16
Jul

Supply Expired – HP Printer Ink Expiration Scam

   Posted by: admin0   in Home Bars

hp 14 tri-color ink cartridge C5010AN
We own an HP 7100 Deskjet printer and recently when trying to print, I received a “supply expired” message for my nearly new Type 14 color ink smart cartridge.
Due to some apparent faulty thinking in the HP engineering department, they decided that they would protect consumers from bad ink damaging the printer mechanism. The cartridges have a built in expiration mechansim that consists of a tiny microchip on the back of the cartridge.
Ok, so why can’t you simply set the date back a few months? Well, I tried that but it still did not work. The cartridge was still 62% full but totally unusable, what a crock! There have been hacks for third party refill cartridges, but some may  or may not work for you.

It’s bad enough that you pay nearly $40 for a so called smart ink cartridge, but then to have them expire the ink on you really bites the big one.
Since when did a consumer product give a damn whether or not the item broke? It’s obvious the REAL reason is that they don’t want you to use the “black & white” setting or “draft mode” to conserve ink. If you conserve ink, then you’re not buying ink, or not enough ink to suit their sales goals. I would probably not buy another HP for this reason alone. So, when you are shopping for a new printer, check with the salesman or customer reviews to be sure the ink cartridges do NOT expire. Ooops! My customer loyalty to HP just expired!

This entry was posted on Monday, July 16th, 2007 at 1:18 pm and is filed under Home Bars. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

27 comments so far

firkinboo
 1 

Thank you for at least giving me a logical explanation! Exactly the same thing happened to me – I have an HP officejet d145 & an HP officejet d135. Sick of paying exhorbitant prices for HP cartridges I started to source recycled cartridges online & low and behold both printers have stopped working & display ’supply expired – replace cartridges’ messages. I have replaced the cartridges 3 times & now the print heads but still the same message. Looks like HP have found a way to force people to stick with HP original cartridges. Unbelievable in this day and age that any organisation thinks they can treat their customers with such contempt & keep them – I too will never buy from HP again.

August 24th, 2007 at 4:23 am
Michael Seberich
 2 

THE REAL BAD THING IS THAT IT HAPPENED TO ME WITH TOTALLY ORIGINAL INK CARTRIDGES. I BOUGHT 6 COLOUR & BLACK 2 OR 3 YEARS AGO, THEY ARE FULL AND NOT DRYED OUT BUT I ALSO HAVE THE SAME MESSAGE. PLEASE STAY AWAY FROM HP UNTIL THEY HAVE NOT CLEARED THIS OUT.

January 28th, 2008 at 12:13 am
WaldoOhio
 3 

Like everything, there is a way to get around the problem if you’re willing to look around a bit. Go to

http://www.fixyourownprinter.com/forums/inkjet/26847

and the find the solution I found in January 2008. Short version of all the posts there:

Ger around the expired battery issue by taking out the button batter for about an hour. Do this either by removing the battery, as explained in
http://www.land.netonecom.net/tlp/ref/letters/hpPrinters.php

Or simply putting a non-conductive material (the posts pretty much agree on a business card folded lengthwise) between the battery and the retaining clip.

Latter parts of the thread have folks not returning the battery or removing the card and *not* affecting printer operation.

Check it out.

Dennis in Ohio

February 10th, 2008 at 8:07 pm
WaldoOhio
 4 

Oops, I forgot to note that I have an HP d145 which I inherited from my uncle. The “remove battery” trick lets me use the huge stack of black cartridges he left behind. Of course, all of them were expired.

My uncle was an amateur photographer who printed his own greeting cards. So, he’s found it cheaper to buy the color-black cartridge combo packs (I believe they were two color and one black per pack) than buy just the color carts needed.

Right now I’m using a cart that expired in 2002!

Dennis, still in Ohio

February 10th, 2008 at 8:14 pm
hardwareman
 5 

Yes, I just found out that my Laserjet toner cartridges (4 color) all expired at the same time. Evidently the black is on a different “tracking” system. Cartridge World told me that HP puts a chip in the toner cartridges that count your number of pages. When you reach the limit, it cuts off. Cartridge World also stated that they have changed plenty of cartridges that were 1/2 full of toner! What a scam by HP. This should be illegal and a lawsuit should be brought on any company that would steal from its customers in this manner. Basically HP and other companies are telling US what we are going to pay per page for prints.

March 9th, 2008 at 8:37 am
David T
 6 

When I pulled on the battery clip it broke off! No big deal, the battery isn\’t required. You don\’t need to wait for an hour, just unplug the machine for a few seconds. Of course, it loses all it\’s other settings too, like the date, and goes back to the default settings for everything.

December 4th, 2008 at 1:51 pm
Jeanne Young
 7 

Did not notice the “battery not required” note, so when I broke the battery clip, I just taped the battery back in with very sticky cellophane tape. Seems to work fine.

January 28th, 2009 at 12:23 pm
Nikki Ty
 8 

Well here’s the mystery solved. I couldn’t understand why my color cartridge levels kept descreasing even though I don’t use color. Anybody else irritated by HP’s hateful pop-up screens which announce the ink levels every time you switch on the printer? Like it’s bad enough to be scammed, but they really want to rub your nose in it. Nasty company. I hope someone challenges these thieves in court someday. Unfortunately I’m just another ‘”little guy” with no money to hire a hot shot lawyer. maybe online forums are the only way to go. BOYCOTT HP printers!

February 4th, 2009 at 4:52 am
Nikki Ty
 9 

Well well well … another facet of the mysteriously vanishing ink the the color cartridge. I just talked to an HP technician today who told me that they use some color ( “Cyan” which is blue) in the black and white printing process “for clarity” … Well here’s some more bulls**t for the consumer to digest. Obviously when the “cyan ” tank runs out, the rest of the color cartridge won’t print. So even if you don’t use color …. they’ve found a way to sneak some cyan into their print process to make sure you have to consume that color cartridge. Otherwise too obvious a scam. SHARE THIS ….

if you look carefully at some large fonts, you’l see a faint bluish shadow …. NOT a clarifying agent …. but a way to force you to use color anyway.

February 12th, 2009 at 3:58 am
 10 

I am always using the EPSON Printer Ink so that i have never face this type of complaint from my side. And i always got the best result from my printer.

February 25th, 2009 at 5:45 am
 11 

I dont have to buy these overpriced cartidges. I get refill ink from Japan and about 1/4 cost. If we could learn to get things cheaper elsewhere, then these companies could go under and we wouldnt be ripped off so much.

February 26th, 2009 at 6:24 am
 12 

I am aware that places like Walgreens do refills on ink jet cartridges, but does any one know if i can get my laser printer cartridges refilled….or even recycled, so as not to throw them in the garbage?

For More Information Click Here :- http://www.inkjetcarts.us/Epson-Printer-Ink-Cartridges.html

March 17th, 2009 at 6:14 am
Stephen Behman
 13 

I have an HP 9110 OfficeJet and and am encountering the cartridge expired problem.

Since I am severely visually impaired I have been unable to locate the battery.

I would sincerely appreciate **explicit** instructions to help me locate it for removal.

March 24th, 2009 at 9:29 am
admin0
 14 

Stephen: I am not visually impaired and I too have not been able to locate any battery. Apparently some have a battery and some do not.

March 24th, 2009 at 7:28 pm
Stephen Behman
 15 

Almost certainly the OfficeJet 9100 series printers have batteries.

I make this claim because even if the printer is unplugged from the wall for a day or two it keeps the date current.

It’s hard to imagine that any but the most expensive capacitor can supply sufficient charge to keep the clock ally for that long.

April 2nd, 2009 at 9:39 am
admin0
 16 

Yup, I’m sure the 9100 does, but the 7100 I use has no visible battery. From what I gather is that they burn the expiration date into the chip which is probably a tiny NOVRAM (non volatile RAM) that holds just the date. The chip is just a small glop of black epoxy surrounded by gold terminals.
The problem with these cartridges is that they can sit on a shelf too long and once you’re ready to use them, even though they are hermetically sealed, they won’t work. So, never buy more than you need.
Also, avoid buying from re-fillers or recyclers unless you ask in advance about expiration dates.

April 2nd, 2009 at 10:09 am
Bill
 17 

HP is EVIL. Right up there with Microsoft

June 1st, 2009 at 3:04 pm
Kurt
 18 

Worked for an HP 7130. Keep ahold of the battery when pulling out. I lost mine in the printer.

Thanks

August 5th, 2009 at 8:44 pm
GaryG
 19 

Found a plastic keycard worked great betwen clip and battery.

August 27th, 2009 at 10:13 am
bwstrfld
 20 

does anyone know where the battery is located on the HP officejet d125xi

September 29th, 2009 at 9:57 am
Seeme
 21 

HP business inkjet 1200 solution for expired cartridges. There is a 9 pin connector located under the ink cartridges. The cover can be removed by prying it off. It is held in by 4 fingers the lock it in place. Under the cover there is a plactic barrier that I cut the middle section out to get access to the connector. I unplugged the connector and removed the white wire and plugged the connector back in and my expired cartridges works just fine.

September 29th, 2009 at 2:19 pm
 22 

I wonder if this concern have been resolved by HP at present?

If these thing happen while using OEM, then I guess its time to try out compatible ones from refutable resellers.

October 8th, 2009 at 5:26 pm
lili
 23 

Ugg boots are a style of sheepskin boot, with wool as the inner lining and a tanned outer surface worn by both men and women. Ugg boots often have a synthetic sole, although this is not universal.
http://www.widelybuy.com

October 14th, 2009 at 3:05 am
 24 

The miumiu handbags are always welcome to many people as it is high quality and fashion design.For myself,i like this miuiu handbags very much,you can have it and show yourself now,it is not let you down<p><a href=\\"http://www.choseitemnow.com/roberto-cavalli-handbags-c-48.html\\">Roberto Cavalli Handbags</a></p>
<p><a href=\\"http://www.choseitemnow.com/valentino-handbags-c-45.html\\">Valentino Handbags</a></p>
<p><a href=\\"http://www.choseitemnow.com/ysl-handbags-c-46.html\\">YSL Handbags</a>

October 30th, 2009 at 2:44 am
Ben
 25 

For those who wonder, HP 9100 All-in-One series (I mean 9110,9120 and 9130) do have a battery. It is located on the left-hand side of the machine. There is a panel that you can pull out to ad extra-memory sticks to the machine. If you remove this pannel, and the steel piece that protect the memory slots, on the bottom-left-hand side of the compartiment when you face the machine, you will find the battery. Just proceed as you would add more memory to your printer, and you will not miss the battery. In case of need, see your user manual. i am not sure however pulling-out this battery reset the expiration date things. It did work for me for the black cartridge but it did not work for the colour cartridges. My mistake, maybe.

December 21st, 2009 at 12:47 pm
 26 

I recently came across your blog and have been reading along. I thought I would leave my first comment. I don’t know what to say except that I have enjoyed reading.

February 3rd, 2010 at 10:44 pm
reader
 27 

Removed the battery on my HP officejet d145. Works fine now. Use this link to find the battery. http://www.land.netonecom.net/tlp/ref/letters/hpPrinters.php
The clip is pretty tight. The battery is slightly bigger than the ones used in watches. Now using the printer without the battery.

February 6th, 2010 at 2:21 pm

Leave a reply

Name (*)
Mail (will not be published) (*)
URI
Comment
Security Code: