Customer Problem
The customer received the following error “The Printer’s Ink Pads are at the end of Their service life. Please contact Epson Support”.

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Diagnosis
This error pertains to the waste ink pads that absorb the extra ink made by the print head being full and the counter that is built into the printer is over the limit amount that could be stored. Two things need to be done here.
1) Removal of the ink pads and cleaning them.
2) Resetting the ink waste counter via software.

 

 

Work Done
First I need to access the ink pads which are to the bottom of the printer. I will have to remove a screw to the back then place the printer in a position where I can see the clip from below to unhinge the compartment that is holding the pads.

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Take out this one screw

 

Pry the clip downwards and pull it out with flat head screw driver.

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Notice where the power port is to grasp from the image where to find the clip.

 

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Here it is out of the printer.

 
After removal make a note of the position of the pads in the tray, note that they are not all the same length and shape.

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Here is the layout before cleaning.

 

Get to a sink or outside with a hose or pipe and an area where the ink can flow without causing a mess. Also its recommended to get some gloves because it will be a very messy operation. Squeeze and press the ink out of the pads under running water until there is no more ink coming out of it. This process may take between 30 to 45 mins depending on the amount of ink in each pad. Try as well to keep the shape of the pads intact, they are very delicate and must be massaged not handled roughly.

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This pad was the cleanest in the bunch.

 

After cleaning put it in the sun to dry or use a blow dryer if you want the process to go much quicker. I left mine for about an hour but that was way too long, so depending on your weather conditions it could vary.

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Pads sunning out.

 

Now to put them back in the tray and reassemble the printer.

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The final part is to get the reset code from this site (the code is not free its a 10us cost),  download this software and then follow the steps below. If this is your first time doing this there is the opportunity to do a trial run via this link https://www.wic.support/free-trial-reset-key-how-to-use-it/. But from the next time it happens you will need a key.

  1. Connect the printer to your computer via usb.
  2. Download, setup and open the WIC Reset Tool software.
  3. Turn on your printer and wait for it to be recognized by the software.LD5TNKV
  4. Next click on the Reset waste Counter Button and enter the reset key.2yHRXz7
  5. Wait a second, then the WIC Reset Tool will tell you to turn the printer OFF, after you will receive message: “Congratulations, Your printer waste counter(s) have now been reset”. You can also click read waste counters after the process is over and you turn back on your printer to see if it was done successfully.lgLGYgs

 

 

Results
Well as shown above the process was successful and the printer is ready to go through a fresh cycle of printing once again. Note that you do not need to clean the pads to be able to start back printing with your printer, just do the reset waste counter. But this way is the better one because without cleaning your printer pads it will start leaking from the underneath since the ink pads are already full and have no where else to go but out the bottom.