Ink question for refillable Epson R220 cartridges

[Mahime]

I just purchased empty re-fillable ink cartridges for my Epson R220. I have ink I bought at Sams Club back when you could just refill empty cartridges and not worry about reset chips, etc. It is from a company called Stratitec. The ink is probably only 2 years old if that and still sealed. Does ink go bad?

Question: Is the Stratitec ink OK to use on DVDs? I do not want to purchase more ink. No matter how many times I can refill these empty cartridges I am sure the printer will give up the ghost well before I re-coop the cost of both new ink and the empty refillables. Any idea about using this ink on DVDs? Up until now I have only used Epson cartridges. I use my R220 printer almost exclusively for printing Verbatim White Inkjet Printable DVDs.

In addition I have some Epson cartridges that still have ink in them. I was wondering if I could use the syringe and pull the ink out of the Epson cartridges and fill the refillable with the Epson leftover then top it off with the Stratitec ink.

Any help would be appreciated. TIA

[powerpc123]

Yes, ink does go bad. Regardless of the manufacturer or your storage methods, all inkjet inks are suseptible to bacteria growth and changes in viscosity.

New Stratitic inks are probably fine for use on your Verbatims. Your outdated inks - I would not use.

Epson OEM cartridges (black specifically) use a high quality pigmented based product. More often than not Stratitec inks are a lesser quality dye based product. I would certainly not recommend mixing the two.

Do yourself a favor - pickup some new ink. Your Epson printer, Verbatim's and your new refillable cartridges will thank you.

If outdated inks were the only option available, I would first give it the smell test, most good inks have a sweet aroma. A foul or unpleasant smell is a sure sign it needs to be tossed.

[Mahime]

Thanks for the reply. I pulled the seal off one of the Stratitec ink and there was no smell at all. Do not know what that means.

I also have some leftover after-market ink cartridges from a Brother piece of junk printer that bit the dust after a year. The cartridges were never opened. I am not sure of the quality. The Yellow expire date stamped on the Brother ink is 07-2009 so I assume the ink is still good since it is sealed and unexpired. How long does ink last?

I used the Epson ink just because I heard the quality was very good but $70 for ink was just too high. Actually, I just bought some after-market cartridges for my R220 from Meritline and the boxes are marked with the same company name as the Brother cartridges, G & G.

Again, thanks for the help.

[powerpc123]

How long does ink last?

Expiration dates are put on ink carts for a reason. Quite often manufacturers consider two years from the date of manufacture to be a "safe" use by time.