Epson Photo 700 color ink light won't go off

[G.M. Durrence]

Does anyone have a schematic for the Epson Photo 700 or can tell me
what might cause the light to stay on for the color ink. I have tried
several new ink cartridges but the light refuses to go out. The
Epsson utilities won't run. The status monitor shows the printer not
ready.

thanks for any help.

G.M. Durrence
(To reply remove -nospam)

 

[MikeD]

Does anyone have a schematic for the Epson Photo 700 or can tell me
what might cause the light to stay on for the color ink. I have tried
several new ink cartridges but the light refuses to go out. The
Epsson utilities won't run. The status monitor shows the printer not
ready.

Have you tried using this utility? It might give a clue to the problem.

http://www.ssclg.com/epsone.shtml


Mike

 

[G.M. Durrence]



I tried that. The utility acts like it doesn't see the printer.
Apparantly as long as the color led is on the printer stays off-line.
G.M. Durrence
(To reply remove -nospam)

 

[Arthur Entlich]

Is that the only light on?

Art

 

[Arthur Entlich]

If that is the only LED on (other than the power on LED), remove the
cartridge and take a good look at the contacts on both the cartridge and
within the printer carriage area. If other LEDS are on, or blinking,
that is an error condition and a code to tell you what's up.

There are several wires in the printer that need to contact the pads on
the chip on the cartridge. These wires are made of a brittle gold
plated wire, and should they get damaged, dirty (with ink , etc), or
broken off (they are brittle enough that if roughly handled, bent or
abused they will literally break off.

If they have broken, I believe MIS is now offering replacment modules.
If they are bent incorrectly (they shoudl be fairly evenly spaced, VERY
CAREFULLY adjust them with a small screwdriver or similar tool.

If they are dirty, take a cotton swab and using some ammoniated window
cleaner or isopropyl alcohol, gently clean them and let dry, then wip
ethe pads on teh cartrideg itself with a clean paper towel, and
reinsert, making sure to get the cartridge firmly in place.

Usually, that will fix it. If not, sometimes 3rd party ink cartridegs
or counterfeits will not work, occasionally Epson will have a batch of
badly programed chips.

If you refilled this cartridge after it read empty, and did not
reprogram the chip with an Epson cartridge resetter, the printer will
consider this cartridge empty until it is reset.

Art

 

[Arthur Entlich]

G.M. rightly informed me thatteh Photo 700 doesn't have chipped
cartridges. I made an error on the model number.


So, I sent him an email in private, and basically, it stated this (below).

I don't want leaving mis-information on the internet for others to be
misguided by.
==========================



Of course, you are correct... Sometimes I forget which model is which.

OK, for those models, I believe there is a small leaf switch (a piece of
bent spring steel) behind the cartridge that needs to be activated.
Epson calls it the "Ink Cartridge Sensor activator".

Over time, that switch can become fatigued and the metal flattens. If
it becomes too flat, the cartridge will not activate it when it is
installed. You may need to very carefully "pull" the center of the leaf
switch out to give it a more acute angle so it will stick out far enough
to allow the cartridge to activate it. The top edge of the metal needs
to contact the nozzle selection board contacts behind.

Some people insert a small piece of cardboard behind the cartridge to
activate the switch, but that tends to further flatten the leaf spring.

Hope this helps more than the last explanation.

Art

 

[G.M. Durrence]

Problem solved. Exactly what you said. I bent the spring to put more
tension on it and it works! Thanks a lot. I knew there had to be a
switch but I didn't know where to look until you told me. Epson Tech
Support was useless. They told me "It appears that you have a
hardware problem". By the way I didn't get your private e-mail. You
probably didn't remove the -nospam from my address.

Thanks again,

G.M. rightly informed me thatteh Photo 700 doesn't have chipped
cartridges. I made an error on the model number.


So, I sent him an email in private, and basically, it stated this (below).

I don't want leaving mis-information on the internet for others to be
misguided by.
==========================



Of course, you are correct... Sometimes I forget which model is which.

OK, for those models, I believe there is a small leaf switch (a piece of
bent spring steel) behind the cartridge that needs to be activated.
Epson calls it the "Ink Cartridge Sensor activator".

Over time, that switch can become fatigued and the metal flattens. If
it becomes too flat, the cartridge will not activate it when it is
installed. You may need to very carefully "pull" the center of the leaf
switch out to give it a more acute angle so it will stick out far enough
to allow the cartridge to activate it. The top edge of the metal needs
to contact the nozzle selection board contacts behind.

Some people insert a small piece of cardboard behind the cartridge to
activate the switch, but that tends to further flatten the leaf spring.

Hope this helps more than the last explanation.

Art

G.M. Durrence
(To reply remove -nospam)

 

[G.M. Durrence]

Thanks for the reply but the Epson Photo 700 printer does not have a
chip on the cartridge, so there are no contacts.

If that is the only LED on (other than the power on LED), remove the
cartridge and take a good look at the contacts on both the cartridge and
within the printer carriage area. If other LEDS are on, or blinking,
that is an error condition and a code to tell you what's up.

There are several wires in the printer that need to contact the pads on
the chip on the cartridge. These wires are made of a brittle gold
plated wire, and should they get damaged, dirty (with ink , etc), or
broken off (they are brittle enough that if roughly handled, bent or
abused they will literally break off.

If they have broken, I believe MIS is now offering replacment modules.
If they are bent incorrectly (they shoudl be fairly evenly spaced, VERY
CAREFULLY adjust them with a small screwdriver or similar tool.

If they are dirty, take a cotton swab and using some ammoniated window
cleaner or isopropyl alcohol, gently clean them and let dry, then wip
ethe pads on teh cartrideg itself with a clean paper towel, and
reinsert, making sure to get the cartridge firmly in place.

Usually, that will fix it. If not, sometimes 3rd party ink cartridegs
or counterfeits will not work, occasionally Epson will have a batch of
badly programed chips.

If you refilled this cartridge after it read empty, and did not
reprogram the chip with an Epson cartridge resetter, the printer will
consider this cartridge empty until it is reset.

Art

G.M. Durrence
(To reply remove -nospam)