Shelf life of refill ink?

[jim_jam57]

Hi,
I bought refill ink bottles (8oz. ea.) about 7 years ago. they were kept in a dark, dry, room temp storage place, bottles sealed.
Ink appears to be still liquid, etc - looks OK. Are these still usable?
Thanks,
Jim

 

[The Hat]

jim_jam57

If you throw them out and dont try them first, then you will be kicking yourself.
On the other hand if you try them and they dont work, then youll be kicking yourself, you will have to choose yourself on this one. :|
If it were me, I would get new stock..

 

[websnail]

One thing to try with dye ink is to put a needle on a syringe and gently draw a little ink in from near the bottom of the bottle...

If you pull the syringe and needle out to reveal a sort of "string" has attached itself, then it's definitely garbage time, if not, well your chances are better but it really does depend on how lucky you're feeling.

 

[qwertydude]

I suppose you could also filter it through some coffee filter material but 7 years is some really old ink. I'm willing to push it for a couple years tops but it's refill ink not gold. I'd agree with websnail that you should definitely test it for bacterial growth if you're really bent on using it. Besides that then I'd find other uses for it like tye dying a t-shirt.

 

[Nifty]

I just realized that my Image Specialists ink is really old (like over 4 years) and it's still fine. Maybe I'm just lucky with climate, batch of ink, etc. but no problems yet.

With that said, I've got some ink from other manufacturers that is about just as old... or older. I hate the thought of tossing it, especially when it looks so nice and perfect in the bottles, but I hate thinking about taking the risk of gumming up my printhead nozzles. Of course, knowing me I'll still do it.