Usually, Epson printers are rather conservative with their waste ink
protection numbers and they indicate full waste ink pads long before
they are full. Typically, one can reset this number once before
worrying about the waste pad ink overflowing. However, as a precaution I
suggest placing the printer on some newspaper with plastic sheeting
below it, or in a tray, just in case the pads do become over-saturated.
The best solution is to bring the waste ink tube(s) external to the
printer and use a small bottle for the waste ink to be stored in.
It is true that replacing the pads can be really messy, and is best
avoided if possible,
Art
If you are interested in issues surrounding e-waste,
I invite you to enter the discussion at my blog:
http://e-trashtalk.spaces.live.com/