“Service required. Parts inside your printer are near the end of their service life. See your documentation.”
That Epson M105 printed another 1,200 pages over the next eight months before the pads physically leaked. By then, Rohan had saved enough for a new printer. The resetter had bought him time—not a miracle, but a tool for those who understand the difference between a counter and a sponge.
The printer refused to budge. No clicks, no whirrs, no printing. A quick online search revealed the culprit: the . epson m105 ink pad resetter
And that small green board? It now lives in his desk drawer, ready to whisper a second life into another trapped printer.
Rohan ordered one from an online seller for ₹450. It arrived the next day—a green circuit board in an anti-static bag, with two clips and a small push button. “Service required
Rohan knew the physical pads were still full. The resetter had only tricked the software. He now faced a risk: if the pads truly overflowed, ink would seep into the printer’s base, possibly ruining the power supply or logic board. For the short term—finishing his thesis—it was worth it. For the long term, he cut a piece of absorbent craft felt and slid it under the pad area as a DIY overflow catcher.
Inside the Epson M105, like many modern inkjet printers, lies a set of absorbent felt pads. Their job is humble but crucial: to soak up excess ink during print head cleaning, borderless printing, or power flushes. The printer tracks every drop absorbed with a digital counter. Epson’s firmware is programmed to freeze the printer once this virtual counter hits a pre-set limit—usually around 5,000 to 8,000 pages. It’s a safeguard to prevent real ink from leaking inside the machine. By then, Rohan had saved enough for a new printer
It’s a small, standalone electronic device, often no bigger than a USB drive, with a specific chip inside that mimics Epson’s proprietary service interface. Some are software-based, requiring a Windows laptop and a special utility like AdjProg or WICReset . But for the M105, the most common tool is a physical resetter with a wire harness that plugs directly into the printer’s mainboard.
But for Rohan, the timing was disastrous. His thesis final review was in three days.