We were completlely unaware that Epson even offered this kind of thing, but after spending the better part of two days on Google searching for Stylus Pro 1400 help, we stumbled across this gem. If you have seen or heard of the following error message, “Parts inside your printer are reaching their end of service life”, or “Parts inside your printer are at the end of their service life” your printer is not really “dead” it just needs a simple reset of the waste ink counter.
High volume printers listen up:
Normally this type of issue occurs after a BUNCH of printing (10k-25k pages) and there may be legitimate parts that may need replacing, however in our experience (with an Epson Stylus Photo R200) a simple reset of the “waste pad counter” was all that was needed. Actual replacement of the “waste ink pads” was not necessary in our case – print quality was not affected, and we did not notice an abnormal amount of “waste ink” coming out of the printer, or onto the prints.
We are watching you:
Epson wants your information, including the printer serial number as well as usage time, and it’s all required info:
Danger Will Robinson!
None really,we just like that show. Epson does have a hefty disclaimer on the page:
Warning! For safe and reliable operation, do not use this software without replacing the ink pads. This software is intended to reset the ink pad counters and enable the printer to continue printing after a “maintenance needed” message, but only after the ink pads have been replaced. If this Ink Pad Reset software utility is used without actually replacing the ink pads there is a risk of ink spills within the printer that can cause electrical shorts or ink spills outside the printer causing property damage. Professional service is needed to open the printer and replace the ink pads, so Epson recommends service at an Epson Authorized Service Center. For more information please use the Epson website to locate an authorized service center or call Epson Technical Support at 562-276-1300.
All that information for a simple reset utility seems a bit much for us. We don’t really like the fact that Epson will have written evidence of the printer serial number, length of ownership, name, address, et al. so we are sticking with the free SSC service utility for now – unless of course your printer is not supported by the SSC utility.
Update: 1-14-10:
We decided to download it:
We have an old Epson Stylus C120 here in the office, and we decided to go through the download process so we could see what this little program was like. If you own one of the following printers, you are redirected to another page, and your personal info is not required:
- Epson Stylus C120, CX4400, CX4450, CX7400, CX7450, CX8400, CX9400 FAX
- Epson Stylus Photo R1900, R280, R2880, RX595, RX680
We filled it out, put our Epson Stylus C120 serial number in and got the following eMail:
See that? .exe file. Not good for us Mac Heads. So we went over to our 8 year old PeeCee to see what we got.
Just ran the program – first w/out printer attached (to see what it would do), and finally attached via USB (Epson Stylus C120).
The Program Info:
Disclaimer about actually replacing the ink waste pads:
parts inside your printer are at the end of their life?
Do we agree?
Why is this even necessary?
Now you tell us?
Ok, we plug in our Epson Stylus C120.
We don’t need it.
Program returns to the main screen. We do not need the utility apparently. So, no information about page count, or waste pad monitor secrets. The printer either needs it, or it doesn’t. There is not a program for Mac users. Must do it over a PeeCee.
Filed under: Epson, Inkjet Printers Tagged: | epson resetter, Ink, reset epson, resetter for epson, service life, waste pads
