Reuse Waste Ink Tanks with Pro Model Printers

Articles
1

To reuse the waste ink tank for a 4000, 4800, 4880, 7600/9600, 7800/9800 or 7880/9880:

  1. Remove the waste ink tank from your printer.
  2. Pry the plastic grid off the top (using a straight edge screw driver or something similar- it’s held in place with snap in tabs), remove + discard the ink soaked pads. Take
    care when handling a full waste tank to avoid spilling.
  3. Rinse the empty tank with warm water and dry with paper towels (get the outside, especially the chip area, nice and dry before reinstalling into the printer, the inside
    doesn’t matter).
  4. Take three paper towels and fold them together lengthwise in thirds (so you have a pad of paper towels about the same size and shape as the tank).
    NOTE: I use paper towels, but have heard of people using a diaper or sanitary napkin as absorbent material when reusing the waste ink tank- it doesn’t need to
    absorb all the waste ink, but you want something in there to stop the ink from splashing around.
  5. Loosely place the folded paper towels into the empty tank, then snap the plastic grid back on the top (the thick end that says “EPSON” goes on the end of the tank that is
    facing the outside of the printer).
  6. Reset the waste tank chip using the chip resetter.*The “ACC-RESETTER-LF” chip resetter will reset the large format refillable cartridge chips to read full and waste tank
    chip to read empty in the printer.

To reuse the waste ink tank for a 7700/9700, 7890/9890 or 7900/9900:

  1. Remove the waste ink tank from your printer.
  2. Pry the plastic grid off the top (using a straight edge screw driver or something similar- it’s held in place with snap in tabs), remove + discard the ink soaked pads. Take
    care when handling a full waste tank to avoid spilling.
  3. Rinse out the empty tank with warm water and dry with paper towels (get the outside, especially the chip area, nice and dry before reinstalling into the printer, the
    inside doesn’t matter).
  4. Take three paper towels and fold them together lengthwise in thirds (so you have a pad of paper towels about the same size and shape as the tank).
    NOTE: I use paper towels, but have heard of people using a diaper or sanitary napkin as absorbent material when reusing the waste ink tank- it doesn’t need to
    absorb all the waste ink, but you want something in there to stop the ink from splashing around.
  5. Loosely place the folded paper towels into the empty tank, then snap the plastic grid back on the top (the thick end that says “EPSON” goes on the end of the tank that is
    facing the outside of the printer).
  6. Reset the waste tank chip using the chip resetter.*Make sure to use the correct waste tank chip resetter for the printer model you’re using.
    The “ACC-RESETTER-7900-WT” chip resetter will reset the 7890/9890 and 7900/9900 waste tank to read empty in the printer.
    The “ACC-RESETTER-7700-WT” chip resetter will reset the 7700/9700 waste tank to read empty in the printer.

To reuse the waste ink tank for a 3800 or 3880:
*Before beginning, you MUST have a second waste ink tank on hand. The second tank chip can read at a range of ink levels, provided it is NOT full or nearly full.
Reset the waste ink tank before the printer says it’s full and needs to be replaced to avoid locking the chip (a waste tank that reads full can NOT be reset).
Use the “ACC-RESETTER-38XX” chip resetter to reset the waste tank chips for the 3800 or 3880 printers.

  1. Remove the waste ink tank from your printer.
  2. Use a small flathead screwdriver to pry the top plastic grid off the waste ink tank and discard the ink-soaked pads. Take care when handling a full waste tank to avoid spilling.
  3. Fold 3 paper towels together to loosely fit in the bottom of the empty tank (replace ink soaked pads every time the chip is reset to avoid overflow).
  4. Reattach the plastic grid, making sure it fully snaps onto the base with thick “Epson” end facing the outside (same way it was removed).
  5. Reset the waste ink tank chip by following instructions below. Now the printer will read the tank as empty again.

Reset Waste Ink Tank Chip:

  1. Refer to photos in the 3800/3880 waste tank chip resetter instructions: carefully align the 7 resetter pins with the 7 chip contacts, then lightly press them together.
  2. The resetter light will flash red a few times, then turn solid green to indicate the reset was successful.
  3. Insert the second waste tank and close the waste tank door. The printer will read the ink level data of this tank’s chip.
  4. Remove the second tank and insert the newly reset tank- the printer should now read this tank as empty and you can continue printing as normal.

©Copyright Vermont PhotoInkjet, LLC All Rights Reserved. No parts of this can be reproduced without written permission.

1 Like
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Can anyone say whether the instructions for the Epson 4900 are the same? How different?

3

The 4900 uses very different waste ink tanks than other Pro model printers, which unfortunately can not be easily reset and reused like the models included in this instruction article.

4

The 4900 WIT can be reset with a model/tank specific resetter - google ‘Epson 4900 Waste Ink Tank resetter’ - I paid $50 for mine, around the cost of a new tank.

Once you have a resetter, take the full tank apart - I use a razor knife to cut through the foil cover - pull out the cotton batting and replace it with the material of your choice - paper towels, diapers, sanitary napkins - there are lots of materials suggested in various forums. These all work fine, but I do the following:

Wash out the Epson-supplied batting in running water (wear gloves!) or soak in a large bucket/sink overnight then rinse well. Dry them on a radiator or an oven or just leave them out if your humidity is low enough (I had a couple get mildewed so a quick dry is recommended). You can’t get all the ink out, so don’t spend your life at it…

Repack the tank - remember the order the pads were loaded as some have slots for the waste ink discharge tube and others have square holes in the middle (why?).

Use duct tape to cover the tank - it doesn’t have to be perfectly covered but don’t leave loose edges to hang up in the tank slot.

If you haven’t done it already, reset the chip.

Reinstall the tank (some people insert a new, unused tank first then put in the recycled tank - I don’t find this necessary on my 4900s but the tank indicator shows 75% capacity with the recycled tank only)

Start printing again.

I find the cleaned batting doesn’t get as messy as paper towel and has about 50-75% of the capacity of a new tank.

One of these days I will weigh a new but full tank and compare it with a new empty tank. That will give me a more accurate gauge of how much ink I’m getting out of the batting and how much ink my recycled tanks are holding when they are ‘full.’

I have also tried a single layer of paper towel just to see what kind of accumulation of ink I get. Don’t do this w/o covering the tank - the splash will get up in the works and make a mess or worse. Emptying the tank setup like this is a little messy as the liquid ink will slosh around when you pull the tank, but you can pour out the waste ink, reset the chip and get back to printing more quickly than doing the whole batting cleaning cycle.

Note that I mostly use the Cone black ink sets so I’m not dealing with colored Epson ink that much.

ss/wb

5

Excellent, thanks for your input sixscrews!! :slight_smile:

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Reset Waste Ink Tank Chip:

  1. Refer to photos in the 3800/3880 waste tank chip resetter instructions: carefully align the 7 resetter pins with the 7 chip contacts, then lightly press them together.
  2. The resetter light will flash red a few times, then turn solid green to indicate the reset was successful.
  3. Insert the second waste tank and close the waste tank door. The printer will read the ink level data of this tank’s chip.
  4. Remove the second tank and insert the newly reset tank- the printer should now read this tank as empty and you can continue printing as normal.
    I have followed these instructions and the tank is not showing empty. I ordered a new waste tank and it shows to be full, what might be happening and is there any solution? I don’t understand why the brand new tank shows full. Can we never use a new tank again as the old ones can get pretty messy after a few times. I need help as soon as possible, I have waited over a week to get the new tank and now it doesn’t work.

Thanks for any help or thoughts that might solve this problem. I am also using the refillable ink carts!

CEH

7

I just discovered that if I take a roll of Charmin toilet paper, then make a single razor blade cut from outside to the core, and remove the core, I have a wad of highly absorbent material that exactly fits the 9880/7880 waste tank! Oh if Mr Whipple only knew…

8

Hmmmm… thanks for the tip! I use three paper towels, folded together in thirds, and loosely placed in the waste tank.

9

After cutting off the foil I remove the absorbent felt into Saran Wrap, and toss. I then measure the thickness of the tank and cut a toilet paper roll to that dimension (2 pieces), remove the center card board. Into one of the pieces I cut the slot for the discharge tube. I then place both pieces into the tank (they fit snuggly), and cover the tank with 2" clear packing tape and trim to the edges. Reset the chip and wait 15 minutes, then reinsert the tank. I do this with my Epson 9900 as well, although the chip reseter for the 9900 that I purchased does not fit properly so, I replace the 9900 maintenance tank chip, then reinsert.

10

[QUOTE=sixscrews;3158]The 4900 WIT can be reset with a model/tank specific resetter - google ‘Epson 4900 Waste Ink Tank resetter’ - I paid $50 for mine, around the cost of a new tank.

Once you have a resetter, take the full tank apart - I use a razor knife to cut through the foil cover - pull out the cotton batting and replace it with the material of your choice - paper towels, diapers, sanitary napkins - there are lots of materials suggested in various forums. These all work fine, but I do the following:

Wash out the Epson-supplied batting in running water (wear gloves!) or soak in a large bucket/sink overnight then rinse well. Dry them on a radiator or an oven or just leave them out if your humidity is low enough (I had a couple get mildewed so a quick dry is recommended). You can’t get all the ink out, so don’t spend your life at it…

Repack the tank - remember the order the pads were loaded as some have slots for the waste ink discharge tube and others have square holes in the middle (why?).

Use duct tape to cover the tank - it doesn’t have to be perfectly covered but don’t leave loose edges to hang up in the tank slot.

If you haven’t done it already, reset the chip.

Reinstall the tank (some people insert a new, unused tank first then put in the recycled tank - I don’t find this necessary on my 4900s but the tank indicator shows 75% capacity with the recycled tank only)

Start printing again.

I find the cleaned batting doesn’t get as messy as paper towel and has about 50-75% of the capacity of a new tank.

One of these days I will weigh a new but full tank and compare it with a new empty tank. That will give me a more accurate gauge of how much ink I’m getting out of the batting and how much ink my recycled tanks are holding when they are ‘full.’

I have also tried a single layer of paper towel just to see what kind of accumulation of ink I get. Don’t do this w/o covering the tank - the splash will get up in the works and make a mess or worse. Emptying the tank setup like this is a little messy as the liquid ink will slosh around when you pull the tank, but you can pour out the waste ink, reset the chip and get back to printing more quickly than doing the whole batting cleaning cycle.

Note that I mostly use the Cone black ink sets so I’m not dealing with colored Epson ink that much.

ss/wb[/QUOTE]

4900 Maintenance Tank chips are, for sure, not easily reset but, with PERSISTENCE, it can be done?!?!?