Epson R1800 shows no ink levels but still works

  • Thread starter Thread starter Jan Alter
  • Start date Start date
J

Jan Alter

Turned on the R1800 this morning and noticed the ink levels were all empty.
Changed the connection from firewire to USB with same symptoms. Uninstalled
the printer and downloaded the latest driver from Epson for Win XP (SP3) .
Printer installed but no ink levels still showing. Printed a nozzle check
with no problems. Connected printer to a laptop running Win 7, downloaded
latest driver from Epson and found the ink levels all showing when I go to
'printer preferences.
Back on the main desktop computer tried going to a restore point a month
ago. No change. The ink levels do no show. I recently installed a TV tuner
on the machine, so that's the only thing I can think of as a change. Anyone
have a thought to what will get the ink levels showing again?
 
Jan Alter said:
Turned on the R1800 this morning and noticed the ink levels were all empty.
Changed the connection from firewire to USB with same symptoms. Uninstalled
the printer and downloaded the latest driver from Epson for Win XP (SP3) .
Printer installed but no ink levels still showing. Printed a nozzle check
with no problems. Connected printer to a laptop running Win 7, downloaded
latest driver from Epson and found the ink levels all showing when I go to
'printer preferences.
Back on the main desktop computer tried going to a restore point a month
ago. No change. The ink levels do no show. I recently installed a TV tuner
on the machine, so that's the only thing I can think of as a change. Anyone
have a thought to what will get the ink levels showing again?
Click to expand...

I am afraid that the only option is replacing the ink catridge(s) with new
one(s) and hope it will fix the problem.

Here is few general information for you to figure out what may happen and
what you may want to do.

- *If* the printer detects any catridge is emptied then it will STOP and
asking you to replace the cartridge to continue

- *If* you see the ink level is low or empty, but the printer won't say
anything then the chance that it still see something left. Some older model
reports the ink is low or empty, but won't force you to change the
cartridge. Or you still continue to print until no more ink. It's
dangerous but many people (myself included) have tried without issue.

Just make sure don't run without ink too long else it may damage the
print-head (burn).

- About the INK LEVEL, in general the printer can't tell how much ink inside
the catridge but it COUNTS the number of print. And buggy software can
miscount (or conflict), and if you use refill-cartridge then you should see
this happens all the time.
 
Lon said:
If the R1800 actually has a low ink condition, it flashes an LED on the
front panel as a warning and will light an indicator for the cartridge
under the cartridge cover if opened. Then it will stop printing if the
cartridge is truly empty.

Can't tell from the OP if this is just the ink monitor that may have
gotten toasted by installing some other software, or if the printer itself
isnt passing status info to the host any more.
Click to expand...

Please note that I mentioned in the original post that I installed the
printer driver to a Win 7 laptop successfully and ink levels were being
shown. The ink levels on the desktop running XP are gone. Each color simply
shows as being empty. I can print and run a nozzle check from the XP machine
successfully.
 
Problem Solved

It appears that when I upgraded to the newest version of Spysweeper
(about a month ago) it decided that the monitoring program for the ink
levels was dangerous and disallowed communication. When I turn off the
anti-virus program I am able to see the ink levels again. I've written to
Webroot at this point as this is something I would hope they know how to
remedy, as I can't seem to locate any settings on their newest software.
 
Lon said:
If the R1800 actually has a low ink condition, it flashes an LED on the
front panel as a warning and will light an indicator for the cartridge
under the cartridge cover if opened. Then it will stop printing if the
cartridge is truly empty.

Can't tell from the OP if this is just the ink monitor that may have
gotten toasted by installing some other software, or if the printer
itself isnt passing status info to the host any more.
Click to expand...

I hope the OP read the responses, because I have noticed not all models do
the same thing. My RX680 will stop printing and demand cartidge replaced
before it can continue. And I am using refillable cartridge so the ink
level status is often OFF

Here is more detail info.

- The refillable in cartridge holds lot more ink than Epson's cartridge

- When one cartridge low of ink, I will refill ALL 6 cartridges. And the
software uses to monitor the ink level can't tell the difference.

IOW, sometime the printer reports some catridge is empty when it's still
plenty, and sometime it continue printing when some catridge is very low of
ink. Also, years ago, there was some uti to fool Epson printers that the
ink is full (auto-reset without hardware).
 
Jan said:
Problem Solved

It appears that when I upgraded to the newest version of Spysweeper
(about a month ago) it decided that the monitoring program for the ink
levels was dangerous and disallowed communication. When I turn off the
anti-virus program I am able to see the ink levels again. I've written to
Webroot at this point as this is something I would hope they know how to
remedy, as I can't seem to locate any settings on their newest software.
Click to expand...

Jan,

I stopped using my Spysweeper a few years ago when an upgrade cause my
computer to crawl because of a technical problem with Spysweeper. At the
time Spysweeper was catching a few things the others weren't but not
any more. Between Avast, AVG, Lavasoft Ad-aware, Spybot, and the Windows
Live OneCare and Security Essentials, all of which are free, there's no
need for buggy Spysweeper software.
 
tomcas said:
Jan,

I stopped using my Spysweeper a few years ago when an upgrade cause my
computer to crawl because of a technical problem with Spysweeper. At the
time Spysweeper was catching a few things the others weren't but not any
more. Between Avast, AVG, Lavasoft Ad-aware, Spybot, and the Windows
Live OneCare and Security Essentials, all of which are free, there's no
need for buggy Spysweeper software.
Click to expand...

I precisely chose Spysweeper after getting very tired of AVG not catching
viruses and considered it heads above the free ones a couple of years ago,
like yourself. Now I have a subscription for it until 2013, so I've written
Webroot tech support about the situation. Until I had upgraded the
Spysweeper to the newest version about a month ago there was no problem
viewing ink levels. It was a surprise to not see them the the other day and
a relief to find the problem thanks to Epson's free email tech support (Yes,
believe it or not it was free, with me owning this printer for 5 years and
it not being in warranty. And I got answered within a couple of hours). I'll
see what Webroot comes up with for a solution before I drop the program, as
I still consider it to be one of better virus catchers.
 
Joel said:
AVG? this junk not only report more virus (99.99% false alarms) but it
also won't give the operator much of the choice. I read lot about this
for
years but didn't try until doing the time I was testing new Windows 7 that
I
know I will reinstall several times before the final. I took the chance
to
give AVG a try and íts exactly what most experienced users described that
AVG is the one to stay far away.

Avast is lot better than AVG but it also have some annoying issue, and I
believe I had a hard time trying to remove it from system (it won't allow
to
be uninstalled)

Answer from Epson? yes most companies do response to question, but I
don't believe that they can answer anyone's specific problem which has
nothing to do with their aps. And if they know the bug then they should
already released newer software version with bug fixed. IOW, they usually
check their products with the OS and some most popular programs not just
any
program.
Click to expand...

You're right about Epson not answering me specifically, but then I couldn't
give a specific question as to what was causing the lack of viewing the ink
levels; only that I used to be able to see them and that I had installed a
piece of software. I actually forgot that I had updated the Spysweeper
program with a newer version. It was only Epson's generalized commments
about security software possibly interfering with monitoring ink levels that
jogged my memory.
So the question arises as to who should be making accommodations to its
software when a newer version of anti-virus software doesn't work with the
current version of an outdated printer (the R1800 was replaced with the
R1900 about 2 or 3 years ago).
 
Jan Alter said:
You're right about Epson not answering me specifically, but then I
couldn't give a specific question as to what was causing the lack of
viewing the ink levels; only that I used to be able to see them and that I
had installed a piece of software. I actually forgot that I had updated
the Spysweeper program with a newer version. It was only Epson's
generalized commments about security software possibly interfering with
monitoring ink levels that jogged my memory.
So the question arises as to who should be making accommodations to its
software when a newer version of anti-virus software doesn't work with
the current version of an outdated printer (the R1800 was replaced with
the R1900 about 2 or 3 years ago).
Click to expand...
Bottom line,

after calling Webroot Spysweeper support this morning the tech explained how
to let the firewall filter allow the Epson communication monitoring driver
to be unblocked. Eureka! Spysweeper can stay on and I can see the ink
levels.
 
Joe said:
I use this utility - does a few other things as well like resetting the
counters. Worth while having a look.

http://www.ssclg.com/epsone.shtml



http://www.ssclg.com/epsone.shtml
Click to expand...


Thanks,

the ssclg utility has been around for awhile at this point and has
proven itself very helpful not only to restting cartridges but to resetting
the diaper counter on Epsons and saving folks from having to change the
styrofoam sponge that picks up the waste ink. For anyone using it to reset
the sponge it's advisable to probably put a piece of plastic under the
printer after resetting a second time.
 
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