Printers and Smart Chip Technology

Today, companies like Epson and Canon have installed a smart chip in their ink and toner cartridges. This smart chip technology allows printer users to keep track of the amount of ink that is left in the printer cartridge. When a printer cartridge is out of ink, the printing process stops and would not resume until the empty cartridge is replaced.

What are the Reasons Why Printers Do Not Recognize a Full Cartridge?

There are a number of reasons why even there is a full print cartridge installed, the printer would not be able to recognize it:

• Use of refilled or generic cartridges. Generic printer cartridges are manufactured through the use of previously discarded printer cartridges. These are then cleaned, inspected for damages, refilled and repackaged. However, many of these printer cartridges would require the smart chips to be reset for this to be considered usable. If this is not done, such as in the case of refilling the cartridge on your own, the chip attached to the cartridge would still have the data that the cartridge is empty.
• Faulty original printer cartridges. Some original printer cartridges that are sold in computer stores and office supplies stores can be damaged due to improper handling and shipping. A damaged chip can cause the printer unable to read the chip, even if it is an original printer cartridge. Thus, the printer would still recognize this as an empty cartridge.
• Faulty printer. Printer drivers come install what is called an internal memory cache system which allows the printer to determine if the printer is loaded with a full cartridge or not. This usually resets whenever a new printer cartridge is replaced. Sometimes, it fails to do so. So even if you have already installed a fresh new cartridge, it would not recognize it.

Resetting Your Printer

One way you can solve this problem is by resetting your printer by following a few simple steps:

• Turn on your printer and re-install the old empty printer cartridges
• Wait for the printer to finish its cycle for recognizing the printer cartridge.
• Turn off your printer and unplug it from the power source.
• Clean your printer head and the electrical connections of the new printer cartridge. Be careful if you have already tried to install this prior since the ink may run.
• Plug back the printer into the power source and turn on the printer.
• After the printer has warmed up, do the normal process of installing your new printer cartridge.
  When All This Fails…

If after you have tried to reset your printer and it still does not recognize your printer cartridge, it could be that the printer cartridge is faulty. Bring the printer cartridge, its box and the receipt to the office supplies store or computer store where you purchased this and ask for a replacement, explaining the problem. Have your printer also checked by your printer’s service center as the problem may be already in the configuration of your printer itself.

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