The message "The printer's ink pad is at the end of its service life" or error 5B00 doesn't mean your printer is finished. We clean the waste ink tank, reset the counter and your printer is printing again. Below you'll find the current price from our repair price list and what it covers.
Prices at a glance
From CZK 1,190
Prices include VAT and come straight from our repair price list. We confirm the exact price in advance and never do anything without your consent.
Why your printer stopped printing
An inkjet printer regularly cleans its print head to stop it drying out. The ink from cleaning drains into a tank with an absorbent pad (ink absorber). The printer keeps count of how much ink it has sent there, and once its calculation reaches the limit, it stops printing as a safety measure so the ink doesn't leak out. This usually happens after 2–3 years, depending on how much you print and how often you run nozzle cleaning.
What you're paying for
We take the printer apart, remove the tank and pad and thoroughly clean out the ink; on some models we replace the pad. After reassembly, we reset the counter with a service tool – otherwise the printer wouldn't know it had been cleaned and would keep showing the error. Finally, we test the printer with a print.
We don't recommend resetting the counter alone without cleaning: the pad stays full and ink may leak into the printer or onto your desk.
Is the repair worth it?
For most inkjet printers with an ink tank system (Epson EcoTank, Canon MegaTank), yes – cleaning costs a fraction of a new printer and your printer will keep printing for years to come. For the cheapest cartridge printers, we'll tell you honestly whether the repair makes sense.
How the repair works
- Order a repair in the printer repair price list, bring your printer to our shop in Hradec Králové, or use our free courier pickup anywhere in the Czech Republic.
- Ideally, pack the printer in its original box. Don't empty the ink tanks, just close them tightly.
- The repair usually takes 1–2 working days from when we receive the printer.
- We give a 12-month warranty on the repair.
Find out more on the Cleaning and resetting the waste ink tank page.
FAQs
Which printers suffer from this error?
Most often Epson inkjet printers (the message about the ink pad reaching the end of its service life) and Canon (error 5B00). The principle is the same for all of them: the printer counts waste ink and stops printing once it reaches the limit.
Isn't it enough just to reset the counter with software?
The counter will then show zero, but the pad stays full. Ink may leak into the printer or onto your desk and damage the electronics. That's why we always clean the tank first and only then reset the counter.
How long will it last?
Roughly as long as it did from new, depending on how much you print and how often you run nozzle cleaning. Frequent manual cleaning fills the tank faster.
Do I need to send the inks with the printer?
No. Just close the tanks tightly and pack the printer so it can't tip over in the box.