ink cartridges that are 3-5 years old, with 2 year shelf life

[tiktak]

I have a bunch of ink cartridges, sealed original epson ones... color and
black.. good for stylus color and company... there are 3-5 years old, I
opened a couple and there is stil ink, so its obviously not dry,but I'm
wondering if its okay to use them or do I really risk damaging printer? I
understand even if ink is not dry, the consistency of it, composition etc
could have changed and maybe this could damage some of the printers
components. I'm wondering if these are all myths told by printer producers
so you buy new ink all the time.

thank you.

 

[Arthur Entlich]

The expiry dates on DYE inks are very conservative. They are probably
fine even several years after the date. If they were not cryovac sealed
(in the aluminized plastic foil) they may lose some of the solvents
(mainly water) from long term storage, in which case you might want to
add a couple of eyedropper fulls of ammoniated window cleaner to each color.

If they are Durabrite or Ultrachrome inks, that may be a different
issue, as the pigments might have come fully out of suspension, and
might have ever changed chemically within the acrylic resins, but it
still may be worth giving them a really good shake and test.

They are unlikely to "ruin" your printer, although you might have
degraded printing or clogs which can usually be fixed without too much
bother.

With dye inks, that usually just means they need more solvent added.
With the pigment inks it may mean you can't use them.

Which printer are we speaking about?

Art

 

[tiktak]

thats what I thought (or hoped for that matter).

thank you for the info.
we are talking about an epson stylus color 800 printer, I just bought it
recently as a cheap second hand printer just because I had previous received
for free from a friend a large quantity of sealed epson black/color inks.
so I added 1+1 and thought that all this could mean printing at 0 cents/page
(well, okay, the printer cost me $10CAN) for a long while to come.

I opened a few of the inks to see if they were not dry (I Don't know if its
possible for ink to dry while sealed but anyway). and they are definitely
not dry, I extracted some ink with a needle just to see.

regards.

 

[CWatters]

I opened a few of the inks to see if they were not dry (I Don't know if its
possible for ink to dry while sealed but anyway). and they are definitely
not dry, I extracted some ink with a needle just to see.

Unlikely to be dry but might have a thicker layer at the bottom. Ever opened
an old tin of paint?

Give them a good shake - in a plastic bag!

 

[tiktak]

Unlikely to be dry but might have a thicker layer at the bottom. Ever
opened
an old tin of paint?

Give them a good shake - in a plastic bag!

ha! good analogy!
I'll give them a good shake before opening and installing.

so in short, as long as they are factory sealed they can sit like this for a
very, very, very long time, did I get it about right? do they EVER go bad
then?

just out of pure curiosity, if I do open the original seal at some point,
and (A) without installing the cartridge in the printer, would relocking it
in somehting like zipbag be equivalent to never opening original factory
seal at all, or would something be different at this point??? and ...

....(B) if after removing original seal, I did install it in the printer,
printed a few pages, then say my printer dies on me, and I'd like to store
the ink away, could relocking it in something like a zipbag let me keep it
safe for a longer while? say, how long then?


last little thing (I can't quite get that whole "shelflife issue" worked
out, maybe that manufacturers two year lifespan propaganda got to me)...
while reading a manual for an epson printer, how to replace ink tank
section, they said something like this: "... after removing ink catridge
from its holder inside the printer, ensure to put it back in after no more
than 30 minutes or the ink may dry or start to dry". does this make sense?
and if so, how does being in the holder prevent it from drying exactly,
versus the ink catridge being outside of it.

regards.

 

[Arthur Entlich]

Dye inks are not suspensions, but solutions, so they shouldn't really do
major settling or separation, although some distribution is to be
expected. Pigment inks are another story and may settle out.

Art

 

[Arthur Entlich]

Dye based inks such as those used in the Epson 800 (I have several 800
and a 850 also, so I know this printer and its cartridges well)
are made up basically of the following components:

Water- principle base and solvent
glycol- used to increase drying time, to help with solubility and
distribution and break surface tension on paper, also helps to thicken
the ink, and to prevent freezing during shipment
sometimes alcohol of some type- flow agent
surfactant- to lower surface tension, to help flow, to help ink dissolve
itself on head surface
pH adulterator- often ammonia or another base to provide correct ionic
condition
dyes: water soluble

The SC800 cartridges themselves are basically a chamber filled with the
ink and a sponge or batting material, with a hole in the bottom and a
venting labyrinth at the top for each color.

I imagine that over time, these inks can change chemically and alter.
In the present of air, they can oxidize or otherwise alter more
readily. The water and alcohol can evaporate out of the cartridges even
sealed if the plastics have porosity to those molecules. That's why the
aluminized plastic foil helps to keep them fresher.

I would try to use up opened cartridges within 6-12 months or at least
add some ammoniated window cleaner (which has most of the components
found in the dye inks) to keep the ink from thickening too much.

The reason Epson speaks about not leaving the ink cartridges out for
long is that the ink will dry at the outlet, and more importantly on the
printer itself, which can lead to head clogs.

I have used dye ink cartridges several years out of date without problems.

Almost all clogs that occur with dye inks are clearable with minimal effort.

Art