Shelf-life of Xerox Supplies: Expiration date (or Best-Before date)

[CathyO-Xerox]

Hello AdvSysCon,

To be clear, I have not made any recommendations to throw away any items.

These are all great questions for the Supplies Department: 1-800-822-2200.

[AdvSysCon]

A spare CMYK toner cartridge or drum cartridge will often see the warranty period come and go. If expiration date is really just 1 year, I think many/most exceed that! I don't think it is even rare for a spare toner cartridge or drum cartridge to sit on the shelf for several years. Especially those toner cartridges that are rated for 15000 or even 27000 pages, or drum cartridges rated for 125000 pages! Is it really recommended to throw out unused toners and drums after just a year on the shelf?!?

P.S. There is also the issue of how long it has been on the shelf of the manufacturer, then the distributor, then the retailer, and then finally the customer. It adds up quickly! Most toners/drums don't have a date printed on them; is that by design? Can't tell if it is 1 year old or 10 years old!

[CathyO-Xerox]

Hello AdvSysCon,

You should definitely check what the warranty would be on the supply item and use the it before the warranty period expires.

I think generally, if stored properly, you would likely get the best performance using the supplies within a few weeks to a year of purchasing them. There are a lot of factors like storage conditions that may impact that.

I would recommend contacting Xerox Supplies to get the best information: 1-800-822-2200.

[AdvSysCon]

Although I'm asking specifically for WorkCentre 7556 (WC7500 series) machines, this question probably applies to most models...

What is the shelf-life of Xerox supplies? Is there an expiration date (or best-before date)? Sitting opened or unopened on a cool dark shelf, perhaps they are good for 1 year, 5 years, 10 years, 20 years?

We want to keep spares in inventory, but are concerned shelf-life might get exceeded due to long-term large capacity cartridges. This problem seems to be exacerbated because most cartridges do not show a manufactured date, so it is often difficult to rotate stock by choosing the oldest cartridge for installation.

This question of shelf-life isn't limited to just CYMB TONER CARTRIDGES; but also to DRUM CARTRIDGES, SECOND BIAS TRANSFER ROLLS, and FUSER CARTRIDGES; maybe even to DEVELOPERS, TRANSFER BELT CLEANERS, and WASTE TONER CONTAINERS. Without a manufacturing date stamp, what do you use as a baseline for shelf-life?

Any guidelines? Perhaps there is a document available somewhere that explains this? I believe many have this question! Even calling Xerox with this question, instead of answers, I get shrugs (on the phone).  ;-)