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Bogus Ink Stink

(Mis)Uses of Technology

from the terrorists-and-organized-crime-oh-my! dept

Wed, Jul 2nd 2003 09:20am -

Who knew the printer ink business was so nasty? It’s well known that printer companies make their money on the ridiculously high margins from selling the actual inkjet cartridges – and not the printers themselves. This is why they work hard to convince people not to buy third-party ink cartridges. In some cases they even try to force you to only use their own ink cartridges. Lexmark is even suing a company that reverse engineered a chip that forces their printers to only use their ink. However, beyond third-party ink cartridges, there is (apparently) an even bigger problem for the printer companies: counterfeit ink. Apparently, a relatively large percentage of ink cartridges sold that appear to be legitimate cartridges are actually fakes. They are often found online, but they’re increasingly showing up in retail establishments too. While I’m sure the scary warnings about these cartridges (they’ll break your printer! they’ll come half full! they’ll spray ink everywhere!) might be true in some cases, a lot of this article appears like FUD from the printer companies. They even go so far to accuses terrorists, along with organized crime, for running the counterfeit operations – though, when pressed, they admit they haven’t been able to establish the terrorist link. The real issue is probably that the printer companies are charging too much for their ink cartridges (these days, a single ink cartridge replacement costs almost as much as the printer itself). There wouldn’t be quite the same market for counterfeit goods if the printer makers didn’t artificially inflate the price so much.


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Comments on “Bogus Ink Stink”

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381 Comments
Anonymous Coward says:

Bogus Ink

“The real issue is … printer companies are charging too much for their ink cartridges …. There wouldn’t be quite the same market for counterfeit goods if the printer makers didn’t artificially inflate the price so much.”

Yup. The ridiculous manufacturers margins on name brand ink cartridges provides the environment that makes counterfeit cartridges equally if not even more profitable for retailers/resellers and a seeming bargin for printer owners.

I’ve probably never bought a counterfeit cartridge simply because the only time I ever bought a name brand cartridge was when I failed to plan ahead and ran out of ink on a Sunday afternoon and had to print up a report for a Monday morning meeting. (It really pained me to spend $20+ for one black ink cartridge!)

Two weeks ago I stocked up at a computer show. A bundle of 3 black+3color cartridges for my Epson 760 was $14.00! I bought two bundles for $28.00, tax included. vs $20+ for one black ink cartridge at a dealer. I’ve used this same “brand” before and have never had a problem with either the cartridges or quality of the color/ink. Sorry Epson, you are the biggest contributor to the problem.

It’ll be interesting to see how PC World’s follow-up on compatible cartridges read.

Oliver Wendell Jones (profile) says:

Ah, irony...

I click on the reply link and what pops up at the bottom of the new page? An add for cheap inkjet cartridges… 🙂

The problem with printer manufacturers is that they’ve basically painted themselves into a corner. In an effort to increase the demand for cartridges, they’ve been dumping printers at ridiculously low prices the past few years. They then include half-full cartridges with the printer so that you will soon need to replace the cartridge with one of their expensive refills.

The only way to get out of this situation is to raise the price of their printers so they can reduce the cost of their cartridges – but, it’s much like the airline industry where everybody wants to raise fares but everyone is afraid to do until someone else admits defeat and raises fares, then suddenly all the competition jumps on the higher fares bandwagon and follows along. Then a few months later when profits have started dropping off again due to decreased sales, everybody stands around and waits for one brave company to drastically cut fares and then they all follow suite again.

The printer companies are in that same boat waiting for someone to show some guts and raise their printer prices so they can all follow suit.

I started advising printer buyers away from Lexmark a few years back when they started drastically cutting printer prices because I saw what was happening with their cartridge costs.

Where I work, we have a deal with a national office supply company, and twice a year we’re allowed to show our work ID and qualify for 12% off of anything in the store. I went to use my discount to pick up replacement Lexmark cartridges for a friend and the difference in cost between the printer and the two cartridges it used was less than $10. Does that mean that the printer only costs $10 to manufacture? I don’t think so…

Kosmas Geo. Synadinos says:

Re: Ah, irony..._Bulk INK is the answer!

It is imagine how few people do not know how to use BULK INK to refill their ungodly expensive cartridges sold by these immoral printer manufacturers.

I have no problem for them to make a LOT of profit. What drives me up the wall is their greed!

PLEASE go to:
http://www.theprinterinkwarehouse.com/

and see if they have BULK INK for your printer.
I’m a retired engineer and have talked to a number of people who either are affraid to try or they do not know how to READ the supplied instructions, for cartridge refilling, so as not to make a mess of their hands, clothes, etc.
I have been refilling cartridges for about 2 yrs now. I am involved in EVENT VIDEOGRAPHY and use a lot of color printing…

Anonymous Coward says:

HP's Self Destructing Ink Carts

About a month ago, The Inquirer ran a story (http://www.theinquirer.net/?article=9220) about the built-in expiration date on HP print cartridges. There is an IC built into the carts that permanently disables the cartridge a set number of days after the manufacture date, even if there is plenty of ink left. No wonder 3rd party ink is so popular!!!

MadPrinterUser says:

Re: Re: Re: HP's Self Destructing Ink Carts

Yes it is true… My HP14 black and color cartridges just informed me that they were expired (one a couple of days after the other). Here’s is a way to get around it without too much hassle.

http://www.interex.org/insidehp/articles/insidehp02.04.03.html

End Around: Chicago Tribune reporter Jim Coates wrote that his HP printer quit on him one day, telling him that the black ink cartridge had expired. A spare ink cartridge yielded the same results. HP support told Coates that the printer software reads a date code on cartridges and blocks their use after a set length of time. He was told the block could not be bypassed. But it can: “The best way to defeat such a software scheme that uses a computer’s internal clock to enforce software copy protection or check expiration dates is to set the computer to a past year when the days of the week for every month fall on the same dates as this year,” Coates wrote. “Do this and your calendar continues to be accurate, and you fool the enforcers. The pattern of dates associated with specific days usually rotates every six or 11 years and always every 28 years. So, the 1997 calendar is exactly like the 2003 calendar, and so is the 1975 one. Set your clock/calendar to either year to fool the printer cartridge expiration-date check.”

AngryAtHP says:

Re: Re: Re:2 HP's Self Destructing Ink Carts

I have a HP Officejet d135 All-In-One printer. My black ink cartridge is over 80% full, yet I’m getting the “black ink cartridge expired” error message. I have tried the following methods:
1) the Jim Coates procedure by changing the year from July 2004 to July 1999 since the days of the week matched. I did this on the printer and the computer.
2) power rebooted both the printer and computer.
3) removed and re-installed the HP printer software.

None of these methods stopped that dreaded error message. Am I doing something wrong?

I’m so mad that if I have to purchase replacement cartridges, they won’t be HP cartridges. And my next printer won’t be a HP either.

I’ve been told that OEM’s have dropped prices on their printers because they make up the profit loss through the ongoing sales of over-priced ink cartridges. I’m starting to believe this.

Bud Baker says:

Re: Re: Re:3 HP's Self Destructing Ink Carts

HP d145. Remove button battery momentarily in printer and the printer date will change to Jan 1 0000. Expired carts work fine after doing so. It worked on mine. (Hint, open service door to expose carts, stick your head in and look hard to the left and down a bit and you’ll see the battery).

John Robertson says:

Re: Re: Re:2 HP's Self Destructing Ink Carts

Thank you so much for the info on how to defeat the cartridge expiration date. It is a simple solution, but I was befuddled. I was extrememly pissed that I had purchased the expensive OEM cartridge only to have HP essentially steal it from me by have it expire while it was perfectly functional. When I bought my HP 2250TN, they failed to inform me that there would be a penalty levied against me if I failed to use it enough.

Mikis says:

Re: Re: Re:2 HP's Self Destructing Ink Carts

I tried that. I set the date 11 yrs. back. It did not work!

The only thing that works for me (with my HP Photosmart 7350) is a procedure where you cover specific contacts in the back of the cartridge.

I anyone is intested send me an e-mail and I’ll attach the procedure

Neil says:

Re: Re: Re:4 HP's Self Destructing Ink Carts

I have a HP cp1700. It uses #10 and #11 carts. One for each color. They have expired!!! Help – I can’t afford to print my newsletter without refilling these carts.

The contacts seem to be on the printheads not the carts. Which contacts to cover to once again use this printer that I have over $800.00 invested in?????

You can sometimes recover a dried out printhead by soaking the head in a weak solution of Iso Propol Alcohol and a drop or two of dishwishing liquid.

morlmark says:

Re: Re: Re:3 HP's Self Destructing Ink Carts

Your offer to share information on covering the contacts on refilled HP ink cartidges would certainly be useful to me, as I’m unhappy about the prices of cartridges here in Canada, and the difficulties with refills. Thanks… hoping to hear from you, Morley.

(My rinter is an hp 932c)

Carl Collins says:

Re: Re: Re:3 HP's Self Destructing Ink Carts

I have a HP officejet d135 and they have the 14 ink cartridges in them. I was wondering which contacts I need to cover to get them to work. My color isn’t working right now, but I replaced it with a new cartrige that was purchased a while back. Thanks for any information about this.

Carl Collins

Dave Mudry says:

Re: Re: Re:3 HP's Self Destructing Ink Carts

Re. response from MIKIS last Dec on covering HP cartridge contacts. I have HP 7110 which uses HP14 Carts and have the same problem as everyone else plus messages saying the print heads need replacing when all was working well right up until shutdown. I would be very pleased to try your procedure…I presume the contacts you are referring to are the four large ones at the back of the carts and the print heads.
All the best from the real west.

Ed Rhindress says:

Re: Re: HP's Self Destructing Ink Carts

Guess what – It is true – I’m here with my HP Business Inkjet 2230 printer that is showing my “Yellow ink cartridge expired” and it is still over 1/2 full. I can print out a demo page and it looks perfect but my printer will not let me print anything else.

In Canada these ink cartridge cost $35-$50. The printer needs four of them to work. There are also separate printer heads (four) that also cost over $35 each. If they all go at the same time it costs les to buy a new $300 printer.

These prices are a joke…these companies are making a 1000% profit. More power to people making and selling counterfeit ink cartridges.

When are we all going to start demanding fair prices???

I’m going on ebay after I’m done to look at buying cheap (fake) ink cartridges.

Shane says:

Ill never own another HP product

I have an HP d145 which I was talked into buying, and, foolish as I was, I thought, since it was pretty pricey, that it would last and be a good investment. WRONG! I mainly wanted it as a fax. It had 2 cartridges like trays for paper and the auto feeder tray on top I liked. THAT was what I was sold on…I didnt even care if it connected to the PC…Sometimes I make copies…Not often….SO…I get alot of faxes, but now, since the color cart has expired This machine is rendered TOTALLY USELESS!!! They reason that, if allowed to run dry ,the machine would be damaged.. SO WHAT…ITS MY DAMN MACHINE. I PAID GOOD MONEY FOR IT…LET ME BREAK IT …because HP, in their thoughtfulness, of wanting to hold our hand and be sure we dummies wouldnt break our toys,..Well they essentially had the same result!! .I HAVE A MACHINE THAT DOESNT WORK….

Oh but wait…simply go out an purchase some NEW HP INK, an investment of a small fortune,.printheads, carts…

HP is simply greedy and sees their customers as idiots.

So…does anyone know a way to override the expire date for the HP 14 carts…I refilled them and got IDS errors…got a fix for that ( THANKS!) then there was no red even though cart full….So again researched and Joila! SOAKED the magenta print head in windex….But wait…when I reinstalled it…Got an Expirery for the black…JEEZ!…So I set the date back…to a year before the expiration on the cart and everything worked fine !!!! The days of the week didnt even match…But then I foolishly installed the d145 software because …well cuz I was stupid… And it still printed fine…I dont print a large volume everyday ..and actually did not use it at all for a few weeks (A competitors printer maybe?) Then, sneakily, the HP software told MY machine the real date and Now I have a big ugly LOUD and virtually USELESS waste of money electronics device…

HP makes it so that NOTHING works ..EVEN THE FEATURES THAT DONT REQUIRE PRINTING….SCAN PERHAPS? I THINK NOT…Transfer photos.? Guess again…So again…I have full ink cartridges that I thouroughly cleaned and reprimed and had working beautifully…and somehow HP robs me of my right to use MY MACHINE the way I see fit but because they are a scandalous greedy company…I MUST purchase overpriced and low quality ink and seperate printheads to boot regardless of EVERYTHING was WORKing FINE AND had just been refilled and cleaned . I AM FUMING MAD …CAN YOU TELL? Its getting worse for the consumer with DRM etc etc…You know I think once I pay for something …ITS MINE. But they change that more and more everyday…HELL YES TRADE MUSIC WITH FRIENDS AND DVDS AND ANYTHING ELSE…LOOK at the way these people live and they whine on a few less CDs sold..They collude with each other and keep the prices VERY OVERPRICED and then complain when sales slump because ” piracy” BS…I bought the CD or the ALBUM …If I recorded a cassette for my car or gave to a friend….Im not paying again and again!…Sorry I digresss….WHEW! So please …am I out of luck with this…Date on PC setback and still nothing…Now each will be expiring 1 by 1 so am I doomed to throwing this junker away …Ill buy a new one before investing $200 for ink! Thanks HP!

haiki says:

Focus on the printer, not the ink cartridge

I don’t know where to start? But what Anonymous had posted is true!. But my argument, however, is not with the ink cartridge, it’s with the printer……and Hewlett Parkard!

Think about any ink cartridge, for example, HP ink cartridge that has a warranty. Bad ink cartridge, color bad, light ink which appears watery, what-ever, they give you another one. That’s the way a warranty works. You buy a recycled ink cartridge, with no HP warranty. It may work momentarily, but then you get these same printer messages, remove cartridge. Why should my printer shut down after purchasing a recycled ink cartridge? But then if you buy an HP ink cartridge, your printer is up and running again. Or until that time HP thinks you have printed long enough, even if you have plenty of ink. HP forces you, according to HP predetermined usage, in order for your printer to work, to buy their ink cartridges, or HP will shut your printer down. A tying arrangement!

Don’t focus on the ink cartridge, focus on the fact HP, and other printer manufacturers, stopping your printer from working. Because of some silly game they are playing of cheating customers before the ink runs out, or wrong ink standards, or what-ever. I say, go ahead send these stupid printer messages, but don’t stop my printer from working. This is anti-competitive, and in violation of anti-trust laws.

As I wrote to HP president Mr. Hurd, “I installed new cartridges, color, and black. Printed a test page. Following day, “remove both cartridges.” I uninstalled and installed both cartridges for half a day. Hoping it was a fluke that could be corrected. I thought it was not a cartridge problem but some internal connection, because, for the first time, it asked, remove both cartridges. I took the whole printer apart. Reset connections hoping to make better electrical contact. Same problem, same message, ‘remove both cartridges’. No where in all your HP, Compaq information does it say I can not use other manufacturers ink, or print cartridges. In fact, HP’s Monica Sarkar indicates I can. You give me the answer? Is it, I can not use other cartridges? Therefore, if that is so, the fact is, HP restricts further use my printer? When I took apart my printer, I could have damaged it in someway. Luckily that did not happen. But, you see because HP does not mention the fact that other manufacturers cartridges, or ink products, for what-ever reason, does not allow me to use a perfectly good printer, what can happen? Why is this so? I note that you [HP] recycle cartridges and reuse them. What is the difference between your recycling and another manufacturers recycling? As I have seen there is no noticeable difference in the quality that I need. People make quality choices in life, every day, but HP doesn’t believe that should be so. ”

What would have been the cost, of my bringing my printer in to be repaired? Perhaps many others have. Most likely the technician may not have told me of the restrictions imposed by HP, and put in two new HP cartridges, and received a handsome profit for doing nothing but replace print cartridges. All because of some dirty little secret. I am upset that I could have ruined my printer. Why would I take my printer apart? Because I believed it was the printer. I am not an electrical technician, but I figured if the printer is a fault, and I need to buy a new printer, I might as well take my best shot at trying to fix it myself.

Rather than printer instructions that keep saying remove cartridges, which I did for half a day or more, why couldn’t HP be honest and just say, WARNING, I’m sorry, but HP has determined you have printed enough, and our policy is to shut down your printer until you purchase new HP printer cartridges. Do not take apart your printer. It’s not your printer. Do not purchase other ink cartridge brands, or ink refills, we will just shut down your printer until compliance has been met.

To be perfectly clear

Hewlett Packard recycles their ink cartridges by promoting that HP cartridges be returned for recycling, using a self addressed, stamped envelope. Allowing HP, through their “refurbishing and reselling” effort to conserve resources, using the various recycling facilities of manufacturers around the world contracted by HP. Thus, the mere fact that there also are other recyclers available to refurbish, and recycle ink cartridges, but except for lower cost, and the free choice of the consumer, HP has restricted the consumer the full use, and the operation of HP printers.

Smith and Roberson’s Business Law, ninth edition. West Publishing. Chapter 43; ANTITRUST.

“Characterizing a type of restraint as per se illegal therefore has a significant effect on the prosecution of an antitrust suit. In such a case, the plaintiff need only show that the type of restraint occurred, she does not need to prove that the restraint limited competition…..Tying arrangements. A tying arrangement occurs when the seller of a product, service, or intangible (the “tying” product) conditions its sale on the buyers purchasing a second product, service, or intangible (the “tied” product) from the seller….Because tying arrangements limit buyers’ freedom of choice and may exclude competitors, the law closely scrutinizes such agreements.”

“Hewlett Packard has, unbeknownst to customers who purchased HP printers (tying product), tied as a condition, the purchase of new HP ink cartridges (tied product), or HP recycled ink cartridges, through the use illegal anti-competitive consumer practices. “The problem is not the cartridges but HP, and your anti-competitive policies. HP prevents me from using my printer. I was forced to buy new HP cartridges, in order for my printer to work. Thanks Mr. Hurd for the opportunity of allowing me to write to you my letter of complaint. This letter will be forwarded to the proper authorities for follow up.”

After all, what are we talking about, it’s a ball point pen refill morphed into a printer ink cartridge. It’s a recycled auto part! Again, I say Hewlett Packard, and the rest of the conspirators, play your silly games by cheating consumers on ink cost, and supplies. I say go ahead! But don’t stop me from the use of my printer.

I have 6 ink cartridges, I can’t use. They are mine, I paid for them. If I wanted to use grape wine as ink, that is my choice. Grape wine is not an HP patent. Why then can I not operate my printer on grape wine, and why would HP shut my printer down? (Perhaps someday HP will drag somebody into court over grape wine ink)

I received a reply to my letter from HP. They asked that I telephone them. You see, they didn’t have the guts to put in writing what their lawyers would have told me, if I had called them.

henry says:

Re: Focus on the printer, not the ink cartridge

I have stopped buying from the manufacturers all together and now I get all of my ink cartridges from InkReplacement.com and have been really pleased. I have purchases several different ink cartridges there and all of them have been significantly cheaper than the manufacturers and the quality is just as good. I really like the site and would recommend it to anyone in the market for ink.

john says:

Re: Focus on the printer, not the ink cartridge

Personally, I only buy ink from third-party companies. I don’t see the point in paying for the expensive name brand stuff when it is all the same. I have purchased several ink cartridges for my Canon printer from http://www.inkreplacement.com
and I have been really pleased. As long as you find a reliable and legitimate online supplier there is no more risk in using generic ink than name brand, and it costs a lot less money.

Luan Chen says:

Re: Focus on the printer, not the ink cartridge

I am glad to read these complaints about HP printers. We have two HP printers, DeskJet 672C and HP OficeJet Pro. My husband bought eight non HP ink cartridges and tried to replace old ones from the printers. He kept on getting messages of “incorrect installation”. We spent so much time in blaming on those cartridges but acturally should be on HP. Are HP inkjet cartridges patterened? If not, should’nt they warn the buyers about malfunctioning caused by replacing with non HP ink cartridges? I think HP is unethically wasting buyers time and money,who are trying to make best worth of HP printers.

jesushchrist says:

HP Cartridges defeat instructions

I don’t know why the poster of the “cure” for HP cartridge expiration dates didn’t just post it in the forum instead of requiring all these personal requests to be made. Maybe it makes him feel important and powerful to be in posession of such great knowledge. Personally, I think it’s childish or perhaps just a joke he’s playing on everyone to get his jollies.

Carl Collins says:

HP 14 ink Catridges

I have a HP officejet d135 and they have the 14 ink cartridges in them. I was wondering which contacts I need to cover to get them to work. My color isn’t working right now, but I replaced it with a new cartrige that was purchased a while back. Thanks for any information about this.

Carl Collins

My e-mail address is ccollins1@zionsbank.com

Steve says:

Expired & low ink messages

Hello,
Anybody out there got a fix for HP 14 black ink cartridge on a officejet 7130xi. I refill my cartridge and it works for a while then says I am low then out of ink, even though the cartridge is full. I have tried 3 refilled cartridges all with the same results. Thank You in advance for any help you can provide.

Steve

Mike Vaston says:

Re: To solve the problem: battery removal

I have determined that removing the battery is THE way to resolve the cart. exp. problem.

However, I can’t find it! I have an HP 7110. I can kinda-sorta get in there on the left side. Any clue as to what I’m looking for (size, color, springs, whatever…)

Any help at all would be fantastic! Thanks, Mike

Mike Vaston says:

Re: Re: To solve the problem: battery removal, cartidg

Replying to my own post: I resolved the problem of HOW TO OVERRIDE THE CARTRIDGE EXPIRATION DATE PROBLEM via battery removal on the HP7110. Works like a charm.
Photos can be found at:
http://www.land.netonecom.net/tlp/ref/letters/hpPrinters.php
(along with lots of scathing comments that are fun to read.)
The battery is like a large watch battery, bit smaller than a quarter. There is a clip on it. Simply slide the battery toward 2 o’clock. And voilà. I didn’t bother replacing it, as I don’t need a correct date for faxing on my machine. You will still get low-ink messages, but no cartridge expiration message. Also not necessary to remove the front left panel. Simply reach in. Good luck and enjoy fixing a corporate idiot’s wagon.
Keywords for google searching:
HP 7110, hewlett packard, 7110, cartidge expiration, override, battery removal, battery location

Brian N. O'Neel says:

Re: Re: Re: To solve the problem: battery removal, car

Thanks for the great pix ~ took me all of 5 minutes to find a suitable non-conducting material and wedge it between the battery and spring. Ironically enough, I used a the plastic from a duracell battery pack for my Heart Rate monitor chest strap ~ works like a champ.

We are printing out lyric sheets for a holiday caroling commitment tomorrow with the girl scout troop.

Brand new cartridges ~ HP 7110,,,, SHEESH

William Park says:

Expired Cartridges for HP CP 1700 PS

So I am just another sucker in the long line of people who have perfectly good ink cartrges for the printer, but now do no work because my hp cp1700 says they are expired. Does anybody have the runaround to make the cartridges run again. I know sometime back there was on. Please help?

Billy

Peter Mutton (user link) says:

HP 10 /11 Refillable Cartridges

Thought that you might all be interested in the following non OEM work around for these chipped cartridges:

No sponge cartridges set which are specially designed for HP printers that utilize the HP10 C4844a, HP11 C4836a /4837a / 4838a, HP13 C4814 / C4815 / C4817 / C4816 ink cartridges. They are made of clear frosted plastic. You can see the ink level on the inside at a glance. There are no sponges, or bags inside. Each cartridge has an Auto Reset chip. No chip resetter is required. They are brand new, virgin, never used, not recycled or remanufactured which can be used over and over again.

These cartridges can help you to save lots of money on printing not only black copies but also color copies. You can use your own expensive or most high quality ink in these refillable cartridges.

Package Includes:

4 x Clear frosted refillable cartridges
4 x Latest version auto reset chips
4 x Special gift – Syringes
Instructions manual in English.

These items are currently available via eBay ( I have just ordered a set for my BusinessJet 1100 and can’t vouch for them yet)

see: http://search.ebay.co.uk/_W0QQsassZcis.supply.hkQQhtZ-1

Kamran Husain says:

Disable ink checking.

This only worked ONCE on my hpd145. I cannot seem to get it to work again.

The menu has to be at its default display, press “cancel” until it displays just the date/time display.

Press the left-arrow and right-arrow keys at the same time. The display will go blank, then type in 789 on the keypad, it will ask “Disable Ink-level checking 1-Yes 2-No”. Press 1 on the keypad and it will disable Black Ink Level Checking.

Press the right-arrow and left-arrow at the same time again and then enter 456, it will prompt “Disable color ink level checking, 1-Yes, 2-No”. Press 1 and it will disable ink-level checking for the color cartridges.

This worked for about a week till I unplugged the printer. Now it doesn’t. Could it be a battery backed setup?

mike forster says:

How about resetting the expiration on the hp 1

I have a hp all in one 7130xi…..I removed the thin battery on left side of inside of printer, I put in the reject cartridge (2004 expires) and ho ho! the hp accepted it and went to align printheads. I did not bother putting the battery back in, my hands are too big…..only drawback I found was the printer wont display the date or time…but big deal!

Emily says:

HP's Self Destructing Ink Carts

THIS WORKED!! I had no idea why my Hp color ink said it was out. After looking through website to find out what was going on, I saw the article about expiration date( I had no idea this was true). I quickly looked at the date on mine and it had expired 2 days after the expiration (1/17/2007). I changed the clock to 2001-and it works perfectly!

Gerry D says:

HP 2230 fix

Damn HP.
An ink reservoir, barely used gave me the dreaded expired code on the printer and would not print.
My HP 2230 is on our local LAN via a LAN to Parallel adapter.
I swapped the reservoir out to one made a few months later.
Powered it down, contemplated trying to find a battery inside the printer to reset it’s date.
Reconnected everything.
I reset my date on my computer to 2001.

IT WORKS.

But now all my date codes and possibly updates from m-soft may be screwed.

Will some guru out there please find a pass-through software ditty to stop the send of dates to HP printers so we all can thumb our noses at HP?

Thanks for letting me rant.

Gerry D says:

HP 2230 fix

Damn HP.
An ink reservoir, barely used gave me the dreaded expired code on the printer and would not print.
My HP 2230 is on our local LAN via a LAN to Parallel adapter.
I swapped the reservoir out to one made a few months later.
Powered it down, contemplated trying to find a battery inside the printer to reset it’s date.
Reconnected everything.
I reset my date on my computer to 2001.

IT WORKS.

But now all my date codes and possibly updates from m-soft may be screwed.

Will some guru out there please find a pass-through software ditty to stop the send of dates to HP printers so we all can thumb our noses at HP?

Thanks for letting me rant.

Cory says:

CP1700 fix

I don’t know if this was posted here for the CP1700. I looked through all these messages and tried the date change on my computer which didn’t help. I had my cartridges expire and due to the fact that I have a couple other printers that are used more, this one sat.

Anyway, the battery removal was what allowed my printer to start printing again. It took away the expired notice and left the ink level indicator still there. I didn’t replace the battery and as of this writing haven’t encountered any issues because of this.

The battery is located in inside, back, left side of the printer. If you follow the printer head guide bar to the left side you will see the battery under a clip. I simply removed the battery, replugged my printer in and the unit functions perfectly again.

Anyway, thought someone could use the help as again, I didn’t see this model explained above.

Good luck and F-HP!

Anonymous Coward says:

Expiration of ink

Well,
I recently returned home from a lengthy 3 year deployment and recovery from injuries incurred. It sure was nice to come home and find out that all my “new” ink cartridges for my Hp d135 are now expired and that was over $100 down the drain. Thanks for your support, HP! I now only a lexmark all-in-one and an HP D135 paperweight!

Ellie says:

HP 932C cartridge reset procedure

Hi there. Does anybody know how to reset the cartridges for the HP 932C printer? I have the same battle going on as everybody else. Cartridges have been refilled, even rotated them with 2 others so the first cartridge number is out of the memory. Color cartridge is full, but doesn’t want to print. I wish somebody would come up with an empty, generic cartridge that could be refilled indefinitely. I’d buy one in a heartbeat!

Geoff says:

HP expired cartridges work-around

Hi,

I’ve got hp1100d with expired cartridges. I tried the following unsuccesfully:
1. remove battery – couldn’t find one
2. change line in c:windowshpbj1100.ini (although I can’t recall if i restarted so might be worth trying…)
3. using alternatve print drivers, eg hp2250 – limited success e.g. no duplex, 2 pages on 1 side etc. and the next time I printed after a restart it would just print rubbish.

What I have got to work is to use the “print to file” option in winXP and then use commandline / batch file to copy it to printer. It’s easier than it sounds – I’ve just found it and done it in 45min. MS have the instructions for win 95/98 here but it pretty much the same in XP: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/158081

If you are using USB then you need to enable printsharing and send it that way – see http://askbobrankin.com/printing_a_prn_file.html

I don’t know how this would work in an environment with print queues / simultaneous requests etc.

Good luck

Kwartz says:

HP expired cartridges work-around

Looks like the solution is to make a print server out of an old PC, set its date back a couple of years, install an OS, install applications that do printing, and network it. Copy jobs to it (a newer file date shouldn’t be a problem) and have its apps do the printing.

Good thing we don’t have to buy bread from the folks who make toasters!

D_Hall says:

Focus on the printer, not the ink cartridge

My HP printer broke within two years when I inserted an HP cartridge and then got the message, “problem with black ink cartridge”. I bought another #56 black ink cartridge and the same message. Think something is wrong in the electronic circuits. This is not a very durable product. I am out a bit of cash and not happy.

Scott says:

Fixing all "expired ink" problems with HP printer

The most effective way to eliminate the “out of date” problem, with all models of HP printers is to select a window with adequate ground clearance, second floor minimum, Preferably over concrete, in an area devoid of hazards, and pedestrians. Open the window, and place the entire printer outside of the window with suitable forward velocity to clear the window sill, as well as any parts of the building. A verbal contrivance may assist the process, or at least the experience of the user. Upon contact with cement below the window, your HP printer will be effectively “cured” of all it’s inherent problems, including the very troublesome “appearance of a working printer” problem, encountered by so many HP users. Occasionally, this solution gives rise to marginally worse scanning, faxing, or printing, from the HP printer, but often the HP printer will function as well as it did before the solution was applied to the machinery by the user.

Todd says:

disable ink date

As comical as the above technique may be, among the shards and nuggets of your former printer, you may find a battery, usually a disk-style battery, like a 2032. This battery ran all of the on-board functions for the printer that have been annoying you, such as the ink expiration date. Removal of the battery will disable the “expired ink” message, but also the unit’s internal clock, so it does impact the function of the printer. It will still run as a printer and scanner. If you are unsure, just remove the battery and then put it back. It will forget everything it has known. The printer can even function without the battery, but it has a difficult time with faxes. Look out below!

wes says:

HP's Self Destructing Ink Carts

Tom: I have a HP1100 which uses HP10 and 11 cartridges, and this is what I do when I have to use expired cartridges (unfortunately my printer does not have an internal battery).
First I unplug the printer. Then I reset the date of my computer temporarily to three years earlier (for example).
While the computer is still at the fictitious date, I plug my printer back in, wait for it to go thru the diagnostics, then I print a test page. You are now set. The printer will print fully because it has taken the date from you computer and it thinks that the cartridges are not expired. You can now set the computer time back to the actual time, and everything will be set. Yes of course everytime you disconnect the power from your printer and power back up you will have to go thru this procedure again, but it actually is very easy, plus it saves a bunch of bucks.

Kim says:

Expired ink cartridges - Battery Removal

I would like to thank many of you for your input on fixing the “Expired ink cartridge” problem on my HP d145. #92, #100, and others were on the mark. I used a mirror with a flashlight pointed at it to find the battery since I had a hard time getting my head under the clam-like lid to see the battery. I did have to turn off the printer, pull out the battery (with the help of a good tweezer), and unplug the power cable from the back of the printer. In addition, I waited about an hour before putting it all back and starting up the printer. It worked like a charm! Thank you for sharing your knowledge and easing my anger at HP!

Frustrated says:

Non-HP color cartridge will not print

I have been using a non-HP ink cartridge in my HP photosmart 8450. Yesterday I suddenly got a message something like: “Non-HP color cartridge installed. Please install a genuine HP cartridge.”
It will NOT print until I remove the cartridge, and then of course won’t print in color.
HELP!

Mike D says:

HP's Self Destructing Ink Carts

I WISH it werent true,
Unfortunately, I found this link BECAUSE my Hp cp1700 black inc cartridge did exactly that. A little error message that reads …..attention…black ink cartridge out of date….
(its still half full!) anyone know a phone # I can call to rant at a real person at HP about this? I’m royally steamed!

Mike D says:

HP's Self Destructing Ink Carts

THANKS CORY! cory’s post about pulling the battery on his CP 1700 worked great for me too.
thanks man!
(Ive recently found out that one of my High school buddies is an HP service tech, Im going to visit him REAL SOON and start off the conversation by asking him to forward this message and finish by PUNCHING HIM IN THE NOSE! 🙂 with a friendly smile of course…Cheers!

Dan Buchalter says:

HP's Self Destructing Ink Carts

You’ve become a real hero, based on the number of “please send” messages (I scrolled all the way to the end to see if there were other suggested fixes) regarding the HP #14 cartridge. I picked up a lot of 14’s for my all in one HP7130 knowing some were “old” but also knowing that with prior printers, old cartridges virtually always worked fine; e.g. the “dumb” HP 45 that I still use in other printers. Then I heard about the problem so I stacked my cartridges to use “oldest first” (good idea anyway). Today I finally got a warning that the printer will shut down in 9 days, even though the HP Toolbox ink estimator says I have far more than 50% ink left.

SO yes, please do send the info about what contacts to cover. I rely on the computer’s internal calendar being accurate so I can’t get away with just resetting the date.

PS, do you know, if you reset the date after the printer stops working, is the printer fooled or does the cartridge “remember” that it was once told to stop working and thereafter refuses to work no matter what you do later?

Thanks. — Dan

Rajah! says:

d135 printheads bad, and oh yeah....

Okay, I removed the battery from the d135. See pictures here http://www.land.netonecom.net/tlp/ref/letters/hpPrinters.php

And then, after reconnecting the power to the printer, the date showed up as “Jan 00 00 00 00:00a” so I’ll need to try a fax-back service to test the fax capability. Hope I don’t get screwed there.

All three color printheads came up as bad, but I removed them and cleaned the contacts and the print screen (at the bottom) with isopropyl rubbing alcohol. Two of the three color printheads now work, it’s only the magenta that’s not working.

I’m not sure if a different solution would be better for the cleaning. HP recommends cleaning with pure water, but they don’t mention cleaning the screen part, just the contacts.

Wear latex or other surgical gloves to keep from tatooing your fingers, etc.

Good Luck!

Robert says:

HP expired cartridges: ridiculously easy solution

Your HP printer probably has a battery to maintain settings when it is disconnected, etc. HP d145 has one under the hood on the left side. It is a disk battery about the size of a nickel and is held in place by a clip. Just unplug the printer and slip a piece of plastic or some other non-conductive material under the clip for a few minutes. When you turn on the printer, the date and time will be reset to all zeroes. Re-enter date and time. Your done!

FLetch says:

HP's Self Destructing Ink Carts

I’d almost given up, when I found an obscure mention of a small battery in these printers, that keeps a CMOS memory chip alive. Hmmm.

I opened the clam-like cartridge access to my printer (d125xi), and looked for a battery. At first I didn’t see it, but I was determined. Finally, I saw it. On the left inside, near the front of the machine, was a small button-type battery, held in place by a spring clip.

First, I disconnected the power and the printer cable, just to be sure. Then, I reached inside and carefully removed the battery. I waited for about an hour, and then reinserted the battery and plugged everything back in. Viola! I was able to make a copy. Tried printing– that worked too.

I’m certain now that if I’d known this trick a few months ago, I could have saved the money I had to spend on a printhead too.

Here are a few photos which will help you find the battery on a d125xi. Other models may or may not have a battery, and its location may be different. Your mileage may vary.

Red dot shows general location of battery, on left inside panel, near front of machine.
View looking toward left-inside. Red arrow points toward battery.
Actual view of battery.

The battery is difficult to reach, and the spring clip is pretty strong– it wasn’t easy for me to remove it.

Notice the small white plug with the black/red wires coming out. It’s reasonable to assume that one could cut the red wire, and install an on/off (SPST) switch in the front panel, to accomplish the same effect. If I have enough problems with this printer, that’s just what I’ll do.

Another good reason for installing the switch is that the printer has an “out of ink” indicator. This only works once with each cartridge. HP has provided a method to turn this feature off, but when you do you risk ruining the printhead if you let the cartride run out of ink after a refill. If you reset the printer by removing power from the battery after a refill, the printer will believe it has a new cartridge, and the “out of ink” indicator will work indefinitely.

Fletch says:

The one guy above has the answer and here is part of his message. The only thing I did different was I unplugged the connections in back AND just held the battery AWAY from the connection for about a minute and then closed the lid, put the plugs back in the printer and PRESTO!!!! IT WORKED!!! FORGET YOU Hp!!!Here is his answer:
I’d almost given up, when I found an obscure mention of a small battery in these printers, that keeps a CMOS memory chip alive. Hmmm.

I opened the clam-like cartridge access to my printer (d125xi), and looked for a battery. At first I didn’t see it, but I was determined. Finally, I saw it. On the left inside, near the front of the machine, was a small button-type battery, held in place by a spring clip.

First, I disconnected the power and the printer cable, just to be sure. Then, I reached inside and carefully removed the battery. I waited for about an hour, and then reinserted the battery and plugged everything back in. Viola! I was able to make a copy. Tried printing– that worked too.

I’m certain now that if I’d known this trick a few months ago, I could have saved the money I had to spend on a printhead too.

Here are a few photos which will help you find the battery on a d125xi. Other models may or may not have a battery, and its location may be different. Your mileage may vary.

Red dot shows general location of battery, on left inside panel, near front of machine.
View looking toward left-inside. Red arrow points toward battery.
Actual view of battery.

The battery is difficult to reach, and the spring clip is pretty strong– it wasn’t easy for me to remove it.

Notice the small white plug with the black/red wires coming out. It’s reasonable to assume that one could cut the red wire, and install an on/off (SPST) switch in the front panel, to accomplish the same effect. If I have enough problems with this printer, that’s just what I’ll do.

Another good reason for installing the switch is that the printer has an “out of ink” indicator. This only works once with each cartridge. HP has provided a method to turn this feature off, but when you do you risk ruining the printhead if you let the cartride run out of ink after a refill. If you reset the printer by removing power from the battery after a refill, the printer will believe it has a new cartridge, and the “out of ink” indicator will work indefinitely.

Fletch says:

HP expired cartridges

I’d almost given up, when I found an obscure mention of a small battery in these printers, that keeps a CMOS memory chip alive. Hmmm.

I opened the clam-like cartridge access to my printer (d125xi), and looked for a battery. At first I didn’t see it, but I was determined. Finally, I saw it. On the left inside, near the front of the machine, was a small button-type battery, held in place by a spring clip.

First, I disconnected the power and the printer cable, just to be sure. Then, I reached inside and carefully removed the battery. I waited for about an hour, and then reinserted the battery and plugged everything back in. Viola! I was able to make a copy. Tried printing– that worked too.

I’m certain now that if I’d known this trick a few months ago, I could have saved the money I had to spend on a printhead too.

Here are a few photos which will help you find the battery on a d125xi. Other models may or may not have a battery, and its location may be different. Your mileage may vary.

Red dot shows general location of battery, on left inside panel, near front of machine.
View looking toward left-inside. Red arrow points toward battery.
Actual view of battery.

The battery is difficult to reach, and the spring clip is pretty strong– it wasn’t easy for me to remove it.

Notice the small white plug with the black/red wires coming out. It’s reasonable to assume that one could cut the red wire, and install an on/off (SPST) switch in the front panel, to accomplish the same effect. If I have enough problems with this printer, that’s just what I’ll do.

Another good reason for installing the switch is that the printer has an “out of ink” indicator. This only works once with each cartridge. HP has provided a method to turn this feature off, but when you do you risk ruining the printhead if you let the cartride run out of ink after a refill. If you reset the printer by removing power from the battery after a refill, the printer will believe it has a new cartridge, and the “out of ink” indicator will work indefinitely.

Fletch says:

HP expired cartridges

I’d almost given up, when I found an obscure mention of a small battery in these printers, that keeps a CMOS memory chip alive. Hmmm.

I opened the clam-like cartridge access to my printer (d125xi), and looked for a battery. At first I didn’t see it, but I was determined. Finally, I saw it. On the left inside, near the front of the machine, was a small button-type battery, held in place by a spring clip.

First, I disconnected the power and the printer cable, just to be sure. Then, I reached inside and carefully removed the battery. I waited for about an hour, and then reinserted the battery and plugged everything back in. Viola! I was able to make a copy. Tried printing– that worked too.

I’m certain now that if I’d known this trick a few months ago, I could have saved the money I had to spend on a printhead too.

Here are a few photos which will help you find the battery on a d125xi. Other models may or may not have a battery, and its location may be different. Your mileage may vary.

Red dot shows general location of battery, on left inside panel, near front of machine.
View looking toward left-inside. Red arrow points toward battery.
Actual view of battery.

The battery is difficult to reach, and the spring clip is pretty strong– it wasn’t easy for me to remove it.

Notice the small white plug with the black/red wires coming out. It’s reasonable to assume that one could cut the red wire, and install an on/off (SPST) switch in the front panel, to accomplish the same effect. If I have enough problems with this printer, that’s just what I’ll do.

Another good reason for installing the switch is that the printer has an “out of ink” indicator. This only works once with each cartridge. HP has provided a method to turn this feature off, but when you do you risk ruining the printhead if you let the cartride run out of ink after a refill. If you reset the printer by removing power from the battery after a refill, the printer will believe it has a new cartridge, and the “out of ink” indicator will work indefinitely.

Fletch says:

HP expired cartridges

I’d almost given up, when I found an obscure mention of a small battery in these printers, that keeps a CMOS memory chip alive. Hmmm.

I opened the clam-like cartridge access to my printer (d125xi), and looked for a battery. At first I didn’t see it, but I was determined. Finally, I saw it. On the left inside, near the front of the machine, was a small button-type battery, held in place by a spring clip.

First, I disconnected the power and the printer cable, just to be sure. Then, I reached inside and carefully removed the battery. I waited for about an hour, and then reinserted the battery and plugged everything back in. Viola! I was able to make a copy. Tried printing– that worked too.

I’m certain now that if I’d known this trick a few months ago, I could have saved the money I had to spend on a printhead too.

Here are a few photos which will help you find the battery on a d125xi. Other models may or may not have a battery, and its location may be different. Your mileage may vary.

Red dot shows general location of battery, on left inside panel, near front of machine.
View looking toward left-inside. Red arrow points toward battery.
Actual view of battery.

The battery is difficult to reach, and the spring clip is pretty strong– it wasn’t easy for me to remove it.

Notice the small white plug with the black/red wires coming out. It’s reasonable to assume that one could cut the red wire, and install an on/off (SPST) switch in the front panel, to accomplish the same effect. If I have enough problems with this printer, that’s just what I’ll do.

Another good reason for installing the switch is that the printer has an “out of ink” indicator. This only works once with each cartridge. HP has provided a method to turn this feature off, but when you do you risk ruining the printhead if you let the cartride run out of ink after a refill. If you reset the printer by removing power from the battery after a refill, the printer will believe it has a new cartridge, and the “out of ink” indicator will work indefinitely.

alwcurlz (user link) says:

hp officejet d135 ink out message

The menu has to be at its default display, press “cancel” until it displays just the date/time display.

Press the left-arrow and right-arrow keys at the same time. The display will go blank, then type in 789 on the keypad, it will ask “Disable Ink-level checking 1-Yes 2-No”. Press 1 on the keypad and it will disable Black Ink Level Checking.

Press the right-arrow and left-arrow at the same time again and then enter 456, it will prompt “Disable color ink level checking, 1-Yes, 2-No”. Press 1 and it will disable ink-level checking for the color cartridges.

Stella Gomer says:

counterfeit printer cartridges

I am researching counterfeit cartridges for a magazine and would be thrilled if anyone had any stories to tell on this theme.

Do counterfeits ruin your printer? Is the ink thinner? Is the ink counterfeit? How can one tell a counterfeit? Is the packaging tacky? Can one be served with a counterfeit from, say PC World? Is one type of cartridge more prone to counterfeiting?

Thanks so much

Brian says:

HP CP1700

So I have been in HP CP1700 hell for over a week now. I bought one new in the box a few years ago. I opened it up and installed the printheads, and the ink cartridges. I got all kinds of error messages about expired ink and cartridges and printheads. It does produce a partial test page with beautifull results then shuts down Expired. So I have looked all over the net for info, and every one says pull the battery. That battery is a Bitch to get to. So the battery is gone and no more expired ink cartridges messages. BUT it still gives me the expired printheads message. So I need a fix for expired printheads.

Is anyone in the US interested in a class action law suite against HP. I look at like it is an illegal Hack that HP built in and is in violation of US laws.

SHEILA says:

PLEASE, PLEASE, PRETTY PLEASE!

I don’t want to come off sounding rude, but I think asking for “the procedure” is probably a waste of time. Mikis could do a nice thing, if he wanted to actually help anybody, and just put “the procedure” up for everyone. No! I guess he loves hearing the word “please”. The battery removal was a much simpler idea that a HELPFUL person put here for all to see. The need for people to personally ask for “the procedure” is just bullsh*t.

Bill says:

Expired Ink Carts

The issue of “Expired Ink Carts” has gone beyond anything reasonable or acceptable. The unnecessary cost, lost time, waste and frustration caused to individuals, associations and corporations should be subject to either anti trust lesgislation or a giant class-action law suit. I hope there is someone with the wherwithal to get it going.

HP stop sticking it to the people. We are loosing (user link) says:

This works for the HP Officejet 7100 series and ot

Before opening the printer unplug the power cord. Yes you need to do this for other reasons than safety. It keeps the printer heads out of the way and allows you to cut all power to the CMOS.

Open your HP All In One.

Get a flashlight stick your head way in.
Look left and slightly down close to the front of the printer.

You should see a small brown circuit board.
On the circuit board will be a silver round flat battery a little larger than a nickel.

Slide a piece of paper under the clip that holds the battery in. This will break the circuit of the battery.

I waited about 15 minutes but it may work it a couple of minutes
Pull the paper out
Plug the power back in
A message comes on about doing a recalibration
Let it spit out its calibration sheet.

Your printer should work now

I don’t know how long or if you have to do it again. I just did this tonight
My cartages are two plus years expired

If this didn’t work repeat these steps but do the following first. Change the date to some date prior to the expiration on your cartage.

I’m not sure if this had an effect on the procedures working. But I realized that my date was still set back after try a few other procedures, so if the procedures above didn’t work. Try setting the computers date back and redoing the procedures above.

FYI: If your computer is a business computer or you have a lot of time sensitive applications like Quicken or Outlook I would seriously think about just buying new cartages rather than messing with computer dates. So applications can handle temporary changes in time while others run into issues.

PS Tried all the other stuff and this is the only thing that worked.

Yes my URL and Name are jake, but we really need to put some new laws on the books to protect the public from these types of behaviors from all the new monopolies we have aloud to be created. Things have gotten way out of hand.

Anonymous Coward says:

HP's Self Destructing Ink Carts

Thanks to Dan’s message (Sept. 9, 2007) for how to use expired cartridges by taking the battery out. I found it just where you said it was, and took it out for just a few minutes, and I was back in business. I had bought quite a few cartridges on ebay, and they were expired, but had no idea that they would not work with the printer, because of the HP settings. That is so wrong.

Thanks so much!!

Solution! says:

Did anyone actually get the contact solution?

This worked for me…unplug the unit and power down completely, pull out the watch-style battery found inside the left side of the printer. Restart the printer, then fully shutdown again and replace the battery. That will clear the date memory and your cartridges will work. Hope it works for you!

Summer says:

HP Officejet 7140xi with cartridge 14- low ink error

I refilled my ink and I’m getting the No Ink error message. I’ve read all of the posts and don’t see where the is an explanation of what part to tape up on the ink cartridge in order to over-ride the low ink indicator. Can someone post it? With pictures would be nice too 🙂 Or you can email to me if you won’t post. Please help!!!

Summer says:

HP Officejet 7140xi with cartridge 14- low ink error

So I figured it out and wanted to post here. On the HP Officejet 7140xi all-in-one and I believe Officejet D series you press the + and – or the 2 arrow buttons quickly so the date is still on the screen. Then either press 789 for black on the key pad and it will prompt if you want to turn the ink off or 456 for color. Once I pushed the +- at quickly and had the date stay on the screen I could later hold the +- and the date came off but it still worked. If I held +- the 1st time and the date was no longer on the screen, the prompt wouldn’t come up so the 1st time push them quickly. Hope this helps someone!

Sharaf says:

How to disable Low Ink warning & Print on 7100 series

I have searched the net repaetedly for this solution but has not seen a solution but i have gotten it at last just as summer said.

1. Press the -/+ or left and right arrow at the same time, the time will no longer be displayed and the cursor will be blinking.

http://i209.photobucket.com/albums/bb314/saayinla/P1020039.jpg
2. the type in 789 to disable low in warning for black catridge or 456 to disable colour ink low warning, it will ask you that do you want to turn ink gauge off? then prompt you to enter 1 to confirm or 2 to abort. Then press 1, then a message is displayed saying ink gauge has been turn off.

http://i209.photobucket.com/albums/bb314/saayinla/P1020040.jpg

http://i209.photobucket.com/albums/bb314/saayinla/P1020041.jpg
I have used this and have since been able to print from my printer again.

hope this helps someone

MichaelTech says:

This thread

Finally! something that works! Battery removal, X!
– &+ then 456, 789 perfect! still says o% on the color, but prints in color great!
I am an ASP, and a highly certified repair technician on HP, Xerox, IBM, Lexmark, Brother products.
I cant get this info from HP, and have had a frustrating time finding the cure for “Hardly Perfect” HP products.
More like “Hose the People”!
Has to be done anytime you turn off the unit though, but these are contract printers with the LAFD, and remain on always. Good on ya all!

Fireball says:

Supply expired reset procedure

Turn off printer, remove power connector, wait a few seconds. Locate the 3V button battery (d135 inside left front) on the printer motherboard and interupt battery power suply for one minute minimum by inserting some isolated material (thin credit card etc.).Turn on printer and vuala, another 18 months for your supply :). Mailing me your remarks would be appreciated 🙂

Bryan Nagy says:

Where's the 2250 Battery Hiding?

After trying to find this myself for a while and getting the printer as disassembled as I could without instructions, I finally found a place to buy the service manual online: http://www.2manuals.com
After searching the manual AND disassembling the printer, *I CAN’T FIND A BATTERY TO REMOVE*!

There is no mention of any “battery” in the manual, nor is there any indication of a battery on any of the boards in the unit. Similarly, there is no reset command that would seem to do the job. So I am now at a loss as to where or how the unit is storing its clock information, possibly on some sort of non-volatile memory on one of the boards, or maybe I’ve just missed a battery somehow. Either way, I think I’m pretty well done trying to solve this by modifying the printer, and my next step will be to check out some non-HP ink vendors (such as rhinotek) and inquire as to how they handle the issue in their #10 and #11 hp replacement cartridges.

Chris Beeching says:

HP's Self Destructing Ink Carts

I’d really appreciate being able to do this. We bought 6 colour cartridges a couple of years ago – all are now ‘out of date’, and only two have been opened (the first was used up, and the second (unused) one won’t work – the D125xi comes up with ‘Ink Supply Expired’. You contact-covering fix would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

chris says:

HP Officejet & 57 print cartridge.

I bought a load of 57 print cartridges about 6 months ago at Costco so that I’d never be out again. The guy who was helping me specifically told me to buy the 57 for the HP Officejet 5610, saying that the only difference was that the 57 was a better buy than the 22. Now, my printer gives me an error saying that it’s the wrong cartridge for this computer, even thought it seems EXACTLY the same. Question is: How do I trick an HP officejet into using a 57 print cartridge??

Kally says:

HP c3180 92 and 93 ink cartridges

Anyone know how to reset date or ink levels on a c3180 printer? So far, I have found no info on covering the contacts of the 92 and 93 ink cartridges. And I could not find the battery in the printer to disconnect it. I reset the date on my computer, but that didn’t help. What a pain in the butt!! any help would be appreciated.

WPuffin (user link) says:

OUT-THINKING expired carts/printer

TechDirtAttCruisingBySailDOTTcom
I came here looking for ‘how’ to over-ride date-reader, figuring there had to be a way. This site ROCKS!!

FIRST, I tried back-dating printer, which did NOT work.
Within top half-dozen postings, then spot-checking the rest, I decided to try the paper-in-the-watch-battery-and-clip routine.
1. TURN OFF power to printer. I did. UNPLUG. Repeat:UNPLUG.
2. Open printer (as if to change expired carts; I talked to the machine, saying (lies, all LIES)that I was going to put in “Nice, New HP carts”.
3. Fold business card in 1/4ths, tear off 1/4.
4. Hold flashlight in LEFT hand,pointing light towards elbow, ‘backwards’ in hand.
5. Rest LEFT forearm on LEFT rim of opened-printer.
6. YOU HAVE REMOVED DANGLY SLEEVE,JEWELRY, NAME-TAG,HAIR (IF YOU HAVE ANY:).
7. DOUBLE-CHECK: NOTHING TO CATCH INSIDE OF MACHINE!
8. Hold 1/4 piece of card in RIGHT thumb/forefinger.
9. USING Delicate,graceful motion (people ARE watching!)sweep RIGHT forearm into machine.
10. As RIGHT forearm/elbow touches down on RIGHT rim of opening delicately follow the right wrist with your right ear.
11. Look OUT for the flashlight; you’re going to high score on ‘graceful’, right? Banging your head is a point-chopper!
12. Looking UNDER LEFT RIM of open printer, look for circuit boards. (Someone said brown)Mine are GREEN. It probably doesn’t matter, just look for the watch battery.
13. My machine’s battery is in lower left corner of circuit board,which is mounted parallel to left side of case.
14. The clip holding MY machine’s battery is a flat, vertical piece about the width of 2 paperclip wires. Slip paper behind clip, between clip and battery. Leave paper in!
15. Reverse your way out, remembering “BE GRACEFUL”. You can recover SOME of the prior deductions;just come out smiling! Piece of cake!
16. I intended to return to re-start in 10 minutes, but instead I was attacked by some Oreo Ice Cream, which took me away overnight!
17. This morning I plugged printer in,sent a job,waHOOO, PRINT HAPPENED!
18. The date on the machine now shows year 2000, but I don’t use the printer for a calendar, and the computer software obviously sends the date on print jobs.
19. Hmmm, I believe I’ll go have some ice cream.

This worked for me. Manually changing the date didn’t, and I tried several different years, turning off,unplugging,etc This WORKS. I LOVE BUYING CHEAP INK. SOME OF IT IS EVEN WATERPROOF, FOR INSTANT CHARTS/MAPS.

ImaRealtor says:

Expired Warning on HP14 HP 14 cartridge

I have a piece of crap HP Digital Copier 610. I was receiving “Out of Color Ink” message. I refilled and still the same. I did the override as mentioned in several above…press the + and – keys simultaneously, then 4,5,6 and then 1 for color OR 7,8,9 and then 1 for black. You’ll have to do this each time the piece of crap is turned off and back on.

After refilling and overriding, this lovely hunk of junk decides that the black ink cartridge is “Expired”. I just love it. Now I know why I used to purchase Canon printers. HA! Anyway, I opened the lid as to expose the cartridges. I turned the printer off so the cartridges would reset to the right. I stuck my head in (what a site this must have been) and looked to the left. Realizing that I’m 45 and can no longer see anything that close, I got a flashlight and mirror and was then able to locate the battery. It’s located in the front, lower-left corner. It’s chrome and about the size of a US quarter (3/4″) held in by a metal clip. I tried, unsuccessfully, with tweezers to get it out. Finally, I used my thumb to slightly move it off to the side until I was able to grab it with my thumb and fingers. I bet the credit card trick listed above is easier, however I didn’t see that post until I had the battery out. I pulled the plug from the back for about 10 seconds and plugged it back in. Turned it on, re-entered the override codes and HOLY COW, it’s printing!!

Wish I had found this stuff a while back when I quit using this $600 paperweight. Last night I decided to do some more research before chunking it. Yea! Glad I did.

Thanks to all of you who posted ahead of me to get me this far! You guys ROCK!

Peter says:

HP photosmart 3210

I bought my printer in the UK and have been happily printing on Vivera 363 cartridges. I have recently moved to the US where the HP ink cartridge equivalent for this printer is Vivera 02. When I insert the new 02 cartridge the printer shows an error “The following ink cartridge(s) is/are not intended to use in this printer – Printer configured to use 363 ink cartridges”
I have amended the language & country/region settings to US but can’t get it to accept the new 02 ink.

Any ideas please?

Tom Storli says:

HP photosmart 3210

Hello, Peter !

I’m in Norway. I have a friend here (no, yes, I truly do ! 🙂 that has an HP Photosmart C5180 that he purchased in-country (i.e., Norway). When he was in the USA, he purchased a potload of HP 02 cartridges for his printer at Wal Mart. Came back here, put them in, and got the same bullsh*t message as you did.

OK. This looks like DRM (Digital Rights Management) on HP’s part, but is really designed to protect the UK/Norwegian/et al regional price fixing structure. The 363 vs. 02 cartridges are apparently coded differently and the printer recognizes this. What a CROCK !

Take a look at this link: http://www.exponere.com/?p=100

If you find a solution, please let me know. My E-mail is tom AT speedwings.com.

Hope this may help you in some way.

Cheers,

Tom

BarneyC (profile) says:

HP photosmart 3210

The solution I’m afraid is a bit of a draconian one. As I mention on my blog HP will change the region encoding of the printer from any zone to another (up to 3 times) if you ring there support number, allowing you to buy ink in the region where the printer is physically used.

Once changed one can’t use ink from the original zone (unless you have the cartridge re-chipped by a refiller).

As a note, if you printer is still in warranty do ask about having the unit swapped out for a new and correctly coded one – that was HP’s first choice for me except my printer was a few months outside the lame 12 month warranty.

Jim Hutchek says:

Here is how to bypass 1100 and 1200 HP expirations

Ok it took me a while to realize this but it is actually really simple to bypass them. The bad news is you must first go out and buy a new cartridge of that same color. Then take a knife and cut the lower stripe on both sides of the cartridge right where they assembled it. Dont worry you wont damage the cartridge. Then simply un-snap it on the new cartridge. The chip that you need comes off with it all in one piece. Then take your old cartridge and do the same thing. Finally snap the newest one in place on the old cartridge and your are ready to go. Its that easy. When you finally run that one out of ink remove it and put it back on the new cartridge and you can then run it.
Yes its that easy….. And it really works no damage no problems.

aztsd says:

How to reset HP 610 printer cartridge expiration dates

This worked for my HP Copier 610. It was very simple – I just completely removed the backup battery inside my printer. Took all of 10 minutes.

I turned off my printer, unplugged it, opened up the printer and removed the backup battery which was on the left side wall inside the printer. Used a mirror and a flashlight to find it.

Then, plugged in the printer and I was good to go. It started reading filled cartridges with expiration dates from 2006 (they were still full of ink, but had expired by date only).

Hope this helps some of you!

WC Rodgers says:

Focus on the printer, not the ink cartridge

I bought some discount ink. My HP printer was working fine and suddenly quit. I also bought ink for my Epson Stylus CX8400 and it quit with a reminder to buy their ink. I bought the printer and the ink. If I had known they had sabotour programming, I would not have purchased thier products.

j.warner says: