Thu - 23 Feb/17

As predicted today was dull for the most part with less rain than yesterday.

The weather will be clearing and the temps going up for the weekend.

We did our usual Craft Day thing making it there before the rain which continued off and on since yesterday.

When Charlotte finished she got a little wet coming to The Lodge to let me know. In the few minutes it took to shut down the computer and leave the sun was out. That's the way the weather pattern continued throughout the day.

Charlotte worked on a few projects including another "Duffle Bag."

No plans to go anywhere today because of the weather. Charlotte went back to the Craft Room for the afternoon to continue working on a few projects.

I spent the afternoon searching the internet. During the noon hour the printer coughed up an error message. "The printer's ink pads are at the end of their service life. - Contact Epson Support." and with that the printer stopped printing in the middle of a print job.

When I contacted Epson the "Blah-Blah-Blah" from the website advised that buying a new printer is economically more advisable than trying to get the printer repaired. They indicated that replacement part is quite expensive and when added to the labour cost it would become more costly than a new printer.

GIVE ME A BREAK!

The printer was working perfectly. The warning is a "Timed Function" designed to shut down the printer after a certain number of printouts. This is just a "Money Grab"!

They do offer a downloadable "Utility" that will erase the message (once) and thus allow for a limited number of printouts (They are so generous!).

The problem is that this "Small-in-One" printer has all the features anyone could want in a size compact enough to fit in the motorhome. It can copy/scan/fax/ 2-sided documents from it's automatic 30 page document feeder using it's 3.5 inch colour touchscreen (no computer required). It can also print on CD's and DVD's. It has an auto-extend output tray that auto selects from 2 storage trays. It wirelessly connects to iPads, iPhones, tablets and smartphones. It's 5 cartridge ink system allows replacement of individual ink cartridges. (No more throwing out a multi-ink cartridge when one colour runs out of ink) It prints hi-res smudge, scratch and water proof pictures that are fade resistant for up to 200 years. It can reduce images to 25% or enlarge to 400% as well as scan to a memory card, flash drive, computer or network. It can scan to a PDF and make 2-sided copies in various orientations.

They should not be able to shut it down after a specific number of printouts because the "Ink Pads" might be (but, probably not) at the end of their "Service Life".

A Printer Ink Maintenance Box basically catches and store ink overflow from the printhead. They used to make these "Maintenance Boxes" available to the public; but I can't find any for this printer anywhere on the internet or listed on the Epson site.

I hope the reset will allow enough printouts to last until I get home. Then I will take it apart and open up the "Maintenance Box" and replace the pads with anything I can find that is comparative (I'm thinking aquarium Bio-Filter Media, Auto Air Filter replaceable media or simple household sponge material will do the job).

I'm also sure that "Hacked" software to reset the counter is available on the internet.

Tomorrow I will check at an electronic shop (with a tech) to see if there is a fix this situation. If I was a resident American this would be a "Class Action Lawsuit" because they are arbitrarily denying me the use of my printer. It hasn't broken down - they stopped it from functioning.

OK! Rant over - just TV for the rest of the evening.