How do I reset an Epson R2880?

[dkperez]

I've got an Epson R2880 using the Cone Color inks and their refillable cartridges.

Did the initial load, things worked fine.

The other day I checked and I had 5 cartridges that were very low. The lowest showed an X in the monitor, so
I pulled all EIGHT cartridges and refilled them... This is what the instructions that came with the kit tell you to do...

AND, that when you put the cartridges back, they're all show full.

WELL, mine DON'T. Only ONE shows full. The others showed the same quantity they did previously.

I tried a variety of combinations of removing cartridges individually and in groups, with the printer on and off. NOTHING...

So, this morning I called Ink Jet Mall to find out HOW to do the reset that page 2 of THEIR instructions says happens automatically.

While waiting for an email reply - "Dana" the expert DOESN'T CALL PEOPLE ON THE PHONE. SHE APPARENTLY ONLY SENDS EMAIL,
I tried the nuclear option. Removed all the cartridges. Unplugged the printer and left it for several HOURS. Replaced everything and
the printer went through a LONG, LONG process of doing something - I presume it was doing the original charging or some such 'cause
when It was done all the cartridges were visible down on ink...... BUT, STILL ONLY FIVE CARTRIDGES SHOWED FULL.

The other three show the low levels they showed before.

This afternoon, having NOT received even an email, I called Ink Jet Mall again. And was told the person on the phone would "talk to her
again." I finally got an email from Dana, who needed an explanation of exactly what I'd done. Which I supplied.

And got another email telling me:
"To reset the ink level, a cartridge must read empty, removed, refilled + reinserted. If you remove, refill + reinsert a cartridge that does
not read empty first the level will not be reset. There is no way to trick the printer, this is how the carts and printer work- they must read
empty for the ink level to be reset."

Which is diametrically opposite to the instructions THEY provide with the kit.

So, who's zoomin' who? Is there, in fact, NO WAY to reset this printer? Or are the instructions correct that ALL the cartridges should be
filled at the same time, and Dana is perhaps misinformed?

I went with this more expensive kit because these people are supposed to be EXTREMELY knowledgeable, reliable, and ethical. Was my
understanding of their qualities incorrect?

So, since it appears Ink Jet Mall can't tell me how to reset this thing, how DO I RESET THE R2880 so ALL the cartridges show full?

 

[david1965]

According the the printing group, probably not with their refillable cartridges but their CIS cartridges.

 

[pharmacist]

Imagine that fact that if all cartridges will reset, you will get blinded with a false sense of safety. With CISS this is not a problem, because the cartridge is replenished continously with ink, but with refillable cartridge it is a very good thing you can only reset one cartridge at a time, namely when the ink has run out for that particular colour.

 

[ghwellsjr]

If your cartridges are anything like the old Canon cartridges, they will not reset to full unless you let them first give you a low warning or an empty alarm. But with the Canon cartridges, it doesn't really matter that they don't read full because they won't report low until they actually get low and you can continue to use the printer.

Does your printer work even though the ink levels are not accurate? Isn't that all that matters? Now that you know how the printer/cartridges really work, can't you just continue to use it until another "X" appears, refill just that one cartridge and continue on your way?

 

[ian]

Your cartridges have a chip on them and it is the chip which tells the printer the ink level of the cartridge. You will need to get a chip re-setter or a refillable cartridge with a auto reset chip on it. Your printer takes T0961 to T0969. From memory these have the 9pin chip on them. There are chip re-setters on the market for the Epson 9pin but they are not very stable, We got around 50% success rate from them and no longer use it because of that. Your best bet is to find refillable cartridges for these or use a CISS system.

 

[strobemonkey]

that's also the case with my epson p50. I am still using my old refillble cartridges wit auto reset chips. Just wait for the printer to prompt you to change whichever cartridge the printer thinks is empty then just remove that and refill it if needed then put it back in. According to the supplier i bought them from, they are the same chips which are used on the new ciss with button reset. The only difference is that you dont need to remove the cartridge to reset but instead u press the button which resets all chips.

 

[dkperez]

David1965 - What "printing group"?

pharmacist - Absolutely incorrect. There's no "false sense of security". I refilled ALL THE CARTRIDGES. I want the printer to recognize THEY'RE ALL FULL. I do NOT want to go through the idiotic process of having one cartridge show empty, refill that one, have the printer run whatever it's doing when it gets a new cartridge, show ANOTHER cartridge is now empty, and repeat the process. I've seen this happen for three or four cartridges as the printer empties the next lowest cartridge while running whatever it's doing when the last cartridge got replaced. That's one of the points of going to a refill system - everybody gets filled in one shot instead of willy nilly.

I understand the replacement cartridges I purchased have a chip that communicates with the printer. But, the instructions with the Cone ink refill kit recommend refilling ALL the cartridges and indicates the refill process will cause the printer to reset. It doesn't work.

SO, if I have to buy some third-party resetter, fine. I need a pointer to one that's available in the US, and that will reset the R2880.

OR, if there are cartridges out there that WILL reset automatically or manually, I need a pointer to those.......

I've sent an email to Jon Cone, providing information about the problem I'm having, so I guess I'll see how responsive they are.

 

[pharmacist]

I don't think it is a good idea to reset auto reset chips with an external resetter. They will go corrupt and most auto reset cartridges specifically warn not to use a resetter. Therefore I use a CISS system on my Epson 1400: it automatically reset all the chips when one colour is registered as empty, but the cartridges are replenished continuously with ink.

 

[dkperez]

Yes, I know how the CISS work. I had one on my 2200.

And, if necessary I can put one on the 2880. BUT, at present, what I have are refillable cartridges from InkJetMall - you know, the Jon Cone folks that are so highly regarded in the various forums.

Unfortunately, the cartridges DO NOT reset.

SO, at this point I EITHER need:

A source for cartridges that are GUARANTEED to work with the 2880
OR a source for a domestic resetter that'll reset these chips.

And, yes, I've been in contact with InkJetMall repeatedly about the fact that their cartridges DO NOT work as stated in the included instructions. I've most recently resorted to emailing Jon Cone directly in an effort to get this resolved, but haven't gotten any response either by email or phone.

 

[JonCone]

David,

I was browsing the forums and saw your complaint on my ignoring your request. UGH Sorry! I had forwarded your email to Dana because I can't make any better resolve for you than she can. Dana is quite capable in terms of technical support and you have been in good hands. Her experience goes all the way back to the 3000. She is also my product development assistant. She knows this stuff better than most. I am sorry that I did not respond directly to you.

But, we have a very extensive train of emails with you back to Sept 3 on this issue. I always follow our technical support e-mails. Although we may not be resolving it to your satisfaction, we certainly have been continuously trying to, even as of yesterday.

Just to be clear, the reason that these carts only reset when they are actually empty, removed, and refilled is to protect the print heads from being ruined by printing with air. That could happen if the carts all auto reset when removed but were not actually refilled intentionally or accidentally. CIS chips simply reset no matter what because they always expect a supply of ink. The same can not be said for refillable carts.

With that said, there are chips for refillable carts that will reset when removed. But, we avoid using these because sometimes a customer may need to remove a cartridge temporarily but may not need to refill it. An example might be a half used set of Piezography BW carts being removed to put back in the Epson color carts to make a few color prints. After making a few color prints, the user might reinstall the Piezography BW carts without refilling them, and begin printing. If the chips all reset upon insertion, the Epson status monitor would not be able to monitor the actual ink usage if the carts were half full. A premature reset would make the status monitor think they are full. At some point, the carts would run out, the status monitor would see them as still containing ink, and the print heads could be damaged. We want to avoid that. So we use chips that get reset when they are first empty.

Unfortunately that can be a pain in the neck for expert users, who are able to be masters of their ink domain and would not need the status monitor either in the printer driver or the printer to keep tabs for them. We do not have an option that lets you run on full manual. We only provide the chips that won't cause an accidental situation in which the printer runs without ink.

We did recommend that you find a chip resetter if you wished to reset the chips before they are empty.

I did note that our instructions confused you to the possibility you could refill at various stages. On the 2880 you can not. We try to say that they behave like Epson carts. We have now revised our instructions to read more plainly.

Increasingly, Epson is disabling many functions in their printers when they detect 3rd party carts and in the USA we can not provide chips which reproduce 100% of the functionality of an OEM chip because of the Millenium Act. But, we do provide refillable carts that behave the way the Epson status monitor expects them to. It's a balance that we must strike because we are a very visible company and we can not run afoul of the Millenium Act nor patent laws, etc. We've been in the ink jet business since 1992 and we want to stay out of trouble with the OEMs and respect all their rights.

In this case, our carts irritate you because you know obviously that you will not let the printer run out of ink... There is one other solution if you wish to avoid a CIS - and that is to get some CIS chips and affix them to your refillable carts and just keep a very close eye on them. Recognize however, that when you lift a cartridge out of the printer to inspect its level, the ink stem on which it was resting will intake a touch of air. When you reinsert the cartridge you get some tiny air bubbles often that behave like clogs. It can take a full 24 hours for these to dissipate. It doesn't happen every time you change carts. But if you were to lift them for inspection you would be increasing the probability that you might introduce air into the system.

So there is always a fine line on which you need to exist with your printer: convenience or printability. We try to err on the side of printability for our customers, even though we make suggestions for how to customize their solutions to be more convenient for them as we have with you.


regards,

Jon Cone
InkjetMall