Epson / EcoTank ET-3830 / ET-3850 / L6270 series

Borderless printing ink pad nearing end of service life - The borderless-printing ink pad is nearing the end of its service life.

The borderless-printing ink pad is nearing the end of its service life.

This guide is scoped to the EcoTank ET-3830 / ET-3850 / L6270 series family. Exact menu wording, cartridge naming, and service behavior can still vary by model variant and firmware.

Severity

Medium

Most likely cause

The borderless-printing waste-ink area has reached a warning threshold.

Can you keep using it?

Maybe after the first checks

Consumables involved

Borderless-printing ink pad

Can you keep using it?

Can you keep using it?

Contact customer support if any of these apply

  • !The warning is recurring and you need to prevent downtime.
  • !You rely heavily on borderless printing and cannot risk a sudden stop.
If the printer still starts normally: Finish the first checks once, then stop if the same message repeats or the printer still cannot return to ready.

What to check first

Step-by-step checks

  1. 1

    Safe first step

    Dismiss the warning only if you need to keep printing temporarily.

    Start with the official recovery step before moving on to parts or deeper servicing.

  2. 2

    Escalate

    Plan Epson service before the warning becomes a full stop condition.

  3. 3

    Escalate

    Reduce unnecessary borderless jobs if the printer must stay in service for a while.

Background

What this message usually means

Epson shows this warning when the borderless-printing ink pad on the ET-3830 / ET-3850 / L6270 family is nearing the end of its usable life. Epson says the message will remain until the pad is replaced, but printing can continue after dismissing the warning.

Diagnosis

Likely causes

Most common

The borderless-printing waste-ink area has reached a warning threshold.

Common

Frequent borderless printing shortened the remaining pad life.

Possible

The printer is tracking a nearing-end service state for the borderless pad.

Service

When service or replacement is more likely

  • -This is a warning-stage service-life message, not a low-ink alert.

See also

Related codes in this family

Source notes

Epson's ET-3830/ET-3850/L6270 status page says the borderless printing ink pad is nearing the end of its service life and the warning can be dismissed temporarily.

Built around Epson ET-3830 / ET-3850 / L6270 official status-message guidance. Message wording and button labels can vary slightly by regional model and panel layout, but the underlying meaning stays close across the family.

Printer error codes can vary a little by firmware, region, and exact model variant. Use this guide as a family-level starting point and stop if the next step would require disassembly or service-mode changes.

Known family variants: ET-3830, ET-3850, L6270

Last reviewed: 2026-04-12

Reference: Open reference

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