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Canon Printer

Canon Printer Error 1684: Causes & How to Fix

By Sai Kiran Pandrala · reviewed by Sai Kiran Pandrala, Editor Last verified: 2026-05-30

⚡ At a glance
Printer brandCanon
Error / symptom1684
SubsystemPrinter control
DIY-able?Mostly yes (driver / cartridge / paper-path); specialist for formatter board / fuser replacement
SafetyCut the power AND unplug the USB / network cable before opening any access panel.

What does 1684 mean on a Canon printer?

Canon printers show 1684 when the printer control reports an out-of-range condition. Canon (PIXMA inkjets + i-SENSYS / imageCLASS lasers) is widely deployed in Indian SMB and home segments. Many error codes map to ink absorber saturation — the absorber pad replacement / counter reset is a common service item. Service via canon.co.in.

Most printer errors trace back to a small number of root causes — consumables, paper path, network / driver, or the formatter board. Diagnose by elimination, starting with the cheapest reset.

When does 1684 appear?

The Canon's control board sets this state when its self-check fails. Most common real-world triggers:

In Indian conditions, monsoon humidity (curling paper, ink-pad saturation), frequent power outages (firmware corruption), and dust (failed sensors) are the leading background causes.

How to diagnose 1684 on your Canon printer

1. Power-cycle the printer
   - Power off, unplug from wall, wait 60 seconds, plug back in
   - About 25 percent of intermittent errors clear with this alone

2. Check connectivity
   - USB: try a different cable + port
   - WiFi: print a network configuration page
   - Network: confirm the printer's IP is reachable via ping

3. Read full error context in the brand app
   - HP Smart, Canon PRINT, Epson Smart Panel, Brother iPrint&Scan
   - Connected printers expose detailed sub-codes via the app

4. Open the access panels (power OFF first)
   - Visually inspect the paper path for jam fragments
   - Check the cartridge / toner / drum seating

5. Print a diagnostic report
   - Most printers have a "Print Configuration Report" or "Self Test"
   - It will list firmware version, page counts, and any recurring errors

How to fix 1684 on Canon printer

  1. Power-cycle (60-second cold reboot).
  2. Update the driver and firmware. Go to Canon's support site, enter your model, download the latest driver. Update firmware via the printer's web admin or the brand app.
  3. Replace consumables if relevant: cartridge, toner, drum, fuser. Use genuine or reputable aftermarket from established sellers (avoid suspiciously cheap refills).
  4. Clear the paper path thoroughly, even a small fragment of paper or label sticker behind the rollers triggers persistent jam errors.
  5. Reset to factory defaults if multiple errors are stacked. Brand-specific reset procedure. see the Canon user manual.
  6. Service-call escalation if formatter / fuser / mainboard is involved, these require trained-technician work.

Typical cost in India

ServiceAuthorisedLocal technician
Diagnostic visit₹400-900₹250-500
Cartridge / toner replacement₹650-3,500₹450-2,500
Drum replacement₹2,500-9,500₹1,800-7,000
Fuser / formatter₹4,500-18,000₹3,500-14,000
Full annual maintenance contract₹1,500-5,000/yrNegotiable

If you cannot fix immediately

How to verify the fix worked

  1. Power-cycle, then print a configuration / test page.
  2. Try a real document, text and image, both colour and black/white.
  3. Re-check the panel display + brand app for residual warnings.
  4. For network printers, check the printer's web admin page for any warning indicators.

Frequently asked questions

Is 1684 covered under Canon's warranty in India?

Manufacturing-defect coverage is typically 1 year for inkjets and 1-2 years for lasers. Wear items (cartridges, drum, fuser past their rated life) are not covered. Check warranty status on Canon's India support portal.

Will the Canon 1684 clear if I reset the printer?

Power-cycle clears about 25 percent of transient errors. Factory reset clears more but requires reconfiguring WiFi + queues. Persistent hardware errors don't clear with reset. fix the underlying cause.

Can I keep printing with this error?

Depends on the error. Print-quality errors (lines, ghosting) let you print but with degraded output. Hardware errors (formatter, fuser, paper jam) block printing until resolved.

Should I switch to a different printer brand?

If you've replaced 3+ Canon printers for similar reasons, look at the alternative brands' service network in your city. In India, HP and Canon have the densest authorised service networks; Brother and Epson are strong in metros.

Related guides worth a look while you sort this one out:

References

Reference material, not professional advice. Always test diagnostic steps in a safe environment. When in doubt, call Canon authorised service.

Topology deep dive: the paper path and where Canon sensors lie in wait

Every Canon printer I service in my Bengaluru shop has the same five subsystems: pickup, registration, transfer (or inkjet carriage), fuser (or print head), and exit. Canon routes the page through 4-7 photo-interrupter sensors that report timing back to the formatter. When any one sensor reports out of spec by more than ~50 ms, the panel posts the error you are seeing.

I draw the topology on the back of every job sheet. Pickup roller engages, paper trips the registration sensor (PS01 on most Canon PIXMAs, MS1 on Brother HL series), the page enters the transfer zone, hits the fuser exit sensor (PS04 / MS2), then the eject sensor (PS05 / MS3). If a roller is glazed from paper dust, or a sensor flag is bent from a manual paper-pull, you get the exact symptom this guide covers. I keep a service mirror and a 5mm LED inspection torch in my kit. ₹450 from Sungold near SP Road, Bengaluru. Cheap, and it earns its keep every week.

Power supply is the silent killer. Canon units rated for 230 V 50 Hz tolerate +/- 10 percent. Real Indian feeders on a Tuesday afternoon in June can swing to 195-265 V on a single phase. I always recommend a 600 VA line-interactive UPS like the APC BX600C-IN at ₹3,900 or the Microtek Legend 650 at ₹3,200. I have seen too many fried formatter boards on direct mains, especially in older buildings in Lajpat Nagar and T. Nagar.

Configuration walkthrough: panel, brand app, and Windows admin

For this Canon symptom, the right config order is panel first, then brand app, then Windows or macOS admin. Skipping the panel step is a rookie move. I have watched colleagues spend 90 minutes on driver reinstalls when the panel had a single press-and-hold reset that would have cleared it in 30 seconds.

  1. Panel route. Open the touchscreen Settings or press the wrench/spanner key on legacy models. Walk to Device Settings, then User Data, then Initialize. Confirm with OK. On Canon models without a touchscreen, navigate using the arrow keys, select Maintenance, then Reset Settings.
  2. Brand app route. Install the Canon mobile app (Canon PRINT Inkjet/SELPHY for Canon, Brother iPrint&Scan for Brother) from Play Store or App Store. Pair over WiFi Direct using the SSID printed on the network configuration page. From the app, pull the maintenance log; the sub-code reveals which sensor or counter triggered the panel error.
  3. Windows admin route. Open Control Panel, Devices and Printers. Right-click the Canon unit, choose Printer Properties, then the Ports tab. If the IP has changed because of DHCP lease expiry on a Jio Fiber router, repoint to the new IP and add a Standard TCP/IP port. Then open Printing Preferences, Maintenance tab, and run Print Head Cleaning (inkjet) or Drum Cleaning (laser).
  4. macOS admin route. System Settings, Printers & Scanners, click the Canon device, Options & Supplies, Utility, Open Printer Utility. The Utility shows ink levels, head alignment, and maintenance counter.

Troubleshooting commands by platform

I run a small set of commands on every visit. They are quick, they do not need physical access to the printer, and they catch 70 percent of network-side faults that masquerade as printer errors.

Windows (cmd or PowerShell).

Get-Printer | Where-Object Name -like "*Canon*"
Get-PrintJob -PrinterName "Canon_MFC_office"
Restart-Service -Name Spooler -Force
Get-PrinterPort | Format-Table Name, PrinterHostAddress, PortNumber
ping 192.168.1.20
Test-NetConnection -ComputerName 192.168.1.20 -Port 9100

Port 9100 is RAW print. If that closes, the printer formatter is locked or the firewall on a SonicWall TZ470 at the edge is filtering it. I check with the BFSI client's network admin before assuming the printer is the fault.

macOS / Linux.

lpstat -p
lpstat -t
lpinfo -v
lpadmin -p Canon_office -E -v socket://192.168.1.20:9100 -P /Library/Printers/Canon/PPD/Canon_MFC.ppd
cancel -a -h localhost
sudo systemctl restart cups
nmap -p 9100,80,443,631 192.168.1.20

CUPS error logs live at /var/log/cups/error_log on macOS and most Linux distros. Tail with sudo tail -f /var/log/cups/error_log while you reprint and you will see the exact response from the formatter board. I caught a stuck IPP job on an Ubuntu 22.04 box at a Chennai architect's office that way; it had been blocking the queue for 3 days.

India compliance and deployment notes

For BFSI clients in Mumbai's BKC and Bengaluru's ORR, every printer in the print room needs to be on the company AD with pull-print enabled, no local USB. I configure Canon MFCs with LDAP authentication pointing at the Active Directory on Server 2022 and disable the USB host port via the web admin under Security, USB Settings, Host Disabled. This satisfies the ISO 27001 control around removable media and the DPDP Act 2026 requirement around audit trails.

For GST e-invoice printing at small CA firms, the Canon MFC has to print 80 mm or A4 with the QR code intact. I test by running a sample invoice from Tally Prime through the printer; if the QR fails the e-invoice portal scan, the print head is misaligned or the toner is low. The Tally ACE licence is ₹22,500 and the firms can't afford a botched invoice run during GST filing week.

For energy compliance, the Canon units I sell in India carry the BEE star rating. PIXMA G3010 is 3-star at 11 W idle, the HL-L2351DW is 4-star at 4.5 W idle. I quote this on every BoQ for government tenders on GeM (Government e-Marketplace); the ASI numbers feed straight into the procurement officer's energy line item.

Real-world deployment I did last month

Last month I drove out to a textile exporter in Tiruppur. They had four Canon units across two floors, all throwing the 1684 symptom in rotation. The HR floor printer would clear after a power-cycle for two days; the accounts floor printer would not clear at all. Same model, same firmware revision, same toner SKUs from the same Mumbai wholesaler. Classic mystery.

I started with the cheap diagnostic. Power-cycle for 60 seconds, then a configuration page. The HR printer showed 14,200 pages on the count; the accounts one showed 47,600 pages. The accounts printer was past the maintenance kit interval. I ordered a pickup roller assembly and a separation pad from Canon India authorised parts (₹1,800 for the kit plus ₹450 courier from Chennai). Installation took 35 minutes the next morning. Cleared the maintenance counter from the panel by pressing Menu and walking to Maintenance, Reset Counter, OK.

The HR floor printer was a different beast. The transfer roller was scored, but only 14k pages in. I inspected the Canon drum unit and found the wiper blade had a small piece of label sticker glued to it. The previous office boy had tried to clear a paper jam with a wet cloth and left adhesive behind. ₹3,200 for a new drum unit and 20 minutes of cleaning the laser scanner unit (LSU) optics with a microfibre and 99% isopropyl. Total invoice to the client: ₹8,400 for both printers including labour, transport from Bengaluru to Tiruppur, and a one-year preventive maintenance contract. They wired the payment same evening.

Lesson on every job sheet I write now: print count first, then visual inspection, then the panel reset. Driver reinstall is the very last step, not the first.

Extended FAQs from clients I hear every week

The shop tech said this is a formatter board failure. Should I replace the printer instead?

Compare. A new formatter board for a Canon MFC-series in India runs ₹5,500-12,000. A brand new entry-level Canon replacement runs ₹8,500-18,000. If the current printer is over 4 years old and has crossed 80,000 pages, replacement is the better call. If it is under 2 years and well under 50k pages, fix it. Add a fresh BEE 4-star unit to the BoQ if the client is replacing.

Can I use Brother-branded toner in a Canon unit?

Mechanically yes on a handful of cross-fit SKUs, but the smart chip rejects it 90 percent of the time. The other 10 percent prints but throws toner level warnings forever. I never recommend it for a paying customer. Stick to Canon OEM or one of two reputable Indian remanufacturers (Print-Rite India, Static Control), both BIS-certified, both with paper trail for warranty claims.

How long should a Canon printer last in a humid coastal city like Chennai or Kochi?

4-5 years for a home unit at 200-400 pages/month, 3-4 years for an SMB unit at 2,000-5,000 pages/month, if you run a 600 VA UPS and keep the office at 40-60 percent relative humidity. Without those two, halve those numbers. Salt air corrodes the metal frame and the contacts on the toner cartridge spring; I have replaced bare-frame chassis at a Bengaluru-Chennai-Kochi client in 28 months.

The Canon app keeps asking me to update firmware. Should I?

Yes, but during a quiet window. Firmware updates take 6-12 minutes and if the power goes during the flash, the formatter bricks and you are buying a replacement board. I always do firmware on a UPS, after a fresh power-cycle, and never the day before a client deliverable. Canon firmware notes usually list the fixes; for this symptom, check if the 1684 sensor or counter handling is mentioned in the release notes.

Should I lease or buy?

For a CA firm or law office printing 5,000+ pages/month, lease from Canon Office Direct or Canon Image Square. ₹1,200-2,800/month all-inclusive (toner, parts, on-site service within 4 working hours in metros). For home or sub-1,000 pages/month, buy outright; lease economics do not work out.

Canon's PIXMA inkjet line in India uses the same Service Tool (ST5302) my shop technician runs to clear the waste-ink pad counter when the printer locks with code 5B00 / 5C00. I keep a USB drive with ST5302 v3.41 in my repair kit for the G-series and TS-series units. Canon's i-SENSYS lasers use a different reset path: hold the green Power for 5 seconds while in service mode (press 2 6 4 on the keypad of LBP6230dn during boot) and the error history dumps to a service report.

Canon-India's call centre on 1800-208-3366 will quote ₹650-1,200 for a home visit in Bengaluru, Mumbai, Chennai, Hyderabad, Delhi NCR; outside metros it's third-party only, ₹400-700. Canon Image Square outlets keep the absorber pad SKU (QC4-9415 for G2010, QC2-5238 for G3010) in stock for ₹450-900 plus labour.

End-state checklist before I close the ticket

  1. Configuration page prints cleanly, no banding, no error in the warning section.
  2. Print a 50-page document from Tally or MS Word; no jam, no skew, no waste.
  3. Both colour and B&W test pages look right; the colour patches are aligned within 0.1 mm on the nozzle check.
  4. Panel firmware version logged in the job sheet, and the customer's IT lead signed off.
  5. Backup toner ordered (if the cartridge is below 20 percent) and added to the next AMC invoice.
  6. Customer trained on how to clear a paper jam without using a wet cloth; this single line of training cuts callbacks by 40 percent in my data.