Let me know in the comments which tool worked for you. Disclaimer: This post is for educational purposes. Modifying your printer may void any remaining warranty and carries a risk of ink damage. Proceed at your own risk.

The pads are sponges that absorb excess ink during cleaning cycles. After many resets, they become saturated.

If you own an Epson Stylus SX130 (often sold as the Expression Home XP-102/103 in some regions), you’ve probably seen the dreaded “Service Required” or “Parts inside your printer are at the end of their service life” error.

If you aren’t comfortable opening the printer, use the reset once to back up your data and scan important documents, then recycle the printer responsibly.