After a fair bit of frustration, a lot of Googling, and even more unnecessary effort, I solved my Epson R200 protection counter problems tonight, and saved myself the cost of either repairing or replacing a perfectly functioning printer, plus I have not wasted money on the clatter of spare ink cartridges I have in stock. I thought my findings might be useful to others.
There are a number of large, bulky pads (rather like incontinence pads) located in the bottom housing of the printer, designed to soak up/evaporate waste ink. They are not accessible without effectively dismantling the printer; not a job for the fainthearted, and also not a necessary job.
The protection counter is set in the printer's EEPROM, and is designed to make money for Eps.... er... prevent overflow of waste ink from the printer once the pads are full.
For anyone using this printer (also the Stylus Photo 210, and possibly other models), here are some tips that may save you time, frustration, service fees, and messy fingers.
1. Get yourself a Resetter program for your printer model now. (Various ones around, some better than others.)
2. Make a little waste ink reservoir (read 'clear plastic tub with two holes in the lid'). Take the repair hatch off the back of your printer, fish out the ink waste tube with a long tweezer or needle-nosed pliers, and pop it through one of the holes in the lid. This eliminates the need for waste inkpad replacement, although you will need to keep an eye on the volume of ink in the reservoir and empty it now and again. (Example picture here.)
3. When you eventually get the "Service Required - parts in your printer are reaching the end of their service life...." error message, run the resetter program immediately. Power cycle the printer for the reset to take effect. (If you leave it until the printer ceases to operate, you will get alternately flashing red LEDs, and it can be a complete pig to get it to reset.)
You can find a source for the Epson R200 service manual here. It includes a full list of LED error states.
Rant. Upon inspection, hardly any of the inkpads in my printer were soiiled, and they were almost completely dry to the touch. I'm very annoyed that this printer was designed to cease functioning in order to prompt (potentially) unnecessary, and chargeable, repairs.
