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Chips and memory
Posted in: blog by CW on 27 December 2006
Many printers on the market today have memory installed. One function of that onboard memory is to memorize the electronic signature of the cartridges as a way of preventing the same cartridge to be reintroduced to the same printer. The only reason for this is to keep you from using remanufactured cartridges.
The printer reads the pattern of the electronics on the front of an ink cartridge or on the chip of a toner cartridge (not all cartridges have electronics or chips) and keeps that pattern in memory. In printers with minimal memory, the printer may be able to only store one or two patterns. The more memory, the more patterns that can be stored.
There are two ways we can bypass this restriction. One is to change or reset the chip. This is possible with most newer Epson cartridges and a few older HP ink cartridges. Laser cartridges that require a chip get a new one every time we remanufacture the cartridge.
The other option is to swap out cartridges; make sure you don’t get the same cartridge back that you bring in. The different electronic pattern should reset the memorized pattern so that should you reintroduce your same cartridge later on, the printer won’t remember it. The problem with this is, as I said, different printers have different amounts of memory. For example;
Printer A holds two patterns in memory. You’ll need at least three different cartridges for proper rotation. By the time cartridge #3 is introduced, the printer will have forgotten cartridge #1.
Printer B holds five patterns in memory. Introducing cartridge #6 will erase the memory of cartridge #1. So six different cartridges have to be used before the first one can be reintroduced and accepted as a new cartridge.
Some printers have an over-ride, a series of digits entered using a keypad, that resets memory to allow for a cartridge to be reused. Check your printer’s documentation to see if your machine has this function. Some laser printers require the same sort of over-ride.
If you have a newer printer and have experienced problems getting it to recognize a remanufactured cartridge, check the manual for your printer for information, or give us a call and we’ll check with our technical support people to see if they know of a resolution.
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