Ink Expiration from Ask Tim Grey - Guest Contributor
Question :
I have an Epson 3800 printer. I don't print lots of photos, just prints for myself and friends and occasional contests. It takes a long time to go through the cartridges. I have two in my printer that have an expiration date of 6-2010 with 30% and 33% left. Being frugal, I haven't changed them yet. Should they be changed by the expiration date or are they safe to use for a period beyond?
Tim's Answer:
As with all such expiration dates that are based on "freshness" to some degree, the ink expiration dates should be thought of more as a suggestion than a requirement. Think of like changing the oil in your car. The folks who want to sell you an oil change tell you that you need to change the oil every 3,000 miles or bad things are going to happen. Obviously frequent oil changes can be a good thing, but that doesn't mean you necessarily need to stop everything and rush to the auto repair shop when you hit 2,999 miles from your last oil change. Similarly, you can stretch the ink cartridges a bit, but you don't want to stretch them too far.
The primary issue is with the pigment particles in the inks settling over time. You can help extend the life of the print cartridges by agitating them periodically. Some of the larger prints have an option to perform this step automatically, but you can do the same thing manually by removing and re-inserting the ink cartridges, giving them a gentle shake in the process.
The general guidelines I've seen on most inks suggest they should not sit unopened for more than about a year or so, and they should be replaced within six months once they've been installed in the printer. That suggestion is obviously intended to help ensure you're always getting the best results from your printer, but you can still get very good results beyond that timeframe.
 In your case I would be perfectly comfortable leaving the current cartridges installed, but keeping an eye on the output and checking for nozzle clogs a bit more frequently. If you start to see more frequent nozzle clogging or problems with the accuracy of colors in your prints, I would replace the cartridges at that point.
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