A quick explanation of how Epsons read ink usage is in order.
The chip on the outside of the cartridge is not capable of actually
knowing how much ink is in it.
There are several assumptions made.
1) the amount of ink the cartridge starts with is a known.
This is true if you buy OEM Epson cartridges, but 3rd party or refills
may have more or less ink than Epson puts in theirs. However, the
system Epson uses assumes the amount in the cartridge is a known
amount... the amount Epson uses when they manufacturer them.
2) the amount of ink used up in cleaning, printing and purges is known
This is *somewhat* true. Epson knows about how much ink SHOULD be used
up during differing types of cleaning cycles, and each time the head is
triggered when printing, but some Epson printer shave variable dot
technology which uses different size droplets for different parts of the
image, and certainly different ink droplets are used depending on how
the drivers are set (regarding what type of paper is being printed on)
How accurately that is reported to the ink counting software, I don't know.
Further, if cleaning cycles or printing is attempted with a partially or
fully clogged head, the printer wouldn't know that the ink was actually
not being used in the quantity assumed. SImply put, the printer assumes
the nozzles are all clear all the time when it comes to counting how
much ink has been used.
Each time the printer is turned on, the printer reads the last setting
the chip on the side of the cartridge was set to. Each time, just
before the printer is shut down, the printer rewrites that chip to an
amount equal to the starting point less the assumed amount of ink used
during the session.
3) Epson doesn't want the cartridge running fully out of ink.
Since the heads in an Epson printer remain in the printer even when a
cartridge is removed, it is best that air not be introduced into the
head. It can lead to an air-lock that sometime scan be difficult to
remove, so the cartridges are always called empty prior to them being,
so that the head is still filled with ink when it indicates a new
cartridge is required. So, the exchange time is conservative, often
leaving between 1 and 2 ml of ink within the cartridge when it reads empty.
You asked what can be done about it and why your color cartridges are
being used up when you don't use color inks to print with very often.
To answer the second part of that question first, each time the printer
is turned on, set to do a cleaning cycle or any cartridge is replaced
with a new one, the printer does a vacuuming of the heads, which draws
ink out. Since the whole cleaning station is one unit, all the
cartridges have ink drawn out of them. Cleaning cycles use up a fair
amount of ink.
As to how you can get around the problem of ink left behind in
cartridges, there are two thing I can think of.
1) You can buy a chip resetter. These can be purchased quite
inexpensively on ebay and elsewhere. Make sure any you get are
compatible with your model.
This device will reset the chip to read as if the cartridge is brand new
and full. Obviously, the cartridge will run out of ink long before the
status monitor indicates, and this may introduce air into the head,
which may require extra cleaning cycles. Secondly, each time you
replace a cartridge that is indicated as fresh after a "ink empty" is
reached for a cartridge, the printer does a ink purging process on all
the cartridges and quite a bit of ink is lost, each time a "new" full
cartridge is added after an empty process, so you may not save any ink
that way..
However, wheat you may be able to do is, save up several used
cartridges, each having 1-2ml of ink, and when you have enough to fill a
cartridge, do so, making a full new cartridge. You will need to
research how to refill your cartridge type. Several web site we can
provide information on opening them for refilling.
Art
