On 3/2/2016 11:30 AM, philo wrote:
On 03/02/2016 09:45 AM, Kurt V. Ullman wrote:
I have an in-the-box Epson printer that is apparently 6 years old. The
box hasn't been opened until just now and the cartridges are still in
the shrink wrap (sealed) condition. Any particular reason I shouldn't be
using the printer? Should I get new cartridges or would those in the
package still be okay (I couldn't find an expiration date on them)?
Thanks.



I do a lot of computer repair work, and unlike politics, this is
something I actually know about.



The cartridges should be fine if the seal wasn't broken.

It was HP that put "smart chips" in their cartridges that could disable
unused but "expired" ink.To the best of my knowledge, Epson has never
done anything like that.


My wife and I for the past 15 years have used Epson printers exclusively
for our photography and we generally order a large quantity of ink. Not
too long ago I discovered some ink that was a few years old that we had
over looked, but there was nothing wrong with it.

HP won't even allow their refilled cartridges to work. Older HP
printers allowed you to fill the cartridge yourself, then they made them
practically impossible to refill yourself and now they will only work
with cartridges that they freshly manufacture.

For OP, cartridges and printer should be OK. Foil seals prevent
evaporation and drying. If like HP they won't last long. First refill
of an HP with long lasting cartridges will sometimes cost more than the
price of the printer.