Epson C9398 maintenance box
29 Epson printers in our list keep waste ink in the C9398 maintenance box instead of fixed ink pads. When the box is full the printer stops and asks you to replace it. Reset software cannot clear this: fit a new box, or reset the box’s chip with a chip resetter.
Epson sells this box as part number C12C939891, under the name "ET-4900/ET-2910/ET-2920/ET-1910/L5390/L3300/L1350 Series Maintenance Box". The user’s guides of the L1310, L1350, L3350, L3360 and L5390 series give the box code as C9398, and C9399 for printers sold in India.
These are newer EcoTank models. Earlier models such as the L3210, L3250 and L5290 keep waste ink on fixed pads, and their counter can be reset in software. The models on this page do not have such a counter: in our own logs on 18/10/2026, an L3350 connected by USB reported a full maintenance box, and none of the counter commands our app tried could read a counter on it.
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Printers that use the C9398
Epson ET-1910Epson ET-2910Epson ET-2911Epson ET-2912Epson ET-2914Epson ET-2915Epson ET-2916Epson ET-2920Epson ET-2921Epson ET-2922Epson ET-2925Epson ET-2926Epson ET-2927Epson ET-4900Epson ET-4905Epson L1310Epson L1350Epson L3310Epson L3316Epson L3350Epson L3351Epson L3352Epson L3356Epson L3360Epson L3361Epson L3362Epson L3366Epson L5390Epson L5396
Check the code printed on your old box before you buy a new one. Regional versions of a printer can use a different box (in India, C9399).
What the message means
The printer counts how much waste ink goes into the box, and the count is kept on the box’s chip. When it reaches the limit, the printer says the maintenance box is at (or near) the end of its service life and stops printing. A new box starts again from empty, which is why the message clears.
Replace the box or reset the chip?
- New box: the clean fix. The old box really is full of ink. Replacing it takes a few minutes; follow the steps in your printer's user's guide.
- Chip resetter: a small device that resets the count on the box's chip, so you can keep using the same box for a while. It does not remove any ink, so only do it if the box still has room.
- Reset software (including VNIT Reset Tool) cannot help with maintenance box printers. It is for printers with fixed ink pads.
Sources
Printer not in this list?
Look it up in the supported printers list. Many Epson printers use fixed ink pads, and those can be reset in software.