Lifespan of Epson K3 ink cartridges

[gkroeger]

Epson claims a life of 2 years past the stamped date, or 6 months after first use for K3 ink cartridges.

I have a SP 7800 with cartridges dating from late 2011 and early 2012. After a cleaning the nozzle check pattern prints fine.

Do I dare use these inks for important prints? Presumably the pigments haven't changed, but perhaps the carrier fluid has degraded? I don't see any problems with test prints.

If I do replace the cartridges, is one cleaning cycle enough to flush the old inks out of the lines?

Thanks,
Glenn

[DeanChriss]

Epson claims a life of 2 years past the stamped date, or 6 months after first use for K3 ink cartridges.

I have a SP 7800 with cartridges dating from late 2011 and early 2012. After a cleaning the nozzle check pattern prints fine.

Do I dare use these inks for important prints? Presumably the pigments haven't changed, but perhaps the carrier fluid has degraded? I don't see any problems with test prints.

If I do replace the cartridges, is one cleaning cycle enough to flush the old inks out of the lines?

Thanks,
Glenn

One cleaning cycle is definitely not enough to flush the old ink from the lines. They hold a LOT more ink than is used in a cleaning. I'm less sure about the rest of your question. I've never seen a problem due to using expired ink and I don't think I'd go to the trouble and expense of flushing the lines. OTOH that ink is quite old so I'd be tempted to install new cartridges reasonably soon rather than let it get very much older. If you'll use them up in short order you may want to agitate them gently before doing so. There are mixed opinions about periodically agitating ink cartridges. I personally do it every 6 months with the inks in my 7900. I never see any color balance shifts as the inks age. With that said, I've never used ink that old, but I've gone way past the "use by" date on all of the inks and and have had some colors like orange and  and green stay in the printer for 2+ years with no ill effect.

I hope this helps.

[howardm]

I'm still using some extra carts from 2011 w/o incident.  Every month or 3 I turn the box of spare carts upside down.

[dgberg]

Purchased my 9900 in 2010 and installed 700ml orange and greens before I knew better.
With all the printing I have done those 2 carts are still installed. No color shifts, nothing.
What I will do when they run out though is buy the 150ml's.
But who knows those orange and greens may outlive the printer.

[DaveRichardson]

Up to two weeks ago I had never seen a problem with old K3 inks on a P3800 - However, recently when I tried to read an Epson ColorBase calibration chart - it showed read errors on mid-light yellows. Neither head cleaning, shaking cartridges or anything else would overcome this. In the end I changed the cartridge (2012) for a spare in the cupboard (2014). After printing to clean the pipes through I printed a new chart and it read without problems. So it looks like there is some change over time - maybe due to settling, although I can't understand why shaking the cartridge would not have overcome that?.
Interestingly I later dug out and re-read a Colorbase chart printed last year with the same 2012 cartridge  - no errors !

Dave

[Garnick]

Hi Glenn,

Since my first wide format Epson printer(7600) I have never been a fan of agitating the installed ink carts.  As I noticed immediately the first time I fired up the 7600 and printed a file, the printer itself creates more than enough movement to agitate the carts without further attention.  When I bought the 9900(2010) I was somewhat doubtful that action would still be present, due to the heavy duty stand.  The first time I ran a print on it I placed a small container of water on the end deck next to the control panel.  The activity in the water answered any questions I had concerning the possible lack of efficient agitation of the installed carts, more that enough activity.  As far as stored carts are concerned there might be a case to be made for a gentle a agitation cycle occasionally, depending on the elapsed storage time.  However, I have never agitated a cart until I am ready to install it and there has never been a problem.  Referring back to the fact that the printer on a its stand will provide efficient agitation; in my opinion there is definitely a case to be made for occasional agitation of all carts installed in a printer on a rigid stand, such as a bench that may have been constructed for that purpose.  The OEM stand is constructed in such a manner as to allow for a certain amount of "sway", therefore agitating the inks as well.  One other thing I have to mention.  It always makes me cringe when I hear or read someone offering advice about "shaking" ink carts.  Absolutely the wrong approach!  I believe one should never shake an ink cart for any reason.  That sort of activity can very easily cause more problems than it could ever solve.  A very gentle back and forth agitation in all four directions is all that is required.  Of course that is indeed simply my opinion, and one I have always followed with excellent results, for what it's worth.     

Gary

[gkroeger]

Gary:

I agree, I never "shake" a cartridge. I have always used a gentle rotation around two axes.

Glenn

[DaveRichardson]

Note - in my last post I was not advising to shake cartridges. Normally I just leave them in the printer and use ColorBase to recalibrate every few months. When I encountered an issue a couple of weeks ago - head cleaning, agitation and shaking cartridges made no difference. Only changing the old cartridge for a new one resolved the issue 


Dave

[disneytoy]

I've used 2011 ink in a 9890 without issue. And on a current 2400 I've used 2008 cartridges. No issues. Make sure you agitate them first. I don't mean, telling it, you are thinking of buying a new Canon:-)

[pluton]

I have shaken up 3800 and 3880 cartridges as violently as I could without them flying out of my hand, for about 40 seconds each....never a problem.

[Garnick]

I have shaken up 3800 and 3880 cartridges as violently as I could without them flying out of my hand, for about 40 seconds each....never a problem.

SHAKE! RATTLE!! AND ROLL!!!    More power to ya!   

[gkroeger]

Up to two weeks ago I had never seen a problem with old K3 inks on a P3800 - However, recently when I tried to read an Epson ColorBase calibration chart - it showed read errors on mid-light yellows. Neither head cleaning, shaking cartridges or anything else would overcome this. In the end I changed the cartridge (2012) for a spare in the cupboard (2014). After printing to clean the pipes through I printed a new chart and it read without problems. So it looks like there is some change over time - maybe due to settling, although I can't understand why shaking the cartridge would not have overcome that?.
Interestingly I later dug out and re-read a Colorbase chart printed last year with the same 2012 cartridge  - no errors !

Dave

Is ColorBase still available... I can't find it on the Epson web site anymore?

[howardm]

I think I got a copy of CB from Epson UK's website.

Edit: now that I'm home, I've uploaded v2.65 of Colorbase for the Mac at the same 'BOX' URL as my build of the dcamprof software.