Epson Stylus DX7450 full cartridges 'empty'

[A.Translator]

I recently puchased an Epson Stylus DX7450. The machine did not print red or
yellow, so I cleaned the nozzles and put in new, original Epson cartridges
because the level show was very low. Still no red or yellow. I then went back
to the shop and was given a brandnew machine of the same model. Since the
cartridges in the first machine were practically new, I asked the shop
assistant to put them in the new machine. He did and I went home.

Once the new machine was connected to my pc (Vista), I got a message saying the
printer was not ready as all cartridges were empty.

I rang Epson Support and was told that the cartridges were indeed empty as all
ink would have been absorbed by the machine I first put them into. I rang the
shop and was told this was nonsense.

Question: does the ink from brandnew cartridges get sucked into the machine,
leaving the cartridges unusable for other machines?
If this is indeed nonsense, what else can cause the cartridges to be empty or
seem empty?

Can it be a software issue? I have read about resetting the machine by
unplugging it, but this does not work.

All help will be appreciated.

 

[Jan Alter]

I recently puchased an Epson Stylus DX7450. The machine did not print red
or yellow, so I cleaned the nozzles and put in new, original Epson
cartridges because the level show was very low. Still no red or yellow. I
then went back to the shop and was given a brandnew machine of the same
model. Since the cartridges in the first machine were practically new, I
asked the shop assistant to put them in the new machine. He did and I went
home.

Once the new machine was connected to my pc (Vista), I got a message
saying the printer was not ready as all cartridges were empty.

I rang Epson Support and was told that the cartridges were indeed empty as
all ink would have been absorbed by the machine I first put them into. I
rang the shop and was told this was nonsense.

Question: does the ink from brandnew cartridges get sucked into the
machine, leaving the cartridges unusable for other machines?
If this is indeed nonsense, what else can cause the cartridges to be empty
or seem empty?

Can it be a software issue? I have read about resetting the machine by
unplugging it, but this does not work.

All help will be appreciated.

--
Groet,
Adriana
[ gooi de vuilnis weg als je me wilt mailen ]
www.spinsister.nl

The problem certainly could be that the cartridges were empty. After
re-reading your post I realized that you had asked the salesman to put the
original cartridges from the first printer into the new printer. That would
probably be enough to empty them, since they were filling not one brand new
print head, but actually two brand new print heads. Charging the head of a
new machine will certainly will leave less ink for printing than that of a
printer that has already been running previously.
It would have been preferable to have the salesman use brand new
cartridges for the second printer rather than your original ones to insure
that all was working correctly with the second printer.
Additionally, Epsons use a lot of ink everytime a cleaning cycle is
done and that in turn will add to the empty cartridge situation. For some C
models I've worked with five cleaning cycles would be enough to make the
chips read empty.

Recommendation is to call Epson back and ask them to send you a set of new
cartridges. If they won't help then return the printer and either ask for a
new one, or get your money back.


Jan Alter
(e-mail address removed)
or
(e-mail address removed)12.pa.us

 

[A.Translator]

Jan Alter schreef op 5-2-2008

It would have been preferable to have the salesman use brand new cartridges
for the second printer rather than your original ones to insure that all was
working correctly with the second printer.

Thank you. We went back to the shop, and this time he put in - free of charge -
new cartridges *as they would have been supplied with a new system*. This would
be what the software expected, was the reasoning.

All is working fine now, but I think this is the last Epson printer I bought.

Thank you!

 

[Arthur Entlich]

A few questions...

You state you recently purchased the printer, however, the cartridges
were "very low" so I am somewhat confused. Did you use the printer for
a fair amount before this happened, or did you buy a demo model with ink
cartridges in it? I am somewhat confused.

Assuming the cartridges you then installed were new and factory filled,
they would not have been the very first cartridges, and therefore they
should not have had a tremendous drain of ink, at most 5-7% was used
when they loaded. This is done to remove any air and purge out some of
the old ink from the previous cartridges.

When the machine is brand new, the very first time cartridges are
loaded, the machine needs to flush out a head preservative which is
installed in the factory and any air in the heads. This process can use
up up to 25-30% of a new cartridge, but this is a one time situation
unless you use 3rd party software or Epson's set up propriety software
to repeat that for some reason. So, assuming the cartridges were
factory new, went in one machine that had already been through the
initial charge previously, they would have given up about 5-7%, then on
being placed in the brand new machine with the initial charge they might
have used up about 25-30%, for a total of 35% or so. At worst case,
there should have been at least 60-65% of the ink left, so if your
portrayal is accurate, no, the cartridges should have had over half the
ink left in them.

Either your explanation has left me confused, or Epson is providing
starter cartridges, which they claim they do not, or the technical
information you stated and which they provided is wonky.

Much more likely is either the heads are clogged, there is an airlock in
them, or too many cleaning cycles were run (which would indicate low ink
conditions even if the ink didn't actually get used). The chip lowers
the status of the ink levels even if the ink isn't used (such as if the
head is clogged and the ink is not coming out of the nozzles), if you do
a lot of cleaning cycles, etc.

A common problem with Epson Durabrite ink printers is the screen at the
tip of the ink spike gets dried, clogged or otherwise won't allow proper
flow.

Art

 

[Arthur Entlich]

With the exchange of the printer for a new one, the O.P. should have
received the inbox set of cartridges. I assumed (perhaps incorrectly)
that the installed cartridges were just using the ones from the previous
printer, which he/she had purchased and recently installed, but the
description is a bit confused, so I am not clear. Perhaps the OP can
explain again the sequence of events more clearly.

How long was the first printer in use, and how many prints made before
it begin to run low on ink? Were the cartridges which were exchanged
very recently installed in the first printer, or had they been in there
for a while?

Art

I recently puchased an Epson Stylus DX7450. The machine did not print red
or yellow, so I cleaned the nozzles and put in new, original Epson
cartridges because the level show was very low. Still no red or yellow. I
then went back to the shop and was given a brandnew machine of the same
model. Since the cartridges in the first machine were practically new, I
asked the shop assistant to put them in the new machine. He did and I went
home.

Once the new machine was connected to my pc (Vista), I got a message
saying the printer was not ready as all cartridges were empty.

I rang Epson Support and was told that the cartridges were indeed empty as
all ink would have been absorbed by the machine I first put them into. I
rang the shop and was told this was nonsense.

Question: does the ink from brandnew cartridges get sucked into the
machine, leaving the cartridges unusable for other machines?
If this is indeed nonsense, what else can cause the cartridges to be empty
or seem empty?

Can it be a software issue? I have read about resetting the machine by
unplugging it, but this does not work.

All help will be appreciated.

--
Groet,
Adriana
[ gooi de vuilnis weg als je me wilt mailen ]
www.spinsister.nl

The problem certainly could be that the cartridges were empty. After
re-reading your post I realized that you had asked the salesman to put the
original cartridges from the first printer into the new printer. That would
probably be enough to empty them, since they were filling not one brand new
print head, but actually two brand new print heads. Charging the head of a
new machine will certainly will leave less ink for printing than that of a
printer that has already been running previously.
It would have been preferable to have the salesman use brand new
cartridges for the second printer rather than your original ones to insure
that all was working correctly with the second printer.
Additionally, Epsons use a lot of ink everytime a cleaning cycle is
done and that in turn will add to the empty cartridge situation. For some C
models I've worked with five cleaning cycles would be enough to make the
chips read empty.

Recommendation is to call Epson back and ask them to send you a set of new
cartridges. If they won't help then return the printer and either ask for a
new one, or get your money back.


Jan Alter
(e-mail address removed)
or
(e-mail address removed)12.pa.us

 

[Arthur Entlich]

Although I am not keen on the Durabrite ink printers, because of
clogging problems due to the fast drying ink, it seems to me this
problem was due to the dealer not following through on standard
procedure of supplying a set of new cartridges when exchanging a
defective printer under warranty.

I still don't understand the first set of circumstances and what
happened there.

Art