HP Ink

[maxs]

A couple of HP ink related questions:

1. Is there any harm in acquiring genuine HP ink that is still sealed but may have expired circa 2013?
2. Can I mix and match 70ml and 130ml colors in a HP Z3200? i.e. mixed size cartridges?

Thx

[Peter McLennan]

The printer comes with "starter" carts that are 70mm.  Half of mine are empty now, replaced with 130mm ones.
I have no idea about "expired" inks, other than I see no reason why they'd expire in the cart and not on the page.

[Ryan Mack]

I’d avoid the old ink myself. At a minimum you need to agitate it to get the pigments to redistribute themselves (learned that myself with Epson ink) but I’d worry if it’s really settled and starts clumping it could increase the chances of clogs.

[maxs]

Makes sense

I’d avoid the old ink myself. At a minimum you need to agitate it to get the pigments to redistribute themselves (learned that myself with Epson ink) but I’d worry if it’s really settled and starts clumping it could increase the chances of clogs.

[maxs]

Thanks

I am going to start buying 130mm ink cartridges.

Did you notice some colors get used more than others?

The printer comes with "starter" carts that are 70mm.  Half of mine are empty now, replaced with 130mm ones.
I have no idea about "expired" inks, other than I see no reason why they'd expire in the cart and not on the page.

[Johannes Leber]

The HP printers eat Light gray for breakfast, lunch, dinner and for the little hunger in between. At least my Z3200 eats it up twice as fast as other inks.

[Ernst Dinkla]

Thanks

I am going to start buying 130mm ink cartridges.

Did you notice some colors get used more than others?

Light Grey, Yellow, Matte Black if you print mainly matte papers, Gloss Enhancer if it is mainly gloss paper,  Light Magenta, Grey.

Least of al: Red, Blue, Green, in that order.

Do not worry about inks becoming expired, I have not had issues with old carts.  Whether you should buy them on Ebay etc is something else.


Met vriendelijke groet, Ernst

http://www.pigment-print.com/spectralplots/spectrumviz_1.htm
March 2017 update, 750+ inkjet media white spectral plots

[maxs]

The HP printers eat Light gray for breakfast, lunch, dinner and for the little hunger in between. At least my Z3200 eats it up twice as fast as other inks.

hilarious 

[kers]

i have a Z3100 and use mostly gloss media ( so PK + GE and not so much MK)
this is my usage:
GE 24
Gray 8
Blue 3
Magenta 4
Yellow 8
L magenta 4
L cyan 5
PK 7
L Gray 20
MK 5
Red 6

Apparently printed colour is build up from LG + colour-ink if possible  (GCR)

[William Chitham]

Here's my usage, recorded over a couple of years I guess. Lots of MK and the grays, quite a lot of red. I seldom print on glossy stock.

William.

[William Chitham]

It is interesting from the thread how much people's ink use varies. I wonder if overall consumption is more consistent, looks like I'm using 8ml/m² (0.74ml/ft²).

William.

[DougDolde]

I haven't seen any issues with expired ink on my Z5200 other than a control panel warning that a cartridge is expired.

[mscherlacher]

For what it's worth, I talked with an HP service tech, who told me that "the company will never tell anyone this but these inks don't really expire".  I don't know how true this is but he was a very knowledgeable guy in regards to
these printers. 

[maxs]

Sounds like canned food at a super market. They have to by law remove the expired cans but the food in them stays OK (I guess) for a few more years!!!

or the cans end up at the dollar store :-)

For what it's worth, I talked with an HP service tech, who told me that "the company will never tell anyone this but these inks don't really expire".  I don't know how true this is but he was a very knowledgeable guy in regards to
these printers.

[maxs]

Thank you William and Kers for sharing your data.

[maxs]

We can live with that :-)

I haven't seen any issues with expired ink on my Z5200 other than a control panel warning that a cartridge is expired.

[maxs]

What would be really cool is if HP was able to upload this data to the cloud and shared it with anyone interested in seeing the kind of variance William is speaking of! Kind of a HP Z3200 iPhone App :-)

It is interesting from the thread how much people's ink use varies. I wonder if overall consumption is more consistent, looks like I'm using 8ml/m² (0.74ml/ft²).

William.

[maxs]

Here's my usage, recorded over a couple of years I guess. Lots of MK and the grays, quite a lot of red. I seldom print on glossy stock.

William.

Why are the numbers here in the 1000's but the ones from Ker all in under 20ish? Are we looking at a different unit of measurement (assume)?

[John Nollendorfs]

Consider buying the Lt Gray 772 cartridges 300ml. I found best prices at Provantage--http://www.provantage.com/hp-cn634a~7HEWI0WT.htm

All you have to do is change out the cartridge before it's totally empty. Then remove bottom cap of old cart 120mm and put it on the new 772 cart. You won't be able to read your remaining ink anymore, so occassionally remove cart and weigh it, or shake. Empty 300mm carts are about 5 oz.

Been buying newly expired carts from Ebay for a few years. No problems.
In 6 years of running Z3100 used:
28 Lt G
18 Yellow
12 Red
11 Mt Black
 

[maxs]

WOW now that is what I call a real tip :-)

Thanks

Consider buying the Lt Gray 772 cartridges 300ml. I found best prices at Provantage--http://www.provantage.com/hp-cn634a~7HEWI0WT.htm

All you have to do is change out the cartridge before it's totally empty. Then remove bottom cap of old cart 120mm and put it on the new 772 cart. You won't be able to read your remaining ink anymore, so occassionally remove cart and weigh it, or shake. Empty 300mm carts are about 5 oz.

Been buying newly expired carts from Ebay for a few years. No problems.
In 6 years of running Z3100 used:
28 Lt G
18 Yellow
12 Red
11 Mt Black