Buying my next printer

[DCwrapco]

So my shop runs on 2 OKI color painter 64" printers. They have been great machines and have produced for us for over 7 years. We'll, OKI does no longer exist and parts are getting hard to find. We will be facing these 2 units on 2025. I I'm at a crossroad on what brand to choose.
I know whichever I chose will have to check the following boxes:
1.- quality an constant color profiles. Because we print for big fleets all over the US, so color consistency is very important.
2.- fast print turnaround. So outgasing process needs to be shorter. We already use IR heat lamps we put in front of our printers, and have special cabinets with fans where we place printed rolls overnight to shorten the outgasing process.
3.- I need short downtime is there is a malfunction and great tech support..
4.- Units that have high output. We are pushing between 5000 to 7500 sf per month.
I was looking at the HP 800 series. And Epson sure color R series, also Mimaki exotic solvent. I would really like some input on what to purchase please.

 

[White Haus]

Welcome from Canada.

I'd add the Epson S60600L to your list if you're doing that kind of volume. We added a S60600 last year and it's been a beast. We don't run quite as much as you're talking but it's been a really solid printer for us.
Can easily run your 5000 to 7500 sq ft every week, if you needed to.

I personally have never considered HP an option for our shop, I hate their business model. Don't know enough about Epson Resin printers (there are members here that have them) and although we have a Mimaki UCJV and have been pretty happy with it, I wouldn't personally consider buying another printer from them.

Depending if those volumes were per printer or combined, it might be worth checking out the Canon Colorado. Would easily replace 2 of any of those printers mentioned from what I've read.
Different league than all the other printers but still might be worth adding to your short list.

Not to sidetrack this thread, and PM me if you prefer, but do you mind sharing your offgassing cabinet pics? Need to rebuild ours and looking for ideas. Thanks.

 

[MarkSnelling]

Color consistency, speed, and cost of inks should put you right in the middle of a conversation for a Colorado M. Have you looked at those? The M series can be upgraded in speed and the ability to add features like white ink and flx finish if and when needed. The M3 Pro would give you great speed and wildly consistent color. Instant lamination. If/when your production demands require, you can upgrade the unit by buying a 'speed license' which will turn your unit into a M5 which will gain you much more speed. If you want to have a conversation, by all means please reach out. 216-662-7474

 

[jfiscus]

Epson S60600 are what you want. We looked and looked and decided to stick with Epson.
We have 4 S60600 here that are almost a perfect match to each other.
Seems like your business is pretty similar to yours as far as what you do and need to do it with.
Ours are very reliable, little maintenance and print all day every day.
You are NEVER going to get reliable color or speed out of latex/resin, and those Canon units are nice and fast, but not really made for wrap printing. (plus outrageous pricing)
Not sure about the rest of your setup, but with the Onyx Barcodes & new Graphtec plotters we've improved efficiency in our production dept by a lot using R2R plotting.

 

[jfiscus]

Depending if those volumes were per printer or combined, it might be worth checking out the Canon Colorado. Would easily replace 2 of any of those printers mentioned from what I've read.

Still using our cabinets here, one of the box fans died at some point last year ($15 replacement) but otherwise no issues or ideas for improvement.

New drying/offgassing box

Printing too much for the old box so had to add another to keep up with the flow around here. Made this one to comfortably hold 16 rolls if necessary. It REALLY pulls the air through, way better than the old one. Not 100% finished yet, but it's in operation. (we are adding lettering below the...

www.signs101.com

 

[signheremd]

You have gotten two great suggestions: the Cannon M series and the Epson S60600/S80600 (the first Epson comes with dual CMYK heads, the second has more ink colors to hit a broader range of colors). If you are doing a lot of wraps, the Epsons are a great choice. If not, the Cannon will walk circles around almost any printer in terms of speed and it is UV so can go right to lamination and cutting as there is no need for offgassing. Also the Cannon uses a UV Gel ink, which is very durable and holds color in direct sunlight very well.

But in terms of reliability, the real key is to buy from a vendor local enough to service and repair the units. Some folks that have gotten the Cannon have had less than happy experiences with Cannon repair techs (this is solved if you use a company like Hasco - whose sales rep, Mark Snelling, posted above). A big advantage in the Cannon is that you would only need one printer instead of two. We bought the new Mimaki UCJV330 UV printer and like it a lot for anything but full wraps (we have a Roland XR-640 for those). Great printer and if we had a larger volume would probably bought the Cannon - in both cases TyrrellTech sells and repairs/services the units. We thought about the Epson, but wanted to buy from a local source that does the repair work and for us that is TyrrellTech (who does not carry the Epson).

 

[DCwrapco]

Color consistency, speed, and cost of inks should put you right in the middle of a conversation for a Colorado M. Have you looked at those? The M series can be upgraded in speed and the ability to add features like white ink and flx finish if and when needed. The M3 Pro would give you great speed and wildly consistent color. Instant lamination. If/when your production demands require, you can upgrade the unit by buying a 'speed license' which will turn your unit into a M5 which will gain you much more speed. If you want to have a conversation, by all means please reach out. 216-662-7474

We mainly print vehicle wraps and wall graphics. I have not heard how uv performs on vehicle wraps.

 

[balstestrat]

We mainly print vehicle wraps and wall graphics. I have not heard how uv performs on vehicle wraps.

If you do a lot of 3D wraps I say stay away from UV.

 

[White Haus]

Still using our cabinets here, one of the box fans died at some point last year ($15 replacement) but otherwise no issues or ideas for improvement.

New drying/offgassing box

Printing too much for the old box so had to add another to keep up with the flow around here. Made this one to comfortably hold 16 rolls if necessary. It REALLY pulls the air through, way better than the old one. Not 100% finished yet, but it's in operation. (we are adding lettering below the...

www.signs101.com

Thanks for that! I forgot about that thread. Bookmarked for later when I have time to build a new and improved version of what we have now.

 

[Pauly]

If you do a lot of 3D wraps I say stay away from UV.

Colorado is alright. Id test it first as everyone has their preference. M3 to compete with the HP latex 800.

 

[MarkSnelling]

We mainly print vehicle wraps and wall graphics. I have not heard how uv performs on vehicle wraps.

It is fully approved by 3M for wraps. I have several customers who wrap all day, every day with the unit.

 

[MarkSnelling]

If you do a lot of 3D wraps I say stay away from UV.

That normally is a good approach, but the UV Gel ink used in the Canon Colorado has flexibility and is approved by 3M for wraps. If you want to ever test out a panel I can set up a print test and send you something to touch/feel/stretch/stick etc.

 

[balstestrat]

I already know from the field it's not all easy peasy and good to go. Bunch of shops have asked me to get their latex back to running after they gave up trying with the complex 3D wraps.
I'm not a wrapper and I don't really care but make sure to test it thoroughly in your environment, weather etc. before jumping into it. I know you can wrap with the UVgel but it's not the same, it's more limited and you still get cracks (from what I hear people actually wrapping say). 2D wraps all day long, sure.


Again if it was me for 3D wraps it would be solvent or latex hands down.

 

[Tim Miller]

We don't do a ton of vehicle wraps, but we've done a few on the Colorados. We haven't had any problem. For tiled wall graphics, the Colorados are a dream come true. Our HP 560 was a workhorse, but consistent sizing was always a problem, and sometimes consistent color was too. Also, the Colorado is about as good as I've seen at hitting pantone colors with the canned profiles. It's not perfect, but almost!

 

[ozpall]

I'm a big fan of Latex now and the HP700w its been great we got the 700 since our 360 was also great just getting old. so you would like the 800 with bigger ink tanks.