Need Help Any Experience with Chinese flatbed products?

[ikarasu]

Thanks for your advice, do you think that the print head will clogg if I don't clean it for a day or two ?

The company name is Wayprinter. Type it on google and you'll find it.
Here's a link: WPR330UV A4-UV Flatbed Printer-Flatbed Printer-PRODUCTS-DTG UV Digital Inkjet A3 A4 Flatbed Printer

Can you print via windows instead of the rip software? I know some of them include spooling drivers. That may be worth a shot, it could be something to do with the rip settings. Have you tried installing it fresh on a new computer, (Changing nothing) and ran a print just to see?

It shouldn't clog with just 1-2 days since it's UV. . And if it does, it shouldn't be bad enough that you can't just manually clean the heads.

 

[Auder]

Can you print via windows instead of the rip software? I know some of them include spooling drivers. That may be worth a shot, it could be something to do with the rip settings.

Well i'll try that but does the windows spooling drivers offer ink and curve control ? Also Acrorip is interesting because it looks so simple and easy to use.
It does handle that FAT resolution print of 5760x2880 which adds a significant improvement to my prints.
From all the softwares I tried so far.. only AcroRip offers that option.

However some people gave me really bad feedbacks about it especially the way it sends data to the printer. "Bad routing" as they said, which concludes in an EEPROM data saturation.

For now i'll try to completely discharge the machine and unplug the power supply from the motherboard. I hope it will work.. at least not damage the printer

 

[ikarasu]

No, the windows driver is pretty much a dumb driver... lets the printer handle it. Unless the chinese driver allows you to make some changes.

It's not about replacing the rip you use.. it's about testing and seeing if its a setting in the rip causing your issue, or if it is hardware in your printer causing it. If it prints fine via windows driver, or a different rip solution..acro might be the problem. I just googled it, seems like acrorip is cheap chinese software. It may be good, but it may also have bugs. We use a rip that costs $6000 at our workplace, and it still has weird printing bugs on occasion. So I'd try a different rip, just to test.

 

[Auder]

Hi

My chinese RIP handles 1440x1440 prints correctly. All i'm trying to figure out is why the highest 5760x2880 setting is not working anymore. I have tested other rips and the results were just as fine as the Chinese RIP ones in 1440 (exept that I had to build a new color profile for these new RIPs)

The thing is: WhiteRIP does not offer the option for a 5k resolution print. That's what i'm trying to "get back" right now. And since 1440 prints are working with both RIPs I can only assume that it is a hardware issue. What do you think ?

Also I have uninstalled the chinese RIP twice and nothing has changed. 1440 outputs perfectly good (for what it's worth) and 5760 is messy as hell!

 

[davecich]

Is magenta firing? it does not look so.

 

[Auder]

Is magenta firing? it does not look so.

Everything pretty messy in 5k resolution prints actually.. Check my older post to see photos

In 1440 everything is firing quite fine so I assume that the print head is not clogged. I cleaned it quite a few times this month to make sure that the issue wasn't from this.

 

[Auder]

Hi again everyone.

Some new results I have to share with those of you interested.

I have successfully dumped the EEPROM data from my printer and replaced it with a factory L800.EEPROM file. The results are still the same. Good with 1440 and bad with 5760.
I do not need to discharge the printer anymore or replace the Eeprom since I'm flashing it via USB now and IT DOES NOT WORK ^^

For now..the problem seems hardware related... Could I have missed a crucial part of the machine that could be covered with dust or need to be cleaned somehow?

 

[Auder]

Triple post here but still got some news.

I have tried to install both the RIP and the printer on a 32bit system. Nothing happened .. not a surprise.
Tried the Gutenprint tool for Gimp and no luck with this either. 1440 fires fine good but that god damn 5k resolution is way off (everythings yellow, smearing etc..)

I'm running out of Ideas right now. I feel like I have tested everything I could possibly think of.
It can't be a software problem otherwise 1 of these softwares I've tried would work!! I tried at least 5 different RIPs with a configuration as accurate I could set. No luck. for 5k but1440 is OK.

1440 printing is the devil though

 

[ikarasu]

No help from the manufacturer?

 

[Bly]

Sounds productive.
Oce support come the next day if you have a service contract..

 

[Auder]

No help from the manufacturer?

It takes 3 days for them to answer and most of the time they just repeat the same thing over and over. So not really helpful. They often say that the 5k resolution is a setting they never use. But the printer is promoted as HQ 5k flatbed printer... i feel .. cheated ^^

Sounds productive.
Oce support come the next day if you have a service contract..

No sure what you meant there.. Is Oce support an avaible service for everyone ? I could use of that..

 

[ikarasu]

I hate to say it, but I think your out of luck. I'd ask for a refund if they're unable to fix it because they "never use it". And file a charge back on your credit card if they refuse... It's obviously defective.

Chinese products are hit and miss. You can get an awesome deal that works well... Or a deal that's too good to be true. (Seems like you got the latter!)

Maybe ask them if there's a way to factory reset it, or reflash the firmware yourself. I think it's a software issue, not a hardware one... And since you ruled out the computer, I'm betting on firmware. Whether it can be reset or not though.... Worth asking at least.

 

[Auder]

I hate to say it, but I think your out of luck. I'd ask for a refund if they're unable to fix it because they "never use it". And file a charge back on your credit card if they refuse... It's obviously defective.

Chinese products are hit and miss. You can get an awesome deal that works well... Or a deal that's too good to be true. (Seems like you got the latter!)

Maybe ask them if there's a way to factory reset it, or reflash the firmware yourself. I think it's a software issue, not a hardware one... And since you ruled out the computer, I'm betting on firmware. Whether it can be reset or not though.... Worth asking at least.

I'm on my way to reset the firmware myself. I have just noticed that Printhelp detects an older firmware on my printer than the latest available.
I might try to do that. I have also asked the manufacturer for the factory Eeprom file but they did not think it was the problem so i'll just wait for their next answer before asking them again about this file.

I have the latest firmware update with me but printhelp won't let me do that update without a code that I have to buy via the print help website. How would you do that kind of task without paying any fee? A firmware update should be free right ?

Thanks for your support though!

 

[Gino]

Very interesting. How many people are always asking about the great deals from China ??

This scenario is way more the norm, than not.

 

[ikarasu]

Tell them you want the firmware and eeprom as a last ditch effort to fix it, before you Skip for a refund / do a charge back.

If it's a one of a printer, I wouldn't install the official firmware for said printer. Odds are they're using a modified one to get around protections... This is also probably what's causing your printing issues. If the firmware has protection, and you install it on a clone.. odds are you'll brick the printer.

There's no reason for them to take 3 days to respond to you. They're likely just dicking you around, hoping you go away. Or if your within the return period/ charge back period, hoping the time lapses.

You have to be firm with these guys. Tell them you're not a beta tester, and expect it to be fixed by xx date, or a charge back will be initiated with all the emails / whatever as evidence it's not working, and they haven't been very helpful in fixing it.

Then follow through. Best case, your credit card company refunds you your payment. Sometimes they'll just eat the charge to keep you happy, other times they will do a charge back, which makes the company oay higher credit card fees... And shows them they cant spit out a product that doesn't work, with no support.


Buying Chinese is OK. Just buy one with a lot of reviews, from a trusted site. And even then... It's going to have 1/4 the support and reliability as a original one.

I'd buy one for fun, but not for production needs. Odds are when you need it the most, it'll be nothing but a paper weight.

 

[Bly]

Sorry I guess my point was service on a production machine is worth the money.
Anyone searching for info on cheap imported flatbeds in the future might learn from your misfortune.

 

[Auder]

Thanks Ikarasu for your support ^^

Well I have stepped up the tone a bit in my mails and I got to say that it worked (they answered in like 4 hours). They still think that it's a software problem. They insist on the fact that I might have setup the software incorrectly. That's just nonesense.

WhiteRIP costs 900$ and is able to print anything I ask it to it. The details and precision of every prints of that RIP are astonishing. It's even better than the AcroRip when I got it in the first days. The resolution in WhiteRIP though is still under 5760x1440 but quality wise it's worth the money.

On the other hand, Acrorip is slowly getting useless as the 1440 x 1440 prints are OK 1 time out of 7 prints (smears starting to apprear, unprecise print, a bit blurry etc..)

The more I print with AcroRip, the more the prints are bad.

So I'm thinking about this theory : If you buy the printer alone and use any kind of free software or the one they include, then you've done half the job. Because for now all I know is that the RIP choice is as crucial as the printer choice. This .. I didn't knew it.

So i'm about to buy some decent RIP software. I'm thinking about WhiteRIP for now.

Tell them you want the firmware and eeprom as a last ditch effort to fix it, before you Skip for a refund / do a charge back.

If it's a one of a printer, I wouldn't install the official firmware for said printer. Odds are they're using a modified one to get around protections... This is also probably what's causing your printing issues. If the firmware has protection, and you install it on a clone.. odds are you'll brick the printer.

I have already updated the firmare to the latest version and already rewrote the EEPROM with many L800 eeprom versions I could find on the web (but I put my original backup file in the printer at the end so no risk here) For now it's working good , but i'll do it. I'll ask them those original files again just In case I have another type of problem later..

The drawback is impossible btw. There are no guaratee and no returns possible with this product or any product of the WayPrinter company.
It was a risk since the beginning .. And after all these problems, I have to say that I have learned a lot so far.. a lot more than I wanted to but hey ... at least I know how my machine works a tight more now

 

[Pauly]

I just looked up what printer you have, i didn't realise it was a desktop A3 flatbed. I thought it was a production machine. Anyway, What are you trying to do with it other than to get it working?
If you're printing on rigid a4/a3 materials, I wouldn't bother.
I honestly suggest throwing that thing away and buy a small roll printer. Because you're wasting time and money trying to get the thing working.
At least that way you can just print it on some vinyl and stick it to your boards or what ever your trying to do.

I would never buy a product with no support behind it.

 

[Auder]

I have the A4 flatbed model. Yes it's aimed to be used at home for a regular production not the big ones that print thousands everyday.
The printer is working well actually, it only depends of the RIP software I use. It is strange as the behaviour of the machine changed, I was able to perfectly print at 5760x1440 with AcroRIP at the beginning but not anymore.

There might be some trick somewhere but I am not aware of anything for now. I tried many other Rips also and they all seem to react the same way when I try to fire up 5k resolution prints.

From that point I tried a lot of things such as eeprom re writing and firmware update but that did not gave anything good so far.
Right now the only software able to perfectly print is the WhiteRIP software.

Something might have changed in my printer since I started using it but I can't figure out if it's hardware or software related (or both) so far. Tried to reinstall the whole setup on another computer with system 32 or 64 but that did not changed anything.

Printer works, only with whiterip so far but gets bad print day after day with AcroRip.

 

[Auder]

For those interested in cheap chinese flatbed printers => I'm still in touch with the customer service.

They claim that the problem comes from my RIP settings so I sent some screenshots of my setup.

Unfortunately they never answered... Instead, they offered me to buy another RIP!!! Not sure if i'm going to do that right now. The Software they sell is MAIN TOP DTG SOFTWARE.

I googled about it and it seems to be as bad as AcroRip. They sell a license key and the software for 250$.