Epson CX5400 - ran out of cyan ink, now can't print at all.

[succe...@yahoo.com]

I ran out of the cyan ink in my Epson CX5400 printer, but I still have
plenty of black ink. I set the printer preferences to Black Ink only so
I can print in black and white. Yet, the printer still shows this error
(red light is blinking on the printer's top panel and the error is
displaying on the LCD screen). I just can't get past this error and
cannot print at all.

Does anyone know how to get around that error and print?

It's very frustrating.

Thanks in advance!

[mc]

I don't know if there is a way. What you're seeing is the printer's normal
response to running out of ink.

If there is a solution to your problem, it involves configuring the printer
for black only, somehow.

[Ken Weitzel]

mc wrote:

Hi...

The only way that I've ever discovered is to use third party software
like ssc to "lie" to the printer; tell it that the cyan is full.

Take care.

Ken

[Arfa Daily]

"Ken Weitzel" <kwei...@shaw.ca> wrote in message
news:JQZxf.108197$tl.82899@pd7tw3no...

This is one of the REALLY annoying foibles of Epson printers - my RX425 does
the same thing. It's like when one of the heads clogs ( frequent occurence )
and you have to waste about a gallon of ALL of the inks, just to get the one
that has clogged up, open again. The only way to get it printing again, when
one runs out, is to replace that one.

I've put SSC on my machine, but it does not have a setting specifically for
my model, so whilst it provides some useful ' generic ' Epson features, like
fancy ink monitoring graphics, I can't get its more useful little features
to work. It's a good program though, if it covers your model, and like Ken
says, it does have the facility to make a cartridge ' lie ' about how much
ink is in it. Download it and give it a try - it's free and it's not going
to do any harm.

Arfa

[Andrew Rossmann]

[This followup was posted to sci.electronics.repair and a copy was sent
to the cited author.]

In article <1137192865.7...@g44g2000cwa.googlegroups.com>,
succe...@yahoo.com says...

Because Epson heads are built into the printer, and not user
replaceable, it takes a VERY conservative approach to running out of
ink. Even if you configure it for black only, it may still try to use
the cyan head for cleaning or similar. That can fry it when it actually
runs dry.

Unless the printer physically checks the ink level with a sensor, or
the cartridge is chipped, you can sometimes cheat by simply going
through a cartridge change procedure, but re-using the cartridge. If you
do that, be ready to buy a new printer when the head fries.

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