Parts inside your printer are at the end of their service life
January 26, 2007Today I had the joy of fixing an Epson Stylus C46 UX printer.
It had the following error: “Parts inside your printer are at the end of their service life. See your printer documentation.”
After a little searching I discovered that most people were saying that “It is simply not worth repairing”, however, I took that as a challange, and decided that if I was going to throw it away anyway I might as well try to fix it first.
Before long I located a page on fixyourownprinter.com‘s forum, which had plenty of details about similar issues.
This is the process I used after reading details on that page:
- Unplug the power and USB cables from the printer.
- Prepare your work area by putting scrap paper down. Have some spare, just incase. You may also require tissue paper. It is also recommended you use protective gloves as the ink will stain your skin for quite some time.
- Unscrew the screw at the back of the printer.
- There are two or three tabs at the back and two at the front. Gently push them in, and then using a bit of force pry apart the cover.
- At the back of the unit you need to locate some white pads, or sponge type things, initially they will seem fine, but they will infact be full of ink. You need to grab a pair of pliers and pull them out one by one, there should be four, put them on your scrap paper.
- Take the scrap paper with the pads on to your sink, turn on the hot tap and hold each one under the tap using the pliers until the water runs clear. If you have protective gloves on it may be worth squeezing the water out also.
- It is recommended that once you have done this, you let them dry.
- Now return the pads back into the printer.
- Put the printer back together, (mind out for the paper alignment, and give it some force), not forgetting the screw at the back.
- Plug in the USB and power cable and turned it ON. (Yes the lights will still flash)
- Download and install the SSC Service Utility for Epson Stylus Printers.
- Select your printer and model number (There is no Stylus C42 UX, so select Stylus C4x), then close the window.
- If it asks if you replaced with the pads; say “YES”. Then close the window.
- You will see a SSC Service Utilitiy icon (it looks like a printer) in the system tray (next to your click), and LEFT click.
- A menu will appear, from here you can click on “Protection counter” (its a red cross), then “reset protection counter”.
- Turn the printer power OFF, wait 10 seconds and then turn it back ON.
Done!
Additional troubleshooting…
If you have problems with paper feed, take it apart again, check everything is in place correctly, push things together tightly, and put it together again.
If you have trouble with print quality, open the lid, clean any ink residue, use the SSC Service Utilitiy to clean the heads.
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113 Responses to Parts inside your printer are at the end of their service life
← Older Comments Newer Comments →-
joe says:
i couldnt get the cover/back off of the 220, the resetting software didnt say anything about sponges, Epson tech support are useless idioats and i am never buying another Epson product again. You have to be pretty stupid to have that error message and expect people to just ante up.
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JOHN HARRIS says:
Hello folks,
Can someone help?
I have used SCC Service Utility on my Epson C46 printer and everything appeared to have gone O.K. –
The printer prints THE check pattern and protection is reset and it does everything in SCC Howeever, when I try to print a document – Nothing happens!
I have a second C46 and when I plug that in – by just unplugging one and plugging in the other, everything works fine immediately !!
Putting back the resetted C46 and again nothing!
What have I missed?
Any Email would be appreciated. -
Sue says:
Hi,
I came across this link when Googling the problem I was having with my CX3650 Epsom printer saying ” Parts inside your printer are at the end of their service life” and wowee, super, wicked brilliant your advice and solutions have worked!
It was so simple to do and took approx 5 mins to solve and I haven’t even cleaned the pads yet either! I just clicked on the icon that asked if the pads had been replaced and clicked on YES and it worked perfectly. I will get them cleaned asap but had to finish some urgent printing work first and as I just haven’t got the time to do it straight away I will see to that in the next day or 2.
One bit of advice though when you download the SSC installer check the model number icon is showing the right printer model. Mine correctly showed it was the Epsom CX3600 SERIES but the model no CX3650 was incorrect and so even though it said the protection counter had successfully reset it hadn’t and my printer still would not work and the lights were all still flashing etc. Anyway after several attempts I realised the model no did not match my printer and realised you had to select the correct model number yourself. Anyway, as my CX3650 was not listed I clicked on the unsupported model icon and that did the trick. Check the list to see if your model is there first and if not click on the unsupported model icon and see if that works.
Fantastic advice and it has saved me the cost of a new printer and meant I have not wasted my money on the bulk boy inkjet cartridges I recently purchased either.
THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU!
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Goran says:
Thanks for the tip!
Best regards,
Goran -
Michael says:
Hi hm2k i have the Epson stylus c46 the problem i am having is i can locate the tab’s at the back including the screw, but i can’t locate the 2 tabs at the front of the printer so i can undo the top part of the printer for me too get into the sponges to clean. Can you help me please.
Regards.
Michael.
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Carol says:
I have an Epson Stylus r260. I tried following what your advice said but my printer doesnt have only one screw in the back. it has two on the sides and i tried unscrewing them, i dont see any more in the back but i cant figure out what else i should do to take that cover off!.. Please Help!
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Joey says:
Thanks for this posting. Worked like a charm on my C88 – saved me time and money. I tried to figure out how to take the back covers off without destroying the printer with no success. Guess I will wait till the sponges overflow, and then throw out the printer. Epson really should be handling this sort of thing in a much more transparent manner with better instructions.
cheers
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Culint G says:
HI, i did this, which worked great, BUT now my black ink wont print at all (the colour is fine)- i cleaned my heads lots of times, any other ideas?????
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Bobfuses says:
I just reset my Epson CX 6600 and it now works like a charm. Too bad I did not know about the reset utility last year when I discarded a CX 6600 for this same problem. Thanks!
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joe monzo says:
Thank you so very much!!!!!! One correction to your directions though-it’s a right click for the utility. No big deal…but you know how some people need every little thing spelled out?!
Thanks again!
Joe
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sue says:
What a great page, it’s a shame I didn’t find it before I lost my temper with my c42 and smashed it to bits. I did try the cleaning of pads and resetting counters but it wouldn’t have it so now my hands are black (I forgot the gloves) and I’ve got to buy another printer. Oh well life goes on.
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David Kes says:
Just about to have a go at the irritating message on the Epson Stylus Photo RX 425 but tried to find the model on the service utility which is supposed to be version 4.10 though it appears that only 4.40 is available.
Before i wreck the thing I would like to know that the resetting tool/facility is available and works…anyone tell me what I am missing??
I have really gone off Epson over this matter………
are there other makes that cut out after x copies? -
Arjun says:
Hi hm2k,
I really need some help. I’ve followed the instructions at the top and also the button-pressing ‘reset counter’ routine listed in the ‘Help’ file provided with the SSC Service Utility V.4.30, but to no avail.
I have an ancient Epson Stylus Color 680/777, where the red and green LEDs now flash in an alternating pattern.
I’ve cleaned the single ‘waste ink’ pad, dried it, re-inserted it, re-assembled the printer, switched it on, tried resetting the counters, from the SSC Utility in the System Tray, and tried the ‘button pressing’ resetting procedure listed in the Help file, but nothing has worked.
When I installed the SSC Utility, the Ink Monitor tab read, at the bottom: “Error/Maintenance Request”.
After re-assembling it, following the cleaning, it now reads “Unknown state/OK”.In the Configuration tab, I was originally able to select Epson Stylus Color 680 in both menus, but now the top Installed Printer menu is blank. I’ve ticked “Disable Epson Status Agent”.
In the Resetter tab, “Available date for selected model” reads: T017 Black and T018 Color UNSUP.
The Port options are: Auto, 0×278, 0×378 and 0x3BC. In Device Manager (Win XP: Control Panel > Printers and Other Hardware > System [left] > Hardware tab > Device Manager), the only reference to any of the options is “Ports (COM & LPT) > Printer Port (LPT1) Properties > Resources Setting: 0378 – 037F”. I chose “0×378″.
The printer has three butons:
1. Ink Replacement button and icon. SSC calls it “Load/Eject”, I think.
2. Ink Out/Paper Out button with red LED. SSC calls it “Cleaning”, I think.
3. Power button with green LED.Using the button-pressing routine: with both buttons pressed and held, I press the ‘power’ button and the ‘ink/paper out’ and power LEDs synchronise their flashing (the instructions seem to suggest there are three LEDs). I release all the buttons and then press and hold one of the buttons (not the power one). Nothing seems to happen, except for the printer going through its start-up routine and it still not working.
All my reading of this forum, fixyourownprinter.com and the SSC instructions makes me believe the printer is still in working order, I just need to reset something.
I really don’t know what to do. Any help would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks.
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Hi,
I appear to have got somewhere, although I still can’t print.
By trying each of the ports and switching the printer on and off, I was finally asked, by the SSC Utility, whether I had “Replaced waste ink pad?”; a “Yes” answer resulting in the confirmation the counter had been reset.
After switching off the printer for a few secs, the flashing has stopped, but, still, nothing will print, although the program seems to reset whatever counter I choose.
Could the problem be that the colour cartridge is “UNSUP” – unsupported? If I’ve reset the ‘waste ink’ counter, why does it matter that the colour cartridge isn’t supported? I use a resetter similar to this (Jet-tec Inkjet Cartridge Chip Resetter:http://www.cartridgesave.co.uk/173.html?id=NjxVo2Wx), anyway, to reset after I’ve refilled the ink, so it shouldn’t matter.
Can anyone suggest anything?
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I spent a lot of time with the Epson RX 425 which was a good machine but I could find no absolute resetting download so, I decided it was no longer worth the effort and have bought myself a new printer….epson BX300F from Staples at less than 50 but having the same guts as more expensive ones.
Its working well and I can get the original inks from Asda for 21 which is a couple of pounds more than I can get replacement ones for on line.
I hate the throw away mentality but in the end, life goes on and I was spending too much time grieving my old one…………..anyone want it?? -
liam says:
hi iv got a epson stylus photo 900 iv cleaned the sponges out and let them dry and followed everything on the steps you said 2do, but the red lights still are flashing please could you help me? thanks.
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Raheem says:
It works, thanks for your help.
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Nanjo says:
Thanks very much, hm2k , save me few bucks, printer is CX3650,
got the same error msg : “Parts inside your printer are at the end of their service life. See your printer documentation.
I didn’t clean or replce the ink pad, just do reset the protection counter -
jomilyn says:
..hey!i cant do it..still our printer does not work..how can i repair this…????
help please! -
Gary Mehalick says:
It worked! My Epson C42UX printer is back! Thank you so much for the advice and keeping one more piece of equipment is use.
The company recommended I toss the printer and buy another. What a waste!!!
I am grateful for the advice.
Gary Mehalick
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hugh gardner says:
Great information. My photo R300 is now fixed no thanks to Epson!!! Many thanx
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Hi. Anyone ever try to change ink pads on an Epson 4600? The service center says they are at bottom, not back, and require as much work as the high end models to totally disassemble the printer, and quite messy. Not worth it at $160.00.
My letter to Epson:
Dear Epson,Please allow me to express my dismay at the Epson Stylus 4600. After 3 years, I received the message that it’s service life has ended and learned the ink pads need to be replace. The maintenance job at the centers you suggest costs $80-160—at the high end, that’s almost double the cost of the original low-end printer. It involves the same amount of labor as the high end printers.
In fact the center itself commented on the poor design of the Epson 4600 requiring total disassembly that customers could have done ourselves had Epson built in an ink pad drawer into the design. To abandon a perfectly good working printer because the counter has disabled the printer due to possible full ink pads is very poor carbon footprint responsibility at a time when green ecology is most needed.
Allow me to express my disappointment with Epson and its printers by no longer purchasing Epson products.
Best regards,
Josef -
David says:
The SSC utility is excellent but only delays the inevitable – sooner or later the waste inkpad will overflow regardless of resetting the software. Has anyone ever successfully replaced or cleaned the waste inkpad in a CX3650? Can you tell me how to get at it?
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Shimon says:
Hi,
I have a C43SX with the blinking green/red lights. I followed your instructions, opened the printer, and cleaned the pads. No, I didn’t bother with gloves, but soap and water took off most of the black and the rest will be off in a day or too
Then I ran the SSC utility, but like “Rachel” in the comments above, I get “Printer off, or some other problem”.
I have turned the thing off and on a million times, and it still refuses to reset the counter.
Did I get all this ink on my hands for naught?
I hope you have some idea what I should try next!
Thanks!!
Shimon -
Reuel says:
Hey,
This is a quick comment to thank you for these brilliant instructions. You have saved me buying a new printer, and all it took was an hour of work, and it was well worth it.
Is this something that is common to all printers, because the amount of ink that came out of mine (mine is 5 years old) was staggering. It took a good five minutes before the water was clear. If this is something only related to Epson printers, then I certainly will be going with HP or Canon.
Once again, many thanks,
Reuel -
richW says:
Hi, does anyone know if this will work for an Epson Stylus Photo 1400 printer?
Thanks,
Rich -
Dno says:
I have an epson stylus r220, this actually works, and what I did was just take the sponges out of mine altogether. There’s a little panel on the back of the printer, if you remove it and look down in there there is a tiny clear plastic tube which is where the waste ink flows out of into the sponges. I drilled a hole in the back panel, ran the tube through the hole and into a sealed baby bottle with a hole drilled in it as well, now all my waste ink just flows into the bottle and whenever it gets full I just dump it in the sink (with water running, the ink stains like no tomorrow) whenever the internal counter gets full, I just reset with SSC utility and this saves me from dismantling the entire printer every time the waste ink counter hits max, and having to clean those messy sponges. This is a very easy solution to the problem and makes life a lot easier, especially for those of us who print an abundance of pictures. hope this helps!
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sco says:
I have a C45 and did as you suggested and everything worked great!! Thanks for this info!
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Leonard says:
My printer is Epson Stylus Photo R340. I’ve got the message: Parts inside your printer are at the end of their service life. Try to do what you recommended but it doesn’t work. The message has changed to: Service required. See your manual 1 for details. I know for sure that the printer itself in good state. I don’t know how to reset counter chip. Possibly the reason in it…. Please, help. Thanks a lot in advance.
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bob says:
I’ve reset the counters on my R220, now working, but woul;d like to clean the pads, anyone ever done it? Otherwise will just add a external tank
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Tosh says:
Epson Photo R300 with service error message fixed after your advice. Printer back to normal, many thanks.
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thanks! I followed your instructions and works fine for my Epson Stylus C45 printer….
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journey says:
I dont know how to repair it
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Bradley says:
Great information, thank you!
I tried getting waste ink pads from Epson for my C88, but guess what; they don’t sell them, not even to repair shops.
I use a continuous ink supply system on my little printer and it has cut my ink costs way down, and people always rave about the picture quality I get, even when using bargain brand photo paper. And now that I can print for cheep, I print gobs of stuff. Thus I have run into this END OF PRODUCT LIFE warning several times.
I have also found a waste ink tank system that gets rid of the pad all together. Search for Epson Ink Pad Waste Kit. The part plus shipping was under $20. However you will still have to use that service utility to reset the printer every year or so, but you won’t have to take the printer apart and soak your pads in cleaning fluid any more. -
the.commander says:
hi m8.. thank you very much this has got me printer working again. nice 1 hail hail 100 %
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ivhie says:
hi
i got epson c90 p[rinter and have a same problem..”Parts inside your printer are at the end of their service life. See your printer documentation.” how can i fix it?pls tell me ….thanks -
Sergy says:
Hi, I have an Epson Stylus Photo R290 with this problem. But it seems the software doesn’t support this printer. I tried but it did not work. Any ideas?????
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Thomas Irvine says:
Hi, I replaced my cartridges with compatible ones, since then I am getting coloured stripes when I print a document with image and text. I dont get it when I print off text (black) alone. Can anyone please help me to get rid of the coloured stripes. I have tried nozzle and head cleaning, but still getting coloured stripes all through my page. I have also tried resetting counter. It is an Epson C86 (photo edition)
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Linda Jenkins says:
Thanks for this page I could not work out how to take the back off my CX6600 but have managed to reset counter . Have you any other help for getting the back off this model please. so I can actually do the sponges. Thanks
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Lex Power says:
Thanks a lot for your advise.
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Ernan Sanga says:
Thanks a lot man, it works, actually I go from step 1 then skipped to step 7, trying my luck to save time draining the pads. And amazingly it works.
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Terry says:
The Russian download centre says ink pad counter reset by software isn’t supported for Epson C66 models – was Hannes right or wrong ? Is it worth looking further into this route or cut my losses and buy new printer ( never Epson again!).
Terry -
Has anyone an answer for me about whether the SSC Service Utilty can help with Epson C66 printers suffering from the Inkpad
Counter problem – they say this model can’t be reset by software ?
Don’t want to go to a lot of trouble undoing it and washing the pads if the software can’t reset it afterwards!
Hannes (July 7 2008) seemed to think it did ?
Terry -
Hi. I cleaned the felt sponges as you said, then reset the counter but it still says parts inside etc.
Any suggestions. When resetting the counter it does ask have you changed sponges and i answrer yes.
Many thanks.
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Dan says:
Hi i am having the same problem with the epson c48, saying” Parts inside your printer are at the end of their service life” i ahve had this problem before and sorted it no problem by doing the above with the ssc utility, but on this perticular printer anyting i try and do weahter it be reset the counters or or clear count overflow, the same message keeps coming up saying error, pritner off or some other problem! i ahve done the basics turning the printer on and off changeing the usb ports, even changed the usb cable and still getting the same message.
Anybody any ideas?
Thanks Dan
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Diane Savage says:
Re “Parts inside your printer are at the end of their service life” Have looked at my printer Epson Stylus RX640 but cannot find where to take the back off. Anyone help me?
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Martin says:
Those using a continual ink supply need not worry about cleaning the sponges as they should have a small overflow bottle taking care of this, it should be at the right hand side at the back of the printer.
Also, once you have installed the program you need to RIGHT click your mouse to get up the menu and from there it is a breeze.
Sitting on a Sunday evening with documents that MUST be written and to get a stupid command from the printer is a pain to say the least, what would we do without muppets like the ones that wrote this little life saver of a program, wonderful, many thanks to whom ever it is.
Hi,
After initially reading the post due to my Stylus C46 from exhibiting the same problem, I cleaned the sponges as instructed, but as a note of advice, I soaked the sponges in Windolene for about ten minutes before rinsing the sponges under hot water. This brought them up sparkling white. As far as I know, the Windolene liquid helps to break down the ink and allow it to flow cleanly from the sponges. So you may probably want to use this method next time your printer stops functioning.
Thanks for the help, saved me time and cash.