Chips, chip resetters and ink level resetting...
Take a look at just about any ink cartridge these days and you'll probably find a small integrated circuit board, attached to it somewhere. It is usually green in colour, with few gold plated electrical contacts. This is the cartridge chip.
Epson ink chip
When a "chipped" ink cartridge is installed in printer, the chip is lined up against an array of pins that connect it into the printer's electronic circuitry. The main function of the chip is to identify the ink cartridge (it's attached to) to the printer. It can store all sorts of other information as well, including estimated ink level, installation and expiry date etc. The ink level data is progressively re-written as the ink gets used up. And when the chip reaches certain ink level (5-15%), some printers are programmed to grind to a halt and display "ink may have run out" or "cartridge not recognised" error.
Ok...this may seem like a good feature. It's handy to know how much ink you have left and for the printer to warn you, before it runs out (of ink). True...but what if you want to refill the ink cartridge or use up the remaining ink?
While some printers can be forced to print again - by overriding the ink monitor, some simply stop and refuse to work until the 'offending' ink cartridge/tank is replaced - or reset using a chip resetter.
What can you do about ink chips ?
How the ink level monitoring is achieved, how the information is stored, how it affects you and what you can do about it - depends on what printer make and model you have...and what is currently available for it.
Click on your printer make link (or pic.) below for more information, or to to buy a chip resetter...
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Brother chip resetters Epson chip resetters Canon chip resetters HP chip resetters
Can't find Chip resetter information (for your printer model) on these pages? Contact us. | 
