I was disturbed to find that the carts which my Epson R300 claimed were
empty (it wouldn't do anything until I swapped) still seemed to have
substantial ink left in them (I shook them and heard liquid slopping
around).
I have the SCC utility but that doesn't seem to be able to force the printer
to reset the levels.
"Nigel Andrews" <nandrews2@yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:O2Fmj.4675$HV6.1820@newsfe4-win.ntli.net...
>I was disturbed to find that the carts which my Epson R300 claimed were
>empty (it wouldn't do anything until I swapped) still seemed to have
>substantial ink left in them (I shook them and heard liquid slopping
>around).
> I have the SCC utility but that doesn't seem to be able to force the
> printer to reset the levels.
>
> Does anyone experience this?
>
> Nigel
>
The software on your computer and the chip attached to the cartridge keep
count of how much you've printed and give an estimate of how much ink has
been used. When the chip says empty there may be somewhere between 10 - 25 %
of ink still remaining in the cartridge. The estimate is purposely
conservative by Epson to disallow printing before the cartridge is actually
empty because if you ran out of ink this could cause an annoying head clog
or introduce air into the printhead which could easily create an airlock or
at the minimum again cause premature drying of any ink in the printhead and
again cause a head clog.
To answer your question then; everyone using an Epson with chipped
cartridges experiences this event to a more or lesser degree, but there is
always left over ink, with possibly a rare exception.
A couple of years ago a class action suit was brought against Epson for
exactly what you're referring and a settlement was arranged for every person
who had bought an Epson between 1999 - Apr. '96. The action claimed that
Epson purposely configured its software and hardware to disallow printing
even though there might be as much as 25% of the ink left in the cartridge.
It claimed that consumers were being cheated of not being able to use the
entire amount of ink they'd purchased.
Rather than go to court Epson arranged to pay anyone who had bought one
of their printers within that time frame a sum of $45 ($25 cash and $20
credit towards merchandise at their online store, or $45 credit towards
merchandise at their online store).
Since then Epson's lawyers have rewritten their acceptance of use policy
when purchasing their printers. Whether or not that infers one can't sue
them again for not being able to use the full amount of ink in the cartridge
is an event to be seen.
You could purchase a chip resetter and that would allow you use of the
remaining ink in the cartridge, but that's iffy because you really can't see
how much ink is left.
For a good long term solution you can still purchase see - through
spongeless cartridges at MIS, bulk ink, and a chip resetter for your R300.
The cartridges are as easy to refill as filling a baby bottle. The ink is
excellent (from my own experience using it on a dozen printers at my school
for almost two years at this point) and you will not waste a cent or drop of
ink because the you can keep resetting the cartridge chips and use all the
ink. Additionally you will save a small fortune to what it would cost buying
Epson ink and not be contributing empty plastic into landfills.
You will no doubt read the noise of MK; the NG printer troll, who is highly
unaccepting of anyone elses opinions regarding refilling. I killfiled him
awhile ago. You can figure his ramblings for yourself.
I guess I just hadn't 'listened' to previous carts and heard the ink in
those. It is scary how much ink/money we are all throwing away.
It seems time for a real investigation into cart sales. I am in the U.K. and
the government did an investigation into CD sales and unfair hyped prices.
It seems that ink carts should undergo the same examination. Maybe we will
see printer prices increase (some are sold at less than a set of branded
carts would cost!) but at least it will be above board.
You seem well informed. Is there a web resource which would explain
(technically) the printing process of general or specific ink jet printers?
Also, if it is not asking too much, a resource specific for printing
problems with Epson Stylus Photo R300?
many thanks
Nigel
"Jan Alter" <bearpuf@verizon.net> wrote in message
news:aMGmj.3415$fs4.1375@trnddc02...
>
>
> "Nigel Andrews" <nandrews2@yahoo.com> wrote in message
> news:O2Fmj.4675$HV6.1820@newsfe4-win.ntli.net...
>>I was disturbed to find that the carts which my Epson R300 claimed were
>>empty (it wouldn't do anything until I swapped) still seemed to have
>>substantial ink left in them (I shook them and heard liquid slopping
>>around).
>> I have the SCC utility but that doesn't seem to be able to force the
>> printer to reset the levels.
>>
>> Does anyone experience this?
>>
>> Nigel
>>
>
> The software on your computer and the chip attached to the cartridge keep
> count of how much you've printed and give an estimate of how much ink has
> been used. When the chip says empty there may be somewhere between 10 - 25
> % of ink still remaining in the cartridge. The estimate is purposely
> conservative by Epson to disallow printing before the cartridge is
> actually empty because if you ran out of ink this could cause an annoying
> head clog or introduce air into the printhead which could easily create an
> airlock or at the minimum again cause premature drying of any ink in the
> printhead and again cause a head clog.
> To answer your question then; everyone using an Epson with chipped
> cartridges experiences this event to a more or lesser degree, but there is
> always left over ink, with possibly a rare exception.
> A couple of years ago a class action suit was brought against Epson for
> exactly what you're referring and a settlement was arranged for every
> person who had bought an Epson between 1999 - Apr. '96. The action claimed
> that Epson purposely configured its software and hardware to disallow
> printing even though there might be as much as 25% of the ink left in the
> cartridge. It claimed that consumers were being cheated of not being able
> to use the entire amount of ink they'd purchased.
> Rather than go to court Epson arranged to pay anyone who had bought one
> of their printers within that time frame a sum of $45 ($25 cash and $20
> credit towards merchandise at their online store, or $45 credit towards
> merchandise at their online store).
> Since then Epson's lawyers have rewritten their acceptance of use
> policy when purchasing their printers. Whether or not that infers one
> can't sue them again for not being able to use the full amount of ink in
> the cartridge is an event to be seen.
> You could purchase a chip resetter and that would allow you use of the
> remaining ink in the cartridge, but that's iffy because you really can't
> see how much ink is left.
> For a good long term solution you can still purchase see - through
> spongeless cartridges at MIS, bulk ink, and a chip resetter for your R300.
> The cartridges are as easy to refill as filling a baby bottle. The ink is
> excellent (from my own experience using it on a dozen printers at my
> school for almost two years at this point) and you will not waste a cent
> or drop of ink because the you can keep resetting the cartridge chips and
> use all the ink. Additionally you will save a small fortune to what it
> would cost buying Epson ink and not be contributing empty plastic into
> landfills.
>
> http://www.inksupply.com/spongless_carts.cfm
>
> You will no doubt read the noise of MK; the NG printer troll, who is
> highly unaccepting of anyone elses opinions regarding refilling. I
> killfiled him awhile ago. You can figure his ramblings for yourself.
>
>
> Jan Alter
> bearpuf@verizon.net
> jalter@phila.k12.pa.us
>
>
>
>
>
"Nigel Andrews" <nandrews2@yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:afLmj.33619$a61.18432@newsfe3-win.ntli.net...
> Jan,
>
> Thanks for that long and detailed explanation.
>
> I guess I just hadn't 'listened' to previous carts and heard the ink in
> those. It is scary how much ink/money we are all throwing away.
> It seems time for a real investigation into cart sales. I am in the U.K.
> and the government did an investigation into CD sales and unfair hyped
> prices. It seems that ink carts should undergo the same examination. Maybe
> we will see printer prices increase (some are sold at less than a set of
> branded carts would cost!) but at least it will be above board.
>
> You seem well informed. Is there a web resource which would explain
> (technically) the printing process of general or specific ink jet
> printers?
>
> Also, if it is not asking too much, a resource specific for printing
> problems with Epson Stylus Photo R300?
>
> many thanks
>
> Nigel
>
>
> "Jan Alter" <bearpuf@verizon.net> wrote in message
> news:aMGmj.3415$fs4.1375@trnddc02...
>>
>>
>> "Nigel Andrews" <nandrews2@yahoo.com> wrote in message
>> news:O2Fmj.4675$HV6.1820@newsfe4-win.ntli.net...
>>>I was disturbed to find that the carts which my Epson R300 claimed were
>>>empty (it wouldn't do anything until I swapped) still seemed to have
>>>substantial ink left in them (I shook them and heard liquid slopping
>>>around).
>>> I have the SCC utility but that doesn't seem to be able to force the
>>> printer to reset the levels.
>>>
>>> Does anyone experience this?
>>>
>>> Nigel
>>>
>>
>> The software on your computer and the chip attached to the cartridge keep
>> count of how much you've printed and give an estimate of how much ink has
>> been used. When the chip says empty there may be somewhere between 10 -
>> 25 % of ink still remaining in the cartridge. The estimate is purposely
>> conservative by Epson to disallow printing before the cartridge is
>> actually empty because if you ran out of ink this could cause an annoying
>> head clog or introduce air into the printhead which could easily create
>> an airlock or at the minimum again cause premature drying of any ink in
>> the printhead and again cause a head clog.
>> To answer your question then; everyone using an Epson with chipped
>> cartridges experiences this event to a more or lesser degree, but there
>> is always left over ink, with possibly a rare exception.
>> A couple of years ago a class action suit was brought against Epson
>> for exactly what you're referring and a settlement was arranged for every
>> person who had bought an Epson between 1999 - Apr. '96. The action
>> claimed that Epson purposely configured its software and hardware to
>> disallow printing even though there might be as much as 25% of the ink
>> left in the cartridge. It claimed that consumers were being cheated of
>> not being able to use the entire amount of ink they'd purchased.
>> Rather than go to court Epson arranged to pay anyone who had bought
>> one of their printers within that time frame a sum of $45 ($25 cash and
>> $20 credit towards merchandise at their online store, or $45 credit
>> towards merchandise at their online store).
>> Since then Epson's lawyers have rewritten their acceptance of use
>> policy when purchasing their printers. Whether or not that infers one
>> can't sue them again for not being able to use the full amount of ink in
>> the cartridge is an event to be seen.
>> You could purchase a chip resetter and that would allow you use of the
>> remaining ink in the cartridge, but that's iffy because you really can't
>> see how much ink is left.
>> For a good long term solution you can still purchase see - through
>> spongeless cartridges at MIS, bulk ink, and a chip resetter for your
>> R300. The cartridges are as easy to refill as filling a baby bottle. The
>> ink is excellent (from my own experience using it on a dozen printers at
>> my school for almost two years at this point) and you will not waste a
>> cent or drop of ink because the you can keep resetting the cartridge
>> chips and use all the ink. Additionally you will save a small fortune to
>> what it would cost buying Epson ink and not be contributing empty plastic
>> into landfills.
>>
>> http://www.inksupply.com/spongless_carts.cfm
>>
>> You will no doubt read the noise of MK; the NG printer troll, who is
>> highly unaccepting of anyone elses opinions regarding refilling. I
>> killfiled him awhile ago. You can figure his ramblings for yourself.
>>
>>
What I have acquired has been specific to my own needs as someone who takes
care of some 80 Epson inkjets at our school for the past nine years and has
been using Epson printers since '91. So if you wanted to know how well any
of the Epson 740, 880, C80, C82, C84 and C88+ printers are doing I could
readily tell you, and for the R1800 I run at home.
There are several very well informed regulars on this NG who have some vast
overall knowledge of many makes of printers and also may have experience
with the R300. They may chime in, and additionally you might want to start
googling for specific problems with that printer.
Jan has provided a very good answer to this issue including the back
grounder on the class action against Epson, and some solutions
top getting around this.
A few extra thoughts.
1) The class action was only for US residents. The rest of us still
haven't received any compensation for those older printers with wasted ink.
2) I believe the printers which were included stretched more recently
than 1999
3) For most printers that the SCC utilities work with, the secret is to
"freeze the ink levels prior to them becoming officially "empty". Once
they reach the theoretical "empty" the SCC utility cannot reverse that.
4) per item 3, if you do freeze the ink level, you may drain the
cartridge empty and create an annoying, although nor irreversible air
lock in the head, which might waste some ink in resolving, making the
benefit less valuable.
Art
Jan Alter wrote:
> "Nigel Andrews" <nandrews2@yahoo.com> wrote in message
> news:O2Fmj.4675$HV6.1820@newsfe4-win.ntli.net...
>
>>I was disturbed to find that the carts which my Epson R300 claimed were
>>empty (it wouldn't do anything until I swapped) still seemed to have
>>substantial ink left in them (I shook them and heard liquid slopping
>>around).
>>I have the SCC utility but that doesn't seem to be able to force the
>>printer to reset the levels.
>>
>>Does anyone experience this?
>>
>>Nigel
>>
>
>
> The software on your computer and the chip attached to the cartridge keep
> count of how much you've printed and give an estimate of how much ink has
> been used. When the chip says empty there may be somewhere between 10 - 25 %
> of ink still remaining in the cartridge. The estimate is purposely
> conservative by Epson to disallow printing before the cartridge is actually
> empty because if you ran out of ink this could cause an annoying head clog
> or introduce air into the printhead which could easily create an airlock or
> at the minimum again cause premature drying of any ink in the printhead and
> again cause a head clog.
> To answer your question then; everyone using an Epson with chipped
> cartridges experiences this event to a more or lesser degree, but there is
> always left over ink, with possibly a rare exception.
> A couple of years ago a class action suit was brought against Epson for
> exactly what you're referring and a settlement was arranged for every person
> who had bought an Epson between 1999 - Apr. '96. The action claimed that
> Epson purposely configured its software and hardware to disallow printing
> even though there might be as much as 25% of the ink left in the cartridge.
> It claimed that consumers were being cheated of not being able to use the
> entire amount of ink they'd purchased.
> Rather than go to court Epson arranged to pay anyone who had bought one
> of their printers within that time frame a sum of $45 ($25 cash and $20
> credit towards merchandise at their online store, or $45 credit towards
> merchandise at their online store).
> Since then Epson's lawyers have rewritten their acceptance of use policy
> when purchasing their printers. Whether or not that infers one can't sue
> them again for not being able to use the full amount of ink in the cartridge
> is an event to be seen.
> You could purchase a chip resetter and that would allow you use of the
> remaining ink in the cartridge, but that's iffy because you really can't see
> how much ink is left.
> For a good long term solution you can still purchase see - through
> spongeless cartridges at MIS, bulk ink, and a chip resetter for your R300.
> The cartridges are as easy to refill as filling a baby bottle. The ink is
> excellent (from my own experience using it on a dozen printers at my school
> for almost two years at this point) and you will not waste a cent or drop of
> ink because the you can keep resetting the cartridge chips and use all the
> ink. Additionally you will save a small fortune to what it would cost buying
> Epson ink and not be contributing empty plastic into landfills.
>
> http://www.inksupply.com/spongless_carts.cfm
>
> You will no doubt read the noise of MK; the NG printer troll, who is highly
> unaccepting of anyone elses opinions regarding refilling. I killfiled him
> awhile ago. You can figure his ramblings for yourself.
>
>
> Jan Alter
> bearpuf@verizon.net
> jalter@phila.k12.pa.us
>
>
>
>
>
One potential option regarding the extra ink in the cartridges when they
read empty is to save them up and when you have several, you can extract
the ink from a number of them and use it to refill one of the cartridges
of the same color. You can then have a full cartridge which you reset
with a chip resetter (selling for under $10 in most cases). You will
need to research the refilling process on the chipped cartridges on
Google, for instance.
The main thing is to keep the "empty" cartridges in zip lock plastic
bags until you extract the ink, to keep them from drying, and when you
do the extraction and refill process make sure you keep things clean nd
do not contaminate the ink with either other colors, dried ink or dust
and such.
When working with the inks, keep in mind they are toxic (containing
ethylene glycol and other chemicals which are poisonous to pets and
younger children, and that they can stain skin and objects within your
household. Wear plastic or rubber gloves.
Art
Nigel Andrews wrote:
> Jan,
>
> Thanks for that long and detailed explanation.
>
> I guess I just hadn't 'listened' to previous carts and heard the ink in
> those. It is scary how much ink/money we are all throwing away.
> It seems time for a real investigation into cart sales. I am in the U.K. and
> the government did an investigation into CD sales and unfair hyped prices.
> It seems that ink carts should undergo the same examination. Maybe we will
> see printer prices increase (some are sold at less than a set of branded
> carts would cost!) but at least it will be above board.
>
> You seem well informed. Is there a web resource which would explain
> (technically) the printing process of general or specific ink jet printers?
>
> Also, if it is not asking too much, a resource specific for printing
> problems with Epson Stylus Photo R300?
>
> many thanks
>
> Nigel
>
>
> "Jan Alter" <bearpuf@verizon.net> wrote in message
> news:aMGmj.3415$fs4.1375@trnddc02...
>
>>
>>"Nigel Andrews" <nandrews2@yahoo.com> wrote in message
>>news:O2Fmj.4675$HV6.1820@newsfe4-win.ntli.net...
>>
>>>I was disturbed to find that the carts which my Epson R300 claimed were
>>>empty (it wouldn't do anything until I swapped) still seemed to have
>>>substantial ink left in them (I shook them and heard liquid slopping
>>>around).
>>>I have the SCC utility but that doesn't seem to be able to force the
>>>printer to reset the levels.
>>>
>>>Does anyone experience this?
>>>
>>>Nigel
>>>
>>
>>The software on your computer and the chip attached to the cartridge keep
>>count of how much you've printed and give an estimate of how much ink has
>>been used. When the chip says empty there may be somewhere between 10 - 25
>>% of ink still remaining in the cartridge. The estimate is purposely
>>conservative by Epson to disallow printing before the cartridge is
>>actually empty because if you ran out of ink this could cause an annoying
>>head clog or introduce air into the printhead which could easily create an
>>airlock or at the minimum again cause premature drying of any ink in the
>>printhead and again cause a head clog.
>> To answer your question then; everyone using an Epson with chipped
>>cartridges experiences this event to a more or lesser degree, but there is
>>always left over ink, with possibly a rare exception.
>> A couple of years ago a class action suit was brought against Epson for
>>exactly what you're referring and a settlement was arranged for every
>>person who had bought an Epson between 1999 - Apr. '96. The action claimed
>>that Epson purposely configured its software and hardware to disallow
>>printing even though there might be as much as 25% of the ink left in the
>>cartridge. It claimed that consumers were being cheated of not being able
>>to use the entire amount of ink they'd purchased.
>> Rather than go to court Epson arranged to pay anyone who had bought one
>>of their printers within that time frame a sum of $45 ($25 cash and $20
>>credit towards merchandise at their online store, or $45 credit towards
>>merchandise at their online store).
>> Since then Epson's lawyers have rewritten their acceptance of use
>>policy when purchasing their printers. Whether or not that infers one
>>can't sue them again for not being able to use the full amount of ink in
>>the cartridge is an event to be seen.
>> You could purchase a chip resetter and that would allow you use of the
>>remaining ink in the cartridge, but that's iffy because you really can't
>>see how much ink is left.
>> For a good long term solution you can still purchase see - through
>>spongeless cartridges at MIS, bulk ink, and a chip resetter for your R300.
>>The cartridges are as easy to refill as filling a baby bottle. The ink is
>>excellent (from my own experience using it on a dozen printers at my
>>school for almost two years at this point) and you will not waste a cent
>>or drop of ink because the you can keep resetting the cartridge chips and
>>use all the ink. Additionally you will save a small fortune to what it
>>would cost buying Epson ink and not be contributing empty plastic into
>>landfills.
>>
>>http://www.inksupply.com/spongless_carts.cfm
>>
>>You will no doubt read the noise of MK; the NG printer troll, who is
>>highly unaccepting of anyone elses opinions regarding refilling. I
>>killfiled him awhile ago. You can figure his ramblings for yourself.
>>
>>
>>Jan Alter
>>bearpuf@verizon.net
>>jalter@phila.k12.pa.us
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>
>
>
Hi Art,
I had thought the printers included were to 1999, but I find the dates
cover specifically April '99 - May '06. And it hadn't occurred to me that
there were no international lawsuits going on about this event until you
mentioned that the settlement only affected the U.S.
Fortunately Rust Associates, the folks who handled the setttlement, still
have the website up where I could check that information.
By the way, last week a C84 printer that I use let out its software
complaint that the sponge diaper was in need of change. I used the SCC
utility to reset it, but was quite surprised to see how soon Epson has the
alarm set to have the warning enable itself. Although I do a fair amount of
printing with it to make color certificates and posters for the school I
previously had used the Stylus 880 for much more printing over a three year
period and never got that warning. I'm thinking that Epson these days makes
more of an effort to get limited use out of their hardware before
replacement.
It is basically only that this company still makes the best photographic
inkjets on the planet that keeps me using them. I hate their environmental
methodology as well as as their tactics to extricate as much money as they
can from the consumer, while continuously waging a war on anyone who wants
to attempt to refill a cartridge.
--
Jan bearpuf@verizon.net
or jalter@phila.k12.pa.us
"Arthur Entlich" <e-printerhelp@mvps.org> wrote in message
news:NNZmj.16405$ow.13547@pd7urf1no...
> Jan has provided a very good answer to this issue including the back
> grounder on the class action against Epson, and some solutions
> top getting around this.
>
> A few extra thoughts.
>
> 1) The class action was only for US residents. The rest of us still
> haven't received any compensation for those older printers with wasted
> ink.
>
> 2) I believe the printers which were included stretched more recently than
> 1999
>
> 3) For most printers that the SCC utilities work with, the secret is to
> "freeze the ink levels prior to them becoming officially "empty". Once
> they reach the theoretical "empty" the SCC utility cannot reverse that.
>
> 4) per item 3, if you do freeze the ink level, you may drain the cartridge
> empty and create an annoying, although nor irreversible air lock in the
> head, which might waste some ink in resolving, making the benefit less
> valuable.
>
> Art
>
>
> Jan Alter wrote:
>
>> "Nigel Andrews" <nandrews2@yahoo.com> wrote in message
>> news:O2Fmj.4675$HV6.1820@newsfe4-win.ntli.net...
>>
>>>I was disturbed to find that the carts which my Epson R300 claimed were
>>>empty (it wouldn't do anything until I swapped) still seemed to have
>>>substantial ink left in them (I shook them and heard liquid slopping
>>>around).
>>>I have the SCC utility but that doesn't seem to be able to force the
>>>printer to reset the levels.
>>>
>>>Does anyone experience this?
>>>
>>>Nigel
>>>
>>
>>
>> The software on your computer and the chip attached to the cartridge keep
>> count of how much you've printed and give an estimate of how much ink has
>> been used. When the chip says empty there may be somewhere between 10 -
>> 25 % of ink still remaining in the cartridge. The estimate is purposely
>> conservative by Epson to disallow printing before the cartridge is
>> actually empty because if you ran out of ink this could cause an annoying
>> head clog or introduce air into the printhead which could easily create
>> an airlock or at the minimum again cause premature drying of any ink in
>> the printhead and again cause a head clog.
>> To answer your question then; everyone using an Epson with chipped
>> cartridges experiences this event to a more or lesser degree, but there
>> is always left over ink, with possibly a rare exception.
>> A couple of years ago a class action suit was brought against Epson
>> for exactly what you're referring and a settlement was arranged for every
>> person who had bought an Epson between 1999 - Apr. '96. The action
>> claimed that Epson purposely configured its software and hardware to
>> disallow printing even though there might be as much as 25% of the ink
>> left in the cartridge. It claimed that consumers were being cheated of
>> not being able to use the entire amount of ink they'd purchased.
>> Rather than go to court Epson arranged to pay anyone who had bought
>> one of their printers within that time frame a sum of $45 ($25 cash and
>> $20 credit towards merchandise at their online store, or $45 credit
>> towards merchandise at their online store).
>> Since then Epson's lawyers have rewritten their acceptance of use
>> policy when purchasing their printers. Whether or not that infers one
>> can't sue them again for not being able to use the full amount of ink in
>> the cartridge is an event to be seen.
>> You could purchase a chip resetter and that would allow you use of the
>> remaining ink in the cartridge, but that's iffy because you really can't
>> see how much ink is left.
>> For a good long term solution you can still purchase see - through
>> spongeless cartridges at MIS, bulk ink, and a chip resetter for your
>> R300. The cartridges are as easy to refill as filling a baby bottle. The
>> ink is excellent (from my own experience using it on a dozen printers at
>> my school for almost two years at this point) and you will not waste a
>> cent or drop of ink because the you can keep resetting the cartridge
>> chips and use all the ink. Additionally you will save a small fortune to
>> what it would cost buying Epson ink and not be contributing empty plastic
>> into landfills.
>>
>> http://www.inksupply.com/spongless_carts.cfm
>>
>> You will no doubt read the noise of MK; the NG printer troll, who is
>> highly unaccepting of anyone elses opinions regarding refilling. I
>> killfiled him awhile ago. You can figure his ramblings for yourself.
>>
>>
>> Jan Alter
>> bearpuf@verizon.net
>> jalter@phila.k12.pa.us
>>
>>
>>
Epson print heads are expensive and if run dry you have a major problem. They leave about 15% left when then are considered empty. This is taken into consideration in the label when they disclose the usable amount.
Nigel Andrews wrote:
I was disturbed to find that the carts which my Epson R300 claimed were empty (it wouldn't do anything until I swapped) still seemed to have substantial ink left in them (I shook them and heard liquid slopping around). I have the SCC utility but that doesn't seem to be able to force the printer to reset the levels. Does anyone experience this? Nigel
I was disturbed to find that the carts which my Epson R300 claimed were empty (it wouldn't do anything until I swapped) still seemed to have substantial ink left in them (I shook them and heard liquid slopping around). I have the SCC utility but that doesn't seem to be able to force the printer to reset the levels. Does anyone experience this? Nigel
The software on your computer and the chip attached to the cartridge keep count of how much you've printed and give an estimate of how much ink has been used. When the chip says empty there may be somewhere between 10 - 25 % of ink still remaining in the cartridge. The estimate is purposely conservative by Epson to disallow printing before the cartridge is actually empty because if you ran out of ink this could cause an annoying head clog or introduce air into the printhead which could easily create an airlock or at the minimum again cause premature drying of any ink in the printhead and again cause a head clog. To answer your question then; everyone using an Epson with chipped cartridges experiences this event to a more or lesser degree, but there is always left over ink, with possibly a rare exception. A couple of years ago a class action suit was brought against Epson for exactly what you're referring and a settlement was arranged for every person who had bought an Epson between 1999 - Apr. '96. The action claimed that Epson purposely configured its software and hardware to disallow printing even though there might be as much as 25% of the ink left in the cartridge. It claimed that consumers were being cheated of not being able to use the entire amount of ink they'd purchased. Rather than go to court Epson arranged to pay anyone who had bought one of their printers within that time frame a sum of $45 ($25 cash and $20 credit towards merchandise at their online store, or $45 credit towards merchandise at their online store). Since then Epson's lawyers have rewritten their acceptance of use policy when purchasing their printers. Whether or not that infers one can't sue them again for not being able to use the full amount of ink in the cartridge is an event to be seen. You could purchase a chip resetter and that would allow you use of the remaining ink in the cartridge, but that's iffy because you really can't see how much ink is left. For a good long term solution you can still purchase see - through spongeless cartridges at MIS, bulk ink, and a chip resetter for your R300. The cartridges are as easy to refill as filling a baby bottle.
It is not easy. It is messy. You will no longer have an Epson printer. The ink is not as durable and the photos printed will not have the same quality. If you are school kid print that kind of stuff then the quality makes no difference and that is what this poster does. They print short lived throw away documents and if they print a lot then the risk of head clogging will be less. They also are not concerned about paper profiles or exact color.
The ink is excellent (from my own experience using it on a dozen printers at my school for almost two years at this point) and you will not waste a cent or drop of ink because the you can keep resetting the cartridge chips and use all the ink. Additionally you will save a small fortune to what it would cost buying Epson ink and not be contributing empty plastic into landfills. http://www.inksupply.com/spongless_carts.cfm You will no doubt read the noise of MK; the NG printer troll, who is highly unaccepting of anyone elses opinions regarding refilling. I killfiled him awhile ago. You can figure his ramblings for yourself.
These people are not accepting of the truth. Read the magazines like PCWorld or PC Magazine and then read the reports from Wilhelm labs. Then make up your own mind. Once usually buys a print based on the printers track record and reviews and these are done with OEM ink.
Jan, Thanks for that long and detailed explanation. I guess I just hadn't 'listened' to previous carts and heard the ink in those. It is scary how much ink/money we are all throwing away. It seems time for a real investigation into cart sales. I am in the U.K. and the government did an investigation into CD sales and unfair hyped prices. It seems that ink carts should undergo the same examination. Maybe we will see printer prices increase (some are sold at less than a set of branded carts would cost!) but at least it will be above board. You seem well informed. Is there a web resource which would explain (technically) the printing process of general or specific ink jet printers? Also, if it is not asking too much, a resource specific for printing problems with Epson Stylus Photo R300? many thanks
For a little more than the price of a set of carts for the Epson R300 you can get a Canon IP4500. It has duplex printing and twin paper trays that the Epson does not have and the photo quality is better. The carts are clear and have lights on them telling you when to change then and you can see they are empty. The printer is much better.
I was disturbed to find that the carts which my Epson R300 claimed were empty (it wouldn't do anything until I swapped) still seemed to have substantial ink left in them (I shook them and heard liquid slopping around). I have the SCC utility but that doesn't seem to be able to force the printer to reset the levels. Does anyone experience this? Nigel
The software on your computer and the chip attached to the cartridge keep count of how much you've printed and give an estimate of how much ink has been used. When the chip says empty there may be somewhere between 10 - 25 % of ink still remaining in the cartridge. The estimate is purposely conservative by Epson to disallow printing before the cartridge is actually empty because if you ran out of ink this could cause an annoying head clog or introduce air into the printhead which could easily create an airlock or at the minimum again cause premature drying of any ink in the printhead and again cause a head clog. To answer your question then; everyone using an Epson with chipped cartridges experiences this event to a more or lesser degree, but there is always left over ink, with possibly a rare exception. A couple of years ago a class action suit was brought against Epson for exactly what you're referring and a settlement was arranged for every person who had bought an Epson between 1999 - Apr. '96. The action claimed that Epson purposely configured its software and hardware to disallow printing even though there might be as much as 25% of the ink left in the cartridge. It claimed that consumers were being cheated of not being able to use the entire amount of ink they'd purchased. Rather than go to court Epson arranged to pay anyone who had bought one of their printers within that time frame a sum of $45 ($25 cash and $20 credit towards merchandise at their online store, or $45 credit towards merchandise at their online store). Since then Epson's lawyers have rewritten their acceptance of use policy when purchasing their printers. Whether or not that infers one can't sue them again for not being able to use the full amount of ink in the cartridge is an event to be seen. You could purchase a chip resetter and that would allow you use of the remaining ink in the cartridge, but that's iffy because you really can't see how much ink is left. For a good long term solution you can still purchase see - through spongeless cartridges at MIS, bulk ink, and a chip resetter for your R300. The cartridges are as easy to refill as filling a baby bottle. The ink is excellent (from my own experience using it on a dozen printers at my school for almost two years at this point) and you will not waste a cent or drop of ink because the you can keep resetting the cartridge chips and use all the ink. Additionally you will save a small fortune to what it would cost buying Epson ink and not be contributing empty plastic into landfills. http://www.inksupply.com/spongless_carts.cfm You will no doubt read the noise of MK; the NG printer troll, who is highly unaccepting of anyone elses opinions regarding refilling. I killfiled him awhile ago. You can figure his ramblings for yourself. Jan Alter bearpuf@verizon.netjalter@phila.k12.pa.us
'Empty' Epson carts still contain ink!! 
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