Why does Mimaki ink have a shelf life date?

[John Miller]

My reason for asking is that I am having a clogging issue and I have a couple of out of date cartridges with pirate chips. Could that be the cause?

 

[Gino]

Not to be funny, but doesn't an expiration date mean you've kinda reached the limit ?? There must be a reason. I know you can try to squeak by and take a chance, but do you do it with food items ?? Sounds like your printer has been fed some bad ink and is constipated.

edit: nice stuff on your site

 

[Smoke_Jaguar]

All inks do, they can break down over time. They tend to aim short because they have no control over things like temperatures people store the inks in and so on. UV ink has some of the shortest shelf-life due to its chemistry. Tends to be 1 year. If getting OEM ink from Mimaki, not uncommon for it to only have 6-8months on it before expiration date as it's imported. I've used UV inks up to 4 years out of date and had minor issues, and I have also had brand new ink with problems. That said, best to lean towards being cautious (but not outright paranoid), printheads are expensive.

 

[Solventinkjet]

I've seen people use solvent inks years out of expiration. UV is definitely more problematic and tends to have shorter expiry dates. I heard from a chemist that it has to do with the way the pigments are suspended in the fluid and over time they lose that ability. Basically the pigments start clumping together which causes the clogs.

 

[JBurton]

edit: nice stuff on your site

Had to look, good looking stuff indeed.
John, I'm curious how you produced the domed translucent orbs on the chiro sign.

 

[Smoke_Jaguar]

Looks vacuum formed to me, but could be wrong. LUS-350 ink does that well.

 

[kehall]

Is that the same sign lit from the interior at night? That's amazing!

 

[tclayton]

My reason for asking is that I am having a clogging issue and I have a couple of out of date cartridges with pirate chips. Could that be the cause?

The main reason is pigment settling. The dispersants that keep pigments suspended are battling gravity and attractive forces of pigment. 12-15 months is about the best we ink makers can do. Second is that some inks are chemically reactive and the ink stabilizers essentially wear out. Longest shelf like is typically achieved by storing inks in a cool dark place. ( but avoid freezing).

 

[UpAndPrinting]

All printer ink will come with expiration dates to make sure the prints are good to the last drop it lets you take from the cartridge before "saying" it's empty. Additionally, ink can last MUCH longer than what the expiration dates say. Why? Money. Per drop, the ink we use is worth more than Dom Perignon. I've done so much testing with genuine and third-party inks over the past years that I've built quite a collection of how to save on quality ink.

We've done testing with brand new third-party ink that wouldn't print correctly out of the box. The fix for this one cartridge? Using an opened and used genuine ink cartridge that's been laying in an open shed for 2 years. It still worked like it was new compared to the new third-party cartridge. The only time I would listen to the expiration date on printer ink is with UV. As I have personally seen the UV effect fade over time.

I know this isn't a Mimaki. But the idea is the same with printer ink. We've been extracting ink from all sorts of "empty" or "expired" cartridges and putting them in genuine reset ones.

 

[John Miller]

Had to look, good looking stuff indeed.
John, I'm curious how you produced the domed translucent orbs on the chiro sign.

Those are day & night view. The domes were made by Gemini and sprayed with Lacryl. Coastal & Wellness lettering is push-through cut on our CNC and also painted with Lacryl. Chiropractic letters are black/white acrylic. Thanks for the kind words

 

[UpAndPrinting]

I tried to edit my post but the link is not there. I wanted to add that the ink we extract from other cartridges to put in our genuine cartridges solely for my printing workhorse at home. My Epson Stylus Pro 3800 has become a Frankenstein by how many mods I've done to it. Highly recommended when the price of ink is worth more than Dom Perignon per drop. My prints cost me literally next to nothing now, including paper.

None of the printers or ink sets we sell are modded in any way. We leave that up to the consumer to decide what they'd like to do. I woke up and re-read my post and wanted to edit or add that. Chronic over-thinker here.

 

[UpAndPrinting]

Either my internet or the servers are buggy. Sorry for the double post.

 

[Smoke_Jaguar]

There's a bug going on when posting saying there is an error today, just ignore it and manually verify it posted. Annoying, but not critical.