Toner shelf life?

[Al_from_Ottawa]

I just bought a set of genuine HP toner cartridges from a dealer (128 for CM1415fnw)). Each has a date on the box, which is probably a manufacturing date. Most of the dates are nearly a year ago.

Ink cartridges expire in a year or two and have best-before dates. But how long does toner last (assuming good storage conditions)?

[banhien]

Hi,

Keep them in the same conditions they can in good order in 3 years or more BUT, this is a big BUT: they may not work at all because printers will reject them due to out of date.

Regards.

[Al_from_Ottawa]

Thanks for the quick reply.

Is your advice about the printer rejecting old cartridges based on laser toner cartridges or on ink jet cartridges?

Using the Printer Utility I just checked the detailed status of the installed cartridges. It is indeed very detailed, and includes the serial numbers of the cartridges, the date each was installed, and how many pages each one has printed. But it does not report a manufacturing date or best-before date for them.

So I suspect that the printer is unable to read any best-before date from the cartridges and thus it cannot reject them for being too old. Maybe the shelf life is so many years that HP did not bother to transmit that information. Or maybe not.

[Ciara_B]

Regarding inkjet cartridges, here are some links you may find useful

Inkjet warranty

http://support.hp.com/us-en/document/c00206040

Storing opened cartridges

http://support.hp.com/us-en/document/c03007680

Ink Expiration

http://support.hp.com/us-en/document/c01764161

[Al_from_Ottawa]

I was not asking about ink jet cartridges.

I have asked more than once about the lifetime of LASER TONER CARTRIDGES. I keep getting replies about ink jet cartridges, which are not helpful at all.

[Ciara_B]

Hi Al, sorry about that, I'll forward your post on to one of the laserjet folks and ask that they reply to your query.

Ciara

[Dovid · Accepted solution]

Al,

You stated: I just bought a set of genuine HP toner cartridges from a dealer (128 for CM1415fnw)). Each has a date on the box, which is probably a manufacturing date. Most of the dates are nearly a year ago.  I was asked to respond to your comment on laser versus ink, but reading the stream, let me answer the general question.

The basic answer to your question is:  For HP Original toner cartridges we see no degradation over many years of shelf storage, especially if it is in good conditions.  If it has been hot and humid, over a very long time there might be some.  We do know the manufacturing date, just not shown in the detailed supplies status pages, since it helps us with knowing lot codes etc.  There is no best before date.  While we protect against storage problems in the original boxes and the bags that contain the cartridges, there might be a few very light cross page lines that are due to contact between rollers for an extended period of time.  Most of these disappear after a few days of usage.  Many people have very low usage for laser printers at home and many cartridges we get to see in returns have been in the printer for 3 or more years and print fine until they run out of toner.  Hope this is the info you are looking for.

Dovid

[Al_from_Ottawa]

Thanks. This is exactly the kind of information I was hoping for.

The most important point is that the date is date of manufacture, not an expiry date. And with probably over 3 years of shelf life (under near perfect storage conditions, in the original sealed package) it is almost certain that the cartridges will work normally when I eventually use them.