Epson C84 Cartridge Reading Empty But Isn't!

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alanryder

I just got an empty message on the original yellow color cartridge that
came with this printer. I had to replace the magenta and cyan before,
which is annoying because I only printed a few color pages with them.
It seems this still uses the color inks when it does each automatic
cleaning. It's bad enough it won't even print black if one of the
colors are out.

What really annoyed me is that I just shook the cartridge Epson said
was empty, and there is still plenty of ink sloshing around in there.
Is there any fix for this? The cartridge wasn't removed since it was
put in. Why is it reading empty when it isn't?

At least this printer was a freebie with my computer, but I would be
reluctant to buy another Epson if they are all like this!
 
(e-mail address removed) wrote in @g14g2000cwa.googlegroups.com:
I just got an empty message on the original yellow color cartridge that
came with this printer. I had to replace the magenta and cyan before,
which is annoying because I only printed a few color pages with them.
It seems this still uses the color inks when it does each automatic
cleaning. It's bad enough it won't even print black if one of the
colors are out.

What really annoyed me is that I just shook the cartridge Epson said
was empty, and there is still plenty of ink sloshing around in there.
Is there any fix for this? The cartridge wasn't removed since it was
put in. Why is it reading empty when it isn't?

At least this printer was a freebie with my computer, but I would be
reluctant to buy another Epson if they are all like this!
Click to expand...

Reset the chip.
 
I just got an empty message on the original yellow color cartridge that
came with this printer. I had to replace the magenta and cyan before,
which is annoying because I only printed a few color pages with them.
It seems this still uses the color inks when it does each automatic
cleaning. It's bad enough it won't even print black if one of the
colors are out.

What really annoyed me is that I just shook the cartridge Epson said
was empty, and there is still plenty of ink sloshing around in there.
Is there any fix for this? The cartridge wasn't removed since it was
put in. Why is it reading empty when it isn't?

At least this printer was a freebie with my computer, but I would be
reluctant to buy another Epson if they are all like this!
Click to expand...
All inkjet printers show the cartridge as empty when there is still a little
ink left in it. Some printers would be damaged by running a cartridge
totally dry. I understand that Epsons can get air in the jets when a
cartridge would run dry and would have difficulty printing, even when a new
cartridge is put in. All inkjets use ink from all the cartridges when a
cleaning cycle runs. This is must frustating when a person prints only
black text and still has to replace color cartridges. This is primarily due
to the cleaning cycles. Although separate ink tanks appear to be a good
idea, each time a cartridge is replaced with a full one you use ink from all
the cartridges in the cleaning cycle that the printer runs when puting in a
new cartridge.

usually the cheaper the printer, the more costly the ink. Do you print
photos, or are the color pages primarily text and some graphics like web
pages? If you aren't printing photos you should consider buying prefilled
cartridges from a reputable aftermarket ink vendor as the color match to
Epson inks would be of no concern. If you print photos as well and don't
mind refilling the cartridges yourself you might check out this alternative.
I refill my Canon bci-6 cartridges with bulk ink I purchase from MIS. These
Canon cartridges are the easiest to refill. I don't know about the
cartridges for the Epson C84.
 
It's like anything with any printer you have to know your printer, the
quickest way is to get a new cart and see if that solves the problem. The
chips on printer carts are not infallible and can go down like any other
piece of kit. You could buy a cheap resetter but if the safety level has
been reached great care sould be exercised not to damage the printer if the
cart becomes dry.

Epson manufacture some of the best printers made, the c84 is a less
expensive one that's bundled with a computer, I for myself would never
purchase this way but it's something you pick up with practice, it may also
be just the quality you need for the printing you do, horses for courses
comes to mind. Another trick is to tap the cart gently on a hard surface to
dislodge air, the chances of this working when you put it back in the
printer is questionable because if the ink is low the machine will take out
more as it recharges the printer. Your printer will use ink when it's first
charged and again when cleaning and again when you do a nozzel check so in
the life of a cart quite a lot of ink is lost to the waste pads.
 
Have you seen this about wasted ink in the cartridg

http://www.pcworld.com/news/article/0,aid,114590,00.as

Here's a snip-
Quote-
The Stylus C84 on average stopped printing with 20 percent of th
Click to expand...
ink left in the cartridge, while the Canon i850 stopped printing wit
10 percent of the ink left. Canon says that it generally strives t
leave 6 percent of a cartridge's ink as a safety margin. Epso
doesn't disclose its target residual ink levels, nor will the compan
comment on why so high a proportion of the total ink is unused whe
printing stops. The other printers we tested gave low-ink message
but never stopped functioning (see the test report for details)
Unquote
Sometimes the chip contacts on the tanks can get tarnished, a coupl
of wipes can sometimes cure the bad contacts which will give the sam
defects

Dav
 
(e-mail address removed) wrote in @g44g2000cwa.googlegroups.com:
How? Is there software to do so for a Mac?

<< Reset the chip. >>
Click to expand...

Get a hardware chip resetter (little box you mate with the chip on the
cartridge). Your computer doesn't matter.
 
All inkjet printers show the cartridge as empty when there is still a little
ink left in it. Some printers would be damaged by running a cartridge
totally dry. I understand that Epsons can get air in the jets when a
cartridge would run dry and would have difficulty printing, even when a new
cartridge is put in. All inkjets use ink from all the cartridges when a
cleaning cycle runs. This is must frustating when a person prints only
black text and still has to replace color cartridges. This is primarily due
to the cleaning cycles. Although separate ink tanks appear to be a good
idea, each time a cartridge is replaced with a full one you use ink from all
the cartridges in the cleaning cycle that the printer runs when puting in a
new cartridge.

usually the cheaper the printer, the more costly the ink. Do you print
photos, or are the color pages primarily text and some graphics like web
pages? If you aren't printing photos you should consider buying prefilled
cartridges from a reputable aftermarket ink vendor as the color match to
Epson inks would be of no concern. If you print photos as well and don't
mind refilling the cartridges yourself you might check out this alternative.
I refill my Canon bci-6 cartridges with bulk ink I purchase from MIS. These
Canon cartridges are the easiest to refill. I don't know about the
cartridges for the Epson C84.
Click to expand...


If you're seriously intending to make some heavier use of your C84,
and not abandon it, then one option for you to consider is investing
in some of the new MIS spongeless cartridges.
http://www.inksupply.com/spongless_carts.cfm

You would still need to purchase the necessary chips
http://www.inksupply.com/chips_zz.cfm#Epson Stylus Color C84

.... and if applicable, a chip resetter.. plus of course the necessary
ink, syringe, etc... to refill them but in the long run you'd:

a) be able to see just how full your cartridges were (the carts are
see-through)
b) be able to refill as required
c) do it all a lot cheaper

You could always purchase the all in one refilling kit for the C84 as
well but these include half or all sponge so it's your choice.
http://www.inksupply.com/arcrefkits.cfm#c84


Oh and as a final note: there's instructions here:
http://www.allthefaqs.net/forum/links.php?func=show&id=77
.... on how to fit an external waste ink tank to your C84 so you can
always purchase the necessary reset software (manuals4u.com) and not
have to take the printer to a service site to replace the waste ink
pads and reset the waste counter.


Hope that helps...
 
A quick explanation of how Epsons read ink usage is in order.

The chip on the outside of the cartridge is not capable of actually
knowing how much ink is in it.

There are several assumptions made.

1) the amount of ink the cartridge starts with is a known.

This is true if you buy OEM Epson cartridges, but 3rd party or refills
may have more or less ink than Epson puts in theirs. However, the
system Epson uses assumes the amount in the cartridge is a known
amount... the amount Epson uses when they manufacturer them.

2) the amount of ink used up in cleaning, printing and purges is known

This is *somewhat* true. Epson knows about how much ink SHOULD be used
up during differing types of cleaning cycles, and each time the head is
triggered when printing, but some Epson printer shave variable dot
technology which uses different size droplets for different parts of the
image, and certainly different ink droplets are used depending on how
the drivers are set (regarding what type of paper is being printed on)
How accurately that is reported to the ink counting software, I don't know.

Further, if cleaning cycles or printing is attempted with a partially or
fully clogged head, the printer wouldn't know that the ink was actually
not being used in the quantity assumed. SImply put, the printer assumes
the nozzles are all clear all the time when it comes to counting how
much ink has been used.

Each time the printer is turned on, the printer reads the last setting
the chip on the side of the cartridge was set to. Each time, just
before the printer is shut down, the printer rewrites that chip to an
amount equal to the starting point less the assumed amount of ink used
during the session.

3) Epson doesn't want the cartridge running fully out of ink.

Since the heads in an Epson printer remain in the printer even when a
cartridge is removed, it is best that air not be introduced into the
head. It can lead to an air-lock that sometime scan be difficult to
remove, so the cartridges are always called empty prior to them being,
so that the head is still filled with ink when it indicates a new
cartridge is required. So, the exchange time is conservative, often
leaving between 1 and 2 ml of ink within the cartridge when it reads empty.

You asked what can be done about it and why your color cartridges are
being used up when you don't use color inks to print with very often.

To answer the second part of that question first, each time the printer
is turned on, set to do a cleaning cycle or any cartridge is replaced
with a new one, the printer does a vacuuming of the heads, which draws
ink out. Since the whole cleaning station is one unit, all the
cartridges have ink drawn out of them. Cleaning cycles use up a fair
amount of ink.

As to how you can get around the problem of ink left behind in
cartridges, there are two thing I can think of.

1) You can buy a chip resetter. These can be purchased quite
inexpensively on ebay and elsewhere. Make sure any you get are
compatible with your model.

This device will reset the chip to read as if the cartridge is brand new
and full. Obviously, the cartridge will run out of ink long before the
status monitor indicates, and this may introduce air into the head,
which may require extra cleaning cycles. Secondly, each time you
replace a cartridge that is indicated as fresh after a "ink empty" is
reached for a cartridge, the printer does a ink purging process on all
the cartridges and quite a bit of ink is lost, each time a "new" full
cartridge is added after an empty process, so you may not save any ink
that way..

However, wheat you may be able to do is, save up several used
cartridges, each having 1-2ml of ink, and when you have enough to fill a
cartridge, do so, making a full new cartridge. You will need to
research how to refill your cartridge type. Several web site we can
provide information on opening them for refilling.

Art
 
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