Re: Removing and Re-Installing Ink Cartridges

[rafeb <rafeb@channel1.com>]

At 10:06 AM 1/6/00 -0600, Joel Wilcox wrote:
>At 06:17 PM 1/4/2000 -0800, you wrote:
>>Can you remove and later re-install partially used ink cartridges, or does
>>that screw up the printer?
>>
>>Thanks,
>>Doug
>
>You can remove a partially used cart on most machines by pressing the paper
>feed button for about 3 seconds or so.  The carts move over to where you
>can open the doors and remove them.  If you're going to have them out for a
>while, I'd suggest unplugging the machine for the duration.  Maybe that's
>not necessary, I don't really know for sure.
>
>The biggest problem you'll run into is that when you put carts back in and
>run the machine, the status monitor will assume that you've put a new cart
>in there and will give you misleading indications about the amount of ink
>you've got left (unless you've put new carts in, of course).


Actually, in my not-so-humble opinion, the biggest problem
is the Epson driver's ink-level-monitoring scheme, and the
fact that there's no override for the "ink-out" condition.

As TomCat has pointed out, the "efficiency" of Epson ink-carts
is abysmal.  Even so, the status monitor is designed to be
extremely conservative.  You can almost always squeeze out
another few (3-6) 8x10" prints on a Photo 700...

However, there's no recourse but to "reset" the cartridge.
And in doing so, you have a mandatory cleaning cycle -- which
wastes about a page worth of ink -- if you're lucky.  If you're
unlucky, the simple process of "resetting" the cart will 
introduce air into the lines, which then causes some requires
number of cleaning cycles to clear... at which point the
"resetting" has lost its purpose altogether.

I've found that "resetting" of carts is a lost cause 
on my 1160.

A simple software-override of the "ink-out" indicator would
alleviate this situation, but of course, that's not in Epson's
interests at all, so it won't happen.


rafe b.
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