Two Carts reading almost empty, then empty when full despite reset on 3880

InkjetMall Customer Support Printer Maintenance & Cartridges
1

Refilled all of the Carts and re-packed the Maintenance Tank. Followed the directions in the 3880 Refillable Carts Instructions, top of p 9. Two of the Carts (C and VM) were showing less than 1/4 full. Reset several more times. However, now VM is saying empty when it is almost full. Have re-seated and cleaned chips. re-followed the instructions, etc.

2

Hi grsilverman~

After reviewing your order history, I see you are using the older style refillable carts in your 3880, which were purchased in 2010.
These older style refill carts use large “control” chips attached to two of the carts, and the other seven carts use Epson chips with tape over the 4th chip contact. Which two carts in your set have the large control chips attached?

If two of your carts aren’t resetting the ink level after doing the reset procedure, then it could be that the reset function of the control chips is no longer working correctly, or the VM chip is no longer working right, or the tape has come off the chip, or the reset procedure wasn’t successful.
I recommend making sure the VM chip is flat/straight on the cart, and the 4th chip contact is covered with tape as per the instructions (but none of the other contacts are covered, and nothing is on the two control chip contacts).
Go thru the reset procedure, making sure the printer LCD panel displays the correct message as per our instructions before moving onto the next step (if you move too fast, the printer can’t keep up and the reset won’t be successful).
If the VM chip still won’t reset, then you could try a new Epson VM chip (cover the 4th contact of the new chip with tape after attaching to the cart).
Otherwise, it may be time to move onto the new model refill carts, which have auto reset chips that lay over an Epson chip on the refill cart, and automatically reset ink levels.

I hope this helps. Please let me know if you have questions or there’s anything further I can help you with.

Best regards~ Dana :slight_smile:

3

[QUOTE=Dana-IJM;1300]Hi grsilverman~

After reviewing your order history, I see you are using the older style refillable carts in your 3880, which were purchased in 2010.
These older style refill carts use large “control” chips attached to two of the carts, and the other seven carts use Epson chips with tape over the 4th chip contact. Which two carts in your set have the large control chips attached?

If two of your carts aren’t resetting the ink level after doing the reset procedure, then it could be that the reset function of the control chips is no longer working correctly, or the VM chip is no longer working right, or the tape has come off the chip, or the reset procedure wasn’t successful.
I recommend making sure the VM chip is flat/straight on the cart, and the 4th chip contact is covered with tape as per the instructions (but none of the other contacts are covered, and nothing is on the two control chip contacts).
Go thru the reset procedure, making sure the printer LCD panel displays the correct message as per our instructions before moving onto the next step (if you move too fast, the printer can’t keep up and the reset won’t be successful).
If the VM chip still won’t reset, then you could try a new Epson VM chip (cover the 4th contact of the new chip with tape after attaching to the cart).
Otherwise, it may be time to move onto the new model refill carts, which have auto reset chips that lay over an Epson chip on the refill cart, and automatically reset ink levels.

I hope this helps. Please let me know if you have questions or there’s anything further I can help you with.

Best regards~ Dana :)[/QUOTE]

Followed your instructions. The reset worked this time, even though I had tried several times in the past. Did it much slower this time.

Some more questions:

  1. If things are working well now, is there any reason to change to the new carts? If I change to the new carts, can I remove the ink from the old ones and retrieve at least some of the ink?

  2. I see that there is a maintenance tank chip reset tool. Do I need it? The maint cart seemed to reset when I re-packed it and went through the above procedure.

  3. Where do I find instructions for cleaning the capping station for the 3880? The directions in your doc http://shopping.netsuite.com/s.nl/c.362672/it.I/id.118/.f do not seem to cover the Epson 3880.

  4. Where do I post a RAVE testimonial? In a nutshell, here’s my story: I’m using cheap Kirkland paper from Costco. I was getting pretty good results, but not perfect, with the epson profiles or your profiles. Then, I bought a ColorMunki Photo. I went through their procedure scrupulously, printing the test patterns w/o any color control. The results were terrible. Tried several times. Then, I downloaded a printer evaluation test file and ran it through the ColorMunki, using the old terrible ColorMunki profile, with the test file as the third pattern. Not only perfect, but the pics jumped off the page! All the professionals at my local advanced camera store were blown away and asked what magic paper I was using! I’m truly getting museum quality prints. They look like the dye transfers that I used to have done. I never knew that if you get the colors exactly right, the whole thing pops. Impossible to imagine better results.

4

Excellent, I’m glad the reset worked this time after doing the procedure slower.

  1. If you are having good results with the current carts, then no- there’s no need to switch to the new style carts.
    The benefits of the new model carts over the older style you’re using are: 1) The new carts are the same size as Epson carts, so the cartridge chamber cover can be closed if you wish (I personally prefer using refill carts when the cover removed, and still use the switch key from the old cart kit with the new style carts), 2) The new carts can be installed one at a time as Epson carts empty (don’t need to be installed as a full set like the carts you’re using), and 3) The new carts have auto reset chips (no reset procedure or device to use). The only possible drawback I see to the new carts over the old, is that waste tank reset/reuse was integrated into the old refill cartridge system, but to reset/reuse the waste ink tank when using the new model carts, a waste tank chip resetter device must be used.

  2. Answered above.

  3. The current printer cleaning/maintenance info and procedures (and video) can be found in the Articles section of this forum, here: http://www.inkjetmall.com/tech/content.php?133-Printer-Preventative-Maintenance

  4. That would be fantastic, we love receiving feedback from our customers, and customer reviews are helpful for people to read who may be considering a product. I am so pleased to hear your (and others) excitement about the incredible colors and print quality you’re getting. If you’re using a cheap paper from Costco and happy with the results, I can tell you I expect you will be even more impressed seeing your work on a fine art paper, such as Canson or JonCone Studio media. I recommend you get some sample packs to try out to experiment with different papers. To post a review about your happiness with your output after using the ColorMunki, I suggest posting your review on the ColorMunki product page.

Please let me know if there’s anything else I can help you with.
Best regards and happy printing~ Dana :slight_smile: