Waste Ink – lings

"Service Required" is the short version of "Parts in your printer have reached the end of their service life" which all inkjet printers display at some point in their life.

It means your printer has reached a programmed trigger point where the waste ink pads are approaching saturation point and need replacing.

Because there are so many articles where the term "General error" has been misused it's easy to be confused into thinking that "General Error" is the same as "Service Required". It is not so the definitions have been provided below.

Service Required

One or more parts of your printer have reached the end of their service life. This usually means the waste ink pads are full and need replacing (or waste ink redirecting) but it can occasionally mean that another part has hit a known "replace me" point.

General Error

A General error indicates that the printer is not operating normally and is not passing a series of internal self checks. These can be anything including the following:

• The printhead is unable to move
• The printhead path is unable to move the full length of the printer (ie: something is blocking its path)
• One or more of the paper, motor, printhead (or similar) sensors has become soiled, disconnected or broken
• Some other fatal error

In most cases these problems can be diagnosed and resolved (clearing rubbish from printhead path for example) while others require a visit to the service technician. A waste kit will not solve a "general error".

As promised there is now a comprehensive* reference tool that provides information about your printer:

• Whether there's a compatible reset utility
• Instructions for redirecting waste ink to an external tank
• Any additional information about the printer

This tool can be found on the OctoInkjet site via the "QuickFind" tool.

Note: More detailed information (eg: links to reset resources, etc...) is provided to OctoInkjet customers via the same tool.