I called Epson support today telling them my RX500 All-In-One Color printer
suddenly locked up with an error message telling me to contact their support.
All
my cartridges are full and the printer was working just prior to this 'error'
message.
The Epson rep told me I had probably exceeded the counter on the allowed
cleaning and power up/down cycles, and Epson is demanding I send it in for
service before I can continue to use the printer. Unbelievable! It's like
having
a mileage counter on your car suddenly shut it down and forcing you to tow it
to your dealer for maintenance. How does Epson get away with this garbage?

On another issue, I hear Epson is trying to stop the sale of genereric
replacement
ink cartridges for their printers. Again, can car manufacturers shut down
suppliers
of brake pads, batteries, etc., because they are not original factory parts?
It's time
the government stepped in (fat chance while Bush is in power) and read these
guys
the riot act. Some printer manufacturers are taking a new approach and charging

more for their printers and less for the replacement cartridges. That makes
more
sense to me, although I refill my own cartridges with third party ink. That
system
has worked for me for several years now with excellent results.

Anyone have a similar experience with this counter shutting down their printer?
The Epson rep tried to convince me that only they have the software to reset
these
counters. I didn't believe him and took my printer into a local repair shop.
They
seemed to feel it would not be a problem for them. It's Epson giving out
missinformation again.

Sherwin D.

Hi!

I don't know, but they can and do. Probably because people keep buying their
products anyway.

I really wanted a Stylus R220 when it came out, because it did a great job
of CD printing. However, I'd simply never had a great experience with their
inkjet printers. I don't print that many CDs anyway and therefore passed on
buying that printer. I got a Lightscribe CD/DVD burner instead. Though it is
monochromatic and takes a long time, I find it works well for my
purposes...and it doesn't mind sitting around idle.

(I used to say that the last decent Epson printer I used was an ActionWriter
T-1000--and it was a *great* indestructable little printer--but as of late
an old Color Stylus 640 that I rescued from the curb has been doing a great
job of printing for me.)

As for the ink cartridges question, they aren't the only printer company who
has tried. What it all comes down to is this--the printer hardware is yours
to do with as you wish. If you want to refill the ink cartridges, or buy
refilled ones--you should be able to do that. As long as you feel that you
know the risks, differences and rewards then you should be able to do what
you want to.


Some other Epson printers do in fact have this problem. The message given
usually states that parts in the printer are nearing the end of their useful
lifetime. I don't know what it is called, but there does exist a utility
that can resolve this on some printers and in some cases. Looking back
through the group archives should turn this program up, as well as a link to
download it and instructions to use it.

William

sherwindu <sherwindu (AT) comcast (DOT) net> wrote:
Assuming your problem is that the waste ink counter (protection counter) has
reached its maximum value, and I suspect this is what has happened; you can go
to
http://www.ssclg.com/epsone.shtml
and download the software. Install it, run it and exit the application. Then
look at the icon in the task bar and right click, select protection counter
reset.
If you have difficulty you may need to uninstall the Epson status monitor and
reinstall it after the reset.
Be warned however that the next time you get this error you must either replace
or clean the waste ink pads.
I understand your frustration with this issue but in defence of Epson (and some
other manufacturers) the waste ink pads can only hold so much ink after which
there is a risk of them overflowing into the printer body and from there onto
your desk and from there to????? So they build in a counter that estimates how
much ink is in the pads and stop the printer at a point that they determine
represents a certain level of ink. In practice they are conservative but even
that is understandable since there are several variables that affect the
calculation.
Tony
MS MVP Printing/Imaging

Epson has to do something once the waste ink pads fill up. They chose
to shut the printer down so it can no longer print or communicate with
the computer.

But I totally agree with you. They do not indicate this "time bomb"
anywhere in their published manuals, nor do you get any warning before
it happens. It also, with all-in ones, I believe, shut down the scanner
operation, which one could sue without using any ink.

The shut down event seems to be based on very liberal ink amounts going
down the waste in tube. In general, the printer can be kept in use for
one more cycle after a reset.


I see Tony already provided you with the link for the freeware software
product that has reset codes in it.

In my opinion, Epson is violating the spirit if not the word to several
pieces of Us and other legislation, and should be brought to task over
this (and other matters). Their printers tend to use more ink during
cleaning cycles. Ink you pay an arm and a leg for, and it is a slap in
the face that their waste ink pads aren't designed with either much more
capacity, as their older printers were, or, with a user friendly method
of replacing the pads. Instead for most models you have to dismantle
the e whole printer, and in some cases, the design is such that it is
just cheaper to replace the printer with a new one, which is
environmentally unconscionable.

They could have designed the units so the waste ink pads were modules,
or they could have had the ink flow out the printer into a bottle that
could be removed and replaced for very little cost. Instead, you have
tons of paper and fibre batting filled with semi-toxic colorants and
solvents.

Further still, people who get the most use of their printers, and reach
the protection numbers before warranty ends, get it serviced for free,
under warranty, because Epson doesn't want to admit this is a regular
service matter. more than a warranty repair, since all printers
eventually reach that point.

It is pretty annoying, and I suspect eventually Epson will have to
refund the costs of these types of repairs to their customers, once a
lawyer or two figures this out. If you had it done locally, hold on to
your receipt... you may need it for proof should this matter be heard by
the courts.

Art


sherwindu wrote:

Hi Tony,

Thanks for the information.

As far as Epson, a simple warning message would suffice.

Sherwin D.

Tony wrote:

Hi Art,

Glad to hear some reinforcement of my complaints. I currently have the printer in
a local shop. Perhaps my pads do need cleaning or replacement, but I was fooled
by the Epson technician who told me only they had the means to reset this counter.
I do recall trying this reset program in the past on my ink cartridges without any
success. I eventually got around the problem with one of these battery operated
small reset instruments. I could have been looking at a different reset program, or
maybe my software linkup was not correct. In any case, the printer is in for repair,
and I am awaiting a call with a cost estimate to fix it.

Sherwin D.

Arthur Entlich wrote:

In article <46429D93.1966A452 (AT) comcast (DOT) net>,
sherwindu <sherwindu (AT) comcast (DOT) net> wrote:
BMWs ;-\

--
Stuart Winsor

From is valid but subject to change without notice if it gets spammed.

For Barn dances and folk evenings in the Coventry and Warwickshire area
See: http://www.barndance.org.uk

I couldn't agree more.
Good luck.

sherwindu <sherwindu (AT) comcast (DOT) net> wrote:
Tony
MS MVP Printing/Imaging

Surprised that this kind of thing exists. Can't feel really sorry for
all those yuppies buying the overpriced BMW's to impress their
friends.

Stuart wrote:

measekite wrote:
Yes, I agree. Ink costs almost as much as a new printer. Every time
you buy a set of OEM cartridges you're almost better off just getting
a whole new printer with a free set of ink. But that would be a
terrible waste of money. I prefer to refill at home. Costs me $5 CAD
to refill all 5 cartridges. Why give the money away to someone in the
business of overpricing ink when I can keep it myself and save for a
new Lexus. :-)

-Taliesyn