Re: advice needed on Epson chip resetter

> It does seem highly impractical for the printer to keep track of /how
> long/ the cartridges have been in use. They would have to have some
> kind of unique serial number and the printer would need some non-
> volatile memory in order for this to work. And also, it would
> presumably mean that the printer would keep zero-ing out cartridges
> that have been refilled and/or reset, which doesn't happen (does
> it???).

The cartridge keeps track of how long it's been in service. I've taken an
outdated cartridge that stopped working on one Epson, put it in another
and it still refused to work until it was reset.

Tom Lake

"Tom Lake" <> wrote:

> > It does seem highly impractical for the printer to keep track of /how
> > long/ the cartridges have been in use. They would have to have some
> > kind of unique serial number and the printer would need some non-
> > volatile memory in order for this to work. And also, it would
> > presumably mean that the printer would keep zero-ing out cartridges
> > that have been refilled and/or reset, which doesn't happen (does
> > it???).
>
> The cartridge keeps track of how long it's been in service. I've taken an
> outdated cartridge that stopped working on one Epson, put it in another
> and it still refused to work until it was reset.
>
> Tom Lake

You are probably right on this one, I am using the ACR cartridges (Auto
Chip Reset) and at the beginning I can refill/change the cartridge anytime I
want and the ink level always reset to FULL. But lately, I have to wait for
the RX680 to report the ink is emptied then I can refill and the cartridge
will be reset to FULL, and only the ones report emptied not all like used
to.

And no probably with the Chip Resetter (I have both ACR and Chip Resetter
which I used on the original cartridges).

On Fri, 18 Sep 2009 20:18:28 -0400, Tom Lake wrote:

> The cartridge keeps track of how long it's been in service. I've taken
> an outdated cartridge that stopped working on one Epson, put it in
> another and it still refused to work until it was reset.
>
> Tom Lake

But how, exactly, can the cartridge do that?

The cartridge doesn't actually contain a real-time clock chip, does it??

If not, how could it figure out how long it has been in service? For
that matter, the *printers* don't contain real-time clocks either. Okay,
maybe some of the fancier networked ones with embedded OSes do. But
certainly not my CX3810...

So I don't understand how this timed expiration could work, frankly...

Dan

Some cartridges do actually have an expiration date programmed in the
chip, and the printer can refer to the computer date as a reference.

Although most printers do not maintain a real-time clock and date, most
do have some type of timer built in that maintains a runtime or elapsed
time so they know how long between on and off cycles, or when cleaning
cycles need to be scheduled.

Some printers may actually allow for real-time clock setting with a back
up CMOS and battery backed up clock.

However, I agree with you that this isn't common in the lower end printers.

Art

If you are interested in issues surrounding e-waste,
I invite you to enter the discussion at my blog:

http://e-trashtalk.spaces.live.com/

Dan Lenski wrote:
> On Fri, 18 Sep 2009 20:18:28 -0400, Tom Lake wrote:
>
>> The cartridge keeps track of how long it's been in service. I've taken
>> an outdated cartridge that stopped working on one Epson, put it in
>> another and it still refused to work until it was reset.
>>
>> Tom Lake
>
> But how, exactly, can the cartridge do that?
>
> The cartridge doesn't actually contain a real-time clock chip, does it??
>
> If not, how could it figure out how long it has been in service? For
> that matter, the *printers* don't contain real-time clocks either. Okay,
> maybe some of the fancier networked ones with embedded OSes do. But
> certainly not my CX3810...
>
> So I don't understand how this timed expiration could work, frankly...
>
> Dan