Canon Error Code 5200: Meaning, Causes & Fix
Print head temperature rise error — Canon's service-manual name for 5200. The print head has overheated; Canon's consumer guidance ties the code to low remaining ink or a defective cartridge, and on G-series/MAXIFY models to ink not reaching the head.
Support code 5200 is the PIXMA print head's thermal protection trip, and Canon documents it at two depths that agree with each other. In Canon's service literature its name is literal: 'Print head temperature rise error [5200]'. The MP800 manual explains the behaviour behind the name — the head's temperature is monitored while printing, and if the temperature does not fall, error 5200 is displayed; it clears automatically once the temperature falls. An inkjet print head heats its nozzles thousands of times per second to fire droplets, and the ink flowing through it is also its coolant, which is why Canon's consumer guidance for 5200 keeps returning to ink supply. Canon USA's MX372 article gives the consumer causes plainly: the remaining ink level is low, or the ink cartridge is defective — replace the cartridge, turn the printer off and back on, and if the code persists the printer needs service. On the G-series MegaTank and MAXIFY models, where the head is fed from refillable tanks through tubes, Canon's 5200 articles add the platform's own version of the same story: turn the printer off, unplug it, wait about ten minutes for the head to cool, plug back in, check the ink levels in the tanks, and if the code returns, run the 'Replace Ink in Print Head' ink-flush procedure that pushes ink through the head — a head starved of ink by air in its lines overheats exactly like a head printing on an empty cartridge. Read together, Canon's two depths describe one mechanism: a head that is firing without enough ink flowing through it gets hot, the printer stops to protect it, and the fix is always to restore ink flow and let the head cool — never to keep printing through the warning.
What causes the 5200 code on a Canon printer?
Low remaining ink
Canon's MX372 article names this first: the remaining ink level is low. Ink is the print head's coolant as well as its output — every firing heats a nozzle, and ink drawn through the head carries heat away. A cartridge or tank running near empty starves that cooling flow while the head keeps firing at full rate, so head temperature climbs until the protection threshold trips 5200. This is why 5200 so often arrives near the end of a cartridge's life, or at the end of a long print run on a cartridge that was already low, and why Canon's documented first move is to check the level and replace the cartridge rather than to open the machine.
A defective ink cartridge
Canon's MX372 wording again: the ink cartridge may be defective. A cartridge whose ink flow is blocked or intermittent — a failed outlet, a clogged internal path, a cartridge the printer accepts but that cannot deliver ink at printing rate — starves the head in the same way an empty cartridge does, even with ink visibly inside. The head fires, receives too little ink, and overheats. Canon's article makes replacement with a correct cartridge the documented test: if a known-good Canon cartridge restores printing after a cool-down, the old cartridge was the fault; if 5200 returns immediately on the new cartridge, the fault has moved downstream to the head itself.
Ink starvation in a G-series / MAXIFY tube-fed head
On MegaTank and MAXIFY models the head is fed through tubes from the tanks, and air in those lines — after a tank ran dry, after transport, after a head replacement — leaves the head firing on air pockets instead of ink. Canon's G-series 5200 procedure is built for exactly this: power off and unplug, wait roughly ten minutes, check the tank levels, and run the printer's 'Replace Ink in Print Head' function (the ink flush) to push ink through the head and purge the air. The code, the wait and the flush are Canon's published sequence for these models, and skipping the flush is why 5200 comes straight back on this platform.
Sustained heavy printing without a cool-down
The MP800 manual's description is a temperature story: the error displays when the print head temperature does not fall, and clears automatically when it does. Long, dense print runs — full-page photos, heavy coverage documents, back-to-back jobs — hold the head near its thermal limit, and a head already marginal on ink flow crosses it. This cause explains the 5200 that appears mid-run on a big job and is gone after the printer sits: nothing has failed yet, but the pattern is the head telling you its cooling margin is thin, and Canon's guidance (check ink, let it cool, service if it persists) still applies in that order.
A failing print head
The end of Canon's documented road for 5200: the MX372 article closes with service, and the G-series articles close with print head replacement then service. A head whose heater elements or temperature sensing are degrading can over-report heat, or genuinely overheat at normal ink flow, and no cartridge change cures it. The signature is timing — a 5200 that arrives within the first page or two on a fresh, genuine cartridge, or immediately at power-on after a full cool-down, is not an ink-supply story any more. On models with a user-replaceable head, Canon's procedure replaces the head; on sealed models it is a service-centre part.
Checks to run before you replace anything
- Write down the platform before anything else: cartridge model (MX/TR class) or tube-fed G-series/MAXIFY. Canon's 5200 procedure differs between them, and following the wrong one wastes the cool-down.
- Check the remaining ink first, as Canon orders it: cartridge levels on the status monitor for cartridge models; the tank windows/level display on G-series and MAXIFY. A low or empty supply is Canon's first named cause.
- Power the printer off and unplug it, and give the head its cool-down — Canon's G-series articles specify waiting about ten minutes before plugging back in. Do not keep firing test pages at a hot head.
- On cartridge models, remove and inspect the cartridge the code followed: is it the correct cartridge for the model, is it near empty, is there any sign of leakage or damage? Canon's MX372 test is a replacement cartridge, not a cleaned one.
- On G-series/MAXIFY models, look at the ink lines as far as your model's manual allows: air gaps in the tubes feeding the head are the visible form of the starvation Canon's ink flush exists to cure.
- After the cool-down, restart and run one nozzle check pattern only. Note exactly when 5200 returns: mid-page after several pages (thermal/ink-flow pattern) versus instantly on the first firing (head failure pattern). That timing is the evidence the next step is chosen by.
- Check for the family's neighbours: a 5200 that arrives together with low-ink warnings (1686/1688 family) confirms the ink story; a 5200 alone on full tanks points away from supply and toward the head.
How to fix canon error code 5200?
- Replace a low or defective cartridge with the correct Canon cartridge for the model (Canon's documented MX372 fix), after the cool-down, and restart the printer.
- On G-series/MAXIFY models, refill any low tank to its line with the correct Canon ink, then run the 'Replace Ink in Print Head' ink-flush procedure from the printer's maintenance menu, following Canon's article for your model.
- Restart the printer (off, unplug, wait, replug, on) once the ink supply is corrected — Canon's consumer sequence is supply first, power cycle second, never the reverse alone.
- Print a nozzle check pattern to prove ink is reaching every nozzle; a pattern with missing bands means the starvation is not yet cured — repeat the ink flush on G-series models, or try a second known-good cartridge on cartridge models.
- If 5200 returns immediately at power-on or on the first page with a proven ink supply, stop: on user-replaceable-head models, replace the print head with the correct Canon head per the manual; on other models this is the service centre's part.
- If the code persists after a new cartridge (and, where applicable, a new head), Canon's articles end at the same place: the printer requires service. Quote the code, the model, and when in a print run it trips.
The part that usually fails: The ink cartridge first — and the print head if the code survives it
Canon's articles structure the parts story in that order deliberately. The MX372 procedure replaces the cartridge, not the head, and only routes to service when a correct cartridge changes nothing. On G-series models the equivalent consumable step is ink in the tanks plus the ink flush; the print head (a user-replaceable part on most MegaTank models, replaced as the left/color and right/black pair) is the second part, and Canon's 1472/5200-era G articles treat head replacement as the step before service. Fit only the head specified for your exact model — G-series heads are position-specific and model-specific.
Canon error 5200 reset
There is no reset button or published reset sequence for 5200, and Canon's documentation explains why: the code is a temperature report, and the MP800 manual states it clears automatically when the print head temperature falls. The documented recovery is the cool-down itself — power off, unplugged, about ten minutes on Canon's G-series guidance — followed by correcting the ink supply that let the head overheat. A 5200 cleared by waiting alone, without the ink check, will be back on the next long job; the reset is the repair (ink restored, head cooled), not a code to dismiss.
Canon documents one general power reset for its printers, in the form given in Canon USA's B203 article and repeated across its support-code procedures: turn the printer off, unplug the power cord, wait at least two minutes, plug the cord back in, and turn the printer on. The LED-display manuals give the same motion in shorter form for undocumented errors (turn off, unplug, plug back in, turn on; if the error remains, contact the service centre). This reset clears transient internal states only — Canon's guidance is explicit for code families like B200-B207 that a code which reappears after the reset has given its verdict (there, likely print head hardware failure and service). Two standing cautions attach to the unplug step on Canon machines: on fax models (the MX line), unplugging deletes faxes stored in the printer's memory, so retrieve them first; and for imageRUNNER copiers, user power cycling is not an error clear at all — iR errors are cleared in service mode (COPIER > FUNCTION > CLEAR > ERR) by a technician after the fault is repaired, and repeated clearing of protection codes like E001 without repair defeats a safety function.
Why does the 5200 code keep coming back?
5200 comes back when the head's cooling margin is consumed again: a replacement cartridge that is itself low-flow or non-genuine, a G-series machine whose tanks were refilled but whose lines still hold air because the ink flush was skipped, or a workload of continuous full-coverage printing that holds a marginal head at its limit. The pattern to take seriously is shortening intervals — a head that first tripped after fifty pages, then twenty, then two, is a head in decline, and the returns stop being an ink story. Refilling tanks without ever running Canon's ink flush is the other classic loop on the MegaTank platform: supply restored at the tank, starvation unchanged at the head.
How to stop 5200 coming back
- Low remaining ink: Canon's MX372 article names this first: the remaining ink level is low. Ink is the print head's coolant as well as its output — every firing heats a nozzle, and ink drawn through the head carries heat away. A cartridge or tank running near empty starves that cooling flow while the head keeps firing at full rate, so head temperature climbs until the protection threshold trips 5200. This is why 5200 so often arrives near the end of a cartridge's life, or at the end of a long print run on a cartridge that was already low, and why Canon's documented first move is to check the level and replace the cartridge rather than to open the machine.
- A defective ink cartridge: Canon's MX372 wording again: the ink cartridge may be defective. A cartridge whose ink flow is blocked or intermittent — a failed outlet, a clogged internal path, a cartridge the printer accepts but that cannot deliver ink at printing rate — starves the head in the same way an empty cartridge does, even with ink visibly inside. The head fires, receives too little ink, and overheats. Canon's article makes replacement with a correct cartridge the documented test: if a known-good Canon cartridge restores printing after a cool-down, the old cartridge was the fault; if 5200 returns immediately on the new cartridge, the fault has moved downstream to the head itself.
- Ink starvation in a G-series / MAXIFY tube-fed head: On MegaTank and MAXIFY models the head is fed through tubes from the tanks, and air in those lines — after a tank ran dry, after transport, after a head replacement — leaves the head firing on air pockets instead of ink. Canon's G-series 5200 procedure is built for exactly this: power off and unplug, wait roughly ten minutes, check the tank levels, and run the printer's 'Replace Ink in Print Head' function (the ink flush) to push ink through the head and purge the air. The code, the wait and the flush are Canon's published sequence for these models, and skipping the flush is why 5200 comes straight back on this platform.
Retrieving stored fault codes on Canon printers
How a Canon code reaches you depends on the platform's display, and the display tells you which code language you are in. LCD PIXMA and MAXIFY models show the full support code (four digits, or alphanumeric like 5B00, B200, C000) on the printer's screen and in the computer's status monitor, together with a plain-language message on many models. LED-display PIXMA models cannot show four characters, so they render the same faults as alternating E or P letters with digits (E, 0, 4) and flash the Alarm lamp in counted patterns — Canon's manuals publish the translation tables (support code 1688 is E16 and 16 flashes on the families that use flash counts; P02 is support code 5100). imageRUNNER copiers show E codes with a subcode (for example E805-0001) on the control panel, with full detail held in service mode and error logs; the send function on imageRUNNER and imageCLASS machines reports its own #-prefixed codes (#751, #802...) on the Status Monitor/Cancel screen's job details and printed in the Results column of the Communication Management Report. First diagnostic act on any Canon: read the code in the language the machine is speaking, then use that language's table — never another platform's.
Other Canon printer error codes
| Code | Meaning | First fix |
|---|---|---|
| 5B00 | The waste ink absorber is full. The printer's internal waste-ink counter has reached its limit and Canon stops the printer until the absorber is serviced — 5B00 (with its siblings 5B01 and 5B12-5B15) is the full state that the 1700/1701 'almost full' warnings precede. | There is no owner fix in Canon's documentation, and that is the fix section's honest headline: 5B00 is resolved by absorber service — a service centre replaces the waste ink absorber pads and resets the waste-ink counter as one job. |
| 5C02 | PIXMA support code: Canon's consumer documentation says only 'a printer error has occurred' for 5C02 — Canon publishes no more specific consumer meaning for this code | Turn the printer off, unplug the power cord, plug it back in and turn it on, exactly as Canon's manual page directs; if 5C02 is still displayed, contact the Canon service centre |
| 1000 | PIXMA support code: there is no paper in the rear tray | Load paper in the rear tray and press the Black/Color button (or OK/Resume) to continue printing |
| 1300 | PIXMA support code: paper is jammed in the paper output slot | Pull the jammed paper out slowly with both hands, check inside the machine for torn pieces, then press the resume button; if the paper tears and stays inside, Canon directs you to the service centre |
| 1401 | PIXMA support code: the print head is not installed (on FINE-cartridge models: the FINE cartridge is not installed). Canon USA's MX922 article words the 1401/1403/1405 group as the print head not being installed or possibly being damaged | Install the correct print head or FINE cartridge properly; if the code stays with a correctly installed head, Canon routes you to the service centre |
| 1403 | PIXMA support code: the FINE cartridge cannot be recognized — the appropriate FINE cartridge is not installed. Canon groups 1403 with 1401 and 1405 on MX922-class machines (print head not installed or may be damaged) | Install the appropriate FINE cartridge for the model; if a correct, known-good cartridge still gives 1403, Canon directs you to the service centre |
| 1472 | PIXMA G-series (MegaTank) support code: the print head cannot be recognized — it may not be installed properly or may not be compatible with the machine | Remove and reinstall the print heads in their correct left/right positions following Canon's procedure for your G model; if 1472 persists, replace the print head — and if it still persists, contact Canon service |
| 1660 | PIXMA support code (models with separate ink tanks): the ink tank is not installed | Install the ink tank for the colour the printer indicates, push it until it seats, and close the cover |
| 1682 | PIXMA support code (LED models show E15): the FINE cartridge cannot be recognized — Canon's manual table equates it with U150, an ink cartridge hardware error; the cartridge may be damaged | Reinstall the FINE cartridge; if 1682 returns, replace the cartridge — Canon's documented remedy for this code is replacement, not cleaning |
| 1684 | PIXMA support code (LED models show E14): the ink cartridge (ink tank) cannot be recognized | Install the appropriate ink tank for the model, seated fully; press Stop to cancel a job you do not need, per Canon's page |
| 1686 | PIXMA support code (LED models show E13): the ink may have run out — the remaining ink level cannot be correctly detected | Replace the cartridge, or hold the Stop button for at least 5 seconds to continue printing with the remaining-ink detection function disabled — Canon notes the level will then show as unknown |
| 1687 | PIXMA support code (LED models show E04): the FINE cartridge is not installed properly | Open the cover, take the FINE cartridge out and reinstall it until it locks in place, then close the cover and resume |
| 1688 | PIXMA support code (LED models show E16): the ink has run out | Replace the ink tank or cartridge and close the panel. To keep printing temporarily, hold Stop for at least 5 seconds to release the remaining-ink detection — Canon warns that printing under ink-out conditions may damage the machine and that it accepts no liability for damage caused that way |
| 1700 | PIXMA support code: the waste ink absorber is almost full (the warning stage before 5B00) | Press OK (or the Black/Color button) to continue printing for now, and arrange service — once the absorber is completely full the printer stops with 5B00 and only service or replacement resolves it |
See the full list on the Canon Printer error codes hub.
Codes 5200 gets confused with
B200 — A printer error has occurred — Canon's manuals define B200 only that far and route it directly to 'turn the printer off, unplug the power cord, then contact the service center'. Canon USA's guidance for the B200-B207 family and Canon's own support staff identify the print head hardware as the likely failure behind it. B200 is the most feared code in the PIXMA line, and the first honest thing to say about it is what Canon itself says — which is deliberately little.
6000 — Canon's service-manual name is 'Line feed error [6000]' — the paper feed mechanism has faulted. Canon's consumer articles describe the same event as a printer error usually caused by jammed paper or a foreign object stuck in the paper feed path. Support code 6000 sits at the seam between Canon's two documentation depths, and reading both is what makes it make sense.
5100 — Printer error: the print head holder (carriage) cannot move or cannot be tracked correctly. Canon's service name is 'carriage error'; its consumer procedure checks packing material, jammed paper and obstructions first, and on MX922-class machines adds cleaning the timing (encoder) strip. LED-display models show the same fault as P02. The carriage is the moving assembly that carries the print head (or FINE cartridges) back and forth across the page, and 5100 is the printer reporting that this motion has failed or can no longer be measured.
7700 — A platform-split support code. On TS-series models Canon groups 7500/7600/7700/7800 as 'an error related to the ink cartridges has occurred' (fix: replace the ink cartridges). On G-series MegaTank models the same group is 'a print head error has occurred' — the print head(s) need replacement. Canon's manual for some other models words 7700 only as 'an error requiring a repair has occurred'. 7700 is the batch's clearest lesson in why Canon codes cannot be read without the model name, because Canon itself documents two different faults under this one number.
Frequently asked questions
What does Canon error code 5200 mean?
Canon's service-manual name for it is 'Print head temperature rise error': the print head has overheated and the printer has stopped to protect it. Canon's consumer guidance (the MX372 article) gives the causes as low remaining ink or a defective ink cartridge; on G-series and MAXIFY models Canon's procedure adds ink not reaching the head through its feed lines. The MP800 manual notes the code clears automatically once the head temperature falls.
How do I fix Canon error code 5200?
In Canon's order: turn the printer off and unplug it and let the head cool (about ten minutes in Canon's G-series guidance). Check the ink — replace a low or defective cartridge with the correct Canon cartridge; on G-series/MAXIFY models refill low tanks and run the 'Replace Ink in Print Head' ink flush. Restart, print a nozzle check, and if 5200 returns immediately on a proven ink supply, the print head is the next step (user-replaceable on most MegaTank models) and service after that.
How do I reset Canon error code 5200?
There is no reset sequence — 5200 clears when the print head temperature falls, per Canon's manual, after you switch off and let it cool. The power cycle in Canon's articles is a cool-down plus a fresh start with the ink problem fixed (cartridge replaced, tanks refilled, ink flush run). Resetting without fixing the ink supply just books the code's return on the next job.
Can low ink really cause a 5200 overheating error?
Yes — it is Canon's own first explanation, not a forum theory. Ink flowing through the head carries heat away from the nozzles as they fire; a cartridge near empty, a defective cartridge that cannot deliver ink at full rate, or air in a MegaTank's feed lines all leave the head firing without that cooling flow, and its temperature climbs until the protection trips. That is why Canon's 5200 fix starts at the ink supply on every platform that shows the code.
My Canon G7020 (G-series) shows 5200 — is the fix different from a cartridge model?
The cause family is the same (the head is hot because ink flow is failing it) but the procedure is the G-series one in Canon's articles: power off and unplug, wait about ten minutes, check the tank levels and refill any low tank with the correct ink, then run 'Replace Ink in Print Head' from the maintenance menu to push ink through the head and clear air from the lines. If 5200 persists after that, Canon's G-series guidance goes to print head replacement — the heads on these models are user-replaceable, colour head on the left, black head on the right.
Is 5200 the same as 5201 or 5202?
Not as separate consumer codes in Canon's documentation checked for this page: Canon documents 5200 as the print head temperature rise error, and this site gives no meanings for 5201 or 5202 because no Canon document captured defines them individually. If your printer shows one of those, treat it as the same thermal family for first response (stop, cool down, check ink) and quote the exact code to Canon support.
What is canon error code 5200?
Print head temperature rise error — Canon's service-manual name for 5200. The print head has overheated; Canon's consumer guidance ties the code to low remaining ink or a defective cartridge, and on G-series/MAXIFY models to ink not reaching the head. Support code 5200 is the PIXMA print head's thermal protection trip, and Canon documents it at two depths that agree with each other.
How to fix canon error code 5200?
Start here: Replace a low or defective cartridge with the correct Canon cartridge for the model (Canon's documented MX372 fix), after the cool-down, and restart the printer. On G-series/MAXIFY models, refill any low tank to its line with the correct Canon ink, then run the 'Replace Ink in Print Head' ink-flush procedure from the printer's maintenance menu, following Canon's article for your model.
Related guides
Facts on this page were checked against manufacturer documentation: support.usa.canon.com · support.usa.canon.com · support.usa.canon.com · support.usa.canon.com · support.usa.canon.com · support.usa.canon.com · support.usa.canon.com · support.usa.canon.com · support.usa.canon.com · support.usa.canon.com · support.usa.canon.com · support.usa.canon.com · support.usa.canon.com · support.usa.canon.com · support.usa.canon.com · support.usa.canon.com · support.usa.canon.com · ph.canon · in.canon · hk.canon · www.canon.com.au · ij.manual.canon · oip.manual.canon · oip.manual.canon