Epsons designed to stop??

Hi - I just had this statement emailed to me by somebody who ususally knows
about these things in a professional capacity:

"Epsons are built to stop functioning when the internal counter reaches a
certain number, and you do need to be aware of this. Many people aren't.!!"

I find this very hard to believe - is it true? I have owned Epsons for many
years and never had much trouble with them - but I have never kept one
single printer for very long because I keep upgrading, so I might not have
reached the "fatal" number of prints on one machine.

Cheers

"Mike" wrote in message
...
Hi - I just had this statement emailed to me by somebody who ususally
knows about these things in a professional capacity:

"Epsons are built to stop functioning when the internal counter reaches a
certain number, and you do need to be aware of this. Many people
aren't.!!"

I find this very hard to believe - is it true? I have owned Epsons for
many years and never had much trouble with them - but I have never kept
one single printer for very long because I keep upgrading, so I might not
have reached the "fatal" number of prints on one machine.

Cheers

Nothing unusual - they have a waste ink pad inside to catch the ink used
during cleaning cycles and when purging the printhead either when starting a
print job or when the ink carts have been changed.. when that waste ink pad
is full the printer stops working the pad is changed and the counter reset.
If that didn't happen you end up with ink spilling out all over your desk.

In the case of Epson printers its generally easy to reset the counter, but
getting to the waste ink pads to replace or clean them can be a tricky
process depending on the model.. and as far as I know Canon printers can't
be reset and have to be sent in for repair or simply thrown away.

Make that:

"when that waste ink pad is full the printer stops working UNTIL the pad is
changed and the counter reset. "

etc.

I don't think this means the printer has self destruct logic. I suspect what
he meant is that there is a counter for the ink cartridges which estimates
the number of droplets so as to prevent head damage from out of ink
conditions. Installation of fresh cartridges resets the counter.
Ron

"Mike" wrote in message
...
Hi - I just had this statement emailed to me by somebody who ususally
knows about these things in a professional capacity:

"Epsons are built to stop functioning when the internal counter reaches a
certain number, and you do need to be aware of this. Many people
aren't.!!"

I find this very hard to believe - is it true? I have owned Epsons for
many years and never had much trouble with them - but I have never kept
one single printer for very long because I keep upgrading, so I might not
have reached the "fatal" number of prints on one machine.

Cheers

To add to Ron Cohen
The waste pad works by either a timer, timing the cleaning cycles, the
length of time the printer in use etc. and 'flags' an address line
within the CPU chip say's no more printing.

It is not just a matter of changing the high abosrbancy waste pad,
which is usually situated under the printer mechanism.

If this is the case you will need to run a programme to reset the
'flag' by inserting a code which is stated in the manual - thus
changing the pad is only minor part of the problem, if you had the
programme to put the printer in 'service mode' you can just reset the
CPU with out changing the pad - BUT THIS WOULD BE VERY MESSY AS THE
INK WOULD NOT HAVE NOWHERE TO GO.

But you do need to be sure that this is the problem, the service mode
will tell you all the status conditions of the printer.

Davy

I would say the person you say knows in fact has very little knowledge of
how Epson's work otherwise they would know about waste pads and why an Epson
has to be reset. Some people seem to think printers should run for ever and
ever without service. You say you have never kept a printer that long
because you upgraded, well that may also be true about Epson owners, having
said that there are of course users who require a high output from their
printers and it is this group that have to have machines reset even if they
replace the pads themselves, I would think that many other makes would have
given up completely well before an Epson requires a reset.


"Mike" wrote in message
...
Hi - I just had this statement emailed to me by somebody who ususally
knows
about these things in a professional capacity:

"Epsons are built to stop functioning when the internal counter reaches a
certain number, and you do need to be aware of this. Many people
aren't.!!"

I find this very hard to believe - is it true? I have owned Epsons for
many
years and never had much trouble with them - but I have never kept one
single printer for very long because I keep upgrading, so I might not have
reached the "fatal" number of prints on one machine.

Cheers

Shooter wrote:

I would say the person you say knows in fact has very little knowledge of
how Epson's work otherwise they would know about waste pads and why an Epson
has to be reset. Some people seem to think printers should run for ever and
ever without service. You say you have never kept a printer that long
because you upgraded, well that may also be true about Epson owners, having
said that there are of course users who require a high output from their
printers and it is this group that have to have machines reset even if they
replace the pads themselves, I would think that many other makes would have
given up completely well before an Epson requires a reset.



These heavy users are probably using the wrong machine. I believe that
the new 2200 (I think or maybe the 7600) has a door in the side to pull
out and replace the pads as a consumable item like the ink is.


"Mike" wrote in message
...


Hi - I just had this statement emailed to me by somebody who ususally


knows


about these things in a professional capacity:

"Epsons are built to stop functioning when the internal counter reaches a
certain number, and you do need to be aware of this. Many people


aren't.!!"


I find this very hard to believe - is it true? I have owned Epsons for


many


years and never had much trouble with them - but I have never kept one
single printer for very long because I keep upgrading, so I might not have
reached the "fatal" number of prints on one machine.

Cheers

The code sequences are available on several web sites to reset many of the
Canon waste ink counters. Emptying the receptical, however is not easy to
do for non-technicians. people have reported resetting the counter without
emptying the recepticle at least once without mishaps. Check
http://www.neilslade.com/papers/inkjetstuff.html and
http://www.nifty-stuff.com/forum/ for Canon code sequences or Google Canon
waste ink tank full. This info might be available for the Epsons - I'd
google it.

"Ivor Floppy" wrote in message
...

"Mike" wrote in message
...
Hi - I just had this statement emailed to me by somebody who ususally
knows about these things in a professional capacity:

"Epsons are built to stop functioning when the internal counter reaches a
certain number, and you do need to be aware of this. Many people
aren't.!!"

I find this very hard to believe - is it true? I have owned Epsons for
many years and never had much trouble with them - but I have never kept
one single printer for very long because I keep upgrading, so I might not
have reached the "fatal" number of prints on one machine.

Cheers

Nothing unusual - they have a waste ink pad inside to catch the ink used
during cleaning cycles and when purging the printhead either when starting
a print job or when the ink carts have been changed.. when that waste ink
pad is full the printer stops working the pad is changed and the counter
reset. If that didn't happen you end up with ink spilling out all over
your desk.

In the case of Epson printers its generally easy to reset the counter, but
getting to the waste ink pads to replace or clean them can be a tricky
process depending on the model.. and as far as I know Canon printers can't
be reset and have to be sent in for repair or simply thrown away.

All inkjets produce waste ink (in the same way laser printers produce waste
toner). This ink has to be stored somewhere other than in the printer mechanism
or on the paper. Different manufacturers handle this in different ways. Canon
and Epson use a similar system of storing the waste ink in a felt like pad,
often covering large areas of the printer base. The built in electronics
estimate when the pad is nearing saturation and this results in the deliberate
error message. Unfortunately Epson has in the past made this message somewhat
obscure. The replacement of the waste ink pad is a job for someone who is
technically experienced (especially in less recent models) and therefore they
do not readily make the reset code available, lest someone simply resets the
printer and does not replace the pad potentially resulting in ink all over the
place! The codes are however available from various sources on the internet;
use with care, most Epson printers will survive one reset without replacing the
pads but don't blame me if your printer floods your desk! Most HP inkjets have
cartridges with built in heads, these also produce waste which is stored in a
service station of various types, there is no count done by most HP's inkjets
so when the service station fills up the printhead carriage starts to
"bulldoze" the waste ink, spreading it in a fine spray over parts of the
printer, in severe cases ink actually starts to ooze from the printer base! HP
provides instructions on their website for emptying many of their printer
service stations. I suggest that anybody who has an older HP inkjet printer
checks out the website especially if the printer covers start to subtly change
colour around the head parking area (quite a subtle and slow change). It is a
big job to clean out any inkjet that has become badly contaminated with ink,
prevention is cheaper than cure!
Tony

"Mike" wrote:
Hi - I just had this statement emailed to me by somebody who ususally knows
about these things in a professional capacity:

"Epsons are built to stop functioning when the internal counter reaches a
certain number, and you do need to be aware of this. Many people aren't.!!"

I find this very hard to believe - is it true? I have owned Epsons for many
years and never had much trouble with them - but I have never kept one
single printer for very long because I keep upgrading, so I might not have
reached the "fatal" number of prints on one machine.

Cheers

Mike
You don't say what the model is, are the any error lights etc. If its
an Epson
it should give you an error message in the drivers window after
trying to print a document.

Ain't an C62 by any chance, they are designed to be clodded in the
middle of the Pacific - nah the trashbins too good.

Davy