I have encountered problems trying to install a 3rd party refillable ink cartridge in my Epson 7880, and swapping from photo black to matt black. The printer is a model K131A (2009) and the firmware is TN03091-1.03.800E.
The printer had a PK cartridge (T6031). I performed a photo-matt black swap using the method outlined on the Northlight Images website (
http://www.northlight-images.co.uk/black-ink-swap-on-the-epson-7880-and-9880/ )
I then put in a refillable MK cartridge from an Australian vendor, which was not recognized as valid, eg “Non-genuine cartridge! May not perform at optimum .. Continue <Y N>”
And when I press “Y” the message
“Damage from Cartridge is not Warranted. Do you accept this? <Accept Decline>”
The printer display then shows an empty bar in place of the cartridge, and when I print, I get a message window with
“It has been detected that your printer is not using genuine ink. Black (T6021/T6031, T6118/T6128)
For optimum performance from your printer Epson recommends the use of genuine Epson ink cartridges.
Epson cannot guarantee the quality or reliability of non-genuine ink. Information about non-genuine ink levels will not be available.
The use of non-genuine ink may cause damage to your printer not covered by Epson’s warranty” with a close button.
When I close this to start printing, the box at the bottom of the printer dialog window says “A non-genuine or refilled cartridge has been detected. Ink levels are not shown because of unknown ink volume” while the printing takes place.
I checked that the cartridge could be reset (it could), but this made no difference. The chip on the refillable cartridge has 6128 silkscreened on it, which seems correct.
I left the 7880 off and unplugged with the cartridge out overnight, then started it up, then put the refillable cartridge in, with no change.
I then bought a genuine Epson 220 ml MK cartridge (T6128).
When the Epson cartridge is installed, the printer gives the message “Invalid Ink Cartridge. Non-genuine ink cartridge is installed”, and shows a flashing, barred rectangle in the cartridge position on the printer display. It does not allow me to move on from there, eg to accept the cartridge as non-genuine (which of course it isn’t).
I tried reseating the cartridge and turning the printer off and on, leaving it off and unplugged overnight with the cartridges out, and re-installing the cartridges one by one, starting with the problematic one, with no change.
I then reinstalled the original Epson PK cartridge, and the printer does not accept that, either, showing the same error message as for the genuine MK cartridge. I reset the PK cartridge with a chip resetter, which made no difference (the chip reset, according to the LED on the resetter).
As things stand, I can use the refillable cartridge, with its warning messages, but the driver does not know if it is a PK or MK cartridge. I cannot use either genuine Epson cartridge, since it comes up with Invalid Ink Cartridge message and will go no further.
I understand that a firmware update from Epson might make the use of a 3rd party cartridge difficult, but I am pretty frustrated that I cannot use genuine Epson cartridges. I haven’t had this sort of problem in the past on a range of Epson Stylus Pro printers using refillable cartridges.
Has anyone encountered this sort of problem, or can you suggest a way forward? Eg if it’s a firmware issue, is it possible to install an earlier version of the printer firmware?
This is my first post, so my apologies if I haven’t got the protocol quite right.