and it worked…. totally cool and you saved me $ $ $ $! Hope it stays! Thanks again!!

• michael.gr 2013-10-13 09:45:38 UTC

  I am so happy that this post is helping some people! Isn’t the internet awesome? C-:=

• Unspecified 2013-10-13 04:53:39 UTC

  Found this post. Did the same thing. Pulled out the PS, disconnected it, reconnected it, put it back in and it powered up just like new. Thanks!!!!

• Anonymous 2013-11-05 02:34:33 UTC

  ^ Thanks for an update, curious how that will go. Odd though you had 6.3V….looks like we might have different issues…

• Bokonon 2015-09-07 22:44:06 UTC

  Last week my MX700 went dead after years of stable use. I popped out the PSU… and then remembered I’d done this about 3 yrs ago. (The PSU case looked like rats had gone at the edges). This time, PSU still appears OK (R-Y bridge -> 24/32V)… but repeating trick now just leaves power LED on immediately at AC connect, all else dark. Ugh; I guess one resurrection is all it gets!

  • michael.gr 2015-09-07 23:09:05 UTC

    Thanks for the update, Bokonon!

• Anonymous 2014-01-12 18:04:21 UTC

  Worked for me, too!! Thanks so much, Michael, you’re great. (Heike from Germany)

• michael.gr 2012-12-07 15:57:59 UTC

  Thanks for the comment, Chris. Actually, thank you all for your comments. Well, if this article proves to be of any help to anyone, I am glad, despite the fact that it won’t raise my MX700 back from the dead. C-:=

• Anonymous 2013-05-18 01:59:18 UTC

  I don’t want to be the know-it-all here, but when this happens, just unplug the power chord from the outlet and let the capacitors in the printer discharge all their power. 5-10 minutes should do it. Then plug back in. Works for me.

  • Unspecified 2015-12-05 14:26:38 UTC

    Thank you! so far this has helped!

  • Anonymous 2013-07-18 15:05:29 UTC

    My MX700 happened to have the same problem 2 days ago. I tried as you suggested : unplugged from the wall for an hour, plugged it back in with no luck. Can’t wait to get back home to try removing the PS in hopes that it will resurrect. - Ray

  • michael.gr 2013-07-18 19:26:01 UTC

    Good luck, Ray!

• Patrick 2013-02-12 00:19:46 UTC

  Many thanks. Just tried these steps on my own MX700, and it worked! (for now)

• michael.gr 2013-07-07 08:01:22 UTC

  Note: the fuses that I am talking about in the article are soldered on the board, they are not the good old kind of fuses that you can snap out and replace. So if you are hoping to open the case to replace the fuses, be prepared for a lot of hassle.

  • Gary 2013-07-07 10:43:46 UTC

    Hi Michael Thank you for the information. I will check with Canon on the cost of a replacement power box and start pricing out a new unit. Too bad…really liked this one and only had it for 3-4 years. Expected it to last longer given limited use.

    Regards

    Gary

• Anonymous 2012-12-07 02:00:04 UTC

  Michael:

  Don’t know if you get any satisfaction reading all these success stories based on your temporary success, but sure enough the magic continues…

  My MX-700 (which is the best multifunction device I’ve ever had) looked to be DOA after a recent power loss and recovery surge. Wasn’t the plug, wasn’t the breaker, wasn’t the outlet. Removed the power supply, disconnected it from the unit (didn’t get it open because I didn’t know which way to pry the tabs to pop the lid), then reinstalled…. Magic! It came back to life. Hope all this good karma gets you a bullet-proof replacement device. Thanks for the post. -Chris

• Anonymous 2012-07-19 01:32:26 UTC

  I found your post because I just had the exact same thing happen. Our power has been flickering a lot lately. My husband was trying to get the power supply cover off when I read him your post, so he plugged it back in (power supply first, wall second) and it worked. I hope ours doesn’t die again in a few days!

• michael.gr 2013-11-02 10:34:14 UTC

  Oh, it was very difficult. I do not think it was made to ever be opened. I had to pry it open with a screw driver by sticking the screw driver into it at many points along the seam of the case and twisting the screw driver to force the case to open. As a result, the case sustained visible damage. My suggestion: do not open it, there is nothing in there to fix anyway.

• Unspecified 2015-07-29 03:47:11 UTC

  I definitely tried the reverse plug in trick and it did nothing…I guess i’m the 1 out of 10 that doesn’t work. smh

• Anonymous 2013-08-06 05:11:17 UTC

  My MX700 also dropped dead today. The unplug-plug trick did not work for me. I investigated further and concluded that the power supply (K30290) was still ok. red-black: 24V, 7.5V in standby blue-black: 32V, 10V in standby (Connect red and yellow to get the unit out of standby.)

  -Stefan

  • Anonymous 2013-12-22 01:47:12 UTC

    The latter, bridged. Somewhere out there on the internet I found a hint that this power supply goes into a standby mode with 1/3 the voltage. I was wondering if this is true and how to activate the normal operation mode. The printer was dead, so I experimented - and voila - connecting the yellow wire to the red powered up both 24 and 32V supplies…

  • Anonymous 2014-03-06 21:58:49 UTC

    Another good thing is to measure both outputs with an oscilloscope. My printer’s PSU seems to work great. Now hoping that is a fault of the power on/off switch, or worse, the logic board itself. Also, check this: “http://elektrotanya.com/canon_pixma_mp610.pdf/download.html”

  • Anonymous 2013-11-14 17:59:30 UTC

    Hi Stefan, did you connect red and yellow wires, or the wires were plugged into the power supply, but just bridged (like some people bridge PC power supplies to use the power supplies with out a plugged in motherboard? Thank you.

  • michael.gr 2014-10-23 19:24:21 UTC

    Pam, I do not know why you want to go deeper than just pulling out the power supply, but if the problem is further inside the printer, then yes, it would require unscrewing the printer box. But I think only an authorized Canon Service Center would be able to do anything about it.

  • eljay 2013-12-26 19:24:48 UTC

    could you explain that in more detail for those of us who are learning? i’m not sure what you mean by bridge and i want to try everything - don’t have the $ to get a new printer.

  • Anonymous 2014-10-23 17:25:15 UTC

    Stephan or Michael, sharing your grief… had massive noreaster last night and power surge. Printer died. Tried all Michael’s suggestions… to no success. How do I access the red/yellow wires aside from just pulling out power supply? Do I need to take printer apart and access circuit board?
    thx -Pam

• Anonymous 2013-11-06 22:44:41 UTC

  ^ just to get this right….so the middle and 2 side mid pins should read 24V? is that right? in that case i guess the power supply is the issue, could someone please confirm the power output that should be coming gout of those pins please (of a fully working model)? Thank you.

• Pegeen Lanahan 2015-03-10 00:23:59 UTC

  Worked like a charm. You’re a genius, Michael Gr, even though you’re a hardware hater ;-)

  • Anonymous 2015-05-30 21:43:52 UTC

    LOL! Great quote - though perhaps these days the real world changes so fast that software can’t keep up? Our multifunction Pixma MG5350 died instantly half-way through a page, as most all above, a few months ago. This is the first useful page I’ve found on the web for it! It’s a bit worrying that the solution is ritual rather than engineering (discuss sometime…) The ritual produced signs of life for a second or so. Eventually it switched on long enought to perform its start-up ink-tank-flushing ritual; but did not complete - came up with (red border, yellow lightning flash lit) " U052 The type of print head is incorrect. Install the correct print head." This rings a faint bell, haven’t remembered where it was… Meanwhile had a look at the print assembly and saw aok except the Magenta cartridge was flashing slowly. Tried a new one, but still stuck at U052 until inspiration comes…. [Our previous m/f Canon Pixma - after warranty expiry - developed the habit of shutting down randomly – wiggling the mains input lead produced sparking noises from the psu ! So I think we’re reluctntly abandoning Canon, brilliant though their devices are when in working order. For now, have just got an EPSON XP-720 - a bit weird, but it does the basics we need (including printing labels on CDs). Obv would be nice if the Canon can be resurrected without huge expenditure, as a standby at least…]
    Thanks for taking the trouble to blog all this! Theo B

  • michael.gr 2015-03-10 07:43:59 UTC

    I am glad it worked! I am a hardware hater probably because I am a software engineer by profession. Just yesterday I posted this status on facebook: A wise person once said, “Hardware eventually fails. Software eventually works.” (tweet by some “Mitch Kapor”)

  • Anonymous 2015-05-30 22:36:33 UTC

    O Woe - 90 pages of tirades from users on the US Canon user site, thread topic: “Call to Arms for the dreaded U052 Wrong Printhead Error " Looks like this is the end of line for me… Good luck to you all - Theo B

• ellenhof 2015-09-08 18:46:27 UTC

  Amazing and simple! Thank you! We had a power surge from a lightening strike and I was sure I would have to replace the printer. But unplugging waiting then plugging it back in worked!

• Anonymous 2017-05-01 03:30:54 UTC

  i have a cannon 5220 no power took out psu check voltage tried all threads found but still not working need help

• DM in AZ 2014-08-03 02:58:09 UTC

  Looking at a friends cannon pixma iP3500 - similar problem = died, no pwr up. the connector to the k30290 ‘ac adapter’ inside the printer (Very short, couple turns through a ferrite donut) has all red wires.
  I haven’t tried too hard on the clips (did get their special screw out). Considering trying pwr up outside of printer & see what I get- would guess black on outside of 5 in a row pins & yellow in center? Nope - referencing the pin nearest the end of the box (furthest from ac in end) I get readings of (ref), 0, 7.9, 0, 9.8 = sounds like ‘standby’ ? I hesitate to do pin to pin jumping with pwr on… has been unplugged for probably ah hour min since tried in printer earlier. I replaced original nasty screw with similar phillips ;-)

• Anonymous 2013-04-05 05:19:33 UTC

  OMG- the freaking thing JUST as described happened to us- so we unplugged the PS and plugged it back in- and it fired up. Up until then it had been a workhorse and stopped dead right in the middle of printing- no warning either! So we’re fingers crossed- hoping we can print out out taxes and a few scholarship applications before it dies again!

• Anonymous 2013-11-11 01:47:55 UTC

  …anyone?

• michael.gr 2013-07-07 07:59:42 UTC

  Hello, Gary! Yes, unfortunately the power supply case has a cover which snaps in with plastic hooks, and it gave me the impression that it was built to never be opened once closed. The only advice I can give you is to try to pry it open with a flat head screwdriver just a little bit at a time from every side possible. I was able to open it without destroying it, but I certainly left marks on it.

  Then again, if you can get a replacement for $35 as Verlyn above did, then it is probably not worth the trouble.

  That is, of course, if the power supply is your problem.

  • Anonymous 2014-11-28 22:08:11 UTC

    Tried unplugging and plugging the connector, then plugging the power cord back in with no luck. Had I tried the sequence that you had described in the order you mentioned, it may have worked. While attempting to pry open the designed-not-to-be-opened power supply box, I found when I finally got it open that I had broken one of the printed circuit lans, beyond solderable repair. Sadly, off to the recycler.

• Gary 2013-07-07 00:15:44 UTC

  Hi Mike

  My MX700 just did the same thing- stopped dead in the middle of a print. I tried unplugging and re-plugging- did not work. Then tried removing the power unit and unplugging the connector- re-connected and re-plugged…still no joy. How did you get the power supply unit open to check the fuses? That is what I would like to do next. Can anyone on this thread advise how to get this open (without totally destroying it!)

  Regards

  Gary

  • Anonymous 2013-12-01 07:29:00 UTC

    remove securing screw (special type) and use a small screwdriver to unclip the tags 3/4 in all and the circuit board pops out.

  • YelloDevil 2015-08-09 22:58:04 UTC

    The 1150 doesn’t seem to have a screw on the power board cover, so I just broke that bitch. That’s how I roll.

• Anonymous 2013-11-04 12:06:14 UTC

  Thursday Oct 31st Same problem whilst scanning printer died. unplugged and remove power supply refitted power supply finished scanning. Friday no response from printer. removed power supply and tested voltage 32 volts Ok 24 volts about 6.3v in both states. contacted Canon Australia gave me email address sales @partsovernight.com.au and ordered new power supply $60. Now to wait about 5 days for replacement will publish results later.

• Anonymous 2014-08-28 13:59:17 UTC

  My Canon MX300 printer won’t turn on but was giving out a small popping sound after pressing the on/off button. This blog post as well as comments above gave me ideas to try fix it! It’s now fixed! Attempt 1. : Turn power off at wall after printer stopped working, unplug power cord from AC adapter, disconnect AC adapter from wires connecting printer, replug power cord, turn power on at wall, reconnect printer wires to AC adapter (creating sparks). Nothing (except small popping sound). Attempt 2: Tried disconnecting and reconnecting printer wires a few more times to adapter creating (more sparks). Nothing. Attempt 3: Unplugged power cord and waited for a day to turn back on. Nothing. Just when I was about to give up, thought I’d try one more thing. Attempt 4: Performed actions in “Attempt 1” again, after no response I tried disconnecting and connecting the power cable from the printer (while power is still on) quickly in succession. After 3 or 4 times of pulling out and pushing cord in, suddenly printer resurrected from the dead!!! Success!! Thank you so much everyone. :D

• Anonymous 2014-05-28 01:04:39 UTC

  Thanks for posting this , as it worked for me also. Just did an internet search for the Ac adaptor and part number to see what the price was and clicked on this thread, thanks again.

• ProvaPersonaleProva 2015-07-30 17:20:52 UTC

  Volevo segnalarvi che il problema della MX700 sono due chip uquali marcati SN0507087 che contengono 4 motor driver e 2 dc-dc converter il fatto di averli montati senza dissipatore di calore li porta a bruciarli anche considerando che come la stampante invecchia i motori fanno piu fatica a girare e richiedono piu corrente . per quanto riquarda la scintilla che dicevi e’ normale perche c’era ancora tensione nei condensatori dell’alimentatore e come avrai notato l’alimentatore produce due tensioni una di 24v e l’altra un po’ piu bassa,

• Anonymous 2013-11-02 03:05:07 UTC

  Just did as others said, disconnected the power supply and put it back and it is working again…we’ll see for how long.

• Anonymous 2015-01-12 02:43:43 UTC

  Yet another success! My MX700 powered off and wouldn’t power on. I found this post, tried it, and it worked! Surprising. And I’m a hardware guy. I’d like to see the schematics. I get frustrated with software. Especially Windows. You saved a lot of people some hassle and expense. Thank you, Michael. Jeff

• Anonymous 2014-06-25 18:18:47 UTC

  +1

  • Anonymous 2014-06-27 13:21:25 UTC

    I have Canon MX700 and I had a power outage around 5 days ago. the power light keeps flashing on and off on the on/off button, but won’t boot up. How does one just pop out a power box as one person on here stated?

• benarkwiz 2016-06-05 19:20:10 UTC

  worked for me