epson cx3600 ink cartridges

[janda]

I changed 3 of the 4 cartridges on my Epson CX3600 yesterday. The Epson status monitor window now displays the message "ink cartridges cannot be recognized" for all 4 cartridges (including the one which remained unchanged!) It will not even allow me to clean the print heads.

The new cartridges are compatible units (I refuse to pay 5 times the price for Epson brand) but they are from exactly the same batch as the ones being replaced, so I know that they are good for this printer. I have always used compatible cartridges for this printer, which is about 3 years old, and not had this problem before now.

Is this a case of manufacturers' restrictive practices?

More importantly, is there any way round this problem short if giving in to the manufacturer's desire for me to purchase expensive OEM consumables? In particular, is there an available "patch" to the driver software which will override the alleged incompatibility.

All constructive advice appreciated. Thanks.

[redcow]

Until you put Epson cartridges in your printer, you arn't going to know if you have a hardware problem or a cartridge problem.

Using brand X cartridges won't allow you to call Epson for any help.

You've been using Brand X for 3 years, so where's the "restrictive practices"? You might have gotten a bad batch of cartridges.

[contink]

Forget about software patches and the like, your problem is physically related to the printer and the chips on those cartridges.

As for restrictive practices, Epson have recently had their *** handed to them in the USA regarding their chips not actually measuring ink in the cartridges so they modified them. The end result was that there were no compatibles for their newer printers for ages... Now they're making it even harder for compatibles and CISs kits too. You can kick off if you want but frankly it won't get your printer working.


Here's a couple of things to try:

Remove the new cartridges and replace the original ones (see what happens)

If it comes back up.. Remove just one of the cartridges and replace it with the relevant new one.

If this works replace the original again and then try one of the other cartridges you replaced. Eventually you should find the problem cartridge.

If the printer refuses to recognise any of the cartridges you're going to need to get an Epson branded set (yes, yes, against your religion/beliefs or whatever but if you want to fix it you have to go this route)... and insert those.

If that doesn't work then you can call Epson support and ask them for help.

My guess however is that one of the chips on one of those cartridges is duff or is the incorrect one (ie: a cyan in a yellow) or possibly for completely the wrong printer type.

Seen it happen plenty of times before with Auto-reset chips so it's a reasonable likelihood.