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Solving Epson ink cartridge problems

by Yisroel Goodman

Note: This article assumes you are using ink cartridges purchased at ccs-digital.com or genuine Epson. If you are using another brand, there may actually be a compatibility issue. Periodically, Epson changes the way their printers access the chip on the cartridge. Depending on the manufacture date of the printer, a cartridge may or may not work. Even though Epson T069 cartridges will fit many printers, the same compatible cartridge may work on a CX5000 but not on a Workforce. The Workforce was manufactured later and its programming has been updated to better detect a non-epson cartridge. Even within the same printer model, one may work with a compatible and another may not. Sometimes a set of cartridges from one manufacturer may work and a set from another may work but using some of one and some of the other in the same printer will not work. We have even heard of customers whose printers failed to recognize genuine Epson cartridges until all four cartridges were changed - even the ones which were not out of ink. We suspect this is because of a change to the chip.

Why do ours work better than most compatibles?
A lot of time passes from when the manufacturer perfects and tests their chips, makes the cartridge, ships to the master wholesaler who ships to the smaller distributor who ships to the dealer. By the time the customer gets it months later, Epson may have changed the programming on their new printer and the older chip used in the cartridge is no longer compatible. We have found a way to cut that lag time considerably so you get the latest chip with your cartridges. Our manufacturer makes the chips as the final stage of the process, to ensure that the latest design has been incorporated. If Epson has made a recent change to their printer, the chips may be packed separately in the box. We get these cartridges direct from the master distributor. They reach us within days of manufacture - not months like some other dealers.

Our manufacturer of reusable cartrirdges has complete redesigned the cartridge, using a unique 2-piece system where the ink is kept in a separate tank. When the ink runs out, just the tank is replaced and the same chip resets to full. Since this chip has already been recognized by your printer, you know there can't be a compatibility issue and it will continue to work.

When we first started selling T069 and T078 cartridges around 2007, we did have a few customers for whom an entire order of cartridges did not work. Since switching to this manufacturer, we have had to replace wll under 1% of the cartridges sold. Often the problem wasn't even the cartridge itself but something with the printer, since the returned cartridges worked perfectly in our printers. Here are some common problems and how they can be resolved.

Cartridge runs out of ink too quickly

There are several reasons for this problem. First, now that Epson has a near-monopoly on ink cartridges, they have drastically reduced the amount of ink supplied. It used to be about 24ml. Now it's as little as 7ml. Read this report where researchers measured the actual amount of ink in Epson cartridges. They ranged from 11ml for their so-called "high capacity" to 7 ml for the T069 to a miserable 3 ml for the T088. If you don't grasp how little 7 ml is, it's 7/1000ths of a liter. It takes over 100 of these to make a liter and more than 300 to make a gallon. Yet Epson is charging $20 for this. This means printer ink is $20 x 300 or $6000 a gallon! And you thought gas was high! Even if you have a credit card that has a high credit limit, the refill cost can be a drawback in the long run. So you can begin to understand why it seems your new cartridges are running out of ink too quickly. Our standard cartridges give you about 50% more ink than Epson (which is still not enough, in my opinion, but at least the price is about 75% less). Our reusable cartridges give you 20 ml - almost triple the genuine Epson. However, Epson printers do not accurately measure the remaining ink and use an estimate. To prevent having the printer operate on an empty cartridge, the printer errs on the side of caution and reports the cartridge empty when there is still ink in the cartridge. The fault lies with the printer, not the cartridge.

When you run a printer head cleaning, it uses a signifcant amount of ink. Whenever you replace a cartridge, it automatically runs a cleaning. So you should understand why a new cartridge can suddenly appear to have lost a good deal of ink. When you turn the printer on, it may decide to run a cleaning. That is why you should never turn your printer off. Printers don't use much power in idle mode and the electricity you save turning it off is less than the ink you lose turning it back on. Ink also has a tendency to coagulate. Otherwise, it would never dry on paper. If you don't print for several days, your print heads can get clogged by dry ink. So it's a good idea to leave the printer on. It forces out a minscule amount of ink every so often to prevent clogging. At the very least, turn it on every couple of days just to keep the ink circulating and prevent your print heads from getting clogged.

Sometimes you can solve the low-ink problem by shaking the cartridge and putting it back in. Some cartridges contain a floating sensor which decides how much ink remains by its position in the cartridge. The sensor may stick to the bottom and decide the cartridge is empty when it really isn't, which is why shaking can help solve this. Once the printer says a cartridge is completely out of ink, it is too late to solve the problem. The new T069 and T078 cartridges have a chip which "self-destructs" when the cartridge reports empty. It can not be reset by a chip resetter. This is done to prevent refilling, which is never a good idea. Our 2-piece cartridge uses a completely redesigned chip which automatically resets to full when reinserted in the printer. We also have chip resetters for the older cartridges.

Printer does not recognize the cartridge

If this happens with any of the earlier cartridges (T044, T048, T060), the problem is almost certainly with the printer. I say this because so far, in the very few times this happened, the cartridges have always worked in another printer. Earlier epson printers and their matching cartridges have not been changed. The chips they contain today are identical to the ones manufactured years ago. It usually means the wrong cartridge was inserted - such as a yellow in the blue slot. Each chip is matched to its color and putting the wrong cartridge in the wrong slot will cause the printer to report an unrecognized cartridge.

Another cause is a short within the printer itself. At one customer (fortunately a local one) I used a flashlight and spotted a tiny fragment of the cartridge chip stuck to the pins inside the printer. This was shorting out the connection and causing the printer to fail to recognize any cartridge in that slot. Removing the fragment solved the problem. At another client, the printer refused to recognize any cartridge - including genuine Epson.

If it is a later cartridge, it becomes a little harder to diagnose. How old is your printer? If it is brand new, there is a chance that Epson recently changed the programming again, in which case it is possible the cartridges are outdated and you need new chips. If it is a few months old, this is highly unlikely. If the chip was packaged separately in the cartridge box, did you remember to plug it into the cartridge? Turn off the printer, take the cartridge out and try removing and resetting the chip. Shake it a little and put it back in. Are you sure it is reporting the correct cartridge? Sometimes after you replace the cyan, it suddenly reports a problem and you assume it's the cyan you just replaced but it's actually a different one which came loose or is now empty. Try reseating or replacing a different cartridge. Of course it's always possible that something happened to damage the chip on the cartridge. I have seen this happen with genuine epson as well. In this case the cartridge must be replaced.

Error cycle - first one cartridge then the next reports an error

error cycle article

Cartridge doesn't print

The printer recognizes the cartridge and shows it as full but that color does not print: Did you take the tape off the top of the cartridge? It covers a tiny air hole. Air has to get in for ink to flow out. If you did remove the tape, perhaps a tiny bit remains which is still covering the hole. Take a sharp object like a pin or scissors and carefully scrape the top of the cartridge to make sure the hole is uncovered. If that's not the problem, print a nozzle check pattern. Does ANY of that color print? If there is some showing, perhaps the print heads for that color are clogged. Run a head cleaning and try another nozzle check. Did it get better? If so, you have a head clog. You may have to run several cleanings.

If that doesn't help, here are steps which may unclog your print head:

leave the printer on for a day
run several head cleanings and print the nozzle check pattern
if that doesnt fix it, remove the cartridge(s) from the blocked head and drop alcohol where the ink enters the printer.
reinsert the cartridges
run one head cleaning
wait about an hour then run some head cleanings.
if that still doesnt work, your heads may be clogged to the point where they need repair or replacement, which will probably cost more than a new printer.

None of these suggestions work. What next?

We have a full replacement or money-back guarantee on our cartridges as long as the customer behaves reasonably. We will replace a reasonable number of open cartridges and any number of sealed ones returned to us as long as you follow the simple guidelines. If you bought your cartridges elsewhere, good luck. Click here for warranty details

We consider ourselves more than reasonable in dealing with customers and go the extra mile to make sure no one is disappointed. However, sometimes a few individuals make it difficult for everyone else. Wouldn't it be nice if everyone conducted themselves fairly and we wouldn't need lawyers and contracts to keep people honest? So while we would like to say 100% money-back guarantee, no questions asked, a few people have made it impossible to do this without adding some conditions. They can be summed up in two words: be reasonable.

If there is a problem with one or two of our cartridges, we will replace them. If three cartridges, we will refund the purchase price for those cartridges and any unopened ones returned within a reasonable amount of time. If your printer uses four different cartridges (black and 3 colors) and you opened four different ones, we will take those back. But don't open four or more of the same color and expect a refund. A reasonable time limit to return them is about a month. That doesn't mean we won't do it after 35 days, but at the same time we have to put some time limit on it since we have had a few people contact us many months later.

Why the limit of four opened cartridges? It is always possible that one or two were defective. This can happen (and has) even with genuine Epson products. But if it is three of the same color, this indicates a problem with the printer itself. What happens is the print head gets jammed. The printer reports out of ink. The customer puts in a new cartridges and it still won't print. The customer assumes the cartridge is defective and tries a second and perhaps a third. At that point, the customer should realize it is a printer problem. Even if the customer believes it to be a cartridge problem, if three don't work, there is no point in continuing to open the rest. Return them for a refund. But we did have at least one person order a dozen black cartridges, then return them all opened six months later, claiming they were all defective. We have to protect ourselves from other geniuses like that.

The problem really hit home when after explaining our policy to a prospective customer, the genius actually said, "If I buy your cartridges and they don't work, I want more than my money back." Another customer tried to charge back a large order on his credit card months later, claiming they were all defective. He never called or emailed. It would not have taken months to determine that an entire batch was defective. Fortunately, when we spoke to his credit card company, they agreed that our warranty was reasonable and since he made no attempt to contact us, they denied his charge back.

Naturally, if you buy a quantity of cartridges, we can't expect you to test them all within a month. So if you bought a quantity and a few months later find that one or two didn't work properly, we will replace it or add extra to your next order.

Note: the only thing our refill cartridges contain is ink. There is no chip on the refill. If your printer can't recognize the cartridge or reports that it is empty when it isn't, the problem is not with the refill but with the chip (or with the printer). We can not warranty the refills unless you are using our cartridges. If you bought a set of cartridges from us and have a problem with the cartridges or the refills, we will take care of it by replacing or refunding. If you bought the cartridges elsewhere and just the refills from us, we can not guarantee them because the problem is with the cartridge - not the refill. We do our best to make sure we don't sell refills alone to someone who has not bought the matching cartridges, but should you decide to go ahead anyway, it is at your own risk.

We supply schools, professional printers, and corporations. We do very little advertising. Most of our customers come to us by referral from other customers. We must be doing something right (and our cartridges must be working properly) to achieve this track record. As long as your expectations are reasonable, we will be more than reasonable. Hide Warranty Info

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