Epson has clarified the dread "end of service life" inkjet printer warning with an updated support page directing users to its Maintenance Reset Utility after critics complained about repairability.
At issue are ink sponges within the printer that soak up ink that gets squirted out during processes such as cleaning cycles. According to Epson, these sponges can get saturated over time. "Depending on the level of use," the company
stated in a support page updated last week, "the product may reach a condition where satisfactory print quality cannot be maintained, or components have reached the end of their usable life."
It's a bit less blunt than the company's
previous attempt to explain the message and sudden refusal of its products to print, where it said: "This message is a warning that certain parts have reached the end of their usable life and that your printer will no longer work until it is serviced."
Naturally, Epson would be delighted to recycle the old printer and sell customers a new one, but those same customers are understandably a little disgruntled, judging by
threads on Reddit and
Slashdot.
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