Digital BW, The Print

Sandy-

The general estimate is 2 years for pigment inks...really really 
conservative folks would say 12-18 months. So your 8 month old ink 
should be good if it was fresh when you bought it.

Dye inks should last a LOT longer since the particles are so much 
smaller and theoretically never "settle out."

cheers,

Tom O'Connell

--- In DigitalBlackandWhiteThePrint@yahoogroups.com, "sanfo2003" 
<SandyCornelius@c...> wrote:
> Most manufacturers of inks put a "use by" date on their cartridges. 
> There has been no discussion of what happens to inks when they get 
> old in the cartridge. Manufacturers don't talk about it either. Is 
> there a common phenomenom that happens to inks when they get old? 
In 
> other words, say I have an unused and unmarked cartridge laying 
> around in a drawer. How could I tell by printing if the inks in 
this 
> cartridge were old and no good? Anybody run into this? I have a 
> cartridge that's pretty old (8 months) and it seems to be changing 
> the way it prints, and I'm wondering if its shot due to old age. I 
> don't know how unused ink typically changes as it ages.