Officejet Pro 8100 N811a Ink Cartridges Expire?

[kazbah23]

The title says it all - WTHeck?

I have two printers, and the one I use regularly, suddenly stopped with a print head error after I replaced one of the cartridges.  Then the whole print head went squirly - I bought a new print head - which came with new ink, but that didn't work either.  Eventually sent out for repair and all is well.

Fast forward after 6 months, and we use the printer a few times a month, but for photos.  So, one ink goes empty replace it.  Then another ink, previously 1/2 full says it needs replacement.  Then, the colors go strange - WTH..

I have another 8100, hasn't been used in a few years.  I power it up, do NOT connect it to a computer, but attempt to run a print test (hold the button down for 3 seconds).  Won't test because cyan is showing empty.  I put a new cyan in (package date is maybe 2019), and the Magenta shows as now empty.  Okay, I have a new magenta (date is 2017) and put it in, and now, the printer colors, on the printer status report all look bad: magenta is magenta, cyan is magenta, yellow is off, but black is black.

AHAH - I'm using brand new, but over 3 yr old ink cartridges.  Could that be he problem.  Nothing on the packaging has an expiration date; nothing on the cartridge has an expiration date.  But the printe status report shows a First installation date AND a End of Warranty date for each cartridge.  

WTHeck (and I'm fuming now) where if anywhere does it state that ink cartridges have an expiration date.  So now I've likely ruined (as in needing to send in for repair) two 8100s and my stash of a dozen ink cartridges from 2019, are likely useless.  Please tell me this is a customer problem, that I should have known something NOT disclosed to me by the printer, packaging, or cartridge itself?

Expecting someone to ask me:

Were you using genuine HP ink cartridges? Absolutely, nothing but unopened, brand new when I bought it, genuine HP

Does the copy print out the same way? ???

What's the application you are trying to print from? Test Button on Printer

Have you tried printing from a different application or device? Why bother if the test print has a problem, without any external drivers or such.  And this is two printers, two windows 10 OS laptops, various applications.  But if the machine test says something is wrong, no application is going to fix it

So embarrassed to find out that I was likely killing the printer by using "expired" or "out of warranty" ink.  What in the world does out of warranty ink mean -->> oh, perhaps it means aged or expired ink.  That would be helpful.  No warning from the machine or print head during install of the cartridges.  You'd think if it can read the date on the chip, it could have told me the cartridges are old.  Who knew.  

I love the print of the 8100, quality is high.  But I purchase one print head, $300, and then paid for a repair $100.  Now I have two 8100s that likely need repair/cleaning/and new ink.  And I throw away (maybe recycle) the dozen of spare cartridges so I can sign-up for an HP replinish program.  I'm starting to get a bad feeling about HP.

kz

[kazbah23]

I have 20 cartridges, all new genuine HP but the latest has a date of 2019 on it.  At $20 a piece, this is a $400 investment.  There is a chance, and I haven't found it anywhere in writing that the date on the cardboard box of a new cartridge may be a used before date.  Although it doesn't say what the date means, as I thought it was date it was made.  

[Rainbow23]

Hi @kazbah23,

Welcome to HP Support Community. 
Thank you for posting your query, I will be glad to help you.

There is an expiration date for all the ink cartridges.

On the printer control panel, press and hold the X (Cancel) button for three seconds to print the printer status page which will have all the cartridge inforamtion.

I hope this helps.
Take care and have a good day.

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