The common mis-perception:
These printers do not measure the physical ink inside a cartridge. They estimate how much physical ink is inside a cartridge depending on how the amount of pages you have printed. The ink level information is stored on the green cartridge chips that are located on the back of the printer. Effectively, you have two ink levels:

– Ink level 1: The physical ink level inside your cartridges (the actual ink).
– Ink level 2: The digital ink level that is shown in your printer driver and on the front panel of your printer (the estimated ink level that the printer reports).

The Issue:
When you are changing from a Photo Black to Matte Black paper (or vice versa), the printer goes through a purge sequence, which uses a certain amount of ink.
Therefore, the Epson printer driver will only allow you to change from a Photo to Matte Black paper (or vice versa) if the PK and MK digital ink level you are changing to on the status ink monitor are showing that you have sufficient ink in that black (over 10%). Please note that on rare occasions the yellow will also need to be above 10%.
The ink levels that the printer believes you have can be seen on the front LCD panel and through the printer driver.

What Can Happen:
If you attempt to change your black cartridge (by changing from a Matte Black to Photo Black paper or vice versa) when the Photo Black, Matte Black or Yellow ink level showing on the status monitor is less than 10%, the printer will advise that there is not enough ink in the cartridge to run the necessary purging sequence.
You will then be advised that you will need to replace the cartridge and you will not be able to reset the refillable cartridge meaning the cartridge will temporarily be non-functional.
Please remember that the printer takes into consideration the level on the Status Monitor, NOT the physical ink inside the cartridge.

Recommended Precautions:
1) Always keep your original Epson Cartridges.
2) When you need to change from a Matte Black to a Photo Black paper (or vice versa), always check your MK, PK and Y digital ink levels are high enough before making the change. If you have any doubt, please contact us right away.

If This Does Happen:
Please contact us right away and we will determine the best solution.

Please contact us if you have any questions about this technical bulletin