Guide: safe waste pad counter reset

The 9 steps

1. Identify the lock. The message “parts inside your printer have reached the end of their service life”, alternately blinking lights or an E‑11 error confirm the counter has hit its limit. The printer stops printing as protection.
2. Perform the physical maintenance. Locate your model's absorbent pad or maintenance box/tank. Remove it, pressure-wash it until water runs clear, dry it thoroughly and refit it; or replace it with a new one; or route the outlet to an external tank. This step is mandatory: the reset only erases the number, not the accumulated ink.
3. Prepare the connection. Use a USB cable straight to the computer (avoid hubs) or put the printer on the same Wi-Fi network. Power it on and close any Epson utilities and pending print jobs. On Windows it helps to restart the Print Spooler service.
4. Download and verify the tool. Go to the download page, pick the option for your system and, if a SHA256SUMS file exists, check the hash. When in doubt, build from source.
5. Read the current counter. Every tool offers a safe read mode (it writes nothing). Write the values down: useful to confirm the problem and keep history.
6. Back up the EEPROM. Before writing, export the backup the tools provide (backup-*.txt file or snapshot). Keep it: it restores the original state if something goes wrong.
7. Run the reset. Confirm the operation when prompted. A good write answers OK byte by byte; if you see NG, abort: the key does not match your exact model and you must not retry blindly.
8. Power cycle. Turn the printer off with its physical button, wait 10 seconds and turn it on again. Without this cycle the change never takes effect, even after a successful reset.
9. Verify and log. Read the counter again (it should show 0%), print a test page and note the date. Depending on the model the counter fills up again between 5,000 and 50,000 pages: write it down to anticipate the next maintenance.

Common problems