This service most often is an indication that printer has reached it's
waste ink pad protection number. Each time you do a head cleaning, some
ink is discarded down a tube into the base of the printer which is
filled with an absorbent material.
Epson determines that at a certain point, those "diapers" should be
filled and need to be replaced prior to the ink leaking outside the
printer and onto your nice white carpet.
Rather than having a user replaceable bottle or unit, Epson's design is
for the printer to shut down, give this warning, so you bring it to the
repair people, and they open it up, remove the whole printing mechanism,
get to the pads, and replace them with new ones, cost is usually around
$100, depending upon the model. The larger printers have larger pads in
them and cost more to get replacement.
You can do a few things:
1) you can download the program from the URL below and try to reset the
protection counter with it.
The program is found at:
http://www.ssclg.com/epsone.shtml
2) You can reposition the waste ink hose, using an extension, and allow
the ink waste to be monitored
3) You can get the service done and do nothing else but pay for the repair
Art
Frank Arthur wrote:
> I bought my Epson R1800 in August 2005.
> Has been working beautifully producing mostly Epson Premium Glossy prints.
>
> Without warning prints began to come out poorly this morning followed by
> the following error message:
>
> "Requires Service
> Parts inside your printer are near the end of their service life. See your
> printer documentation."
>
> I contacted Epson and was told that I need to bring the printer to a nearbly
> city for servicing.
>
> Is his common for the service life of about 18 months for a $500 printer
> such as this?
> Have other R1800 users faced with the same problem? And what did he
> servicing entail?
>
>