Expired Ink

<p>Just want to vent that my printer informed me that my ink is expired, and I haven't even used half of the ink. I made a test print and the colors were terrible. I won't be buying more ink, at over 200 bucks a pop for a set, until I have a decent backlog of files I want to print. I never realized that pigment ink was such a precious perishable commodity. Live and learn from the school of hard knocks. That's all.</p>

<p>What printer, which ink?</p>

<p>Some hard info would make this more informative to others than just a rant.</p>

<p>Thanks,</p>

<p><Chas></p>

<p>Oh sorry, HP B9180 pigment ink. There is no one to blame here except myself I suppose, and it isn't the end of the world, but it is disappointing to me that the makers of this ink weren't able to create a formula that would last for as long as anyone needed it to last. JMO.</p>

<p>How old is it? What is the rated life expectancy of the ink carts?</p>

<p>Thanks,</p>

<p><Chas></p>

<p>Charles, at least a couple years. I suppose most people would use a set of inks up sooner than two plus years. I probably shouldn't have mentioned this, but it might serve as a heads up to someone who might have wanted to purchase ink ahead of time. I wouldn't now purchase ink unless I knew I had enough work to use it up. FWIW.</p>

<p>Wow, two years is a long time for a set of ink carts before being used up. I can't imagine it because I use a set of ink carts up in less than 6 weeks.</p>

<p>I'm suprised you didn't have serious print head clogging issues if you printed that infrequently. My Canon 2200 gets cranky if I don't use it once a week or so.</p>

<p>I've heard that you can/should take the carts out and shake them once in a while if they aren't being used to keep the pigment in suspension. Might help, might be internet myth.</p>

<p>Good luck</p>

<p><Chas><br /></p>

<p>Charles, I kept the printer turned-on as instructed by HP, so I'm sure that explains why the heads haven't clogged.</p>

<p>As Folks said 15 years ago; inkjet printers are the razor handle; the ink is the razor cartridge. You sell folks a printer at almost cost and make money on the consumables; the annuity of ink cartridges sold. Thus a printer maker does not want a cartridge to go generic; or be refilled. Thus a zillion weird bastard cartridge types designed; so that it is harder to refill them;and the profit stream of ink cartridge sales is a sweet and great. Most old cartridges go into landfills. Inkjet ink has always been expensive; here I buy several grand worth of ink a year; some is bulk fed; some generic too. Non brand stuff is cheaper; it may or may not last as long; one has to often calibrate more too or do some Kentucky windage on color matching. Not all color work requires perfect colors either; some does.</p>

<p>I suppose if I was trying to sell ink I would want that ink to expire as soon as possible, but being on the other end it doesn't seem right or fair. Maybe we should be selling ink instead of consuming it, that would be smarter.</p>

<p>I am skeptical. I've never read of any reason why inks would go bad. Sure, the pigments settle, and shaking them up gets them back into suspension, but why would they go so bad that the colors change? You said that you've kept the printer turned on and that's why the heads haven't clogged. Have you cleaned the heads? I'd do as Charles suggested, and shake them up. Then do a nozzle check and see how they print.</p>

<p>Peter</p>

<p>At least on my Epson printer, I've used ink cartridges well beyond the 6-month expiration with no problems. Some of the original cartridges lasted 2 years before they simply ran out. I never had any problems other than occasional clogging. You're sure there's no other issue that could account for the terrible output - say, head alignment or partial clogs?</p>

<p>It does seem odd, given that HP advertise the fact that prints made with these inks are supposed to be color fast for 200+ years, that the cartridges have such a short life. I use an HP B9180 and thankfully print sufficiently frequently not to worry about OOD cartridges, with one exception; I rarely print on matt paper, so the matt black cartridge does last a VERY long time.</p>

<p>Peter, I just a ran quick test with a print I had already printed before for a comparison, and the colors were definitely off. I never shook the cartridges. The HP software says that everything is okay with the print heads etc., but the printer keeps warning me that the ink is expired and I'm risking my warranty coverage by using that ink. Also, I've always kept the printer turned on as I mentioned, and I've gone at least two years without printing.</p>

<p>I just plan on replacing the cartridges when I have a lot of files I'm ready to print. It might be quite awhile before I start printing.</p>

<p>Ralph, good point about the claim that the inks are supposed to last 200 years, that's something to ponder, and I don't even want to think about the obvious question that raises.</p>

<p>I'm familiar with Epson, not HP. Can you do a check that all the colors are still firing (called nozzle check with Epson). Can you do a head clean?<br>

<br />I'm currently using some 3 year old Epson ink and it's fine. Pigment inks do settle over time (agitate them) but I've read the bigger problem is that things grow in the ink after a while. <br>

<br />I don't think this has any bearing whatsoever on the longevity of inks sprayed onto a surface.</p>

<p>Okay Roger, I took the cartidges out and shook them, then I printed a test sheet and it looks good. It's a pink and white flower against a green background of leaves. The printer is at this moment cleaning the printheads, and it printed a diagnostics page with a color chart and that looks good also. I'm not sure what happened with my own test print, but maybe I had an incorrect setting somewhere in Photoshop or the HP software. The HP software says that everything is working fine with the printer, but I decided to initiate cleaning the printheads anyway.</p>

<p>It seems I might be back in business and can continue printing until I use up this ink. Thankyou for your suggestions.</p>

<p>Well that was a good save! Go Photo.net!<br>

:-)<br>

I have used inks as old as 2 years with no issues. The HP printheads are replacable, and they are "date picky" more than the inks. Great thing is that HP will send you a new print head for free if it is within the date. In the past 3 or so years I had it happen once or maybe twice, as I tried expired heads. With HP, I have had 1 clogged head and I can't remember the last time I cleaned (very rare). My other brand printer is a different story.</p>

<p>Thanks for the info Phil.</p>