Epson Workforce 4540 Refillable Questions

[hdtvjeff]

Hi,

I bought the refillable cartridges with pigmented ink for my WF4540. Came with the ARC chips.

Initially it took some inserting the cartridges out and in a few times before it seemed to take, but then it took and printed a lot of stuff perfectly, but almost immediately I began to get errors such as cartridges are inserted wrong or door is open. I will then Power off then on or remove then reinsert one or all four cartridges. Eventually the problem goes away but it does return. I have not updated firmware. Is there a permanent fix?

Thanks,

jeff

 

[websnail]

We've been selling these for a few customers and found a few problems to watch out for so try the following:

• Try inserting a thin piece of card under the cartridges to gently lift the chips up into contact with the cartridge bay contact wires.
• Try removing all the cartridges closing the bay door then reinsert one at a time, closing the cartridge bay each time and allowing the printer to recognise the chip before inserting the next one.
• Try cleaning the chips and removing any unnecessary plastic flashing that's protruding too far above the chip.

Tip: Avoid ramming the cartridge home, firm but gentle is the way forward as it's possible the cause of the yellow pump/seal failure (mentioned elsewhere) is caused by overzealous ink cartridge insertion.

With a little luck the above will help you get it all sorted though...

Cheers,

Martin

 

[hdtvjeff]

We've been selling these for a few customers and found a few problems to watch out for so try the following:

• Try inserting a thin piece of card under the cartridges to gently lift the chips up into contact with the cartridge bay contact wires.
• Try removing all the cartridges closing the bay door then reinsert one at a time, closing the cartridge bay each time and allowing the printer to recognise the chip before inserting the next one.
• Try cleaning the chips and removing any unnecessary plastic flashing that's protruding too far above the chip.

Tip: Avoid ramming the cartridge home, firm but gentle is the way forward as it's possible the cause of the yellow pump/seal failure (mentioned elsewhere) is caused by overzealous ink cartridge insertion.

With a little luck the above will help you get it all sorted though...

Cheers,

Martin

Thank you but when you referred to this issue, was it specifically workforce 45xx series or refillables in general?
Thank you!
Jeff

 

[websnail]

Thank you but when you referred to this issue, was it specifically workforce 45xx series or refillables in general?

Hi Jeff it was with reference to Workforce Pro WP-4000 models which I'm assuming is in the same model range as yours as there's no WF45xx models, just WP45xx ones.

 

[hdtvjeff]

Hi Jeff it was with reference to Workforce Pro WP-4000 models which I'm assuming is in the same model range as yours as there's no WF45xx models, just WP45xx ones.

Yes Martin, WP4540, so I can rule out firmware issues since it prints, right? If a printer had updated OEM firmware to defeat third party inks, am I correct in assuming no printing would occur at all ?

Thanks,

jeff

 

[websnail]

Yes Martin, WP4540, so I can rule out firmware issues since it prints, right? If a printer had updated OEM firmware to defeat third party inks, am I correct in assuming no printing would occur at all ?

As I don't have one of these in the workshop I couldn't give you a definitive guarantee but based on the symptoms you've described I'd say it's more likely to be issues with the chips, chip contact and other gremlins rather than the firmware.

 

[hdtvjeff]

We've been selling these for a few customers and found a few problems to watch out for so try the following:

• Try inserting a thin piece of card under the cartridges to gently lift the chips up into contact with the cartridge bay contact wires.
• Try removing all the cartridges closing the bay door then reinsert one at a time, closing the cartridge bay each time and allowing the printer to recognise the chip before inserting the next one.
• Try cleaning the chips and removing any unnecessary plastic flashing that's protruding too far above the chip.

Tip: Avoid ramming the cartridge home, firm but gentle is the way forward as it's possible the cause of the yellow pump/seal failure (mentioned elsewhere) is caused by overzealous ink cartridge insertion.

With a little luck the above will help you get it all sorted though...

Cheers,

Martin

Martin,

Chiseling the little plastic tabs above the chips solved the problem 100% thank you so much.

Also, if I remove a cartridge to truly see how much ink is left, does reinserting it with arc chip mean It will say 100% full, if so, is there a danger of damage if refillable cartridge is emptied while I'm unaware it happened ?

Thanks,

Jeff

 

[Leonardjohn]

Hi Jeff

On our 4500 series (4520/4530/4540) refillable, reset when you refill by a touching two contacts.

I instruct customers to check levels periodically, then refill and reset, thus avoiding any problems of using an empty cartridge,

Cheers
LJH

 

[hdtvjeff]

Hi Jeff

On our 4500 series (4520/4530/4540) refillable, reset when you refill by a touching two contacts.

I instruct customers to check levels periodically, then refill and reset, thus avoiding any problems of using an empty cartridge,

View attachment 488

Cheers
LJH

Thank you for responding Leonard, So it's ok to remove the cartridges to inspect them then put them even even though they reset to max without refilling them? That image of tweezers resetting the chip, is that done automatically upon cartridge reinsertion or can be done manually too?

Thank you,

jeff

 

[Leonardjohn]

Yes OK to remove and inspect

I can only speak for ours...

Manual reset only, these are smart battery powered chips.. Removing cartridge on this model doesn't reset...

Pointing at battery (first image), I have not had to replace battery since I installed these in our test printer, ages ago...

That is nice feature of this chip, you control the reset to full ink level..

LJH