Epson 3800: ink going down without printing?

[alain]

Hi

I've noticed that my epson 3800 will show, on it's printer status, a 2% lower status on power up than it was on power down.

For example : I printed Thursday and after the last print I have written down the ink levels.  When I powered the printer up today it was 2% lower for almost all cartridges.

It's not the first time I noticed it and I have even seen it going up 2% later, but this was seldom.
I have the impression that the least used colors are going down faster than in the past also.

Has anybody experienced this?
 

[Farmer]

It doesn't "live" update.  It does it periodically, including after a power down / start up (if you leave it on long enough, it will update).  So comparing the reading just before you shut down (having printed) and immediately upon start up will give you misleading results.

[alain]

It doesn't "live" update.  It does it periodically, including after a power down / start up (if you leave it on long enough, it will update).  So comparing the reading just before you shut down (having printed) and immediately upon start up will give you misleading results.

I know, but the changes are a lot more than what was printed and also in the less used ink's.   After the first posting I also say another change up (aka in the "good" but unexpected direction),while I was printing.

 

[Farmer]

Are you using genuine cartridges?  Are you using a chip resetter?

The printer reads levels from the chips on the carts and then periodically writes back to them after usage (printing/cleaning/etc) to update them.

The displayed level is an approximation of the recorded levels (since the display is far less granular).

[alain]

Are you using genuine cartridges?  Are you using a chip resetter?

The printer reads levels from the chips on the carts and then periodically writes back to them after usage (printing/cleaning/etc) to update them.

The displayed level is an approximation of the recorded levels (since the display is far less granular).

All genuine cartridges, no chip resetter.  Only the matte black is old, all the other cartridges are rather recent.

[Farmer]

That's very odd behaviour, then.  You could try updating to the latest firmware if you haven't already?  That's been known to resolve anomalous behaviour at times.