Digital BW, The Print

I seem to recall having the invalid ink crtg message with MIS funnel fill cartridges on a 4880.

It did not happen with all of the cartridges, but I cannot recall which one or ones gave me the message.

Unfortunately, I do not recall exactly how I got past the problem, but I *think* I played around with the menu on the printer.  Basically (I think) I just kept pressing whatever buttons tell the printer to proceed, proceed-anyway, do-it-even-though-the-sky-will-fall-and-Epson-will-never-speak-to-me-again, and similar things. Eventually it worked. 

Although working properly now, the Epson printer StatusMonitor utility says:  "A non-genuine or refilled cartridge has been detected. Ink levels are not shown because of unknown ink volume."   I believe I receive the same message if I reset an Epson chip.  None of the ink levels are reported for my MIS 4880 cartridges.  (The 4880 also believes the waste tank is full even though it is almost new --- it is an MIS-chipped tank.)

The 4880 is able to recognize chips that are not Epson, or have been "tampered with".   Perhaps the 4800 does as well.

Since you are having trouble with the MK cartridge, why don't you try using an Epson chip in place of the MIS chip?  (... assuming you have one that has not been totally "drained".)  That would at least show you whether the problem is with the cartridge or the chip.

My more common problem with the MIS cartridges is a message something like:  "Cartridge not recognized"   --- I'm not sure of the exact phrase, but the problem in my case had to do with proper placement of the chip in relation to the sensing pin on the printer.  I had to use "fun tak" to shim the chip out far enough to make firm contact with the pins.

MIS sent me a replacement cartridge, but I haven't had to use it yet.  Shimming the chip worked for now...  and until it *stops* working I'm not going to touch it !!!

BTW.  Here is something that helped when I was having a lot of trouble with the 4880:   While the printer was awake but not printing I pulled the plug out of the wall and let it sit for a few minutes. Then I plugged it back in and turned it on.  It did startup routines, and possibly a head check, but then everything worked perfectly.    I think of this as a sort of emergency cold boot.  It solved what had appeared to be unpredictable head blockages that could not be fixed with head cleaning.  I actually ordered a complete set of Epson 220ml cartridges before I discovered that "emergency cold booing" the printer solved the problem.  

Myron