What is the expiration date of my HP 02 Series Ink Cartridges

[hayesa7173]

I bought 6 HP 02 Series Cartridges that are new unopened (but not in original box) off Ebay and was told they expire in two years.  How can I tell, from the numbers on these cartridges if they have 2 years left?  Below are some of the numbers, if someone can tell me what they mean.  Thanks -

Product HP CB283W

               081105.00:51:33

               ID 0510    Y32 B

Product HP CB279W

               090911.18:27:18

               ID 0311   Y3 2G

Product  HP CB284W

                081031.11:49:17

                ID 0410   Y32 C

[Bob_Headrick · Accepted solution]

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@hayesa7173 wrote:

I bought 6 HP 02 Series Cartridges that are new unopened (but not in original box) off Ebay and was told they expire in two years.  How can I tell, from the numbers on these cartridges if they have 2 years left?  Below are some of the numbers, if someone can tell me what they mean.  Thanks -

Product HP CB283W

               081105.00:51:33

               ID 0510    Y32 B

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The date is 081105 which is the end of warranty date in YYYYMMDD format as shown here.

Normally the "install by" date would be 6 months before the warranty expire date.  I do not see specifications for the 02 cartridge expiration, but generally it is a function of when the cartridges are installed.  It would appear that the expiration is a maximum of 25 months from the installation date, but this may be reduced if the installation occurs after the "install by date".  I have a Photosmart 3210 here and all the cartridges were installed well before the warranty expiration so I cannot tell from my dates how the ink expiration would be affected.  I do have a few cartridges installed that have the ink expiration date about one year beyond the warranty date.

[hayesa7173]

Thanks so much for your information.  It was most helpful.

[sandycraig]

I am never buying another HP printer since cartridges expire - totally out of your control. You can't even tell when you buy a pack of cartridges as to when they are going to expire! I just installed a brand new cartridge today (24 September 2011) and the report tells me that it is going to expire on 15 January 2012 - less than 4 months away! Is there really no way to change this? It's not even based on install date!

[Bob_Headrick]

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@sandycraig wrote:

I am never buying another HP printer since cartridges expire - totally out of your control. You can't even tell when you buy a pack of cartridges as to when they are going to expire! I just installed a brand new cartridge today (24 September 2011) and the report tells me that it is going to expire on 15 January 2012 - less than 4 months away! Is there really no way to change this? It's not even based on install date!

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The "new" cartrdiges you had were nearly four years old.  You can generally find an "install by" date on the package.  The expiration date is generally one to two years later, but it may depend on when the cartrdiges are installed and other factors.  

There are actually very few HP printer models that have cartridge expiration, and hundreds (thousands?) that do not have any expiration.  See the page here for further information.

[NoMoShocks]

Being told there are few HP printers that utilize expiration dates for ink cartridges is of no confort to the person who unsuspectingly bought one of those few models and then began purchasing the larger ink cartridges and even two packs of the large black ink cartridges to save on the exhorbitant cost of ink.

the business model of making very little of the printers and then gouging the customer by selling half full cartridges discused as a money saving multi-pack or just high priced cartriges in general to subsidize the printer profit is simply an assault on HP's customer.

[cdfixer]

The date on the external part of the package is in the format of
080919.21:25:29 with is in the format
yymmdd.hh:mm:ss This decodes as
Sept, 19, 2008, this date is Two years before the expiration date on the printed on the cartridge. Hope this helps

[nicklesworth]

Ok, it is my understanding that the warranty expires 24 months AFTER the manufacture date on all HP ink cartridges, regardless of the date they were installed. So, if you have a manufacture date of 100824 (YYMMDD), the warranty will expire in Aug2012. But, I have installed expired (a year past expiration date) cartridges in my HP printer and they worked just fine.

As far as saying you won't buy another HP printer just because they have ink cartridge expiration dates, you won't find any printer manufacturer that does not have expiration dates on their cartridges. In other words, they ALL do.

One thing about cartridges to remember, as long as you store them in a cool, dry place, they will work well past their expiration dates. A filing cabinate, not subjected to direct sunlight all day long, or next to a floor heat duct, works fine.

[Bob_Headrick]

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@nicklesworth wrote:

Ok, it is my understanding that the warranty expires 24 months AFTER the manufacture date on all HP ink cartridges, regardless of the date they were installed. So, if you have a manufacture date of 100824 (YYMMDD), the warranty will expire in Aug2012. But, I have installed expired (a year past expiration date) cartridges in my HP printer and they worked just fine.

As far as saying you won't buy another HP printer just because they have ink cartridge expiration dates, you won't find any printer manufacturer that does not have expiration dates on their cartridges. In other words, they ALL do. 

One thing about cartridges to remember, as long as you store them in a cool, dry place, they will work well past their expiration dates. A filing cabinate, not subjected to direct sunlight all day long, or next to a floor heat duct, works fine.

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Do not confuse the expiration of warranty with the "expiration" of the cartridges - they are very different. The expiration date of the warranty means the cartridge is no longer under warranty.  As you have noted this does not mean the cartridge will not work.  The cartridge expiration only affects a few printer models, typically those used in printers with permanant non-replaceable printheads.  The document here discusses the models that enforce ink expiration.