Epson ink cartridges cannot be recognised? Nov 03, 2010 10:39 by Matt Bird
Whilst we quality test and guarantee every cartridge we sell, there is the occasional unavoidable issue with epson ink cartridges not being recognised. Handily, it is a simple enough issue to solve, so read on to see how to get printing again.
How to fix compatible Epson ink cartridges not being recognised
- Remove the cartridge/s you have just installed and turn the printer off for 30 seconds. This resets your printer memory.
- Check the copper banding on each of the cartridges. This is their contact chip and what communicates with the printer. Give them each a gentle wipe with a cloth to ensure they are clean and dust free.
- Reinstall the cartridge to your machine.
This should remove your recognition error 99% of the time!
Tips to avoid compatible Epson cartridges that cannot be recognised
Try to avoid installing more than 1 cartridge at a time. If just one cartridge has a recognition issue, the printer may alert you that all have a problem and you end up replacing cartridges perfectly able to print!
And the best advice of all? Don’t panic! The unrecognised Epson cartridge will simply be a fault on that individual chip, and a replacement will fix the problem. If you have purchased from a retailer such as Stinkyink, the cartridges are performance guaranteed and a replacement will be readily available to solve your problems.
Hope this helps, happy printing 
Tried your recommendation and it worked for 24 hours but now I have recognition problems again. Have tried removing and cleaning all cartridges to no avail. What now – help!
Hi Doona,
It sounds like you’ve got a faulty chip on one of the cartridges that is being temperamental. Have you recently replaced one of the cartridges?
can you garante that epson printer will reconise a ‘forgen’ cartrage? As all efforts have failed
Hi Rick, what is a ‘forgen’ cartridge?
Did he mean foreign?
I literally licked my finger rubbed old spots and replaced and the cartridges were recognized.
did not work.
Hi Dave. I’m sorry to hear that you’ve had a problem. If these cartridges are originally from us, if you’d like to get in touch with our customer services team at helpdesk[AT]stinkyink.com, we’d be more than happy to help you. Alternatively, if these aren’t ours, I would suggest contacting the place that you got them from, as most good retailers will guarantee their products against this sort of thing.
Half way through a print run (40 sheets) the printer stopped suddenly and displayed the cartridges not recognised message, showing all cartridges to be empty with the black one marked with a cross. I replaced the black and restarted. The ink levels were shown to be full (black) and one third full (CMY). One sheet later the process was repeated, this time highlighting the magenta. In all, I had to replace all four cartridges while they were still one third full. What’s going on?
Hi Norman. Sorry about the slower than normal reply.
I’ve seen it a few times with varying models of printer that when you change one cartridge it decides that it’s then time to charge another; I think it’s down to the charging process, that occurs whenever you change one, using ink each time, so it could push a low cartridge to the point where the printer thinks it’s empty. Alternatively, it could just be a misreading – when changing the other cartridge it’d be possible to get static into the works of the machine, which can cause non recognition errors like this.
I recently changed my black and magenta cartridges and first the printer rejected the currently installed and half used cyan cartridge, I did what is suggested here and it worked after a couple of attempts. However now it has rejected the yellow. After leaving the printer unplugged all night I still have the same problem and can’t fix it! These are relatively new cartridges that have been working perfectly for weeks! Please help…
Hi. I’m sorry to hear that you’ve had a problem – I’ll do what I can to help.
If you’ve had those inks from us, I’d suggest contacting our customer service team, either at sales[AT]stinkyink.com, or by calling them on 0844 414 41 41 – they’ll be able to assist more fully. If these are from elsewhere, contacting the retailer you had them from is probably a good bet, in case they know of any fixes specific to the brand that they provide. Otherwise, if they’ve started playing up having been working for a while, and these fixes aren’t working, it means a fault somewhere I suspect, though I couldn’t say if this is with the printer, the cartridge(s), or with something else.
I used to love Epson printers but after this, well I’ve changed my mind.
Hi
I don’t think the possibility of faults should put you off – you’re just as likely to see issues with HP, Canon, or any of the other big names too, but that’s not to say that problems are common.
I’ve been using my Epson Stylus SX115 for three years now, and the only time I’ve had a problem with it was when a single cyan didn’t want to be recognised; I followed steps near enough identical to these, and got it working within about five minutes. It’s not the best machine, but it’s reliable, and it was cheap enough that when it does finally give up I won’t shed any tears!
Kind regards
Huw
Hi, after a massive saga with compatible inks , which I won’t go into ( save to say Staples we very helpful) I went and bought an Epsom Cyan today… and guess what … it did’nt recognises it’s own brand.! I’ve followed the turning the machine on and off and removing the cartridges thinf anout 3 times… and hurrah!! on the 4th time it worked !!! thankyou , the internet , persistence pays!!
I HAVE NEVER HAVE SO MUCH PROBLEMS WITH A FREAKEN PRINTER!!!!!!!!!!!!
I recently changed the in cartridge of my NX420 with original epson ink and it continuously says it does recognize it. I have tried cleaning, taking out putting back in, turning it off and nothing.
You would think a printer would print….
Hi Luca
I’ve just happened to spot your comment, and I have a thought. The NX420 is an American printer, so if you’re using non-American cartridges, such as ours, they won’t be recognised. This could be the source of the problem.
Kind regards
Huw
Thanks!!!
i had to replace my black ink, after doing so the blue ink says its not recognized, i have tried everything suggested on here, i cant take it back as its only just happened after changing the black, what shall i do? as this has effected me being able to print anything.
Hi Glen
If you had those inks from us then get in touch with the team at helpdesk[AT]stinkink[DOT]com and we’d be happy to help as per our guarantee, however otherwise all I can suggest is repeating the process with both the black and the cyan cartridges, as it’s possible that one of them is affecting the other.
Huw
Honestly…. I have tried everything at least 40 times and I keep getting the same crap and the same crap advice. I have been frustrated and epson have let me down when I needed some important items printed in a minimal time frame. I have only used epsom cartridges and I know I have replaced fresh cartridges with new ones in an effort to print important stuff quickly and the printer has failed time and time again. My son has a life changing appointment tomorrow and has received crucial information to be printed. So far… 5 hours with new cartridges and the stupid printer telling me to use compatible or the cyan is depleted…….FFFrrriicckkeenn really??????
End of buying Epson…. Cartridges cannot be recognised and I am no longer recognising EPSON as a viable option
Hi Karen,
That does not sound good at all. Are you having the problem with Epson originals? Or third party cartridges?
If you’re getting it with originals consistently it’s possible there’s an issue with what reads the chip in your Epson printer. If you take your cartridges out of the printer, look into the cradle and see where the cartridge chip would be making contact when installed. You’ll see what reads the chip, if you can manage to clean that contact in the same way you’d clean the contact chip it should hopefully resolve your issue!
Guys I am having the same issue whenever I need to change the cartridges. Last time after trying the same cartridge number of times it worked. Now ink has ran out, got new cartridges but not recongnized.
Zaheer
Thanks worked first time
I have replaced all the ink cartridges that the freaking printer says not recognized. Now it does not print black anymore even though the ink is totally full. The printer only prints Yellow at this point, which really frustrates me. What can I do in this case?
Hi I replaced my ink cartridges a few nights ago with track compatible cartridges and they worked fine until now it’s coming up the magenta cartridge is not recognised and is not installed correctly iv tried all the tips given but no luck it’s still coming up the same thing any suggestions as too what’s wrong as I need the printer to work ASAP. Thanks !!!
i figure that my stylus sx415 wont regognise the yellow cartriges i have is because the chip reader inside is missing a prong, anyone know where i can buy one of these from or a replacement cartridge holder thingy? sorry for not being technical with it
Had same problem and thanks to you I checked the prongs and – yep – one was missing. I found it in the tray below the cartridges and gently slid it back in place using swiss-army-knife tweezers which are very thin. You have to push the prong down gently into place. My printer now recognises cartridges!
.If you can’t find your displaced prong you could ask for a broken epson on a freecycle website.
cheers
Max
Hi. Just changed all my inks at the same time, the printer went ape. I did as you recommended and did them one at a time. Simples!! Thanx
my epson sx115 will not reconize genuine ink when i shone a torch and looked at chip contact one piece has broken off thiis is the one were it will not reconize cartridge.
I’ve tried all of this. Removed the cartridges, switched off the printer for 10 mins. Wiped the chips, reinserted the cartridges. Still not recognised. Tried 3 times and still not recognised, They are bona fide Epson cartridges and the printer still doesn’t work or recognise it’s own cartridges.
Hi Amy,
That typically only happens in the following 3 circumstances:
1) You have a foreign printer – the cartridges just won’t work even if you wipe the chips etc
2) You’re installing the wrong cartridges for your printer. Double check the code on the cartridge against your printer on our website to check they’re definitely the right items.
3) There’s a problem with the printer and we’d advise talking to Epson. They have pretty good customer service so you will hopefully get sorted
Hope that helps!
Hi
The printer isn’t foreign, bought in the UK as well as the Epson Cartridges via a link when I print and it tells me the ink is running low. Only original Epson cartridges purchased. Seems to be a problem with the make/model of the printer as I returned it. Seems Epson printers aren’t built to last as many others returned theirs as well according to the store I went to. Just as well I have 3 years replacement cover so will get it replaced free of charge up until then. At least it lasted 4 months and I am not even printing everyday.
Thanks for the suggestion though. My next printer will not be Epson I’m afraid.
Well, my second Epson printer complete with Epson cartridges has only lasted 6 days and the same error has happened again when I changed the cartridge (that wasn’t even empty even though the warning light came on)!
just tel me how to make chip reseter fo epson me 101
Didnt work for me either. The printer worked perfectly until i had to change my black ink, and then i got the message, Ink cartridges cannot be recognized. Is it something wrong with the ink i bought.
Epson printers only work with Epson cartridges. Make sure they are UK cartridges if the printer was purchased in the UK and not foreign, if the printer is foreign, not sure. But I am now on my 3rd UK Epson printer with UK Epson cartridges since November 2012. Let’s see what happens when this cartridge runs out! Perhaps printer number 4? They are too sensitive and cannot handle average printing let alone anything else (my experience only). I tried all the walk-throughs and guides sent to me and nothing worked,
I tried your method, but it just doesnt work. I thought the cartridges were faulty. So took my printer to pc world and tried their compatible ones in front of their technician. They too failed to be recognized.
Is it possible that on Epson Stylus SX130, nothing but only genuine works? I also now fear buying genuine ones lest they should also be not recognized.
If you have any other solution, kindly advise.
Hi Vid,
Printers can occasionally download updates that block the use of compatibles, which would lead to constant not recognised errors in everything but an original cartridge. Is it always giving the error across the different cartridges, or do you have the issue with just one of them?
You should never get a Not recognised error with a genuine cartridge, and if you did it would highlight something is wrong with the printer itself.
I have tried both solutions and drawn a blank
Bought an Epson Stylus SX235W last year that came with Epson ink and it worked fine. The black ink cartridge ran out so I decided just to buy four compatible cartridges that were supposed to work with the printer. Since replacing the cartridges it wont print at all. All I get now is the error message ‘Cartridges not recognized’, or something similar. I’ve searched online for a solution to this, followed the all advice given, yet nothing has worked.
When I bought the printer I also downloaded software from Epson, so that may help explain the problems I’m having. Still, I think it’s very unfair that compatible cartridges don’t work with Epson printers, even with software downloads. If I could uninstall everything I downloaded when I bought the printer, I would.
Epson ink is much more expensive than compatible ink, hence my purchase, however this has been a complete nightmare. I used to own a Brother printer and never experienced a problem with compatible ink in all the years I owned it. Next time I need to buy a new printer, it will NOT be an Epson model.
Your not the only one. Epson seem to think there is not a problem. I’m on my 3rd printer since November 2012. UK printer, UK cartridges, not recognised. And the low ink light comes on when there is more than half of the ink left on each and every printer. I’ve stopped printing as I don’t need to currently. Let’s see what happens when I do…