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From: Ali on 28 Nov 2009 17:14
Jan Alter suggested

> http://www.epson.co.uk/Support
>
>
> Having checked out the Epson UK support site above I'm dismayed that
> you have to contact a support person to get help downloading drivers
> and utilities for your printer. They don't seem to be obviously
> available. It does appear that you can do an online chat without
> cost. In the U.S. drivers are on the Epson site.

I've tried there. They gave me this piece of guff
"Like so many other products, Epson consumer inkjet products have a
finite life span due to component wear during normal use. At some point
the product will reach a condition where either satisfactory print
quality cannot be maintained or components have reached the end of their
usable life. This is normal operation for a sophisticated mechanical
device"
and provided the address of their service agent.

Thanks for looking.

--
Ali
http://homepage.ntlworld.com/my.web.pages/ Don't go there.
UPS/FUNTO Oct stats: http://homepage.ntlworld.com/my.web.pages/stats/
Over six years' statistics now available.
From: Ali on 28 Nov 2009 17:32
RCC suggested

> In message <BU6ijLEHDWELFw2f(a)cowling1.demon.co.uk>, RCC
> <richard(a)mapson_cowling1.demon.co.uk> writes
>>In message <Xns9CD0F13CE4C3Brekrul(a)195.188.240.200>, JohnSmith
>><me(a)privacy.net> writes
>>>Hi. I have an Epson D120, just over a year old. The status monitor
>>>is showing the message " Service Required. Parts inside your
>>>printer are near the end of their service life. See your printer
>>>documentation.
>>>
>>>That says "The waste ink pad in the printer is saturated. Contact
>>>your dealer to replace it."
>>>
>>>After reading in here, and googling, I presume this is really a
>>>counter on a chip causing the message.
>>>
>>>Any ideas how to get rid of it?
>>>
>>>The SSC Service Utility doen't recognise the printer. There doen't
>>>seem to a front panel reset option documented anywhere
>>>
>>>
>>>I'm in the UK, BTW.
>>>
>>
> Http://www.nifty-stuff.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=3806&p=1
>
> I found this thread, starts to get interesting towards the bottom but
> the inference is that UK models have no chance/hope of it working.

Thanks, I've downloaded the file linked to in the last post, and will
try it when the printer actually stops. (It's just warning at the
moment.)

Strange that no-one came back to say that it worked, or didn't work.

> Grrrr - who can you trust to give a fair deal these days?

Pass.

--
Ali
http://homepage.ntlworld.com/my.web.pages/ Don't go there.
UPS/FUNTO Oct stats: http://homepage.ntlworld.com/my.web.pages/stats/
Over six years' statistics now available.
From: John Smith on 28 Nov 2009 17:58
RCC suggested

> In message <Xns9CD0F13CE4C3Brekrul(a)195.188.240.200>, JohnSmith
> <me(a)privacy.net> writes
>>Hi. I have an Epson D120, just over a year old. The status monitor is
>>showing the message " Service Required. Parts inside your printer
>>are near the end of their service life. See your printer
>>documentation.

>>I'm in the UK, BTW.
>>
> I have the same printer, in UK, almost 2 years old, well used, as yet
> no message like yours but I fear the worst. If you do find a
> solution please post, but I suspect you will find that the cost of
> 'authorised repair' exceeds the cost of buying new.

So do I. I'm currently waiting to see if an 'unauthorised repair' can be
done cheaply - or at all.

I use my printer in bursts, around 2100 sheets as quick as possible, once
a year, and just odd sheets the rest of the time. The cheap compatible
carts I use seem to get air in the jets when changed, so can go through 3
or 4 cleaning cycles each time they are changed, which will have increased
the waste ink counter without actualy wasting much ink.
I had nearly finished the second burst when the warning appeared.
Fortunately I've finished now, till next year, and it's still printing.


> I have used Epsons for years, but as the price of ink has gone from
> high to exorbitant (I now use compatibles) and the way it stops
> printing with almost no notice when ink is low, and the way it says
> it is empty when there is loads of ink in the cartridge, has made me
> realise they have become a rip off company. Cartridge life seems
> very short.
And the way it stops printing partway through a sheet - which is then
ejected during the cart change, and then the printer continues where it
left off, but on a new sheet of paper! They not only waste the ink, they
waste the paper too.

I got a chip resetter with my first ink order. Can sometimes reset the
carts twice before the ink actually runs out.

> My last printer was an 880 which lasted many years and which could be
> controlled via the SSC utility. Buying another Epson was a mistake.
> Sadly I have 2 - the 120 and a Dx8400 which uses the same carts.
>
> The D120 was pitched as a small/home office machine with twin black
> ink carts for speed and convenience,

I'm not sure where the convenience comes when the printer won't work
unless it thinks both blacks have ink.

> and I use it on our home
> network, children's homework, my work, my wife's work. No mention of
> limited total life in the advertising!

I did see something somewhere - but the life was 40,000 sheets, not the
~4000 sheets it's actually done.

> I guess they hope you will
> need a working printer (I do) so will rush out and buy a new one.

Don't they think that the new one will be from a different manufacturer?

> Even if repair was economic it could take days or weeks.
>
> The answer is likely to be ditch the printer and buy non Epson. The
> Kodak approach seems OK - pay more for printer, less for ink. I
> wonder if they have a hidden 'lifetime limit' like the Epson has?

I shall have to look closely at them, next time.

> I ramble, and sadly can't help, but share your forthcoming anger!


--
John Smith
From: John Snith on 28 Nov 2009 18:09
Arthur Entlich suggested

> I hate to say this but you really need to contact your MP or whomever
> is responsible for your consumer legislation.

We have a big election next year, so that may actually be worthwhile.

> In the US and Canada due to pressure and legal arguments, Epson was
> forced to supply the small propriety software required to reset that
> counter (It is held in an EEPROM within the printer).

Do you have a pointer to those arguments, please. For passing on to my
MP.

> The reason for it is to protect your furniture and carpets from being
> damaged to ink leaking out of the waste ink pads. However, not only
> doesn't Epson make mention of this limitation, or that it will just
> shut the printer down with a few moment's notice, but also the
> numbers are set rather conservatively such that most people have
> found they can reset the number at least once without leaking ink.
>
> Further, Epson printers are no capable of actually knowing how much
> ink does go down the waste ink tube since the printer only counts the
> supposed amount, based upon a totally unclogged head. When nozzles
> are clogged less ink is released during cleaning and purging. In
> some cases, no ink is removed (a full head clog) and yet your ink
> levels on the cartridge are reduced, as well as the amount f use you
> can get from the waste ink cartridges before they shut the system
> down as well.
>
> My suggestion for most people is to install a waste ink tube
> extension and bring it outside the printer and into a clear bottle of
> some type.
>
> You will then see just how much ink gets wasted, and also be able to
> keep track of the ink without soiling the waste ink pads anymore than
> has been done.

Unless the waste ink counter can be reset this doesn't get me much
further.

> The cost to having the waste ink pads professionally replaced in not
> of get economic value.., as it usually cost nearly the price of a new
> printer which comes with new inks as the cost of getting the old one
> repaired.
>
> The UK and the European Union should take Epson to task on this. It
> is wasteful, unnecessary, and IMHO a rip off to the consumer and the
> environment.
>
> Art
>
>
>
> If you are interested in issues surrounding e-waste,
> I invite you to enter the discussion at my blog:
>
> http://e-trashtalk.spaces.live.com/
>
> JohnSmith wrote:
>> Hi. I have an Epson D120, just over a year old. The status monitor
>> is showing the message " Service Required. Parts inside your
>> printer are near the end of their service life. See your printer
>> documentation.
>>
>> That says "The waste ink pad in the printer is saturated. Contact
>> your dealer to replace it."
>>
>> After reading in here, and googling, I presume this is really a
>> counter on a chip causing the message.
>>
>> Any ideas how to get rid of it?
>>
>> The SSC Service Utility doen't recognise the printer. There doen't
>> seem to a front panel reset option documented anywhere
>>
>>
>> I'm in the UK, BTW.
>>


Thanks for your reply.

--
John Smith
From: Arthur Entlich on 29 Nov 2009 12:03

John Snith wrote:
> Arthur Entlich suggested
>
>> I hate to say this but you really need to contact your MP or whomever
>> is responsible for your consumer legislation.
>
> We have a big election next year, so that may actually be worthwhile.
>
>> In the US and Canada due to pressure and legal arguments, Epson was
>> forced to supply the small propriety software required to reset that
>> counter (It is held in an EEPROM within the printer).
>
> Do you have a pointer to those arguments, please. For passing on to my
> MP.

No, unfortunately I don't have references. If you wish you can look
into the several class action lawsuits which Epson has responded to in
the US and Canada in regard to issues like the cartridges reading empty
early and the chipped cartridges and their consequences. Epson, in all
causes so far have chosen to pay small settlements to each printer owner
rather than fight these in court. This also allows them not to have to
admit to the charges made by the plaintiffs.

If you wish to see the Epson pages which offer the owners of certain
Epson printers the options of downloading the waste pad protection
number resetting software go to:

http://www.epson.com/cgi-bin/Store/support/InkPadsForm.jsp

>
>> The reason for it is to protect your furniture and carpets from being
>> damaged to ink leaking out of the waste ink pads. However, not only
>> doesn't Epson make mention of this limitation, or that it will just
>> shut the printer down with a few moment's notice, but also the
>> numbers are set rather conservatively such that most people have
>> found they can reset the number at least once without leaking ink.
>>
>> Further, Epson printers are no capable of actually knowing how much
>> ink does go down the waste ink tube since the printer only counts the
>> supposed amount, based upon a totally unclogged head. When nozzles
>> are clogged less ink is released during cleaning and purging. In
>> some cases, no ink is removed (a full head clog) and yet your ink
>> levels on the cartridge are reduced, as well as the amount f use you
>> can get from the waste ink cartridges before they shut the system
>> down as well.
>>
>> My suggestion for most people is to install a waste ink tube
>> extension and bring it outside the printer and into a clear bottle of
>> some type.
>>
>> You will then see just how much ink gets wasted, and also be able to
>> keep track of the ink without soiling the waste ink pads anymore than
>> has been done.
>
> Unless the waste ink counter can be reset this doesn't get me much
> further.

Yes, you are correct, the EEPROM reset is fundamental to reversing this
event. This is why you need to convince your MPs or other appropriate
gov't officials that this practice of not allowing for user resets in
anti-consumer and anti-environment. This system as it stands also has
the additional problem of poorly contained waste ink (some exposed pads)
which absorb the ink and then allow it to escape if the printer is
discarded into a landfill or other discard system.

>
>> The cost to having the waste ink pads professionally replaced in not
>> of get economic value.., as it usually cost nearly the price of a new
>> printer which comes with new inks as the cost of getting the old one
>> repaired.
>>
>> The UK and the European Union should take Epson to task on this. It
>> is wasteful, unnecessary, and IMHO a rip off to the consumer and the
>> environment.
>>
>> Art
>>
>>



>>
>> If you are interested in issues surrounding e-waste,
>> I invite you to enter the discussion at my blog:
>>
>> http://e-trashtalk.spaces.live.com/
>>
>> JohnSmith wrote:
>>> Hi. I have an Epson D120, just over a year old. The status monitor
>>> is showing the message " Service Required. Parts inside your
>>> printer are near the end of their service life. See your printer
>>> documentation.
>>>
>>> That says "The waste ink pad in the printer is saturated. Contact
>>> your dealer to replace it."
>>>
>>> After reading in here, and googling, I presume this is really a
>>> counter on a chip causing the message.
>>>
>>> Any ideas how to get rid of it?
>>>
>>> The SSC Service Utility doen't recognise the printer. There doen't
>>> seem to a front panel reset option documented anywhere
>>>
>>>
>>> I'm in the UK, BTW.
>>>
>
>
> Thanks for your reply.
>
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