Buying another broken printer..

[Nismoasfuh]

Hey guys, quick little backround: we bought a mimaki jv3 from a local shop only to have it arrive with the inks dried in the line. After countless techs taking the printer apart to no avail...seems like also a head was busted. My boss got fed up and decided to go buy another printer, A Roland sp-540v (versacam). I have only heard good things about these machines and if I remeber right they only have 2 heads so less things to go wrong? Or maybe I shoildnt even be thinking of it like that. Either way my boss told me he got a mega deal on it...and then...he mentioned it has a busted head..I told him that he's doing the same thing again, Buying a busted printer. Just digging ourselves into a bigger hole. He's already starting to look at laminate machines before this roland has even gotten into the shop. The boss claims that he already spoke to Roland techs and told the seller that the deal will only happen once it's fully working and printing. Let's see how that goes right?

I guess that's the end of my rant, however I really want to know what are some things to look out for? Common problems? What else do I need to get the ball rolling etc. I know everything I ask is really vague and general but I'm a huge noob and you guys have helped me big time before!

ALSO if anyone can recommend some REALLY good techs in south Florida that would be amazing haha.

thanks in advance!

 

[Solventinkjet]

The Roland Sp series has held up very well throughout the years compared to the JV3. The main thing I see go bad on used Rolands is, the pinch rollers, cut tool carriage cable, encoder sensor/strip and your regular maintenance parts. Other than that, I don't see a lot going bad very often. They are good machines, just don't pay full price if the head isn't working. That adds about $800, plus your time, to the cost of getting it up and running.

 

[TXFB.INS]

have the machine do a test print and nozzle check both from the regular mode and service mode.
also have the machine's print history done so you know the hours and amount of material it has been used for.

The VS comes with a built in cutter and you need to verify that works also

best thing is to have the tech do a complete evaluation BEFORE you take possession of it


Why is you boss so set on a used machine?
you can get new machines fairly cheap and they come with warranties
Grimco has the HP 110 for 8,k
https://www.grimco.com/

 

[All Graphics Calgary]

There is also refurbished machines too that usually come with a warranty.

 

[Gino]

So, your boss isn't interested in which printers print how/why ?? He just wants a used printer, so he can say he made a deal..... if he gets it to work. Does he know anything about printing, himself ??

Just jumping into the printing end of things can be hairy, if you don't have a clue as to how and why, you're getting a particular machine.

Someone needs to talk to your boss, before he ruins things for his shop/reputation..... if ha has one, yet.​

 

[Nismoasfuh]

He wants the 540 because a small percentage of our jobs get up to 40-48" he also wants it to cut. As far as technicalities my boss and myself are really not knowledgable at all. We really depend on the techs and other resources (this forum) to gather our knowledge. We are completely new at digital full color printing. Our sign department has been living in the past as we almost only work with vinyl. You can definitely say we are new at this but I guess we have to start somewhere. The more we experince the more We learn. I can't tell you guys how priceless the information and input you have provided me this far is! Thank you!

 

[heyskull]

Personally I think this is just wasting money.
Unless buying from somebody reputable second user machines that are not in working condition are a huge money pit.
Also make sure you have a lot of work for a digital printer as the more they are used the less problems you will have (My Valuejet printed for another 4 hours after I went home at 10pm last night and I have been in since 7.30am this morning and it has already printed another 15Metres and running!! ).
As far as a print and cut machine this sounds great in theory (a multi purpose machine) but a seperate plotter can be either contour cutting or cutting vinyl graphics whilst the printer is running.

SC