Waste Ink Reset Epson

[Clide Birkner]

INKCHIPprovides the best software to reset your printer's waste ink pad counters. Just download our utility and with the WIC reset keys you can reset the ink pad counters to zero. It only takes a few seconds to easily reset your printer.

You may have noticed that the Freejet 330-series occasionally jets very small amounts of ink into a small, chrome-plated tank (or spit tray) at the far left end of the carriage assembly. Ink accumulates in this tank over time so the printer will periodically warn us that the ink level in this waste tank should be checked and emptied to avoid overflowing, and the absorbent pad at the bottom of the tank replaced, as needed.

Rather than wait for this to happen, we proactively check the waste ink tank level visually to avoid overfilling, and we use a software utility called the Adjustment Program to reset the counter which triggers the error condition, as part of our routine monthly maintenance. By doing so, we avoid ever having a print job interrupted by that error condition.

You can contact our technical support team by sending an email to sup...@omniprintonline.com with your company name, contact name, phone number, printer serial number, and a quick description of how we can help you.

Using my Mac 10.7.5, does anyone know of a download that will reset the waste ink counter on my Epson Artisan 730 printer. I have changed the waste ink pads, but my 730 printer has locked me out until I change the waste ink counter back to 0. The printer screen message is:" A printer's ink pad is at the end of its life.Please contact Epson Support. Turn Off." Epson support says go to an Epson Service Center and have the machine serviced. The Service Center charges over $100 to do a reset. I found a reset program online but it was only used on PCs not Macs. Any help would be greatly appreciated, to get my printer back in service.

That out of the way, to answer your question there are Windows only utilities that will work to reset the printers waste ink counter and just need to be used to complete the reset. Once reset the printer can then be returned to the MacOS machine and not need the windows machine again (well, not until the waste counter hit maximum again).

Alternatively there's a MacOS compatible pay-per-reset option in the form of a utility called iWIC. This requires the purchase of a one-time digital key to complete the reset itself but the utility can be used without a key to read the waste counters and get some other information from the printer.

One critical thing to note though is that resetting and then ignoring the waste ink is a bit of a daft thing to do so if you do decide to reset, then consider replacing the waste pads or fitting something like a Printer Potty to you don't later discover you need a new carpet, etc...

MacOS users are able to make use of the iWIC app which has matured nicely and now provides a stable utility to access and reset the waste ink counter on a wide range of Epson (and some Canon) printers.

In instances where your Mac will not allow you to use the iWIC service we recommend asking friends, family or colleagues if you can borrow or use a compatible computer system. While not ideal, the reset process only needs temporary access to complete and then the printer can be returned to your existing Mac.

In such situations our standard recommendation is that you borrow or purchase a windows capable laptop with Windows 2000 or XP installed, install your printer drivers, and then reset the utility using that.

I can't speak for any other brands, since I've always used Epsons, right from day one. But from what I can figure out, this 'function' is peculiar to Epsons, and is all part of their efforts to 'encourage' you to have your device serviced regularly (for outrageous sums of money!) at their approved 'service centres'.

As if selling you a device at a reasonable price, followed by gouging you, ad infinitum, with extortionate ink prices, wasn't enough, the WIC value - once it reaches a certain point - will cause your printer to just quit working, without warning. All you'll see in your wee display panel will be something along the lines of

There used to be a free reset utility for Epsons, years ago, that worked under Windows. I had to use it, several years ago, because one of my Epsons gave some very heavy-duty service for a couple of years printing photos.....and I eventually hit the WIC value.

I've never been able to find one that functioned under Linux, until now.....and, TBH, I don't print anything like as much these days. Following a browse around the web, I located a repo of .deb packages for the WICreset utility. I downloaded an age-related one for my daily driver - jrb's lite version of BK's Quirky April 64 - installed it, annnd.....it works perfectly.

Most after-market ink vendors nowadays will sell you these reset keys - single-use, I'm afraid, though there's NO 'expiry date' - for a small fee (a few dollars or pounds). Many people will just chuck away and buy new again, but I intend to hang onto my SX218 for a while longer yet. The printer works, the scanner works, the drivers I have for it give full functionality.....why add to the growing e-waste problem? (And most EPSON users will probably only ever need a reset key perhaps once - or maybe twice - in all the time they own one.)

Occasionally, some users will experience the error on their printer where it stops printing and all the lights start flashing. Different printer models may have different descriptions of this error, but it seems to be generally described as a 'Unknown Printer Error'. In fact, numerous users in the internet community believe that this error is most often experienced when the printer has reached a condition where it thinks the ink waste pads inside the printer are full. That's right - all that ink you lose in cleaning cycles and priming new cartridges has to go somewhere, and your Epson printer keeps track of roughly how much ink it has dumped into some large absorbent pads in the base of the printer!

Technically, this condition requires an Epson service engineer to resolve. It is however, possible that you could fix it yourself by resetting the printer and clearing the counter of how much ink has gone to those pads. You can do this as follows: (this seems to work on numerous Epson desktop printers, but we make no claims about it's reliability on your printer. Use at own risk etc!) However, we now have three separate procedures supplied by various users; it seems that there are either different reset procedures depending upon printer model, or something else is going on that we do no understand!

Additionally, we are now starting to hear about similar-sounding issues with the 2100 printer - except the printer is helpfully warning of the error before it just stops printing! The message you will see says something like 'Parts inside the printer are nearing the end of their service life'. Presumably at some time it will just refuse to print, unless the problem is addressed more directly.

We found this procedure to work for the Stylus Photo 1270 type printer, and understand that it also works for the 870 range and even earlier models like the Stylus Color 740. The error is indicated on these printers by all four lights on the printer flashing. Even if you press the power switch on the printer, the lights continue to flash, and the printer does not turn off!

There is a software reset method that can be used to reset ink levels. It is recommended to use in Epson service centers. Each printer model has specifyed service (adjustment) programwhich has such option like Reset Protection Counter when you need to reset the valueof Wate Ink Counter. You can learn more about software reset method at this link: About Service Programs.

This programs can be used to reset a number of counters in the printer, etc. Please note that CIS users should probably steer clear of any resetting of cartridge ink levels in the printer, and you will probably need to look for the 'Protection Counter'. Due to the risks of resetting this protection counter, it may be preferable to use the software once to reset the counter, then uninstall it so you do not inadvertently reset the counter more than once.

According to it's own readouts, it did reset the 'protection' counter... but pretty much did so of it's own accord. It then seemed to interfere with printing! However, the access to advanced cleaning function control etc looks useful. Nevertheless - use with caution as per the notes above!

OK - so whilst we have heard this resolves the problem, it may not do so for you, and whilst we have heard that the ink-pad error is most likely way before the ink pads are actually full, we think it will be OK. However, you should be aware that IF your ink pads were full then resetting the counter on the printer without replacing the pads could ultimately cause damage to your printer and surrounding areas as inks starts to pool inside the printer base and potentially leak out. We suspect that this will not happen for the vast majority of people, but it is certainly possible. We have now heard of this occurring for a couple of people.

Instructing you how to dismantle the printer to examine the waste ink pads is currently outside the scope of our support assistance (though we have done this task ourselves with minimum fuss). You may like to refer to our Service Manuals page and Spares Printers Parts UNICOMP site.

Since your printer consumes ink not only for printing but also for other operations like cleaning, a certain amount of ink is wasted and it is collected by the waste ink pad. Therefore, the printer counts the amount of waste ink.

Once the amount of waste ink reaches the predefined limit, the printer indicates "MAINTENANCE REQUEST" and the waste ink pad should be replaced. Also, you must reset the maintenance error condition and the waste ink counter value stored in EEPROM on the mainbord of the printer.

The adjustment program enables you to perform maintenance and adjustment functions such as: EEPROM initial setting Waste Ink Pad Counter reset Initial Ink Charge Head ID Setting Top margin Adjustment Bi-D Adjustment USB ID InputNote: This example shows you how to reset waste ink counter of Epson R280, R285, R290 printers. Other printer models may have different set of functions, and you must doublecheck the service manual for a specific printer that you are going to troubleshoot.

Warning: misuse of a program may damage printer's EEPROM! Run the program under Window XP only.

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