Here is an interesting and informative picture of a nozzle test pattern off an Epson R200.
The bad pattern is due to aged ink, the good but not perfect pattern is when fresh ink was used. The change was immediate and repeatable. I am 80% sure that the ink formulations were identical and the only differences were the age of the ink. After removing the cartridge with the old ink, another cartridge with new ink was inserted and the pattern instantly improved and eventually got perfect after the old ink was washed away.
This illustrates two points. First that one should try to always use fresh ink. Ink can and will age and should be stored in a cool, dark and dry place to minimize aging.
Second that while larger sizes of ink is tempting because of the lower cost per cc/ml, one should only acquire what one might use in a year or so. Using old ink can sometimes cause print quality problems. In cases where thermal heads are concerned, I would not doubt that permanent damage could occur as a result.
I have used 5 year old ink myself and didn't have problems on that occasion. So based on that I was skeptical and didn't think ink was the problem and was proven totally wrong. So when assessing print problems, consideration should also be given to the age of the ink as well.
The bad pattern is due to aged ink, the good but not perfect pattern is when fresh ink was used. The change was immediate and repeatable. I am 80% sure that the ink formulations were identical and the only differences were the age of the ink. After removing the cartridge with the old ink, another cartridge with new ink was inserted and the pattern instantly improved and eventually got perfect after the old ink was washed away.
This illustrates two points. First that one should try to always use fresh ink. Ink can and will age and should be stored in a cool, dark and dry place to minimize aging.
Second that while larger sizes of ink is tempting because of the lower cost per cc/ml, one should only acquire what one might use in a year or so. Using old ink can sometimes cause print quality problems. In cases where thermal heads are concerned, I would not doubt that permanent damage could occur as a result.
I have used 5 year old ink myself and didn't have problems on that occasion. So based on that I was skeptical and didn't think ink was the problem and was proven totally wrong. So when assessing print problems, consideration should also be given to the age of the ink as well.
