HP re-manufactured cartridges 'sudden death'
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From: UK
HP re-manufactured cartridges 'sudden death'
For over a year, I have been using retail re-manufactured cartridges in an HP Deskjet D1470 printer. Last week, it stopped working with them: constant blinking from the LED in the power button; 'printer busy' message on PC. This occurred both with a re-manufactured cartridge that had been working OK and with a fresh re-manufactured cartridge from a major high street retailer.
I tried powering printer and PC off->on; also disabled the ink level warning on the PC end.
Interestingly, my other HP item, a Deskjet F380 similarly refuses to accept the re-manufactured cartridges.
More tales like this are reported here.
The HP problems occurred just when I needed to make copies of important documents!
I have now converted to Canon. Their Pixma MP280 series is more refill-friendly.
I tried powering printer and PC off->on; also disabled the ink level warning on the PC end.
Interestingly, my other HP item, a Deskjet F380 similarly refuses to accept the re-manufactured cartridges.
More tales like this are reported here.
The HP problems occurred just when I needed to make copies of important documents!
I have now converted to Canon. Their Pixma MP280 series is more refill-friendly.
Joined: Sep 2007
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From: Down south
I had an Epson printer that suddenly stopped and gave the on screen message 'some internal components have reached the end of their operational life' and the printer never worked again.
Made me wonder if Epson has a built in page counter or clock that shuts everything down at a pre set point in time? What really annoyed me was it was printing perfectly up until that moment.
Made me wonder if Epson has a built in page counter or clock that shuts everything down at a pre set point in time? What really annoyed me was it was printing perfectly up until that moment.
Last edited by bingofuel; 1st July 2012 at 16:35.
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From: .
2Made me wonder if Epson has a built in page counter or clock that shuts everything down"
Correct, Epson do have that
Its supposedly to stop excess waste ink being dumped into the waste pads and spilling out of the machine - the idea is you change the pads and reset the counter - and pay a service engineer to do it
Usually the pads are OK and you can just reset the machie. Some need a specific key combination at startup, so a diagnostic utilty running
What model of Epson was it?
Correct, Epson do have that
Its supposedly to stop excess waste ink being dumped into the waste pads and spilling out of the machine - the idea is you change the pads and reset the counter - and pay a service engineer to do it
Usually the pads are OK and you can just reset the machie. Some need a specific key combination at startup, so a diagnostic utilty running
What model of Epson was it?
Joined: Apr 2008
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From: Well, Lincolnshire
SSC Service Utility for Epson Stylus Printer.
Only for Epson printers, unfortunately.
A word of warning though. Don't reset too often. Waste pads DO eventually fill up and guess where the waste ink goes then!
Only for Epson printers, unfortunately.
A word of warning though. Don't reset too often. Waste pads DO eventually fill up and guess where the waste ink goes then!
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From: .
that SSC utility doesn't work on ALL epsons
Some have a model-specific utility, others a key combination as you power them up
Best to Google it each time - you can usually find the instructions
Some have a model-specific utility, others a key combination as you power them up
Best to Google it each time - you can usually find the instructions
Last edited by Milo Minderbinder; 1st July 2012 at 19:39.
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From: Somewhere between E17487 and F75775
I found it impossible to change the ink waste pad on my Epson: talked to Mr Serviceman who said yes I can do it but it will cost more than a new printer.
Slight Drift, but I had endless problems with Epson nozzles clogging up in the summer if I didn't use the printer for 7 - 10 days. Wrote to the Spanish Epson dealer who passed my letter to the factory who wrote back saying little. All I could do was run the "clean nozzles" routine every time I wanted to use it. Expensive in ink !
So when the ink waste pad incident came up I junked the Epson (couldn't even give it away for spares to friends with Epsons) and bought an HP: nozzles/ink has not clogged once in three years.
Slight Drift, but I had endless problems with Epson nozzles clogging up in the summer if I didn't use the printer for 7 - 10 days. Wrote to the Spanish Epson dealer who passed my letter to the factory who wrote back saying little. All I could do was run the "clean nozzles" routine every time I wanted to use it. Expensive in ink !
So when the ink waste pad incident came up I junked the Epson (couldn't even give it away for spares to friends with Epsons) and bought an HP: nozzles/ink has not clogged once in three years.
Joined: Jul 2008
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From: uk
My best printer purchase has been/is a Canon MP490. I don't use the printer side much and it's still happily using the original cartridges after 18 months in a room which gets very hot at times.
New cartridges are very reasonably priced. It's better than my old HP and I have always avoided Epson because there's too many gotchas.
New cartridges are very reasonably priced. It's better than my old HP and I have always avoided Epson because there's too many gotchas.
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From: .
From a reliability point of view
If you want an inkjet get a Canon. Some of the larger Brothers are good too,
If you want a lazer get a Samsung or Brother - they come out of the same plant anyway
Epsons are unreliable !!!!e. Lexmarks aren't much better. Kodaks are liabilities as theres no certainty of future availability of ink
Hewlett Packards are generally reliable, but the software is bloated, is often a PITA to install and often fails to install
Dell printers are rebadged something else, reengineered to only use Dell;s own expensive ink
If you want an inkjet get a Canon. Some of the larger Brothers are good too,
If you want a lazer get a Samsung or Brother - they come out of the same plant anyway
Epsons are unreliable !!!!e. Lexmarks aren't much better. Kodaks are liabilities as theres no certainty of future availability of ink
Hewlett Packards are generally reliable, but the software is bloated, is often a PITA to install and often fails to install
Dell printers are rebadged something else, reengineered to only use Dell;s own expensive ink
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From: Earth
If you want a l@ser get a Samsung or Brother - they come out of the same plant anyway
(Milo's point about drivers does not apply to HP lasers, just their ink jets)
Epsons are unreliable !!!!e.
Last edited by mixture; 1st July 2012 at 22:18.
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From: Middlesbrough U.K.
Being a poor pensioner with only £3 a week pocket money I bought my latest re-manufactured ink cartridges from Printer Cartridges, Cheap Ink Cartridges, Printer Inks, Laser Toner & Inkjet Cartridges
They work and are less than one third of H.P cartridges.
I'm not connected to them but if they want to send a few freebies for the advert I'll not object.
They work and are less than one third of H.P cartridges.
I'm not connected to them but if they want to send a few freebies for the advert I'll not object.
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From: In the shadows
Don't throw away an Epson printer with a full waste pad, i.e. with the "some internal components have reached the end of their operational life" warning before you google OctoInkJet and see if one of their waste ink boxes is available for your printer - around £9.75 each.
I did this after I got that warning about three years ago and my Stylus Photo RX700 is still going strong - I don't think the boxes/reset utility are available for every model though. As far as I remember you disconnect the tube from the printer to the ink pad, leaving the full ink pad in the printer, and connect that tube to the new tube leading to an external ink box (a modified "lock and lock" box) and run a reset utility. My box is only a third full after 3 years and just needs emptying whenever it suits.
I did this after I got that warning about three years ago and my Stylus Photo RX700 is still going strong - I don't think the boxes/reset utility are available for every model though. As far as I remember you disconnect the tube from the printer to the ink pad, leaving the full ink pad in the printer, and connect that tube to the new tube leading to an external ink box (a modified "lock and lock" box) and run a reset utility. My box is only a third full after 3 years and just needs emptying whenever it suits.
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I watched a documentary a few months ago that looked at built-in obsolesence. Printers were one of the products targetted, and a bloke in Russia had apparently devised a software program that would reset the 'counter chip' in printers that renders them inoperative ...
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From: Twickenham, home of rugby
I'll second Mixture's comment about HP business laser printers. I got a LJ4050N with duplexer that was surplus to office requirements 10 years ago, and it's still going strong. I choose to use HP toner carts - the 10,000 page jobbies, as it works out better value than the standard ones.
I have found HP printing and scanning kit equally impressive in the office environment too!
SD
I have found HP printing and scanning kit equally impressive in the office environment too!
SD
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From: .
I think mixture and I are very much comparing apples and oranges here.
When I posted I was very much thinking of the kind of machine a home user would have - its clear his experience is with larger scale office machines.
My dislike of Epsons is deep-seated. For several years one company I worked with was Epsons biggest UK customer, and we were for periods getting failure rates of 80% - on sales volumes in excess of 100,000 units / year. Cost us a fortune in goodwill - so much so that we gave up on them and switched to HP, despite the much higher initial purchase cost.
They're better now, but still below par.
I agree the office oriented Epson machines are more reliable, and I also accept the print quality on some models is outstanding - but the units aimed at the home consumer are utter garbage. Failure prone, and built in obselesence in the form of the ink pad counter described earlier.
As for lasers, for a home user Brothers and Samsungs are prefectly acceptable - I've examples of both lasting over five years (in fact I've not had to replace one of either brand at a customer so far). I'd certainly agree that a Xerox is going to be a better bet in a high print environment though.
As regards my comment about the HP software being bloated and unreliable - yes, that comment was very specifically aimed at their inkjets, not the lasers.
When I posted I was very much thinking of the kind of machine a home user would have - its clear his experience is with larger scale office machines.
My dislike of Epsons is deep-seated. For several years one company I worked with was Epsons biggest UK customer, and we were for periods getting failure rates of 80% - on sales volumes in excess of 100,000 units / year. Cost us a fortune in goodwill - so much so that we gave up on them and switched to HP, despite the much higher initial purchase cost.
They're better now, but still below par.
I agree the office oriented Epson machines are more reliable, and I also accept the print quality on some models is outstanding - but the units aimed at the home consumer are utter garbage. Failure prone, and built in obselesence in the form of the ink pad counter described earlier.
As for lasers, for a home user Brothers and Samsungs are prefectly acceptable - I've examples of both lasting over five years (in fact I've not had to replace one of either brand at a customer so far). I'd certainly agree that a Xerox is going to be a better bet in a high print environment though.
As regards my comment about the HP software being bloated and unreliable - yes, that comment was very specifically aimed at their inkjets, not the lasers.
Joined: Apr 2009
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From: UK
I watched a documentary a few months ago that looked at built-in obsolesence. Printers were one of the products targetted, and a bloke in Russia had apparently devised a software program that would reset the 'counter chip' in printers that renders them inoperative ...
Joined: Jan 2012
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From: .
If you Google the model number of your Epson, along with the words "reset" or "ink counter" you can nearly always find the correct instructions or utility on the web for free
These people who charge for the task online are scamming
These people who charge for the task online are scamming
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From: Lemonia. Best Greek in the world
HP inkjet software
I'll second that negative comment about HP Inkjet software. It is massively over-bloated.
After one bunch of problems, I finally got full "how to remove the software completely" from an HP techie.
I figured that doing what he said would take me longer than I have left on the planet.
AND - the software designed for my machine/XP does not support Win 7....so the dead scanner stays dead.
After one bunch of problems, I finally got full "how to remove the software completely" from an HP techie.
I figured that doing what he said would take me longer than I have left on the planet.
AND - the software designed for my machine/XP does not support Win 7....so the dead scanner stays dead.