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Peripherals Epson inkpads nearing end of service life - after 1 year!

Discussion in 'Tech Support' started by Nodule, 13 Mar 2010.

  1. Nodule

    Nodule What's a Dremel?

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    My Epson PX800FW all-in-one has started displaying a strange message about the ink pads (not carts note) coming to the end of their service life and to contact Epson support. A quick look on the Epson site basically states that you can get them repaired but they are prohibitively expensive usually, but not to worry because they only tend to go after years of use and/or very heavy use and so typically the printer will be replaced for other reasons before it comes an issue.

    Fair enough, but I've only had the printer for a year (its only been released since mid 2008) and printing on average i would estimate 5 pages/week <> heavy use, so either Epson are onto a new scam (which I seriously doubt) or something is going funny with the printer.

    Has anyone else encountered a similar issue with a printer and have any advice?

    (I will send Espon support an email asking the same question but I can pretty much guarentee it will not come to anything useful with the printer being out of warrenty and so on, so I thought I would also try here.)
     
    Last edited: 13 Mar 2010
  2. Xonar

    Xonar What's a Dremel?

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    Hi, my mum had the same issue with her epson printer saying the inkpad was full and refused to print anything until it was taken to an epson engineer who could fix it.

    After much googling I found a peice of software which the epson people use to tell the printer it's had it's inkpad changed and resets the counter back to zero and works fine again. It actually goes by the amount of pages you've printed and not how saturated the pad is.

    I ran that software anyway, reset the counter and the printers been running for the past year without a problem.
     
  3. Golygus

    Golygus Minimodder

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    SSC Service utility

    You can use this to reset the counter, normally you can do it twice before you actually need to change the pad which is a very messy job.
     
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  4. theskirrid

    theskirrid What's a Dremel?

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    +1 for golygus's link, works a treat.

    When you finally change the pad you can wash it out, dry it and re-use it. It is, however, the messiest job in history, save for doing Courney Love's laundry.
     
  5. Golygus

    Golygus Minimodder

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    My old boss used to have me do the ink pads of our work printers, but instead of cleaning the old one, or buying a new epson one, he had me use capillary matting from a garden centre!
     
  6. Nodule

    Nodule What's a Dremel?

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    Thanks for your help all. I'll give that software a go when I get home.
     
  7. millsie

    millsie What's a Dremel?

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    I hope the software solved your problem.

    Unfortunately the ink pads issue is a major problem on Epson PX800FW and PX810FW printers. Epson have produced a machine that if used fairly regularly will be rendered useless within about 12 months of purchase. Having used Epson printers for over 20 years (starting with dot matrix) I have now switched to HP until Epson sort the quality of their products.
     
  8. Nodule

    Nodule What's a Dremel?

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    Alas, I tried the software fix to no avail.

    The whole episode left me with a sick taste in my mouth. When I asked for an explanation/support from Epson, their first reaction was to blame me for using non Epson inks. As I have only ever used Epson inks and paper in my printer this wild assumption I thought was faintly insulting. After I let them know this fact they basically tried to blame me for over using it - but as I said in my original post, this is a home printer with home usage - 5 pages per week/max. Finally they just palmed me off as the thing was out of warranty.

    The PX800FW is a premium printer costing a few hundred quid. The thing gets get good reviews (part of the reason I opted for it) but is only used for a few hours by review sites. While it works it is great, but seeing as I am not the only one with the problem the machine is obviously deeply flawed and not worth the money. Review sites should consider long term (i.e. year/18 months) tests.

    Epson's customer service is not only a joke but is also pretty aggressive, and has the first reaction to blame the customer. The end? With no other recourse I went and brought a Canon (MP990) - very happy with it so far, and boy does it use less ink!

    Like you I will never buy Epson again and indeed would warn anyone thinking of buying the PX800FW or any of their products to think again as the things will not last over the year and Epson will be of no help whatsoever in trying to resolve the matter.
     
  9. Krikkit

    Krikkit All glory to the hypnotoad! Super Moderator

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    I'm not sure that's really practical, once a review site's had a printer for 18 months on a long-term test you'll probably find it's not even sold anymore.

    Personally I had a bad run with Epsons and switched to HP. Their software sucks major donkey balls, but the printers seem more reliable.
     
  10. confusis

    confusis Kiwi-modder

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    I always buy canon - and so does my Mum. She has an A4 and an A3 bubblejet that are over 6 years old. No issues, no maintainence just ink and paper.
     
  11. NeiltheDruid

    NeiltheDruid Minimodder

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    Blimey. I've been looking for all-in-one printers recently and I've been considering Epsons, but after reading this thread, I can't say I'm feeling all that confident about them - especially the customer support. In the past I've bought HP stuff and I've been pretty lucky as most of it has lasted a long time. The only problem is I've had difficulties with driver support and I'm looking for something that's as reliable as HP but with better software.
     
  12. thehippoz

    thehippoz What's a Dremel?

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    have to agree with krikket.. I really like the quality when the epson printers are new- they print photo realistic esp the 6 color models

    I've actually scanned and printed a picture on photo paper that looked better than the original when done xD the problem is the ink carts need to have a resetter- bought one to refill the carts and now hearing about this waste pad screwup I'm glad switched to hp

    the head ended up going on my epson 6 color too.. anyway here's the maintenance guide on rapidshare if you wanted to replace or clean the waste pad yourself

    http://rapidshare.com/files/3074885...FW___700__PX700FW__TX700FW_Service_Manual.rar

    I'm not sure where you'd find the adjustment program to reset it.. lemme look some more
     
  13. thehippoz

    thehippoz What's a Dremel?

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  14. o0oabdo0o

    o0oabdo0o What's a Dremel?

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    Amazing Customer Service

    Last night I experienced the printer lock out as a result of the pads needing changing. Read around the forums where most people agree thats just about it for the printer.

    On the off chance I logged into the Epson site and opened up an advisor chat session.

    Within 10 minutes I had been offered, agreed, paid for and had a planned delivery date for a brand new replacement PW800FX including 12 months warranty and inks for the princely sum of less that £31 including postage!

    When you consider my printer was definately more than 12 months old that looks like a good deal to me.

    I have seen so many people slagging Epson off for poor customer service, other than being free, this customer service could not have been better.
     
  15. carajp

    carajp What's a Dremel?

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    Ring up Trading Standards/Consumer Direct.

    Products are supposed to last a "reasonable length of time", which has often been interpreted as 6 years. However, it depends both on the price and the item. A printer costing £100s should not die in just over a year. You have rights here for much longer than a year!

    Note that your contract is with the retailer who sold you the printer, however, not Epson itself.

    Consumer Direct will guide you how to go about asserting your consumer rights.

    (Incidentally, just about to buy a printer and was wondering whether it was time to give Epson another chance. That'll be a "no" then. Thank you!)
     
  16. glendronach

    glendronach Minimodder

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    I too gave up on Epson several years ago and became a Canon convert, My 865i is still working well apart from the moaning (literally!) when printing a CD or DVD.

    You must challenge the retailer you bought the Epson from as carjp says with help from Consumer Direct about the premature failure of your printer.
     

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