Printer Cartridges Expire before their Time

October 26, 2006, 12:00AM. By Jane Mundy

Round Rock, TXIncreasingly, inkjet and laser printers are a constant source of frustration for consumers.

Companies such as Hewlett Packard (HP), Dell, Lexmark, Epson and Brother, just to name a few, are manufacturing their printers to shut down before the ink cartridge is empty. In other words, they make you throw away something for absolutely no reason except one: profits.

Plant City, Florida: Terry Petrash has worked with computers for the past 30 years. He owns an HP2000, a high line color printer, and an HP2500 - a commercial version of the former. "When I got the machines they were fine but after a short time they came up with messages saying 'the cartridge needs replacing' or 'invalid cartridge' - the printer was checking a date code on the ink cartridge," says Petrash. "It is a blatant attempt on the part of HP to sell more ink under the auspices of keeping the printer fresh," he says. But in reality, they are really trying to keep profits fresh.

"There is a small micro chip embedded on the cartridge," Petrash explains. "I couldn't figure out what was going on at first, especially since I had a new cartridge. Then I found out that the software drivers that you load into your computer speak to the printer. That sends a system date to the printer which checks the code on the cartridge. Mine was only good for about 18 months. After the expiration date on the cartridge, it stops the printer from printing.

"The microchip in the cartridge itself is like a time bomb clock: it forces you to go out and buy another cartridge. If you use an expired cartridge, it may give you one day's use or maybe no use, all because of the drivers that came with the HP printer.

"I contacted HP a number of times and they didn't return my calls. But I got automated responses about how I could trade in my printer for peanuts and get a newer, more expensive product. HP may promote 'green machines' but it also promotes green profits."

Tucumcari, New Mexico: Christian Mericle is yet another frustrated consumer. He thought that the ink cartridge in his Epson Stylus Printer was supposed to keep you aware of how much ink is left. He wasn't aware that the internal chip on his ink cartridge signals to the printer that the ink is out when in fact there is still some left - enough for at least another 100 pages or so of print.

"I am conservative when it comes to spending and don't want to spend money needlessly. And so much for these companies saying they are environmentally conscious - there must be an ocean of ink being thrown out; I am throwing away ink that I could otherwise use."

Wichita, Kansas: Don Thomas knows first hand how print manufacturers take advantage of the consumer. "When you purchase an ink cartridge you don't know how long it has been with the distributor. It is usually printed somewhere on the outside of the package but what I understand is that there are at least three expiration triggers that will basically render the printer unusable until you replace the cartridge. There is no warning that the cartridge is going to expire. And if you are not doing high volume printing, you are more likely to run up against one of the expiration triggers," he says. Retail price is between $35 and $40 per cartridge and for a color printer, you need three colors and a black. It gets pricey.

The printer companies of course justify this by stating in their policies that it 'ensures high quality print outs and prevents damage to the printer' but many people are skeptical of their motives. The consumer should be allowed a choice: the quality of print may suffer but don't disable the ability to let the consumer determine the quality. Basically, these companies just want to sell more ink.

"These ink cartridges that are in my printer have a security chip that holds the expiry information and it also monitors ink usage," explains Thomas. "I am in the electronics field so know something about this: these companies have gone to a lot of trouble to make sure consumers cannot circumvent their security regarding their expiry information and ink level information and the main reason for the latter is to make sure people cannot refill the cartridge on their own. In other words, forced expiry on consumables basically prevents you from using a third party vendor consumable."

In 2002, Lexmark used a computer chip with some toner cartridges that used software programs to communicate with its printers. Without the software, for which Lexmark filed copyrights, its printers would not function. In the re-manufacturing industry the chip is known as a "killer chip," because it prevents re-manufacturers from making compatible cartridges.

A class action lawsuit was filed against Lexmark because they were forcing consumers to use only their ink. And now HP and other companies are trying to do the same.