How long is Riso (GR) ink good for?

[farabundo]

Hello,

I've found one topic on the forums about Riso ink shelf life but just wanted to confirm a few things. I've read the normal shelf life for ink is about two years, at which point it begins to separate. I have a few inks that are clearly past their prime, and make a really noticeable strong "sloshing" effect when shaking them, and some new inks that don't make that sound at all. If an unused ink moves around inside the container does that mean it's now expired? Is any amount of separation acceptable, or is that I sign I should toss it out?

Also, does Riso ink have any kind of dates printed on the box or cylinder? I'm interested in buying some off eBay but most people don't specify how old it is, and I'd like to check. Some places do specify it's a recent batch, which is nice.

Thanks for any help.

[20gaugeO/U]

Re: How long is Riso (GR) ink good for?

2 years is the recommended shelf life. I just saw some ink date stamped 2008 but I don't remember the exact year when RISO started stamping them, if it was sooner than 2008. If it does NOT have a date stamp on it, it was manufactured before they began stamping it.
It is stamped near the rear of the tube (NOT the screw cap end, the plunger end), or newer stuff will have the same date on the top of the induvidual boxes.
20160622 would be 2016, June, 22nd. Or it may be 200804 which would be 2008, April

You can buy new GR ink and masters from RISO. We have 1 customer that still has one and I'm pretty sure it is date stamped, I just don't have any to check.

If there is any sloshing or liquid that pours out of the tube with the cap off, I'd toss it. You are just playing with fire with runny wet copies or ink overflows inside the drum which will cost you more time or money.

[farabundo]

Re: How long is Riso (GR) ink good for?

2 years is the recommended shelf life. I just saw some ink date stamped 2008 but I don't remember the exact year when RISO started stamping them, if it was sooner than 2008. If it does NOT have a date stamp on it, it was manufactured before they began stamping it.
It is stamped near the rear of the tube (NOT the screw cap end, the plunger end), or newer stuff will have the same date on the top of the induvidual boxes.
20160622 would be 2016, June, 22nd. Or it may be 200804 which would be 2008, April

You can buy new GR ink and masters from RISO. We have 1 customer that still has one and I'm pretty sure it is date stamped, I just don't have any to check.

If there is any sloshing or liquid that pours out of the tube with the cap off, I'd toss it. You are just playing with fire with runny wet copies or ink overflows inside the drum which will cost you more time or money.

Thanks for that information, very useful. The few old ones I had that I was worried about are date stamped in a completely different format (i.e. 4H644H1) so they must be quite old.

Some of my drums still must have this old ink inside of it, as I haven't run many copies through since installing the new ink, could this be the reason why many of the prints are really, really easy to smudge? (I realise some RISO prints are always like this, but these are very, very bad). Thanks again.

[20gaugeO/U]

Re: How long is Riso (GR) ink good for?

i.e. 4H644H1 is more than likely just the LOT number so Riso could check when it was manufactured, from the time before it being date stamped

[farabundo]

Re: How long is Riso (GR) ink good for?

i.e. 4H644H1 is more than likely just the LOT number so Riso could check when it was manufactured, from the time before it being date stamped

Makes sense, although it sounds as if it would certainly be more than two years old. I've message some sellers on eBay asking for the date stamps on the ink they're selling and they've provided "08/03." Does that mean 2008? That ink surely must be bad. Does anyone have a good source for GR ink that tends to be new?

[20gaugeO/U]

Re: How long is Riso (GR) ink good for?

Yep March 2008. Most of the stuff out there is probably "found in a closet or in the stand of a machine that died years ago that nobody tossed out."
2 years OK, 3 sure, 4 maybe.... all depends on how much you trust it. The tube can swell and you'll never get the ink out (cause it won't fit in the drum), the tube can discolor, ink separates...
Then it depends if it was stored in A/C or the heat of an uncontrolled storage facility.
Where you located? Contact Riso Corp and ask. I know they have GR brand new. My customer has to buy it buy the case from us cause we don't want to be stuck with a couple extra tubes for an very old machine. Riso stopped manufacturing RA a few years ago, so the GR's days are numbered then you'll only be able to get generic or old stuff.
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