Printer problems - Not recognising a cartridge

[Donald]

Is anyone using a bulk ink system in an Epson R3000 .. or any Epson printer?

Was going to rpint some images today. When I switched the printer on, I got the following message: "Cannot recognize the following cartridge(s). Try installing them again." And it was the Yellow cartridge that was indicated as not being recognised.

I've never had this problem before.

I've tried everything I know to get the printer to recognise what it previously had no problem in recognising, but all to no avail. The same message just keeps coming up.

Anyone ever experienced this and do you have any ideas that I might not have thought about?

[Manfred M]

Have you tried removing the cartridge and reinstalling it? If this does not work, try cleaning the contacts.

Sometimes the issue is just a mechanical connection issue between the cartridge and the printer. The print head gets banged around a bit as it moves back and forth. A bit of contamination or corrosion can sometimes be the problem and remounting the cartridge can correct this. Cleaning the contacts does a better job in ensuring good electrical contact.

[Donald]

Tried those things, Manfred. I'm scared of rubbing the contacts too hard for fear of really causing damage.

[Manfred M]

Try isopropyl alcohol with a cotton swap. That works well for oily surface contaminants and is gentle on the contacts.

There could also be a mechanical / electrical problem with the cartridge. They were not really built for repeated use. I had to return one of my to the manufacturer as it was defective out of the box. This was a Lexmark printer and I believe they did recondition and refill recycled cartridges.

Hopefully its not a problem with the printer itself.

[Donald]

Try isopropyl alcohol with a cotton swap. That works well for oily surface contaminants and is gentle on the contacts.

I will try that and see what happens.

[rpcrowe]

I have had that problem with my Pixma Pro 9000 Mkii and generic inks. Sometimes individual ink cartridges are not recognized. Most recently it was the red. I was caught with egg on my face when I promised some prints and couldn't print them in a timely manner because the printer would not recognize the red ink cartridge...

I have solved (avoided) the problem by reverting to Canon OEM inks. I don't print that often and the Canon inks seem never to clog (even with limited use). Although ink is expensive, when considering the fortune that I have spent on my photo gear, the price really doesn't seem that bad.

It's kind of like spending hundreds of dollars on fishing gear, hundreds to thousands of dollars on a fishing trip and then using the cheapest fish hooks I can find.

[James G]

Donald, If you are using the Marrutt system, it is worth giving them a call. I had a similar problem a year or so back, using rechargeable cartridges.They sent me a replacement on the basis that it was within the 1 year warranty period, (no charge). It could be that the chip has failed.

G'luck... James

[Donald]

Donald, If you are using the Marrutt system,

It's Permajet's Eco-Flo system that I use. I've always found them very helpful and calling them will indeed by the final option.

What's mystifying me is the fact that when I last had the printer on (a couple of weeks ago) everything was perfect and, today, when I switched on, it suddenly wasn't.

[victor]

Donald,

Haven you tried sliding the chip out and re inserting it. If this fails to work a new chip may be required from perma jet

[Donald]

Donald,

Haven you tried sliding the chip out and re inserting it. If this fails to work a new chip may be required from perma jet

No. I didn't know I could do that. Will try it.

[Codebreaker]

I use Lyson refillable cartridges in my R2400 and can go for weeks without any warnings. Then I'll get a pop-up saying something like 'this is not an Epson cartridge blah, blah.' But it allows me to continue and the message goes away for a few more weeks.

My desktop XP322 does the same with third party inks but still allows me to continue.