Best before date on SubliJet-R

[ICF]

Does anyone know (or willing/allowed to say!) who actually manufacturers ink for Sawgrass?

The consumer division inks are all manufactured by Sawgrass in the US. Industrial are manufactured by Sawgrass in the US and from Basel, Switzerland.

[pisquee]

The consumer division inks are all manufactured by Sawgrass in the US. Industrial are manufactured by Sawgrass in the US and from Basel, Switzerland.

Huntsman (formally Ciba) are based in Basel - are they manufacturing for Sawgrass Europe?

[ICF]

Huntsman (formally Ciba) are based in Basel - are they manufacturing for Sawgrass Europe?

The Sawgrass Industrial division revolves around this guy (pinched from the Sawgrass Website) so I guess his knowledge from working at places like Ciba have helped create the SubliM and M-Inks used in industrial. it is all manufactured by Sawgrass though.

Dr. Mickael Mheidle | CEO of Sawgrass Europe and President, Sawgrass Industrial Division
Considered one of the preeminent developers of digital ink technologies for both textile and non-textile applications, Dr. Mheidle joined Sawgrass Technologies in November 2006 as CEO of Sawgrass Europe. Prior to joining Sawgrass, he served as the global head of new business applications for Ciba Specialty Chemicals where he focused on developing new solutions for inkjet printing of textiles and digital photography output. While at Ciba, Dr. Mheidle coordinated with partners Reggiani and Scitex Vision/Hewlett Packard on the development and marketing of the DReAM, the first industrial digital printing system.
Dr. Mickael Mheidle received his PhD in Engineering Science from the University of Haute Alsace, France and did the PhD works in industrial site at the research centre of one of the worldwide leading chemicals company Ciba-Geigy in Basel, Switzerland. Dr. Mheidle began his career as a research and development manager for a French research centre and the international technical sales manager for a petrochemical company. Additionally, he was involved in management and development of operational business in Europe, the United States and Asia.

[harlequeen]

I am still using out of date inks as I ordered a spare set before I had run out, (not wanting to be caught without) and the first set went on for ages. By the time the second ones went in, they were all out of date. I think there is a bit of an issue with the red printing light, but it's not too bad. All seem to be doing OK. Had a busy christmas so may need new ones in the new year.

I wish you all a prosperous new year.

[Quinsfan]

Listawood inks arrived today. Black and yellow 31/8/2015
Magenta 30/11/2015
already had a Cyan from BMS as that was low in August and ran out on Sunday. That is dated 31/3/2015 which was bought in September, I think.

[Paul]

Just had a little chat with lady from Sawgrass uk.
I wanted to make final call before I put this cart in. And...
She said DO NOT use this cart. There is nothing wrong with distribution of the inks and labelling system. She deny any mistakes while labelling and offered the swap of my cartridge with the new one that has longer date.
Lady from sawgrass also admitted that they working on longer dates for ink. So All sorted...
Just not sure where company i bought this ink from is standing on right now as she took all the details about supplier i bought my ink from.

[pisquee]

For comparison, just had a 6 litre set of InkTec Sublinova delivered, best before dates as follows:

Cyan 19/08/2016
Magenta 13/02/2016
Yellow 11/04/2016
Black 03/09/2016
Light Cyan 30/04/2016
Light Magenta 15/04/2016
Light Black 07/05/2016

So some better than others, but a range from 12-20 months, we'll probably get through it in a few months though

[GoonerGary]

If the inks are stored in optimum conditions the inks should last beyond the recommended use-by-date by some margin, especially in the UK where temperatures and humidity don't vary wildly. For a global brand like Sawgrass they have to assume the inks will be used in every region of the world where temperatures and humidity can have an adverse effect if the inks are exposed to these conditions.
By limiting the use-by they are limiting their liability for printer heads/lines blocking through formulation issues or user storage issues.

I was speaking to a manufacturer about out of date ink and he mentioned that opened ink can evaporate and change the consistency of the ink. This might mainly apply to larger bottles, but opened bottles can also be contaminated with dust which can also cause problems your nozzles.

If Sawgrass are supplying very short use by dates they need to reconsider their distribution. If stock is lying on a retailer's shelf for 6+ months, it's no good to us. All retailers should be drop-shipping to get us usable ink.