Printer Cartridge Restrictions.

[Fareastdriver]

I have an Epsom SX510W printer that has started refusing to recognise non OEM cartridges. I boughta pile on the internet for less that half the price that Epsom would bounce me for and at first they worked fine, The it came up with 'Cartridges not recognised, it went to the change cartridges menu and that was that. Changing the cartridges by pulling them out and reinserting them made no difference.

I thought that to programme something to only accept your products was illegal under the competition laws. I had used compatable cartridges with other printers before and even in this case the printer accepted them initially.

I can't be bothered to hire a QC to sort the legal bit out but does anyone know of a website were you can download an Epsom software programme that lets it accept compatible cartridges.

[Mike-Bracknell]

The genuine cartridges themselves have a chip in them. I'd hazard a guess that some of the ones you've bought haven't?

Incidentally, Epsom is a place, Epson is a Japanese printer manuf.

[mixture]

I thought that to programme something to only accept your products was illegal under the competition laws.

Pray do tell what law would that be ?

It's a common practice in the IT industry, and not restricted to printers either.

It also occurs, for example, with expensive pieces of network kit worth many thousands of pounds where the manufacturer restricts which GBICs can be plugged into them to enable you to light up fibre cables. Just like your printer, with some manufacturers you can use OEM GBICs without issues, with others it just doesn't work.

Given the deep pockets of those who buy such equipment, if it was against competition law, you can be assured it would have been dealt with by now.

Unfortunatley it's just the nature of the IT industry..... shift as many boxes as possible and seek vendor tie-in both short term in form of cross-sell an up-sell, and long-term in the form of support contracts etc.

I had used compatable cartridges with other printers before and even in this case the printer accepted them initially.

Pure luck rather than anything else.


Buy yourself a laser printer and enjoy the better value for money. :cool:

[Fareastdriver]

Incidentally, Epsom is a place, Epson is a Japanese printer manuf.

I know them both. The Epson factory in Shenzhen was just off the end of my old company's runway. It had a bright white roof, easy to find VFR in the clag.

Thanks for the information. Looks like a trip to Staples.

[dazdaz1]

Give this a try.......



Select 'START'
Select 'Control Panel'
Select 'Printer and Faxes'
'Right' Click on your printer icon Select 'Printer Preferences'
Find the box that reads 'Speed and Progress'http://www.inkcloners.com/images/tips/maintenance.jpg
Click in the empty box next to 'Disable Epson Status Monitor' A tick will appear in the boxhttp://www.inkcloners.com/images/tips/disable-tick.jpg
Select 'Save'

[P.Pilcher]

It has been the practice for a very long time now to attempt to restrict users to only install the cartridges produced by the printer manufacturer. Good quality printers are now, due to the competition, as "cheap as chips" and the manufacturers have to make their money somehow. Thus we are restricted to use dreadfully over priced ink cartridges with dire threats as to what will happen if we use others. "Chipping" cartridges is the usual trick, so when the ink level is down to about a quarter full, the printer stops working until another cartridge is inserted and this also enables the printer to recognise when a thrid party cartridge is used. The latest sneaky, as you have found, is to ignore it for a cartridge or two and then take the usual punitive action - possibly when you have taken up the offer of a cut price bulk buy of perfectly serviceable non OEM cartridges!
For Epson users, Dazdaz1's post is of interest, but many other manufacturers of ink jet printers use similar techniques.

I have always been careful never to use printers which use this technique which I cannot overcome. At present I am using a Canon unit for which I have acquired refillable cartridges. This means that a refill costs me about 50p using inks manufactured to British Standards. I have discovered in recent years that Brother do not chip their cartridges and thus third party cartridges can be used without a problem.
The third party cartridge manufacturers are aware of this problem and are always trying to fit their cartridges with compatible chips to fool printers into accepting them.
Reputable suppliers of third party cartridges like www.tonezoneuk.com (http://www.tonezoneuk.com) are naturally aware of this and will always advise whether their cartridges will work in a certain model of printer, so it is worth talking to people like this when considering a printer replacement.

P.P.

[jimtherev]

It's also possible to buy replacement chips - I discovered. I've been loading non-OEM toner into my HP colorLaser for years. A couple declared themselves almost empty immediately installed, so back to the supplier with a bleat. "Sorry" came the reply, "what do they weigh?" (Huh? anyway, I duly weighed and reported.) "They're full. We'll send you new chips; instal them this way."

Which I did and got the usual 3k pages out of 'em. Subsequently found that cheap-as chips for several carts available on Ebay...

[Gulfstreamaviator]

How to organise supply, and how to install.... and is it actually worth rechipping a cart, if it might not function.

[jimtherev]

The process I followed was,
1. Unpack chip.
2. Stare at cartridge, saying, 'now, where is something that looks like like that?'
3. Find old chip
4. Gently cut away blob of adhesive holding it in position - looked like latex glue
5. Slide old one out, slide one in. Apply blob of adhesive, wait to dry, install.
Printer worked.

Will it always work? No of course not. Sod's law always applies. But since the chips are a few quid it's always worth a try. HP laser OEM toners for my machine cost over a hundred GBP; even the non-OEM are thirty quid or so. So in my case the experiment was worthwhile.

Sourcing the things. Well, to give you an idea of what's out there, have a look at this ebay shop:
Cartridges-and-chips items - Get great deals on items on eBay Stores! (http://stores.ebay.co.uk/Cartridges-and-chips/_i.html?_fsub=2543740015)

I'm sure you will find alternative suppliers by googing them.

[P.Pilcher]

One word of caution with HP inkjet printers: HP were the first manufacturer to introduce inkjet printers and their print head design would not last for the life of the printer. This was accepted then as this was the first inkjet system ever. HP thus designed their print heads to be disposable and built into the ink tank so, as soon as the ink ran out a new new full ink tank/print head had to be acquired which overcame the low print head life problem. Subsequently other head mechanisms were developed with adequate life so with Epson, Brother, Canon and other printers, only the ink tanks need refilling/replacing.
In practice, I have found that if H.P cartridges are refilled before they become empty then the head seems to last for ages and will accept many refills - if you can refill them, but I have found that third party H.P ink refills often do not work properly because, although they may be full of ink, the heads themselves are second hand and one of the units may have failed resulting in a scrap cartridge which is fuill of ink. Because of this, I have found that brand new H.P ink cartridges have to be used, but, as I have said, it is sometimes possible to refill these.

P.P.