Sunday, May 24, 2009

Replacing Expson TX100 Ink Cartridges

After 5 months of purchasing the Epson TX100, my black ink cartridge finally ran out. The ink ran out pretty fast, considering I don't print on a regular basis.

The replacement ink cartridge, the Epson 73N (standard capacity) cost me RM34

A close inspection on the packaging reveals that the ink cartridge was manufactured in Indonesia and has a shelf life of 2 years.

The cartridge is vacuum packed to maintain its reliability

I find Epson's manual totally unreliable as the first step according to the manual is to push the stop button. The stop button should not be pressed more than 3 seconds or the printer will start cleaning the print head (which also mean it will use up a lot of the available ink left in the cartridges).

After pressing the stop button. the ink cartridges cage would not move and still in its "hiding" zone.

Well, i did some "experiment" and finally found a solution to it as the manual's instruction did not help. Click on the Epson TX100 icon and locate the "how to..." button (marked with red circle) in the Epson status monitor 3 and there will be step by step instruction and the ink cartridges cage will move out from its "hiding" zone.

Otherwise, go to Epson TX100 series properties (left click the on the Epson TX100 icon) and got to "maintenance". There will be ink cartridge replacement utility which will assist the user step by step and move the ink cartridges out.

With the ink cartridges cage out, squeeze the tab at the back of the ink cartridge to be replace and lift it straight up

Shake the replacement ink cartridge a few times before installation

Try no to touch the green IC chip on the side of cartridge. This might damage the catridge

Next, pull the yellow tape from the bottom of the ink cartridge

This is how it loos after the yellow tape been removed

Lastly, just push the ink cartridge down until clicks into place. Follow the utility program to finish up the installation and the printer is ready to print.

The reason why I came out with this post is because I notice many people google about ways to replace ink cartridges for Epson TX100 (where they end up on my site due to my previous post about it). It is obvious why many people are confused, it is all because of the poorly developed manual by Epson.

21 comments:

JL said...

One thing good about Epson is that it has 3 colour cartridges, so you don't need to replace the colour cartridges too often especially when you print colour.

soulesscloudy said...

wow.. your step very good.. one step by one step very clear... BUT i didn't use printer at home... hehehe... my office using EpSon.. but the INK bigger size.. so the printer also bigger size..

Ben said...

Nice step-by-step details. I'm using Brother printer at home with 4 separate cartridge compartments for black, yellow, cyan and magenta that link to external refill kit with third party inks...print quality is nice and save me the buck and hassle of cartridges replacement. Maybe can consider modified the Epson printer provided you're not worry with the warranty ;)

Johnny Ong said...

cartridges do dry up over a period of time if we dont use the printer. didnt use also need to replace haha

foongpc said...

Huh? So unreliable the Epson manual? Epson should have paid you to write the manual, right? : )

Kevin Tan said...

i have done everything as per the manual yet the on lights, paper & ink light still flashing...cant find solution on tat...may i know wat is ur solution on tat?

Anonymous said...

HI there,

Thanks very much for your info I almost took the ink back to the shop.

Larry

Anonymous said...

Thanks so much. I needed to print a flight intinery urgently and I couldn't for the life of me work out how to change this stupid cartridge. The ironic thing is, here in Australia it is only a few dollars more to buy a whole new printer than it is to replace all the ink cartridges. Having said that, I love this printer because it's excellent quality at a value price. Cheers, Jane

Anonymous said...

Thanks so much for the tutorial on how to replace the ink cartridges. The pictures helped a lot! I had the exact same problem as you! Keep up the good work!

Heinlein said...

Is it that hard to install an Epson cartridges?

Never had a problem with it with the cartridge replacement.

Anonymous said...

hey..
i wanna ask..
we must turn on the printer to install it??

Anonymous said...

I think it's a very sneaky move from epson's part. When u press the stop button, nothing happens. U keep pressing and it uses up a portion of your ink for some useless head-cleaning process which you didn't ask for in the first place.

And any time you replace any of the cartridges, the printer decides to drink some ink and does a round of head-cleaning without asking.

And what's more, the printer wont print with just a black cartridge( even if I want to print only black). It wants all colors so that it can waste some ink doing it's head-cleaning.

Next time I'm buying HP.

miemie said...

i bought the ink for rm33 in low yat~ it only can print around 200pages for black cartridge.. huhu~ kinda expensive~ but i never got a prob replacing the cartridge~

Anonymous said...

Thanks a trillion...i was equally frustrated when changing the ink stupid unfriendly user epson ink...& there u r with all the helpful steps

Toni Foh said...

thanks:) better than Epson's official site. tried the on/off button method but it did not work(yes the cartridge holder was still 'hiding') so i used the 'How to' in my TX100 printer program. i got my cartridge for S$10.30 at Courts:)

Blekkpatroner said...

Ink cartridges, compared to the price of a brand new printer that amaze many of our clients. Printer manufacturers leading as Hewlett Packard, Lexmark, Dell, Canon, Epson and Brother of the often loose money selling printers at low prices. They must recover these losses and make a profit by selling expensive cartridges over the life of the printer. Because companies that produce replacement cartridges remove some of their profits, major printer manufacturers have taken steps against them. Some manufacturers have taken legal action.

Anonymous said...

My computer is 'Windows Developer Preview' and there is no 'maintenance' button anywhere.

Vanessa said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Smith William said...

This is a good post. This post gives truly quality information. I’m definitely going to look into it. Really very useful tips are provided here. thank you so much. Keep up the good works...

Printhead911

cheap ink cartridges said...

Wow, thanks for the recognition, and for introducing me to some new blogs to check out. Honored just to be considered. Thanks a bunch!

Roselia@ALBImage.com said...

Many Epson users prefer buying a new ink cartridge rather than refilling the old one. It’s because refilling is not well advised for it can clog the head or nozzle. Also, resetting can cause problem with other model.