INK AND MAINTENANCE LIGHTS FLASHING

[JSR]

Is that £15 just to perform the reset? What would they charge if they replaced the waste pads, too, I wonder.

Yes just to reset, but I've known a reset on older printers to be done several times so there's no need to replace the waste pads all the time.

I took apart a 1290 once (I was scrapping the printer anyway). I'd estimate that it was just a little bit more than a third saturated. Possibly more than that. It's a bit deceptive because the waste pad consisted of three layers of sponge-like material, intended to drag the waste ink to the lowest sponge. The top two sponges didn't seem all that saturated, but the bottom one was like a wet rag.

Ideally, the printer should have a replaceable (or empty-able) waste tank. If only someone made a printer especially for dye-subbers, then we wouldn't be held to ransom every time we want to reset it...

[Paul]

DIY but it may be something you looking for

[url="http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/R285-R265-RX560-P ... 588a05562e]http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/R285-R265-RX560-P ... 588a05562e[/url]

[bms]

Ideally, the printer should have a replaceable (or empty-able) waste tank.

This is very much the case on the larger format printers as the waste tanks are plastic canisters which simply hold ink and can be removed, emptied and, if you have a chip resetter, then you can reset the waste tank to empty.

With A4/ A3 printers they probably do not have such heavy use (in normal circumstances) to warrant the extra cost of this component being replaceable. In all the years we've been using Epson printers as well as selling normal ink cartridges (around 15 years) then I can't recall a single instance when the waste pad was actually in need of being replaced, even if the printer 'thought' it needed replacing.

[JSR]

Ideally, the printer should have a replaceable (or empty-able) waste tank.

This is very much the case on the larger format printers as the waste tanks are plastic canisters which simply hold ink and can be removed, emptied and, if you have a chip resetter, then you can reset the waste tank to empty.

With A4/ A3 printers they probably do not have such heavy use (in normal circumstances) to warrant the extra cost of this component being replaceable. In all the years we've been using Epson printers as well as selling normal ink cartridges (around 15 years) then I can't recall a single instance when the waste pad was actually in need of being replaced, even if the printer 'thought' it needed replacing.

Presumably because the printer failed first?

I recall Epson's claim 10-15 years ago that their printheads lasted for "life" - by which they meant the "life of the printer". But this facility of it to lock up and stop printing when some arbitrary counter is reached is presumably when they consider the printer's life has come to an end.

Looking at the future, I'm wondering if dye-sublimation will move to keep up with technology or if it will stay where it is. Today, I can wirelessly print to my HP printer on my iPod Touch, I can wirelessly print to my Brother printer on my smartphone, I can even wirelessly scan from my Brother scanner to my smartphone. None of this needs a computer. But I'm tied to the computer to print dye-sub because we're still limited to using someone else's printer for the ink, and so we're tied to our desktops by ICC profiles and Powerdrivers.

If we had a dedicated printer, they could develop an app and we could print direct from our phones or other mobile devices without needing to go back to the computer. Isn't that the future? Doing nothing except waiting for someone else to release a printer before going through the age of waiting for ICC profiles etc, is fast looking like being stuck in the Dark Ages of technology.

[JSR]

DIY but it may be something you looking for

[url="http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/R285-R265-RX560-P ... 588a05562e]http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/R285-R265-RX560-P ... 588a05562e[/url]

I looked at something like that when I got my R1800. The procedure looked far too convoluted and tricky to pull off.

Most instructions for these things tend to be close-up photos about an inch square so you can't see a blind thing that you're supposed to be doing.

[bms]

Possily slightly out of my depth here, but is there a photoshop app for the itouch/ iphone and the B40W is a wireless printer so aren't we there?

[JSR]

Possily slightly out of my depth here, but is there a photoshop app for the itouch/ iphone and the B40W is a wireless printer so aren't we there?

There's a lightweight Photoshop app for altering photos, but it's not a printing app. In order to print with dye-sub ink you either need the ICC profile or a dedicated app from Sawgrass, and mobile devices generally don't handle ICC profiles.

The printing apps that are available are, effectively, wireless equivalents of Pictbridge. With some printers you can plug your camera straight into the printer's USB port and print - because the printer knows what inks it has in it. As soon as you change the ink, you need to involved the ICC profile - mobile devices aren't that flexible, and it immediately rules out anything like Pictbridge.

If there was a printer designed to run with Artanium inks (and not just a printer using third party inks) then half the job would be done.

There are some printing apps that print via a host program on your computer, but that defeats the object. I just think how great it would be if you get a photo on your phone and you send it straight to the printer. How good would that be?

I can already use my phone to log-in to my website via FTP, download the customer's photo, tidy it up on my smartphone, and print it as a regular photo. I just can't do the dye-sub bit because of this stumbling block of using third party inks in the printer.

Also, on a side note, Epson aren't as forthcoming with printing from mobile devices as, say, HP and Brother are. There is an Epson print app but it's for an incredibly restricted line of printers - none of which are the ones we use.

[AJLA]

Thank you both very much for your help, having used SSC utilitlity and re setting counters without success, as I was using the "Reset counters" button which then told me to use the "freeze" facility and still no joy The one place I didn't even look was
The Protection Counter area due to the big red cross, I followed the instructions and at last the flashing lights have stopped.
Unfortunately I must have knocked one of the tubes out of it's cartridge whilst manhandling it yesterday so it has taken a while to draw out the air and get rid of any bubbles in the tube.

Back up and running now thanks to you two

Well worth my small donation/ contribution to keep this forum going, where would I have been without it !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[DREAMGLASS]

I tend to be cynical when it comes to Epson printers. On one of the models that told me my ink cartridge was empty, I actually dismantled the cartridge and it was still a third full of ink. On my A3 Epson, it indicated the waste tank/pad was full, upon close inspection it wasn't, but was easily reset via the SCC utility.

I tend to view Epson printers as a disposable commodity and buy more than one of models that are near to the end of their production runs. Two Epson A3+ formats at £99 each, two D92's at £18 each. At those prices I wouldn't even contemplate any repairs, as simply not worth the hassles of dealing with indifferent repair folks. Especially when you've thrown the genuine Epson cartridges away and fitted a non standard ink setup.

[bms]

On one of the models that told me my ink cartridge was empty, I actually dismantled the cartridge and it was still a third full of ink

Which?, the consumer magazine, ran some tests a few years ago and found that an Epson cartridge could hold up to 38% of it's ink when the chip reported it as being empty