HP5500 Ink and Printhead Options

[chadwickfowler]

Hello. I have owned my 5500ps since it was new, but it has been sitting (seeing a print a month of use at best) at my former partners place for the last 5 years.

As you an imagine, all of the ink and heads are now expired. I ran an internal test print and all looks well. What is the problems I am going to see with expired inks?

I have both DYE (installed) and UV ink kits.

I have moved this printer back in to my studio now and plan to use it to create large poster prints and canvas prints on a somewhat regular basis.

So here are my questions:

1) Which ink set should I use? The prints will be displayed in peoples homes. Longevity is important, can I get that with DYE if I spray the prints with Bulldog? Or is using the UV inks a must?

2) Where should i buy my inks and printheads?

3) Who is you favorite canvas supplier?

I really appreciate your help as I move back in to this part of the industry! Thank you for any guidance you can provide.

 

[Posterboy]

I know this thread is a little old but no one has responded so...
I have a HP5500 as well. UV inks all the way if you are after longevity. Look for microporous paper stocks, they tend to work better.
As for canvas I can only suggest you shop around and get lots of samples until you find one you are happy with and can price competitively with.

 

[Billct2]

Ther is a merchant here, Bigfish, who carries ink & materials for the HP

 

[mikey-Oh]

Howdy from Oklahoma....

 

[Bly]

I have one I hardly use too. Some of the ink and heads are a couple of years out of date but still print fine. The black stopped firing the other day so I sat it on a wet sponge for a while and it came back to life.
The only problem with out of date heads is the warranty expires.

 

[Bill Modzel]

When I had my 5000 I used an ultrasonic cleaner to open up clogged printheads. Worked great.