I had to replace two ink cartridges on my 7900, a fairly easy process I would have imagined.
Unfortunately I got the Ink cartridge error message "Replace cartridge" after I had replaced both cartridges. Very helpfulI thought as I had just done that. I noticed that one of the cartridges was not showing on the panel so I reinserted several times but no luck.

Being inventive I thought a power down would solve the problem, no chance. So not to be beaten by the behemoth I thought I would just insert one cartridge and leave the other one out. This time the ink level was shown on the cartridge that previously had not been recognised, but now of course it showed the "No cartridge install ink cartridge" message. Being obedient is one of my better traits so I duly complied. All this did was to take me back to the replace cartridge error message because the other cartridge now did not show on the front panel even though the latest inserted one showed as full.

I could have given up at this point but I decided to on a new stategy. I took both new cartridges out, replace just the one that was not showing on the menu and it was then duly recognised as full. I then switched the printer off and on and was told there was a missing cartridge (doh!) this time when I inserted the missing cartridge I was rewarded with a normal starting process and the printer now is working fine.

Figure that out, strange behaviour. I think the conclusion is not to trust your printer panel too much and be inventive in your approach to what it is telling you.

Tom

I'd definitely be interested in hearing what Epson tech support says about this. I'm glad you were able to solve the problem, but Epson needs to figure out how to keep it from happening again. Please call them and us know what they say.

Paul

I have a post inquiring about the same problem. I tried your fix and did not work for me. I am printing with the Matt Black ink and my photo black is out. If I try to select the switch between MK and PK it says their is not enough ink to do the switch(With empty cart.) I put the new one in it starts to whirl and then shows empty with the new cart in. I tried your suggestion and replaced the magenta and photo black going though your process the new black showed full until it prompted me to fill the empty slot with the missing magenta. After installing the magenta the black slider showed me an empty pk black. Any other suggestions?
Dan Berg

Dan,

You really should call Epson on this. I had a LK cartridge that wasn't recognized and called support. They overnighted a replacement, asked me to call back if it didn't work and also asked me to send them the defective cartridge so they could analyze the chip to see why it wasn't recognized. The more problems people report, the faster Epson can take care of any potential issues with the printer.

Jim

My plan exactly,Jim. Just waiting till they open tomorrow. Problem is I have been shut down since Friday.
Dan

I've heard this can be caused by a small air bubble. I had this happen with a new cartridge a couple of months ago and a few very gentle taps against the counter (took two tries) brought it life.

I too have had this problem. Our light black cartridge was the first to run out of ink, and when I replaced it I got the "ink cartridge error" message. I tried replacing one of the other inks that wasn't empty yet and got the same massage, so I went back to the original cartridges, pulled out the light black which was empty, turned the machine off and back on, and when the machine came back on it told me there was a missing cartridge which I then replaced and everything worked fine. Not the best way to deal with what should have been a simple ink switch, but it worked. By the way, I called Epson and they were no help at all. I don't think that they are aware of this problem which seems to effect a lot of machines.

Epson is very aware . It is also why most of the inkcarts especially 700ml are in short supply. From what I hear the air bubbles are the issue and Epson is working on the problem.

Wayne's got it right. In some cases a sharp rap on the countertop corrects the problem. If that doesn't work a rap on the counter on the chip can also remedy the issue. Epson is working on corrective action.

You can also try leaving the cartridge sitting (same orientation as if it were installed) overnight - this has a reasonable chance of recovering the cartridge.

From what we've seen here, this problem is diminishing.

I just had my first experience with this issue. I tried leaving the cart out, banging it etc but to no avail. Epson was great. They are sending me a new cartridge.

It might take a couple of days to get up to Canada so in the meantime I need to go get another one as I am really behind on my orders now. Funny it was a quiet week right up until this happened. Go figure.