Epson Ink Cartridge

[Bill W]

Greetings,

Just did a nozzle cleaning on my Epson 4000, after which there is a message that says the yellow cartridge is invalid. Funny how it was valid during the cleaning, but now is not valid.

The cartridge, one of the long ones, is over half full so I removed it and stuck it back in, but received the same message. I have reset the printer; turn the printer off and used an eraser on the little contacts on the cartridge, but still get the invalid message.

I have a partially used small yellow cartridge so I tried it, and it works.

Anyone know how I can "re validate" the long cartridge?

Oh, and yes they are Epson ink cartridges.

-Bill-

 

[meddington]

Might have damaged or otherwise compromised the chip in the ink cartridge somehow. Might try checking the chip out...seeing if it has any gunk on it. It's not recommended that you touch the chip, but what have you got to lose at this point eh? There is a way to reset the cartridge chip with a third party chip resetter, or even turn off the ink counter via service level menus (not recommended as you don't want to run the ink dry), but sounds like the chip is damaged.

 

[Bill W]

Well, I called Epson and talked with very helpful techs. The first one suggested I press the pause button a few times which should reset the cartridge. I had done that before and even tried a restart, but was willing to push the button again. I had also tried the "lightly rubbing eraser" procedure on the contacts of the chip.

Pushed button (10 times) - same result. What is that saying - insanity is repeating, repeating, repeating, the same thing over again and expecting different results.

A return call to Epson and a conversation with Jimmy Bustos, in which he informed that those cartridges are under pressure and the cartridge may have lost its pressure. He set me up for a swap at no charge, which I felt was very fair.

I have never heard of a third party chip resetter - what exactly is it? Is it like a bucket of propwash, or 10 yards of shoreline

-Bill-

 

[meddington]

Hmmm...the 220 ml carts for Epson 4000 (76/9600) are not pressurized. Epson started doing this for the 78/9800 printers to facilitate ink delivery, but it wasn't necessary for the 4800. So, the 110s for the Epson 4800 and up were not pressurized ...no need wit the size of the machine. You're not using a 220ml cartridge for a 78/9800 or 7880/9880 in a 4000 are you?

Third party chip resetter will reset the chip as if no ink has been used...useful if you refill carts...dangerous is you don't. Also useful is a chip resetter for the maintenance tank...clean it out, stuff it with new sponges and reset the chip...no need to buy a new tank. Of course with the 4000 you can do this is the service menu without a third party chip resetter though.

 

[Bill W]

Well - I was duped eh! - no pressure. Yes, I am using the correct cartridge - wish it was that easy as I hate problems whose solutions are not what the product owners state. Remember that this cartridge was working properly before the nozzle check.

Because of problems such as these I always kept a backup of consumables when I ran that department - not all subscribe to that philosophy, so now I cannot do any more testing until the new yellow cartridge comes in. I had prepress order one today as I am not willing to wait until Epson ships my replacement.

You sure know a lot about the Epson printer line, once again I bow my head to you.

For various reasons we are going to upgrade to the newer 4880 - any "Michaelism" on that printer?

-Bill-

 

[meddington]

You might also check the contacts in the printer...those that connect with the ink cartridge. Pins might be dirty or bent.if your new cartridge doesn't work'this is likely.

4880 is a nice machine...faster and a bit wider gamut and all that. Still clogs though. and with this the service menu available in the 4000 model is unavailable in the 4880, so you truly need a chip resetter, or back to buying maintenance tanks.

We've now got several 4000s, 4800s and 4880s, most in client locations. Keeping track of who has what, and which ink cartridge goes where is challenging. And nozzle Clogs...well, they suck.

Don't be to hard on the Epson rep though. He's probably just a high schooler with a printer manual and google.