Stop printing if the same fault returns after one careful restart or basic recovery step.
Epson / EcoTank ET-4950 series

Borderless printing ink pad has reached end of service life - The borderless-printing ink pad has reached its service limit and support is required.

The borderless-printing ink pad has reached its service limit and support is required.

This guide is scoped to the EcoTank ET-4950 series family. Exact menu wording, cartridge naming, and service behavior can still vary by model variant and firmware.

Severity

High

Most likely cause

The borderless-printing waste-ink pad reached its service limit.

Can you keep using it?

Usually no - see below

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 message appears at all, because Epson treats it as a support condition.
  • !You need borderless printing restored without downtime surprises.
If the printer still starts normally: Try one careful restart or the first official recovery step, then stop if the same error comes back straight away.

What to check first

Step-by-step checks

  1. 1

    Safe first step

    Turn the printer off if Epson's message directs you to stop normal use.

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

  2. 2

    Escalate

    Contact Epson support or authorized service.

  3. 3

    Safe first step

    Avoid treating this like a standard maintenance or low-ink reminder.

Background

What this message usually means

Epson shows this message on the ET-4950 series when the borderless-printing ink pad has reached the end of its service life. Epson treats this as a stop-stage support condition rather than a simple warning.

Diagnosis

Likely causes

Most common

The borderless-printing waste-ink pad reached its service limit.

Common

The printer's service counter moved from warning to stop state.

Possible

Heavy borderless-printing use shortened the remaining life of the pad.

Service

When service or replacement is more likely

  • -This is the stop-stage version of the earlier borderless ink-pad warning.

See also

Related codes in this family

Explore more

More Epson printer families

Source notes

Epson's ET-4950 series guide says the borderless-printing ink pad has reached the end of its service life and directs users to contact Epson support.

Built around the official ET-4950 series user's guide and related Epson support pages for ET-4950, ET-4955, and ET-4958. Message wording can vary slightly by model and firmware, but the status behavior 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-4950, ET-4955, ET-4958

Last reviewed: 2026-04-12

Reference: Open reference

Privacy and advertising

Choose whether to allow ad personalization

FixThisError may use Google AdSense on broad browse pages. Your choice controls whether advertising-related cookies and ad requests can be used. Core site content remains available either way.