Digital BW, The Print

All,

An interesting thing has happened to my Epson Stylus 200. After a long 
period of not being used (I use a R1800 for most of my small and CD/DVD 
printing now), I needed it to print some CDs when I had a problem with 
the R1800 (under deadline of course). When I powered it up, it had the 
out of ink light on. The utility said the Cyan was out. So I replaced 
it. Then, before charging the new cart, it said the black was out. That 
seemed odd. I took out the black cart and it had a lot of ink in it. I 
checked the replaced Cyan cart and it too sloshed like it was almost full.

The only thing I can think of is that the expiration date of the carts 
has passed and the software just tells me they're out to prevent me from 
using 'out of date' ink, thus saving me from myself and getting me to 
buy more ink.

Am I being paranoid, or has someone come across this situation before? 
Will using a chip resetter fix this?

Thanx,

Will Gibson