[Leica] Dead Epsons....formerly Darkroom (Nova "trays")

[dlr at dlridings.se (Daniel Ridings)]

David Rodgers wrote:
>>> There is a way to get past Epson's planned obsolescence ... some 
> software that can reset the counter. But you have to use it before you 
> try and turn the printer on too many times. Once the printer goes dead 
> (Epson lets you turn it on and off a few times with a warning first) 
> then it goes stone dead. They only thing you do is junk it after that.<<
> 
> Thanks, Daniel. I heard about this before, but I thought it was just a
> rumor. 

It's not a rumor. It has happened to me twice.

> How nice of Epson to program in a warning!!!!! 

The warning is tricky.

It warns you that it is time to take it in for service (where they 
replace some sponges and reset the counters). You don't know that the 
printer is going to bomb out on you, only that you should turn it in to 
your nearest Epson service center (as if there were one).


> Any idea as to how many prints before a printer dies? Where can you
> get/download the reset software? And is the built into all consumer
> Epsons? (I assume not the Pro Epsons). 

You can do a lot of prints, that isn't really the issue.

If you do a lot of cleaning cycles, that becomes a problem fast. Once 
the cartridges settle, they sit over some sponges. Those sponges get 
drenched and then you get your problems. This happens much faster with 
cleaning cycles than it does from normal printing.

So if you leave your printer on all the time (avoiding unnecessary 
cleaning cycles when you start up) and if you print often, you'll 
actually get a lot more mileage out of your printer. Printing doesn't 
drench the sponges and printing also keeps things clean, so you don't 
need the cleaning cycles.

I had a Continuous flow system and was gone days at a time. I asked my 
son to turn the printer on and off every other day while I was gone 
(over a period of months), to keep the CFS system in shape. That ended 
up causing my problem.

Now I just make sure I print often and have the printer on the home net 
so everyone else can print while I'm gone. I have to extend the life of 
this last C86 as long as I can.

Daniel