How temperature affects your ink cartridges

As is the case with any liquid, a variation in temperature will have an effect on printer ink.

Heat is ink cartridges main enemy. This is because heat can cause air bubbles to expand inside the cartridge and cause the ink to leak.

Failing to store your printer cartridges in a suitable place could be costly and, particularly if you are running a small business or are a student, a cost you could well do without.

Ink storage

When storing ink, you should always look for it to be stored in the living floors of a house at room temperature (20-29 degrees). What can be a common mistake is spending money buying ink cartridges in bulk only to have them stockpiled in the loft or garage where soon enough they will become dried up, scuppering your plans to save money in the first place.

For small business owners who have a basement at home or at the workplace, storing cartridges there can ruin the colouring dye in the ink due to humidity levels. A humid environment could separate the dye inside the cartridges, resulting in poor colour and poor print quality.

If you have extra cartridges then we encourage you to keep these in the vacuum sealed pack they are packaged in. This will help to reduce the ink’s exposure to air which can affect both the dye and moisture content.

What about inks inside the printer already?

Ink cartridges that are currently fixed inside the printer itself should especially be in an ink friendly environment. The storage issues outlined above are amplified when the ink is outside its packaging, making the cartridges in use vulnerable as well as the actual printer.

Failure to maintain an environment conducive to positive printing can cause a variety of issues. Paper jams could occur along with backfires and printer heads could be damaged. A neglected cartridge could create a build up of residue that can run onto the page during a print.

Overheated ink still emits heat when the printer is switched off which could be dangerous.

Can the cold cause cartridge problems?

Quite simply – no. The chemicals held inside ink cartridges share characteristics with the chemicals found in anti-freeze. If you find that you have a cartridge that has frozen, then the colouring dye shouldn’t be affected. Just simply warm it up again before usage.

Despite the lack of damage being caused to the ink within the ink, you should still be mindful that a frozen cartridge could cause damage to the printer.

Our advice

We would suggest always keeping you spare cartridges near to the printer itself. This way you can monitor the temperature easily and it should also keep you from forgetting about the extras in the loft. Just ensure you give your printer room to ‘breathe’ to prevent overheating.

Buying in bulk can sound a great way to make a saving on the amount you spend on ink but to avoid the problem of stockpiling, buy single cartridges when they’re needed and save money by using Cartridge People as your vendor. The discounts on single cartridges will save a lot of money while eliminating the worry of where to safely store multiple inks.

It shouldn’t surprise you that inkjet cartridges have an expiration date the same as every other consumable product so always check the cartridge’s shelf life.

Finally, always try and avoid touching the print head of your cartridges. This is due to the print head being the most sensitive part of the ink cartridge. A scratch could result in damage to the microscopic nozzles where the ink is filtered out from. Damage to this part of the cartridge could render it unusable.