Rastek. Seriously???

[Kaiser]

Ive had headache after headache with this T1000. White heads were'nt firing, boards were shorting out. You name it. What could have happened to it did.
After clearing out all the lines, replacing boards, cleaning the heads practically back to pristine condition, replacing pumps and valves, replacing drive pulley and even getting a new Control PC with a fresh install of ONLY printer related software one would think everything was ok.

I should be so lucky.
Yesterday after purging white and performing 2 test prints. She gives me another box full of I dont Give a ....

Now the heads refuse to reach the right temperatures. Just like that all of a sudden. No prior warning. Checked ISI events and it seems that head temps have been fluctuating quite a bit. I contacted support. "thats normal, refill your water tanks"
So I did.

Did it make a difference? No.

Sitting here with a machine that can do everything but print.

P.S. White heads warm up ok. Its only CMYK

 

[darby07]

Our problems exactly. Our T1000 is a NIGHTMARE!!!!

 

[gregwallace]

How much do the head temps flunctuate? What kind of heads does this machine have?

 

[Kaiser]

They fluctuate quite a bit. Toshiba CA4

Nevermind though. Weve solved the problem. Out with the old and in with the new

 

[Kaiser]

They fluctuate quite a bit. Toshiba CA4

Nevermind though. Weve solved the problem. Out with the old and in with the new

Problem went on to losing all negative pressure even though all the values were in range. Pumps blowing out, PCB losing its firmware or burning out, Water pumps blowing out. Ballast burning out. A full assesment was performed and they said all values were within the normal range and most of the problems were normal. Normal....
Ok. Practically we just gave up after the last downtime and resolved to solve this issue via a different route.

Fuctuations were usually in the range of between 5 and 10 degrees, which I think is alot but I was told not to worry too much about that.

 

[nashvillesigns]

i am sorry to hear of your distress. when things don't work, it is a nightmare.
1. how is your power source coming in? if it is dirty, i can see bad power spikes killing it for you.
2. get a lawyer. after reading about how big counterfieting is in china with the way they reproduce EVERYTHING., i wonder....
p.s. why isn't there a spell check in here?)
mosher

 

[Kaiser]

i am sorry to hear of your distress. when things don't work, it is a nightmare.
1. how is your power source coming in? if it is dirty, i can see bad power spikes killing it for you.
2. get a lawyer. after reading about how big counterfieting is in china with the way they reproduce EVERYTHING., i wonder....
p.s. why isn't there a spell check in here?)
mosher

Power source has been checked. Our whole Electric network was refurbished because of our CNCs and there arent any large companies draining any power or causing any spikes around here.
Techs have been here more often than not costing us easily into the thousands. Not once were they able to find out what was wrong. The lat visit was from the manufacturers tech and they said everything was ok. A week later, neg pressure failure, pump failure and a burnt out PCB. I keep saying that there is a voltage or pulse compromise in the machine tiself or the software is sending out a command that is messing everything up.

To be completely honest. I dont give much of a rats a$$ anymore as this has been an ongoing battle where no one is able to claim responsibility for this issue and we the client are pulled into the middle.
I understand the dillema all parties are facing but deep down the main issue is getting us operational again and that is only fixed with temporary solutions until the next part goes faulty.
This got to a point where I even started doubting myself. Am I doing something wrong? Head height- check, vacuum - check, everything clean - check, print - BOOM. It baffles me. The tech came here, messed around a bit with the pumps and valves. Did the exact same procedure as I have done every time and even commended on how picky we were for cleanliness and detail not to mention how superbly cleric our print room was. Everything printed well for a day. He left. BOOM. Have they tried to help me? Yes. Have they solved the problem? A year later, No.

Get a lawyer? Not my call. I just operate the machine and make sure its up to standard for continuous production.

 

[DerbyCitySignGuy]

We have a list of issues with our T1000 that looks eerily familiar to yours. We've been through so many boards, pumps, and valves it's not even funny any more. Even the fans for the UV lamps seem to burn up at an alarming rate. I was hoping to come here and find someone with solutions, but it seems like everybody else is in the same boat.

Have you had (or do you still have) any issues with your heads cooling down at an excessive rate? Our heads start to cool within two to three minutes of a print finishing pretty frequently and from time to time will actually start cooling DURING a job. EFI insists it's impossible.

We also had a fun issue with the emergency stop being "always on" so we couldn't even start the thing up. That was a good time.

[Edit: The GUI also crashes CONSTANTLY. Between that and the heads cooling off, I'm about ready to kill this thing. I don't think it's a coincidence that the thing is red like the devil and the model number is T1000 like the Terminator. If you have any insights into getting this thing running reliably, I'd love to hear them. EFI and our distributor are trying their hardest to figure this monster out, but it seems like we're down more than we're printing.]

 

[gregwallace]

We have a list of issues with our T1000 that looks eerily familiar to yours. We've been through so many boards, pumps, and valves it's not even funny any more. Even the fans for the UV lamps seem to burn up at an alarming rate. I was hoping to come here and find someone with solutions, but it seems like everybody else is in the same boat.

Have you had (or do you still have) any issues with your heads cooling down at an excessive rate? Our heads start to cool within two to three minutes of a print finishing pretty frequently and from time to time will actually start cooling DURING a job. EFI insists it's impossible.

We also had a fun issue with the emergency stop being "always on" so we couldn't even start the thing up. That was a good time.

[Edit: The GUI also crashes CONSTANTLY. Between that and the heads cooling off, I'm about ready to kill this thing. I don't think it's a coincidence that the thing is red like the devil and the model number is T1000 like the Terminator. If you have any insights into getting this thing running reliably, I'd love to hear them. EFI and our distributor are trying their hardest to figure this monster out, but it seems like we're down more than we're printing.]

Just a suggestion but you might try calling Prime Printer Services 888.537.5525. They service vutek and rastek printers and I've found that they are much more honest than EFI.

 

[javagod]

Rastek H652

We bought a Rastek H652 a few months back and had nothing but troubles with it from the day it came in. The distributor didn't know squat about the machine and was making up answers and EFI wouldn't talk to me because that was the distributors job to support...... Luckily for us we buy a large amount of product for our commercial printing side so after a number of hoops we sent it back! Rastek is an embarrassing line of printers

 

[WYLDGFI]

Ive been a long time EFI equipment operator/purchaser. Will never buy a rastek even to save my life! I have heard from people like yourselves along with techs whom will remain nameless that they are HORRIBLE.

 

[kanini]

A shop quite nearby is trying to sell their H650. The price is really tempting, but after reading all the horror stories I guess I shouldn't even consider it - or should I?

 

[particleman]

No, the Rastek line is junk. I continue to be shocked to read the people that have these. A simple search on this forum shows years of negative posts about these machines including the H650 and T1000. I can't recall a single positive thread on these machines. I believe EFI is even dropping the Rastek brand name because they have such a bad name right now.

 

[WYLDGFI]

EFI had the 126in UV press...small RTR..it was the first "rastek" with just the EFI name on it. Removed the rastek name on it...its just as bad.

 

[kanini]

Thanks for the input and all of the input of this forum, that makes it a lot easier to weed out the junk and not having to spend time on even evaluating those printers that people say aren't working well. Much better to bite the bullet and fork out more for a good one than having to struggle with a poor one everyday...

 

[Jack Knight1979]

I was looking at a UV Rastek. Nevermind. Glad I read this thread.

 

[DerbyCitySignGuy]

I believe EFI is even dropping the Rastek brand name because they have such a bad name right now.

I've actually heard the exact same thing.

T1000 is currently down (again). Just had the carriage control board replaced (again) at the beginning of the month. So... I guess we'll just wait and see.

Kind of bummed that nobody has any answers, but it is good to know that we're not crazy and other people are having the same issues!

 

[Kaiser]

I've actually heard the exact same thing.

T1000 is currently down (again). Just had the carriage control board replaced (again) at the beginning of the month. So... I guess we'll just wait and see.

Kind of bummed that nobody has any answers, but it is good to know that we're not crazy and other people are having the same issues!

I wish you the best of luck. No you arent crazy. We are recommissioning ours. THATS crazy. I am certain I will be on this thread again. :dog42

Ive learnt to take it with a pinch of salt. Besides, the wife also goes haywire once a month so I should be used to it by now.

 

[Techman]

I didnt see where anyone checked the power supply board on the printer. Almost all those problems relate directly back to the power supply on the printer.

 

[Kaiser]

I didnt see where anyone checked the power supply board on the printer. Almost all those problems relate directly back to the power supply on the printer.

All boards were checked. Even power supply and ballasts. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary. What I find or suspect to be the main culprits of most of the problems are the following:

Ink transit system is too rudimentary and alot of blockage issues are due to ink curing before it even reaches the pumps. Any latent UV light in your print lab can cure the ink in the filters or fittings themselves. Block out ANY light whatsoever and have your print room painted in anything BUT white. This bounces off too much light. Try a syringe test with some ink. Leave some white ink in a sealed transparent syringe overnight. If it cures. You WILL have issues on this machine. This might sound a little extreme but trust me it solved my blockage problems and I had almost no exterior light at all. An easier solution. Create a hermetic black cover over the bottles, filters and fittings.

Another issue. The boards used on this machine are nothing more than the original Daytona boards with a few piggybacks. They are made fast and quality is rarely checked. They do tend to burn out pretty fast or lose their firmware requiring reflashing.

Most mechanical components arent the best quality available but then again many other machines use the same parts with no issues.

The vac tanks have never given me problems but I have been told they are too small/weak. A manual negative pressure adjustment wouldnt be a bad option as well.

Alot of unnecessary complications and shortcuts. Software purging ESPECIALLY. I dont understand for the life of me WHY they would put 2 solenoids/valves that are prone to malfunction JUST to be able to purge from the GUI. The amount of money and effort spent on that could have been put toward an automatic head height adjustment system that only takes a dc motor and sensor which costs a fraction of the price, let alone be less prone to faults instead they left a crappy manual adjustment with a tool. They could have left the purging system the same as the H650. Hydraulics. Simple.

The vacuum on the table could be stronger. Try printing on K-Line or foamcore without masking off EVERY hole and borders of the substrate and you'll see what I mean. Even with the lamps off the foamcore warps because of ink humidity. Buy better foamcore? Just for stability while printing? No thank you. If it was a print quality issue ok.

The GUI is unstable.

Fiery is fantastic but has some slight bugs if you're anal about organizing workflows.

Oh. Money money money. Most distributors will tell you everything to sell and tech support will almost always point the finger and try blame the errors on operation even though these machines have a terrible track record.

Unfortunately, this printer has stagnated in the Alpha phase and every now and then there is a retrofit part to try solve an issue. Problem is, they dont. Instead of finding a simpler workaround, they will find a more expensive part that will inevitably need replacing too.


Let us see how she will behave now that we have removed her from her cage again.