Epson 3880 won't recognise maintenance cartridge

[robwignell]

I haven't used my Epson 3880 for a while but it usually starts up well. This time a nozzle check failed to print LK. I opened the ink bay cover and replaced the LK cartridge with a slightly used OEM cartridge. When I closed the ink bay cover the printer displayed the message "INSTALL THE MAINTENANCE CARTRIDGE". So far I have had no success with the following steps:
1. Turn the printer off and back on. This takes me to the INSTALL THE MAINTENANCE CARTRIDGE message.
2. Take the (relatively new) maintenance cartridge out and re-install it. I get the same error message.
3. Replace the maintenance cartridge with a new one. Same message again.
4. Clean the terminals on the original maintenance cartridge chip. Same message.
5. Add some layers of tape to the maintenance cartridge on the side opposite the chip (for a tighter fit). Same message.

Grateful for suggestions.

 

[pharmacist]

It could be the fault is one of the other cartridge chips, not the maintenance cartridge chip. So have a look at the other cartridges.

 

[robwignell]

Thanks for this recommended approach. The cartridge I replaced with the used OEM cartridge was a refillable. I topped it up and returned it to the printer. After this the MAINTENANCE CARTRIDGE error message did not re-appear.

It took a while to work out how to open the ink bay cover to change the ink cartridges. The up arrow that needs to be pressed for 3 seconds was inactive while the INSTALL MAITENANCE CARTRIDGE error message was active. However, I found that if I opened the maintenance cartridge door and closed it again the error message temporarily disappeared. By pressing and holding the up arrow during this brief period, I was able to open the ink bay cover and replace the ink cartridges.

The 3880 is now working well.

As an aside, I notice that you use InkTec PowerChrome K3 ink in your P800. I used a set of InkTec ink in my 7880 but when developing printer profiles (using Argyll software and a DTP 70 scanner ) I found that the gamut volume was about 100,000 units lower than the OEM ink. Did you have this experience with InkTec? In prints this resulted in less vivid colours.