In response to questions, we get some answers from Canon about ink going stale
Following on from the earlier article about Epson ink use by dates and ink going stale, we contacted Canon for their angle. Their response is below:
From Canon’s experience, they have not encountered issues with useby dates on cartridges. Cartridges are a fast moving item and the turnover rate is really high, eliminating any need for useby dates. Most people are interested in the life of the print.
So basically, there is no useby date for unopened cartridges. For installed cartridges, we recommend users to use it within 6 months. Again, the probability of someone not using a printer for more than 6 months is extremely low. Even after 6 months, the ink may still work because it really depends on environmental factors (humidity, gas composition..etc).
So, Epson take a strong position on ink useby dates, even building the monitoring into their printers, whilst Canon do not. After the New Year, I’ll also pose the question to HP.