Epsons great new cartridge system

[Tom_1569]

Mum bought on of those new Epson 4 cartridge printers. You know the ones you replace the cartridge you need to replace. Seemed like a great idea, though the printer is terrible we thought it would be good for quick jobs.

When the black ran out we couldnt print at all because it said it needed black to print, abit far fetched but I bought their story and purchased a new black.
Now the light blue is empty, and I have a full black cartridge but it doesnt let you print, even in black and white. BUT does give you all the details of buying a new cartridge. I have spent a frustrated hour trying to print in black and white and got no where, does anyone know how I can make this happen.
Im a stubborn **** and I will throw the whole printer out if it can not be done, for the fact that its complete crap and a scam for me to buy a 7 dollar cartridge I DONT NEED.

Rant over

[stocky]

sounds like the HP printer i used the other day. it has 5 tiny colour cartidges i think, and a black and white one. some purple cartridge was empty, and it wouldnt let me print in black and white. ****ing stupid idea just to get more money from you

[spxdsn]

99% of newer inkjet printers whether it uses separate ink tanks or a combined colour cartridge wont let you print anything unless all cartridges have ink..

[CSP]

I think hes talking about the new colour laser printer from Epson. If it's the one Im thinking about with the 4 cylindrical cartridges.

[Tom_1569]

I think hes talking about the new colour laser printer from Epson. If it's the one Im thinking about with the 4 cylindrical cartridges.

Nah the inkjet mate, just a cheapy for the other comp. It has 4 inkjet cartridges, biggest POS we ever bought.

[CSP]

Ah OK...

We needed a colour laser in the office urgently last week so we got the cheap Epson Colour laser for $170 and it has 4 cartridges too.

Pretty good quality for a cheapy and laser is ALWAYS better than inkjet, and a lot cheaper to buy replacements for AFAIK.

[arrow224]

Yep, all new printers will do that. ALL of them. HP, Epson, Lexmark, Canon... I believe it is a feature to stop damage to the printer, especially the print heads. Much cheaper to buy a new ink cartridge than to fix damaged print heads.

[Astranomical]

Its not exactly a recent thing either - I have an Epson from 2000 that refuses to print without the colour installed. (its a 2 cartridge printer, one CMY cartridge, one K cartridge)

[CSP]

Not always cheaper to buy new ink than buy a whole new printer these days though!

[Tom_1569]

it has 5 tiny colour cartidges i think, and a black and white one.

Where'd you get the white cartridge, Ive been looking everywhere for one

Yep, all new printers will do that. ALL of them. HP, Epson, Lexmark, Canon... I believe it is a feature to stop damage to the printer, especially the print heads. Much cheaper to buy a new ink cartridge than to fix damaged print heads.

Yeah, I can kind of see the point, but if im printing in black and white, then Im not using any colour, cant really do head damage. Also if there is no black it asks if i want to mix colours to get black.

Not always cheaper to buy new ink than buy a whole new printer these days though!

Yeah true, though these cartridges are only 7 bux, but its the principle of it that im ****ed off about its all just a scam to make money. The head damage is crap because ever the early early printers could print with just one or the other cartidge. But it seems everyone is taking the trend on board.

I want to get two Lasers eventually, one for fast black and white, and one colour, but not sure how good photos would be from it?
Once my file server is up an running, Ill also make it a dedicated print server so we have two really good printers for the whole house.

[Tom_1569]

Reply from Epson

Thank you for contacting Epson Support.

If the printer is out of either the Black or Colour ink cartridge the printer will not function, regardless of which colour you want to print with. The printer does this as a safety mechanism to prevent damage to the print head. Please replace the appropriate ink cartridge to resume printing.

If you require further assistance regarding this issue please only respond to this E-mail by the Reply Button in your E-mail application.

Regards
EPSON Support

But it seems this is the way all companies are going. I just dont believe it honestly, if the cartridge is empty then how hard is it to tell the printer not to use it and use a different one. My first ever bubblejet had the smarts to do this between colour and black and white, that was 10 years ago.

[stocky]

Where'd you get the white cartridge, Ive been looking everywhere for one

i just took another cartridge and filled it with wite-out! lol. i didnt even realise i posted that before. good pickup

[greenfoam]

Better to get a old laser from a company that's gone bust or upgraded, then you don't have to worry about ink or colours or anything. Just print, the printer will probably outlast you

[crazyspoon05]

Mine prints composite black from the colour catridges if the black cartridge is empty but it's nowhere near as good as the real black

I agree with Foamy though, we just got a 'new' colour laser at work from the auctions and it's awesome

[VrWagz1]

Why not have a full set of spare colour cartriges at home, and when you use one, replace it. No problems.

[holdensupporter2005]

The canon printers allow you to print if one of the cartridges is empty. It just comes up with a warning message that it is out of ink and that if you continue to print with an empty cartridge that you could damage the printer and to continue at your own risk. You can then press the resume button on the printer to continue printing.

[Tom_1569]

Why not have a full set of spare colour cartriges at home, and when you use one, replace it. No problems.

I could infact mum bought on of each yesterday just in case. BUT I should be able to print in black without any colour cartridge. Also cartridges have a life span, normally a year-2 years from purchase, which wont be a problem with this printer as they last **** all anyway.

The canon printers allow you to print if one of the cartridges is empty. It just comes up with a warning message that it is out of ink and that if you continue to print with an empty cartridge that you could damage the printer and to continue at your own risk. You can then press the resume button on the printer to continue printing.

SWEET!!!.... Ill look into canon ones if this printer keeps it **** up
Otherwise Ill continue to look at getting two laser printers, one for fast black, and hopefully one that can do photos etc.

[Paytz]

Mum bought on of those new Epson 4 cartridge printers. You know the ones you replace the cartridge you need to replace. Seemed like a great idea, though the printer is terrible we thought it would be good for quick jobs.

When the black ran out we couldnt print at all because it said it needed black to print, abit far fetched but I bought their story and purchased a new black.
Now the light blue is empty, and I have a full black cartridge but it doesnt let you print, even in black and white. BUT does give you all the details of buying a new cartridge. I have spent a frustrated hour trying to print in black and white and got no where, does anyone know how I can make this happen.
Im a stubborn **** and I will throw the whole printer out if it can not be done, for the fact that its complete crap and a scam for me to buy a 7 dollar cartridge I DONT NEED.

Rant over

First of all i used to work in a ink cartidge refil store not cartridge world though.

Secondly research a printer berfore u buy, Having said that the epson has a internal print head the first set of cartridges are used predominantly to prime the head subseqent sets WILL last longer depending on what you print

The Epson Printers and canon and HP will stop you from printing when one cart is empty this is a pain in the arse but it's to protect the Printhead. so it's a pain you would rather have trust me

If you do replace the printer i'd go for a Canon ip 4300 or the likes the cartridges are quite large and most places can refill them and reset the chips also they are clear and you can see how much is in the reserve tank. (Cartridge numbers PGI-5 and CLI-8's)

This goes for everyone too PM me if you want advice or troubleshooting on printers as i have a wealth of the useless **** on the subject that is printers.

You will find most cartridges are exy and you want to go for an ink tank system such as the canon or epson stay away from HP and Lexmark atm, Expect normal printer life to be around 12 months or so as they are always making new printers and install time specific life times to certain integral parts

Hope this helps abit Cheers

[holdensupporter2005]

STAY AWAY FROM REFILLED INK CARTRIDGES & GENERICS.
a few reasons.
1. If you have warranty left on your printer, you will Void the warranty by using refilled inks.
2. You won't get as many prints from a refilled cartridge as you do from a genuine cartridge.
3. The quality of print from a refilled cartridge is nowhere near as good as a print from a genuine cartridge.
4. You will damage your printhead in your printer. If this happens it can be very costly to replace a damaged printhead.

Each brand / model of printer uses different types and consistencies of ink. The refill ink is a generic ink that is used to refill many brands and models of printer, and it can be very damaging to the printer.

90% of all printer problems that I come across have usually been caused by refilled inks, so please stay away from them. (Would you by cheap generic parts that could be damaging to your car???)

[Paytz]

STAY AWAY FROM REFILLED INK CARTRIDGES & GENERICS.
a few reasons.
1. If you have warranty left on your printer, you will Void the warranty by using refilled inks.
2. You won't get as many prints from a refilled cartridge as you do from a genuine cartridge.
3. The quality of print from a refilled cartridge is nowhere near as good as a print from a genuine cartridge.
4. You will damage your printhead in your printer. If this happens it can be very costly to replace a damaged printhead.

Each brand / model of printer uses different types and consistencies of ink. The refill ink is a generic ink that is used to refill many brands and models of printer, and it can be very damaging to the printer.

90% of all printer problems that I come across have usually been caused by refilled inks, so please stay away from them. (Would you by cheap generic parts that could be damaging to your car???)

LOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOL

yes and if you use Refilled ink cartridges your balls will go gangrenous and fall off too.

Some Compatible can be a bit dodgy but if you goto a good refill store they dont buy **** inks and are very knowledgeable on troubleshooting.

The main thing to remember these days is nothings built to last anymore you should get around 12 months out of and midrange printer.

Seriously The Print Quality will decline a little bit but that it mainly with cartridges that have the print head ON the cartridge.

Using non genuine products DOES NOT VOID your warranty. It is ILLEGAL for the Printer company to void your warranty becuase you do not use OEM cartridge If you report them for doing this to the Office of Fair Trading they are liable for a $20,000 Fine

If you do refill and have waranty issues Threaten to Speak with the Office of Fair Trading and they will do a backflip like nothing else(you may have to stick to your guns abit tho).

[Paytz]

Just to reinforce my point where i worked we had numerous people that printed pictures PROFESSIONALLY that used our refilled ink cartridges/Ink to refill themselves and were rapt with the outcome. The main thing for Pictures is to use compatible ink/Paper for pics. So dont you HP ink and Canon Paper Ect a good third party Paper such as Illford will work with any ink OEM or Atermarket.

[holdensupporter2005]

LOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOL

yes and if you use Refilled ink cartridges your balls will go gangrenous and fall off too.

Some Compatible can be a bit dodgy but if you goto a good refill store they dont buy **** inks and are very knowledgeable on troubleshooting.

The main thing to remember these days is nothings built to last anymore you should get around 12 months out of and midrange printer.

Seriously The Print Quality will decline a little bit but that it mainly with cartridges that have the print head ON the cartridge.

Using non genuine products DOES NOT VOID your warranty. It is ILLEGAL for the Printer company to void your warranty becuase you do not use OEM cartridge If you report them for doing this to the Office of Fair Trading they are liable for a $20,000 Fine

If you do refill and have waranty issues Threaten to Speak with the Office of Fair Trading and they will do a backflip like nothing else(you may have to stick to your guns abit tho).

Canon Australia - Extend Your Warranty - Terms & Conditions
Read Point 5e. very carefully!!!

As I said before 90% of printers that I have fixed have been to do with refill cartridges and generic inks. I have a canon which is now 5 years old. I have never used a refill ink cartridge and I print hundreds of pages a week from it. I have seen customers with new printers that have failed due to refill inks.
If you want to deny the fact, that is fine with me, but don't say that I didn't warn you.

[Astranomical]

I have a 2 year old Epson multifunction device. Since the cartridges ran out, I have run it only off refilled cartridges for its entire lifetime, and its never had a problem.

Granted, however, I do take my cartridges into the local PCS to get them done - after seeing what happened when Dad tried to refill a StyleWriter II cartridge back in the mid 1990's, there is no way in Hell I am ever going to try that!!!!!

[Paytz]

I'm not denying the fact. I'm simply putting my view forward as i have worked in the industry and i know whats involved. alot of stuff these days PARTICULARLY ink cartdiges are Date Stamped among other things and have specified lifetimes. I'm not gonna keep smacking heads with you over it just know that it's not a cardinal sin to buy non oem products. Nor will it void your warranty in this instance.