Epson EcoTank ET4500 "End of Service Life" - Waste Ink Counter WIC Pad Cleaning & Fix

Today, we will be looking at the waste tank again, and I’ll be going over another demonstration. The Epson EcoTank ET4500 is an excellent printer, but whenever you run a printer or cartridge cleaning, the printer has a habit of dumping a little of the ink into the inside.

It will also remember how much ink it dumped, so once the waste ink container is full, it will claim that part of the service life is up. This disables your printer and won’t allow you to print any more pages until you resolve this problem.

This message will also ask you to contact Epson so that they can help you solve the problem. When you call them, they will tell you that your printer has died, and all you can do is throw it away and get a new one. That’s simply not true.

How to Solve the Waste Ink Counter Problem

To save you the unnecessary time and money that you would spend replacing your printer, I will help you learn how to actually fix the problem. There are two steps to doing this. Firstly, you’re going to have to reset your printer and get the counter back to zero. This process will cost a little bit of money, but not nearly as much as a new printer.

There are a couple of companies that you can go through when doing this, but I personally trust inkchip.net. Once you’re on this website, click the WIC (waste ink counter) tab. You’re going to need to buy a key for this, and the price of it depends on how many you want. For just one, it’ll cost $9.99. Before you buy any keys, look at the model compatibility list below and make sure that your model number is listed there.

Before you buy this key, we will perform one more test. Go to free download and select your language of choice. Go ahead and download it. The next step is to run the ink chip WSE and unload it. Your computer will prompt you with a message asking whether or not you want to allow this unknown publisher to make changes to your device. Click yes.

If you click on the shortcut, you may get a message saying, “Problem with shortcut.” This is because your antivirus software is blocking it. Open your antivirus program and go to recent. Click on Inkchip WIC, then Options > Restore > Yes. You should now be able to open the program.

If not, check the Windows Security Center or other blockers that may be causing the issue. You may have to reinstall the software. Once you open the program, click the waste ink counter, ensure your printer is connected via USB, and select that. It will show how much ink is on the counter. If you’ve gotten to this point successfully, it’s time to buy your key. If it cannot read the counter, do not buy the key.

Purchase the WIC adjustment program key. You can now click the reset waste ink counter, and it will prompt you to input the key. It will soon display a message that it’s done and prompt you to restart the printer. Go ahead and do so. Now try to reread the waste ink counter. It should say zero.

How to Remove the Waste Ink from the Printer

Now that we’ve reset the reader, we’ve still got to deal with the actual waste ink that’s still inside the printer. If you go to the back of the printer, you’ll see two stickers. To the right of that, you will see a screw. Remove this with a number two Phillips head screwdriver. Using a flathead screwdriver, pry the waste tank carefully from both sides, and it should eventually come out.

You can take the sponge out and wash it with water. Leave it to dry for about a day or two. Alternatively, you can install an external tank, which you can find and purchase here. If you plan to install this, then don’t put the other waste tank system back inside the printer.

Turning the printer so that you can see where that waste tank was, find the spot where the waste ink comes out. Insert the connector for the external waste ink system here, twisting it gently. Don’t just shove it in. Then attach the tube to the other side of the connector. It will be a tight fit, so you’ll have to push it slightly. Make sure it’s really secure, or the ink may make a mess on whatever surface the printer sits on.

You can use a velcro square to attach the bottle somewhere so it won’t tip over. Cut a small hole in the top of the bottle to put the tube through. When the bottle is full, just dump it out. Your printer should now be back to operating correctly.

We hope you found this blog helpful. For a visual version of this how-to guide, watch my video on the topic. Visit BCHTechnologies.com/blog for more helpful tips for using your printers. Cheers!