Planned obsolescence is a well-known scourge, especially among printersand a recent glaring example from Epson’s side shows us this once again.
Some users have indeed reported that their almost new and fully functional Epson printer suddenly bricked itself. The only explanation is this error message: The device has reached the end of its service life “.
Excess Problems With Epson Printers
Many people have had many setbacks with their printer. Between a reserve of ink that literally melts after only a few prints, the cost of “official” cartridges since the printer does not accept others, or even the printer clogged because of an excess sheet: this device is a constant source of headaches.
As if that weren’t enough, many Epson product users have sounded the alarm about a new problem. One of the first to report an impromptu outage was Mark Tavern, a lecturer at the University of New Haven. His wife’s very expensive and relatively new Epson printer once bricked itself after heavy use, with the error message quoted in the introduction to the article.
After extensive investigation, in particular by Fight to Repair, the problem would come from the ink pads intended to collect excess ink. These inevitably end up wearing out over time. In order to prevent excess ink from overflowing and damaging the printer, Epson has implemented this countermeasure. always according to Fight to Repair, the problem would mainly concern the L130, L220, L310, L360 and L365 models. However, other models may be affected, and even printers from other brands.
To work around this self-generated failure, Epson provides a Windows-specific formatting tool. Only, it is only a patch extending the life of the device for a very limited time. In the long term, it will be necessary to have the printer repaired, or else to buy another one.
A contradictory strategy
A practice that can be considered particularly contradictory, while Epson has also worked to limit the waste generated by electronic devices, in particular with its range of EcoTank printers. These have indeed large ink tanks, which can be filled with any ink of the same color.
As a result, these models were much more expensive than their overpriced ink-intensive counterparts. Unfortunately, even the EcoTank range doesn’t seem immune to this threat of self-generated bricking due to worn ink pads.
Business printers seem to be more immune to this issue, or at least come with ways to fix it yourself. Printers for individuals are not currently so lucky.
A situation that rightly causes discontent among Epson customers, who have not yet expressed themselves on this wave of reports regarding its products.
Source : Fight to Repair
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