CAN ANYONE HELP I HAVE A EPSON C40 AND ALL OF A SUDDEN IT TELLS ME THERE ARE INTERNAL PARTS THAT NEED CHANGING THE RED LIGHT IS FLASHING AND THE COMPUTER WILL DO NOTHING. IF ANYONE CAN SHED ANY LIGHT ON THE PROBLEM PLEASE EMAIL ME. WILLIAM.GADD@NTLWORLD.COM
William: As an Epson Authorized Service Dealer, there's only so much information and help that I can legally give...I'm sorry to have to be the person to tell you what your probable problem is. The sorry part is because I'm not able to really help you, but at least you will know what your facing... A Service Error where all LED's/Lights are blinking at the same time, or where you get an "Unknown Error Message", or a "General Error Message", is normally a Maintenance Request Error. The maintenance request error is actually a Waste Ink Pad Overflow Error...TECH NOTE: On most Epson's, while the printer is in this error condition, it disables all operations, including data communication. On some models you can still use the Operational Control Buttons specified, to clear the error once the pad/pads have been replaced...On some Epson models, your Status Monitor 3 Indicator [read out of your error message on you monitor screen] will say: "An unknown error has occured. Unplug your printer and contact your dealer or authorized service center", or sometimes the message will simply state something to the effect that "Internal parts need to be replaced/changed". To my knowledge, the only unknown error message or parts need to be replaced error message, is a Waste Ink Pad Overflow Error. Normally your remedy is to replace the Waste Ink Pad/Pads with a new one/ones and then reset the Internal Waste Ink Pad Counter...JUST SO YOU WILL KNOW: The need to replace the waste ink pads is measured by the amount of ink uses, which is determined based on the number of Head Drive Pulses, accumulated in the waste ink counter. When the total quantity of ink deposited onto the waste ink pads, during cleaning and flushing, reaches the set limit, the printer generates a maintenance request error and stops printing...If you just reset the counter and don't replace the pads, then your printers old pads will eventually overflow and normally start leaking ink out the bottom of your printer. I'm sorry, but as an Epson Authorized Service Dealer, there is only so much information and help that I can legally give and Epson will not allow their dealers to release that reset procedure...You may want to try doing a general search on the "fixyourownprinter.com" printer repair site, under WASTE INK PADS or WASTE INK COUNTER RESET PROCEDURE. You should be able to find quite a few references listed in the last six months and most included web-site links, for possible help on the reset procedure. Some also list links where you can purchase a SERVICE MANUAL, in case you want to try and do the service yourself...I know this information is not much help, but at least you will know what your ERROR is...Good Luck! Denny Conway
Re: EPSON C40 PROBLEM by Wes (12/2/03 7:55 PM) reply
Thanks for your help at least I now know what is wrong. Can you give me a rough guestamate on what this will cost to be rectified and is it worth just buying a new printer.
thanks Billy
Re: EPSON C40 PROBLEM by Wes (12/3/03 1:55 AM) reply
With what a shop would charge the "generic" answer would be get a new one. But, since this site is about fixing your own printer you can do it yourself. The only real tricky part for most people is putting the paperfeed back in properly.
But if you look at the pictures on the linked page and match your paper feed unit (ASF Auto Sheet Feeder) to that picture you will have no problem. But you might want to take pictures of how it lines up and so on before removing it.
I am currently experiencing a similar problem to William and the interchange of Qs & As between the three of you have helped me greatly in understanding and making "informed" decisions.
Thanks guys, greatly appreciated.
Baldy (Australia)
Re: EPSON C40 PROBLEM by Harry E (1/4/04 2:50 PM) reply
I had the same problem and cleaned the "damn" thing! Tried to reset the counter in Win XP, with no result! Then my laptop with Win Me and the Epson software, worked and did a counters reset.
Everything worked and i'm satisfied again. THANKS!!!!!!
Re: EPSON C40 PROBLEM by Wes (1/4/04 3:04 PM) reply
I'm glad to hear the printers are working again. If anyone else has the same problems and is using Windows XP or ME you can use the SSC service utility from here http://inkjetprinterhelp.us/epsonSSC.html (Generic program works with Windows 98, 2000, XP, ME)
I've read with great interest about fixing your own printer I have an EpsonStylus 640 which has just more or less quit printing. The ink lights and paper light stays on. I can't get it to do anything and I am not out of paper nor am I out of ink. I need to try and "fix" the problem but so far nothing I have done works. IT make weird noises too at first when turned on. Like a belt slipping. I've used it beyone extreme so maybe I just need a new one. THANKS for any help! Joellen
Joellen: When the printers lights are all on, it indicates a Service Error Condition. I need to know which lights are BLINKING/FLASHING or on SOLID, before I can tell you just what your printers possible error condition is. All the lights can be blinking, or some blinking and some on solid. Just so you will know: There is no listing for an error condition where all the lights are on solid. Reply back thru this Printer Repair Site and if I can help you further, I will try...Denny Conway
Joellen: When the ink light or lights [some models have two ink lights] are on SOLID and the power light and paper light are both FLASHING, that indicates a FATAL ERROR on most Epson Printers. I'm sorry, but just as it sounds, that is the worse possible error on your printer. You would probably need to try and locate a Service Manual on-line, that you could download for in-depth troubleshooting and possible disassembly, if you want to try and locate your possible problem. There are approximatly 10 different things that can cause a FATAL ERROR and most of them involve HARDWARE PROBLEMS [bad/defective/failing electrical parts] in the "carriage assembly" or "paper feed assembly". Check for an e-mail from me that may help further...Good Luck! Denny Conway
Re: EPSON C40 PROBLEM by Thiago (1/16/06 9:37 AM) reply
I installed the SSC Service Utility Program v4.10 as suggested on another thread. Took the ink pads out, cleaned them, put everything back together sparkling clean. Now, I can not reset it no matter how I try.
Does anyone know what I may be missing? On the Resetter tab the only options it allows me to choose is the Port: I tried them all and chose "Test" (the only non-blocked choice) but I still have red/green flashing on my Printer. On the drop down menu for "Available data for selected model" the only choice is none. Could this be an issue? The Configuration tab has C40 listed, which I chose and I even tried Unsupported.
The person on the other thread was able to use this utility for his C40UX so I figure I must be doing something wrong.
Thanks!
Re: EPSON C40 PROBLEM - UPDATE by earmbru (1/29/06 5:57 PM) reply
To get to the choice to reset: right click on the SSC Utility in the task tray. All the utilities are reached that way. I checked the "current value" which shows you how many printings you've run and mine was @ 8390. All is well now.
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