How To Reset the Waste Ink Pad Counter

The Waste Ink Pad Counter and Why we Reset It

You may have noticed that the Freejet 330-series occasionally jets very small amounts of ink into a small, chrome-plated tank (or spit tray) at the far left end of the carriage assembly. Ink accumulates in this tank over time so the printer will periodically warn us that the ink level in this waste tank should be checked and emptied to avoid overflowing, and the absorbent pad at the bottom of the tank replaced, as needed.

Waste ink tank (“spit tray”)

That warning comes in the form of the ‘Error’ and ‘Ink’ lights on the control pad flashing — blinking in an alternating pattern. Once this has occurred the printer will no longer accept print jobs until we acknowledge and clear the error, using a software utility. But there’s no need for that to happen.

Rather than wait for this to happen, we proactively check the waste ink tank level visually to avoid overfilling, and we use a software utility called the Adjustment Program to reset the counter which triggers the error condition, as part of our routine monthly maintenance. By doing so, we avoid ever having a print job interrupted by that error condition.

Here’s how…

Resetting the Waste Ink Pad Counter

1. Use Windows File Explorer to navigate to where you installed the Adjustment Program, then double-click on the AdjProg program’s icon to launch the Adjustment Program.
   
   
2. Click on the ‘Particular adjustment mode’ button.
   
   
3. In the pop-up window, confirm that the Port selection is set to ‘Auto selection’, then click ‘OK’.
   
   
4. When the Adjustment Program window appears, scroll down to the ‘Maintenance’ section and select ‘Waste ink pad counter’, then click on the ‘OK’ button.
   
   
5. Click on the ‘Initialization’ button to reset the waste ink pad counter, then click ‘OK’ to close the informational window which pops up, then click ‘Finish’.
   
   
6. Click the ‘x’ in the upper-right corner of the Adjustment Program’s menu screen to close that window.
   
   
7. Click on the Adjustment Program’s ‘Quit’ button to end the program.
   
8. Turn the printer off from the rear power switch, wait 5 seconds, then turn it back on.
   

Congratulations! The waste ink pad counter has now been reset.

Wait… what about the waste ink pad?

The absorbent waste ink pad at the bottom of the waste ink tank should be replaced once it is thoroughly saturated. See our article about replacing consumable parts for details on how to replace the pad.