I print using an Epson R2400 Stylus Printer, which has proved to be a really fine work horse over the years. The other day however, I was a little alarmed to see two red lights flashing in a way I’d never witnessed before and the printer completely unresponsive. When I tried to print I got a message telling me that “Parts inside your printer are at the end of their service lifeâ€
Not willing to accept that I was either in for a large repair bill or even worse a new printer I turned to Google. (Don’t we all in times of crisis?) After some digging I began to unearth a possible way to get my printer back up and running.
It seems all Epson printers have a built in counter and after a predetermined number of prints stops working until you get them serviced. Epson claim the reason for this is that at this point the ink pads are full and need replacing. This is not the case and is just a way of making us part with our cash. Either in service/repair costs or on a new printer.
By using the SSC Service Utility software for Epson Printers (downloadable here) you can access the printer’s firmware and reset the print counter on your printer. I’ve had my R2400 around two and a half years now so I should have a least another couple of years usage out of it before I really do need to change the ink pads.
The utility software is very easy to use and the only real hitch I had in getting it to work is that there is no OSX version. This meant I had to install Windows XP on my iMac via Parallels and download and install the printer drivers before I could run the SSC Service Utility.
Upon returning to the familiar (and oh so much better in every way) OSX and trying a test print it became obvious that it had worked a treat. There was a huge sense of satisfaction when the printer reset itself and the old familiar noises and lights began to kick in. I wonder how many folk are buying new printers or paying expensive repair bills completely unnecessarily?