ink cartridge storage

[Tiffany Silver]

Is it better to store ink cartridges in the refrigerator than in high
room temperatures?

 

[Yianni]

No, room temperature is better.

 

[Bob Headrick]

Is it better to store ink cartridges in the refrigerator than in high
room temperatures?

What kind of cartridges? How long for the storage? Can you deal with allowing
the cartridge to acclimate to room temperature for a few hours after removing
them from the refrig before installing in the printer?

It may depend on the answers to the above. If you were going to store an
integrated printhead cartridge for a year it would likely be better in the
fridge than in a 80F environment. On the other hand, for weeks or a few months
even high room temperatures are probably better than the refrig. You do not
want to take a cartridge directly out of the refrig and put it in the printer
as the initial calibration of the printhead assumes that the cartridge is at
the ambient printer temperature. While it will eventually correct itself the
initial print quality may not be up to normal standards.

Regards,
Bob Headrick, not speaking for my employer HP
MS MVP Printing/Imaging

 

[Tiffany Silver]

No. 56 black (I think pigment, but I'm not sure) and No. 57 color (dye)
cartridges for HP Deskjet 5550, which include print heads. The room
temperature is 84 F during the summer. Storage between 6 months and a
year. Most of the cartridges are still in their original unopened
wrappers, but a few had been opened and then put into Ziplock freezer
bags.

 

[Bob Headrick]

No. 56 black (I think pigment, but I'm not sure) and No. 57 color (dye)
cartridges for HP Deskjet 5550, which include print heads. The room
temperature is 84 F during the summer. Storage between 6 months and a
year. Most of the cartridges are still in their original unopened
wrappers, but a few had been opened and then put into Ziplock freezer
bags.

For the ones that are still in the original package I would put then in the
refrig, but take them out a day before you plan to use them. For a year of
storage the ones that have been opened should be stored in a humidor (the
plastic thing supplied with the #59 cartridge) or left in the printer. You
will probably not have much luck storing them in a freezer bag. Additionally,
the color cartridge especially should not have anything touching the nozzle
plate. If you have wrapped the plastic so that it touches the nozzle plate the
colors will mix together running the cartridge.

A better plan would be to buy cartridges as you need them and not stock up for
long term storage.

Regards,
Bob Headrick, not speaking for my employer HP
MS MVP Printing/Imaging