Roland UV Inks...

[Novadon]

Aside from their obvious expense, I am having difficulty finding 220ml EUV-4 Cartridges of ink for my LEF2-200 that are supplier stocked, or when found not at or near their 12-month from manufacture expiration date.

I have contacted the 4-5 suppliers that pop up in a Google search, FWIW. And my local Roland Distributor is a joke (in many ways) when approached.

1. What is your standpoint in regard to using inks beyond their expiration dates?

2. Have you a good EUV-4 purchasing source that you wish to share?

TIA

 

[hybriddesign]

Hi, yeah those cartridges are a pain... I'd be really careful about going much past the expiration date as they'll harden, swell and if you're really unlucky you'll need to replace ink lines which sucks.

We've ordered from STS inks with no problems. I actually left an expired cartridge in our printer for way to long and it's down for the count now and I'm likely replacing one of the heads as well.

 

[dreko]

My Roland dealer told me and sold me very expired inks... said it was fine
But tech support has said not to do that

I try not to use very expired inks.. but a few months past... no problem

 

[Costa Mesa Sign]

My Roland dealer told me and sold me very expired inks... said it was fine
But tech support has said not to do that

I try not to use very expired inks.. but a few months past... no problem

Id go up to a year past with the EUV inks. Just stay on top of consumables and maintenance.

 

[cornholio]

Depending on the environment(temperature), one year past is too dangerous. When i see old ink in customers machines, i make them aware that replacing heads is more expensive, than throwing out overaged cartridges.
The problem with these printers: most jobs printed use very little ink.
Since they introduced the head refresher, the heads stay healthy much longer. There is a value up kit for older LEF's.

 

[Novadon]

Hi, yeah those cartridges are a pain... I'd be really careful about going much past the expiration date as they'll harden, swell and if you're really unlucky you'll need to replace ink lines which sucks.

We've ordered from STS inks with no problems. I actually left an expired cartridge in our printer for way to long and it's down for the count now and I'm likely replacing one of the heads as well.

But aren't STS inks "compatible" replacements, and not actual Roland products? What about my printer warranty if used? And do they require ink system overrides, software changes or flushes prior to using them?

 

[dreko]

just an update.. I'm noticing color shifts and ink cracking with using old expired ink...
I think not using expired ink is probably the safest route

 

[Novadon]

How LONG after expiration in this case?

 

[dreko]

At this point, I've got a wide variety of past expiration cartridges... searching on the web, the general consensus among UV ink print shops/owners... is don't use expired inks.
Maybe slightly past, like a month....
I don't know if Roland is getting their inks from Epson (this was the rumor I heard).. and for my particular printer, there is ZERO 3rd party ink options. There are no refillable carts for my model...
so I really have no choice but to keep using Roland inks.

 

[hybriddesign]

i personally have zero issues with using water based and eco solvent in a little past the expiration date but I’ve had several uv ink cartridges swell and harden in our lef20

Does sts no longer sell the ink for it? You definitely don’t want to use it if you’re under warranty though but otherwise it seems great