what's with my ink setup?

For whatever reason, everytime we put one ink, out of a set, in my Epson
CX9400Fax the other inks don't "recognize" it.

Therefore, we have to put in all four cartridges together, and everything
seems fine.

What's going on with this? Why can't I change a single cartridge???

"rb" wrote in message
...
For whatever reason, everytime we put one ink, out of a set, in my Epson
CX9400Fax the other inks don't "recognize" it.

Therefore, we have to put in all four cartridges together, and everything
seems fine.

What's going on with this? Why can't I change a single cartridge???

I don't know for sure, but I might conjecture that it's the firmware on
the printer not wanting to recognize any cartridge with a third party chip
that is not OEM. Now that assumes you are using aftermarket cartridges. If
you're using genuine Epson cartridges then I would be very surprised that
the printer is annoyed at the replacement of one cartrdige at a time, and I
would call Epson up, if the machine is in warranty.
If what I say fits your situation you could most likely overcome Epson's
insistence to change all the cartridges by using an original Epson cartridge
chip on the replacement cartridge and resetting it with a chip resetter.
--
Jan Alter

Well, it's not Epson ink going in. And, I think you're probably down the
right road on this one.

I have a feeling it's a chip problem, too.

What is a chip resetter? Where find?

"rb" wrote in message ...
Well, it's not Epson ink going in. And, I think you're probably down the
right road on this one.

I have a feeling it's a chip problem, too.

What is a chip resetter? Where find?


The chip resetter re-programs the chip to read full again.
If you do a google search for 'Epson chip resetters' you will find lots of
hits and explanations to how they work. Attempting to find one for your
machine (CX9400) left me in a vacuum, as it appears to be a newer model
that has 9 pins on the chip rather than the usual 7 for various older
models. It may be that chip resetter folks have not got them out on the
market yet.

Jan Alter

OK. Yeah, now I understand.

Just could be no chip setters for mine yet.

I think my cartridges all have to be from one source, so they have the same
chip. It's irritating --- but ---so far, I think the low Ebay ink prices
are still keeping me ahead of buying Epson.

The first thing we need to know is what you are using to replace the
cartridge.

1) An new Epson (OEM) cartridge. This is one that you buy from a store
and is in a cardboard box that states it is a new cartridge manufactured
by Epson. (there are also very well made counterfeit cartridges out
there that look identical to Epson's own)

2) A new cartridge made by another manufacturer than Epson

3) A commercially refilled cartridge which may use an Epson cartridge
shell or another brand

4) A cartridge which you had refilled locally

5) A cartridge which you have refilled with ink


The problem you are experiencing may have a different cause depending
upon which type of cartridge situation you are involved in.

If it is an Epson OEM cartridge, chances are the microchip on the
cartridge is fine, in which case you need to look at the small gold
wires which contact that chip pad to make sure they are clean and not
distorted. To clean them, use a cotton swab and wet it in isopropyl
alcohol, and gently clean the wires and allow them to dry. You can also
gently wipe the chip pad on the cartridge (the small circuit board with
some flat contact points on it). Make sure the cartridge is fully
inserted, or it may also misread the chip.

If the wires are distorted or damaged, you may be able to gently
reposition them using a bend paperclip. However, be careful, they are
made of a brittle metal and will not tolerate a lot of bending.

If the cartridges are not Epson brand, the chips are sometimes not
programmed correctly for your printer, and the printer will throw an
error (flashing lights, or otherwise).

In some cases you can reprogram these chips with a chip resetter. They
are for sale both at some retail stores and through places on line,
including ebay. They are a small device that reprograms the chip for
your printer, but you need to purchase the correct resetter for your
printer model. They are battery operated and can be used over and over.

The chip I speak of here monitors the amount of ink that is supposed to
be left in the cartridge. I say supposed, because it is not the actual
reading of the ink, but one based upon an assumption of ink used during
printing and cleaning cycles subtracted from an assumed full cartridge.

If you have an "empty cartridge (the printer indicates the cartridge
needs replacing) and you refill it yourself but do not reset the
cartridge chip, when you reinstall that cartridge, the printer will
still read the chip as empty, and the printer will not accept that
cartridge even if it is now filled with ink.

In order for the cartridge to be acknowledge you need to reset the
cartridge with a resetter device, as mentioned earlier.

Lastly, if you wish to avoid paying for a chip resetter, you can use a
free program available on line for some cartridges. This program can
"freeze" the ink level at whatever level it is currently at. It will
not inform you when you cartridge is running out or empty, however, and
it will not work for a cartridge which is already empty or indicating it
needs replacement.

That software can be found at:

http://www.ssclg.com/epsone.shtml

Please read the instructions carefully.

If you have further questions please ask, but provide extra details to
help us pursue this.

Art


If you are interested in issues surrounding e-waste,
I invite you to enter the discussion at my blog:

http://e-trashtalk.spaces.live.com/

rb wrote:
For whatever reason, everytime we put one ink, out of a set, in my Epson
CX9400Fax the other inks don't "recognize" it.

Therefore, we have to put in all four cartridges together, and everything
seems fine.

What's going on with this? Why can't I change a single cartridge???

Hi Art,

I installed the current ssclg utility and found that it does not
support the CX9400 FAX printer, so I don't think that will be of much help
here.
Although I don't have one of this machine's cartridges in front of me
web searches seem to indicate that it carries a 9 pin chip on the cartridge,
which makes the standard 7 pin resetters unworkable for this particular
animal.
Additionally the OP indicates that everything works fine when he
replaces all cartridges together, which I've come across before using the
C88 and installing aftermarket auto-reset chips. If one tries to install
just one cartridge with a reset chip the printer balks and sends out a
flashing red light. If one changes all four cartridges with ones that have
the auto-reset chip then the printer works and only sends out a software
inquiry noting that the cartridges are different from Epson, and asks if one
still wants to continue using the cartridges. So I am conjecturing that the
printer is handling these aftermarket chips the same way.

--
Jan Alter


"Arthur Entlich" wrote in message
...
The first thing we need to know is what you are using to replace the
cartridge.

1) An new Epson (OEM) cartridge. This is one that you buy from a store
and is in a cardboard box that states it is a new cartridge manufactured
by Epson. (there are also very well made counterfeit cartridges out there
that look identical to Epson's own)

2) A new cartridge made by another manufacturer than Epson

3) A commercially refilled cartridge which may use an Epson cartridge
shell or another brand

4) A cartridge which you had refilled locally

5) A cartridge which you have refilled with ink


The problem you are experiencing may have a different cause depending upon
which type of cartridge situation you are involved in.

If it is an Epson OEM cartridge, chances are the microchip on the
cartridge is fine, in which case you need to look at the small gold wires
which contact that chip pad to make sure they are clean and not distorted.
To clean them, use a cotton swab and wet it in isopropyl alcohol, and
gently clean the wires and allow them to dry. You can also gently wipe
the chip pad on the cartridge (the small circuit board with some flat
contact points on it). Make sure the cartridge is fully inserted, or it
may also misread the chip.

If the wires are distorted or damaged, you may be able to gently
reposition them using a bend paperclip. However, be careful, they are
made of a brittle metal and will not tolerate a lot of bending.

If the cartridges are not Epson brand, the chips are sometimes not
programmed correctly for your printer, and the printer will throw an error
(flashing lights, or otherwise).

In some cases you can reprogram these chips with a chip resetter. They
are for sale both at some retail stores and through places on line,
including ebay. They are a small device that reprograms the chip for your
printer, but you need to purchase the correct resetter for your printer
model. They are battery operated and can be used over and over.

The chip I speak of here monitors the amount of ink that is supposed to be
left in the cartridge. I say supposed, because it is not the actual
reading of the ink, but one based upon an assumption of ink used during
printing and cleaning cycles subtracted from an assumed full cartridge.

If you have an "empty cartridge (the printer indicates the cartridge needs
replacing) and you refill it yourself but do not reset the cartridge chip,
when you reinstall that cartridge, the printer will still read the chip as
empty, and the printer will not accept that cartridge even if it is now
filled with ink.

In order for the cartridge to be acknowledge you need to reset the
cartridge with a resetter device, as mentioned earlier.

Lastly, if you wish to avoid paying for a chip resetter, you can use a
free program available on line for some cartridges. This program can
"freeze" the ink level at whatever level it is currently at. It will not
inform you when you cartridge is running out or empty, however, and it
will not work for a cartridge which is already empty or indicating it
needs replacement.

That software can be found at:

http://www.ssclg.com/epsone.shtml

Please read the instructions carefully.

If you have further questions please ask, but provide extra details to
help us pursue this.

Art


If you are interested in issues surrounding e-waste,
I invite you to enter the discussion at my blog:

http://e-trashtalk.spaces.live.com/

rb wrote:
For whatever reason, everytime we put one ink, out of a set, in my Epson
CX9400Fax the other inks don't "recognize" it.

Therefore, we have to put in all four cartridges together, and everything
seems fine.

What's going on with this? Why can't I change a single cartridge???

Thanks for the help.

What I've done is buy several cheap ebay sources of ink. Now, I have to
change 'em all four out, or none will work, according to Epson error
message.

Good info you guys have provided me with.

Hi Jan,

Thanks for the information you discovered. I have looked to see if
there are 9 pin resetters out yet, and there are a number of sources for
them now. Some claim to work on both 7 and 9 pin, and although I
haven't found any that specifically mentioned the CX9400Fax printers,
several mention the CX 8400 or CX7400 which seem to use the same ink
cartridges as the CX9400Fax.

There are a number of sources for auto-reset chips for these and many
other Epson printer cartridges. I agree that mixing them with "one use"
cartridges (which require a rest to be refilled and installed) is
probably a bad idea as it probably confuses the firmware.

Particularly with the newer Epson printers, which have been redesigned
and programed, mixing 3rd party (aftermarket) ink cartridges with OEM
may also cause some confusion with some chips and some models, so I
agree again that it may be best to do a complete replacement on the
first switch over, but if one sticks to the same brand cartridges and a
similar vintage, once that switch occurs things should work afterward.

Art


If you are interested in issues surrounding e-waste,
I invite you to enter the discussion at my blog:

http://e-trashtalk.spaces.live.com/

Jan Alter wrote:
Hi Art,

I installed the current ssclg utility and found that it does not
support the CX9400 FAX printer, so I don't think that will be of much help
here.
Although I don't have one of this machine's cartridges in front of me
web searches seem to indicate that it carries a 9 pin chip on the cartridge,
which makes the standard 7 pin resetters unworkable for this particular
animal.
Additionally the OP indicates that everything works fine when he
replaces all cartridges together, which I've come across before using the
C88 and installing aftermarket auto-reset chips. If one tries to install
just one cartridge with a reset chip the printer balks and sends out a
flashing red light. If one changes all four cartridges with ones that have
the auto-reset chip then the printer works and only sends out a software
inquiry noting that the cartridges are different from Epson, and asks if one
still wants to continue using the cartridges. So I am conjecturing that the
printer is handling these aftermarket chips the same way.

rb wrote:
Well, it's not Epson ink going in. And, I think you're probably down the
right road on this one.

I have a feeling it's a chip problem, too.

What is a chip resetter? Where find?



No it is a user problem. If a user follows the recommendations in the
Epson manual then this would not be a problem. Go to a store and
replace all of the carts with epson ink and the problem will go aaway.