Waiting for your waste ink kit

This article is intended for anyone who has ordered a waste ink kit, whether it’s a Printer Potty external kit or a set of replacement waste pads (or even a replacement OEM porous pad assembly)

We’re aware that the postal system can take quite a while to deliver orders and in most cases, customers who’ve ordered a waste ink kit have hit the point where their printer isn’t working and they need it back up and running as soon as possible.

So, to help with this issue we recommend the following options to workaround the issue and get you printer again while taking some precautions.

!IMPORTANT!

You should NEVER carry out printhead cleaning or ink charge functions before fitting your ink pads/kit. Such functions generate a LOT of waste ink and are likely to oversaturate any waste pads which then creates a potential hazard.

Always wait for the replacement pads/kit and fit them to your printer BEFORE resetting if cleaning is required.

Printer Pad Customers

If you’ve ordered a Printer Pad kit (like the XP2, XP4, etc..) or you’ve purchased an OEM porous pad assembly to replace your printers existing waste ink pads then this should provide a temporary work-around.

  1. If you’ve not already found them, check our Printer Quickfind tool* or the Printerpotty support site for the waste pad installation instructions.

    If you can’t find them yourself then please contact us with your order reference and printer model and we’ll point you to the correct place.
  2. Use the instructions to access your printers waste ink pad holder to assess how much waste ink the pads contain.
    • If the pads are completely saturated then you can replace one or two of the pads with some absorbent material like kitchen paper towel, etc… and then replace them.
    • If the pads are still relatively dry you can replace the pad holder without changing anything.

Only continue to resetting the waste ink counter if you’re confident that the physical waste ink is not going to leak out.

  1. If you have not used the WICReset trial key in the past you can now use this to apply a partial reset to your printers waste ink counter. This will allow you to get back to printer while you wait.
    • The key to use is “TRIAL(All caps, no quotes, etc..)
    • If you have already used the trial key you would need to purchase or use a WICReset key.
    • If you have purchased a key as part of your order and haven’t received it yet then please contact us with your name and order reference to request it.

Note: You can find the WICReset utility downloads and links to instruction videos, etc… at https://www.octoink.co.uk/goreset

Printer Potty Customers

If you’ve ordered an external waste ink kit (ie: a Printer Potty) then chances are your waste ink pads are hidden and more difficult to access so the process we recommend for your situation is slightly different.

  1. If you’ve not already found them, check our Printer Quickfind tool* or the Printerpotty support site for the waste pad installation instructions.

    If you can’t find them yourself then please contact us with your order reference and printer model and we’ll point you to the correct place.
  2. Use the instructions to disassemble your printer enough to be able to identify your printers waste ink pads and assess how much waste ink the pads contain.
    • If the base of the printer and/or pads are completely black and awash with ink then please contact us with photos of what you can see (include your name, printer model, etc..) so we can provide information on how to proceed.
    • If the pads are still relatively dry or even white you can reassemble the printer and continue with resetting (see step #3).
    • If you’re not sure and/or don’t want to disassemble your printer just yet then you can put your printer on a lipped tray (ie: a waterproof tray with a lip/side that runs around edge) to act as a collection tank for any leakage. This is only a precaution but should ensure that “if” the printer waste ink overflows any leaks it will be contained by the tray.

Only continue to resetting the waste ink counter if you’re confident that the physical waste ink is not going to leak out.

  1. If you have not used the WICReset trial key in the past you can now use this to apply a partial reset to your printers waste ink counter. This will allow you to get back to printer while you wait.
    • The key to use is “TRIAL(All caps, no quotes, etc..)
    • If you have already used the trial key you would need to purchase or use a WICReset key.
    • If you have purchased a key as part of your order and haven’t received it yet then please contact us with your name and order reference to request it.

Note: You can find the WICReset utility downloads and links to instruction videos, etc… at https://www.octoink.co.uk/goreset

Maintenance Box Customers

Unfortunately there’s no “quick fix” for maintenance boxes.

If you’re really stuck we may be able to point you to a more local source for the same unit.

As with all things like this, pro-actively ordering spare units is worth considering so you aren’t left with a printer waiting for parts.

Updated on 31 January 2024

Was this article helpful?

Related Articles