Best Practice: Using the HP 4500 Black Printhead for Porous Surfaces

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HP 4500 Black Ink’s origins

HP’s Inkjet technology was designed for paper, but its uses have expanded to many porous surfaces. The HP 4500 Black Printhead with HP 4500 Black ink is the most versatile solution for a wide range of porous surfaces, including corrugated, paperboard, coated paperboard and cut sheet. To enter the markets outside the home and office, Hewlett Packard licenses its Thermal Inkjet printing technology (TIJ) to other vendors called Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs), who sell directly into the packaging, carton coding and mail addressing industry.

The popularity of TIJ in Mail Addressing and Packaging comes as no surprise.  OEMs can easily integrate the HP print engine into their hardware solution, and there are numerous benefits for end customers.  These benefits include:  ease of use, reliability, fast print speeds, and high print quality, to name a few.  In addition, customers in both Mail Addressing and Packaging had pent-up demand for “clean” technology that didn’t rely on messy, hazardous inks as with Continuous inkjet.

Pigmented inks for Porous Surfaces

Over the past two decades, a lot of progress has been made by HP and its licensed ink partners to create and deliver new inks for better performance on more surfaces.   Aqueous (water-based) and dye-based inks were intended for printing on paper. Second generation aqueous pigmented inks were developed to print on smooth porous materials such as standard mailing envelopes and corrugated shipping cases, and to provide greater durability.  The inks are delivered via a disposable print cartridge, and certain printheads can be connected to larger bulk supplies.

The first pigmented ink presented by HP for porous surfaces was HP 4500 Black.  Today, some 20 years later, the HP 4500 black ink is still one of the best-selling products for printing on porous envelopes, corrugate cases and master cartons.  These porous surfaces allow the 4500 ink to be absorbed into the substrate without sacrificing high print quality or dry time.

HP 4500 black ink can be found in these products:

  • 51645A HP 4500 Black Ink Cartridge
  • Q7456A HP 4500 Printhead
  • Q7457A HP 4500 Bulk Ink Supply
  • C6119A HP Bulk Ink Supply

Many companies have tried and failed to develop new ink formulations for porous and non-porous materials found in Mail Addressing and Packaging. For example, it’s challenging to create a black, pigmented ink that has the right dry time, print quality, decap time and durability. For these reasons HP 4500 Black is a classic ink that has maintained its top position.

CASE Printing Solutions is the industry expert when it comes to industrial printing with HP Thermal Inkjet. The Oregon-based company provides low cost, high-quality ink products along with unparalleled service and support across the U.S. The remanufactured ink products from CASE are every bit as reliable and more affordable compared to the OEM version.

HP 4500 Black Offer- Free printhead or cartridge trial

As a special offer for those reading this article, CASE is offering a FREE HP 4500 remanufactured ink product.

Watch the video and contact us.

We will get back to you promptly to schedule delivery. One per person or company.

Call  Case Printing to get a FREE remanufactured HP 4500 printhead or ink cartridge.  No obligation, just use it and tell us how you like it. (541) 754-2273.