My epson R280 doesn't recognize ink cartridges

SOURCE: Epson rx580 printer

I just started calling Epson's customer service line every time. They always offered to FEDEX new ink. I got tired of waiting for it to come and began returning bad cartridges to office depot where I had bought it and found out that they will take it back if it doesn't work. Now I've decided that some (a lot) of Epson's ink cartridges for the RX580 are bad and that I just have to keep trying until I get ink cartridges that work. I had tried the qtip cleaning, checking the ink/sensor connection, and making sure I had them snapped in tight. I've finally figured out it IS the ink. BTW, I always use the ink Epson reccomends, so it is definately that many of their cartridges are faulty. It's a pain to have to return them but as long as I can return and replace them and eventually have a machine that will print when I need it to, I can live with that.

SOURCE: Epson DX8400 cartridge

i have come across this often and bought a chip reset tool from ebay .
you can also buy the software reset for the printer it worked for me

SOURCE: "Ink cartridges cannot be recognized" when using genuine Epson

i had this happen to me twice with two different people, it is highly possible that your black inks are defective, its also highly possible that one of the other inks are causing this error. take them all out, and put one and see what happens, do this one at a time until you see something screwey.

also possible, the contacts on the printhead are dirty or are pushed in.

also possible, bad printhead.

SOURCE: Epson printer says "cannot recognize ink cartridges".

Are you using genuine epson cartridges? Many generics simply dont work on the newer printers. Once the printer decides the cartridge is empty, it sends a signal to the chip and that's it. You might hear ink, but if the chip says empty you can't use it. It also has the annoying habit of doing this when there's still 10-15% of the ink left.
I use reusable cartridges from http://www.ccs-digital.com They hold 2/3 more ink and the chips automatically reset to full if you remove and re-insert the cartridge. Instead of replacing the entire cartridge when it's empty, you pop out an internal ink tank and replace just that. So you know the chip has already been recognized by your printer. The ink tanks cost under $3. I think these are a brilliant invention.

SOURCE: hi.igot an epson stylus sx125 i want to replace

Did you use Epson Genuine Cartridges? ALL…. Epson & Brother Requires Genuine Cartridges. !!!!!!!!
That sounds like your problem.

In Purchasing Epson's CX 5400, CX4600, & CX7400 and more, I found out that Epson does not like Generic Printer Cartridges. I also Purchased a Brother MFC-240C All-In-One InkJet Printer. That also does not like Generic Print Cartridges. Color that should be Yellow, will turn out Green, Blue Brown, etc.

These printers have a CHIP that will detect if it is Generic or Genuine. When they see it’s Generic Cartridges, it will print lines thru the words, stripes across the picture and also do a mix match with the colors. It also will not let you print anything, if only one of the cartridges is empty.

I wanted to print only Black, and would not let me, because I did not have any ink in one of my cyan cartridges. Go figure.

That's what these Companies do., so they can keep selling the ink cartridges. Some Printers, are able to use Generic, and some are refillable. Some you can refill them up yourself and I heard, quite MESSY.

So I learned, thru trial and error, that you must use the ORIGINAL Genuine Cartridges for these PRINTERS. Some people say some models work fine compatible, but not mine.......

I had to replace the printer, but Epson, Lexmark & Brothers are always on sale. My Brother & Epson cost me $50.00 with Rebate. .

IF YOU ARE USING GENERIC CARTRIDGES, MAYBE IT WOULD BE BETTER IF YOU DISABLE THE INK MONITOR.

This is the only advice I can give you.

The next step would be to disassemble the Epson, and clean the Pads/Heads. Click on link below.:
http://www.hm2k.com/posts/parts-inside-your-printer-are-at-the-end-of-their-service-life

I located a page on http://www.fixyourownprinter.com forum, which had plenty of details about similar issues.

If you find this helpful, pls rate me.

Thanks and Good Luck :0)