Epson Programs Some Printers To Stop Operating, Claiming Danger of 'Ink Spills'

Long-time Slashdot reader chicksdaddy writes: Printer maker Epson has programmed some models of its inkjet printers to 'stop operating' at a pre-determined time, citing the risk of property damage linked to 'ink spills,' the Fight to Repair newsletter reports.

Epson printer owners have complained that their functioning printers have suddenly stopped working, displaying an error message declaring that a component of the printer has 'reached the end of its service life' and that the device needs to be serviced. According to Epson's website, the message is linked to ink pads, which Epson describes as 'porous pads in the printer that collect, distribute, and very importantly contain the ink that is not used on printed pages.' Over time, these pads become saturated with ink though generally not 'before the printer is replaced for other reasons' (??!)

'Like so many other products, all Epson consumer ink jet products have a finite life span due to component wear during normal use... The printers are designed to stop operating at the point where further use without replacing the ink pads could create risks of property damage from ink spills or safety issues related to excess ink contacting an electrical component,' the company said on its website. Rather than measure the saturation of the ink pads to determine when that point is reached, however, Epson appears to have programmed a counter on its printers that disables the device when a threshold has been reached. For printer owners who use Windows, Epson makes a reset utility that can reset the counter though it can 'only be used once and will allow printing for a short period of time.' For Mac users, or Windows users who have already run the reset utility once, Epson urges them to have the printer serviced by an Epson authorized service shop or — preferably — to replace the printer with a new printer. 'Repair may not be a cost-effective option for lower-cost printers because other components may also be near the end of their usable life,' the company said. Despite the company's claims about the unfixability of the ink pad issue, YouTube videos suggest that the ink pads are, in fact, simple to replace, as this video illustrates.

Some legal experts say that Epson's hard coding an end of life for its printers may be illegal — an example of 'Deceptive trade practices,' unless it is clearly disclosing the existence of the programmed end of life to consumers prior to purchase.

Here's how the Fight to Repair newsletter sees the situation. Epson 'pushes its customers to throw away the entire, working printer unit simply because some sponges are saturated with ink.

'In doing so, the company amplifies our epidemic of e-waste and forces customers into an expensive and (as it turns out) unneeded upgrade.'

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