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Ink Expiration

What is ink expiration and will it make my HP ink supplies stop working?

What is ink expiration? Why does it exist? Is there something built into HP ink supplies that make them stop working on a certain date? These questions may have crossed the consumer's mind at some point while printing. The simple fact of the matter, however, is that most HP ink supplies do not have ink expiration dates, so few users are affected. Of the small percentage of HP ink supplies that do have ink expiration dates, some will, indeed, stop working on those dates, while others have dates that can be overridden—causing minimal impact to the overall printing experience.

What is ink expiration?

Basically ink expiration is a built-in date on which certain HP ink cartridges will stop working. Air ingestion and water evaporation can cause ink to change over time. In printing systems where the printhead and ink supply are separate, older ink can adversely impact the printhead and the ink delivery components within the printer. With ink expiration, however, HP can prevent this from happening.

Why ink expiration?

Why do any HP inkjet products have ink expiration dates? To protect the printing system and ensure print quality, some ink cartridges will use an ink expiration date. If the cartridge still has ink on that date, it either stops operating or displays a warning message, which the customer can override. As mentioned above, most HP ink supplies do not have ink expiration dates at all. This issue affects only a small percentage of older HP ink supplies.

What is the ink expiration date?

It's important to note that the ink expiration date is NOT the date stamped or printed on the ink supply. Rather, the printed date on all HP inkjet supplies is the “Warranty ends” date. To determine the ink expiration date on a particular supply, the consumer needs to consider three factors: the ink supply, its warranty date, and the date on which the cartridge is initially installed.

The table below provides additional information on the particular supplies that have ink expiration dates, the supplies that enable consumers to override the expiration date, and the process of determining the expiration date on those supplies with no override.

Ink expires, but you can override* Ink expires, no override* Ink does not expire Supplies HP 02 HP 18 HP 38 HP 70 HP 88 HP 177 HP 363 HP 777 HP 801 HP 10 HP 11 HP 12 HP 13 HP 14 All other HP supplies. Printers HP Officejet Pro K550, K5300, K5400, L7500, L7600, and L7700 Series, HP Photosmart 3110, 3210, 3310, 8250, C5180, C6180, C7180, D6160, D7160, D7360 series, HP Photosmart Pro B9180, HP Designjet Z2100, andZ3100 series. HP Officejet Pro K850, HP digital Copier Printer 610, all HP Business Inkjet, HP Officejet D series, HP Officejet 7100 series, HP Officejet 9100 series, HP Professional series (2000 and 2500), and HP Color Inkjet cp1160 and cp1700 All other HP printers. When will expiration make my cartridges stop? Able to continue after override. HP 10, 11, 12, 13: 24 months after the “Warranty Ends” date, or 30 months after the ink cartridge is installed, whichever comes first. HP 14: 12 months after the “Warranty Ends” date, or 18 months after the ink cartridge is installed, whichever comes first. Do not expire.

*Override—you can continue printing without replacing the ink cartridge, by following instructions on the printer, in the user manual, or in the ink cartridge expiration message on the computer screen.