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Buying used L25500 .. advise?

J

jtoon86

New Member
My company is looking at buying a 2yr old L25500 as a replacement for our aged Mimaki JV3.

Any advise on what I should be looking for (ie warning signs) on the L25500? I was told light use -- is there an internal counter that I can see exactly how much the unit has been used? Any gauge on other parts that I might be needing to replace on a unit this age?

In addition, we have been running Onyx Postershop for years but would need to upgrade (currently on v6.5) -- I've been hearing a lot about Caldera -- as the upgrade on Onyx to get it current is rather pricey, I'm wondering if it is a good time to switch to something else.

For users of both the L25500 and L26500, any advise here (in the realm of should be focused on the L26500 because of certain "must have" improvements).

Ultimately we would like to run this largely unattended. Thanks for any advise!
 
jkdbjj

jkdbjj

New Member
To answer the OP. These machines are not good to leave unattended very long. If you are running good vehicle wrap vinyl you might get away with that for a bit, but once it starts walking on the take up reel, it needs to be corrected, as it will crash the head fairly quickly.

Perf sucks on this machine until HP puts a side guard to cover the edges of the material on, and the learning curve can be just downright frustrating.

Other than that I love the machine, and just have accepted I need someone near it if I am running a lot of stuff.
 
HulkSmash

HulkSmash

New Member
jkdbjj said:
To answer the OP. These machines are not good to leave unattended very long. If you are running good vehicle wrap vinyl you might get away with that for a bit, but once it starts walking on the take up reel, it needs to be corrected, as it will crash the head fairly quickly.

Perf sucks on this machine until HP puts a side guard to cover the edges of the material on, and the learning curve can be just downright frustrating.

Other than that I love the machine, and just have accepted I need someone near it if I am running a lot of stuff.
Click to expand...

I do night runs all the time. It's all about starting it right. As for perf, i can print on it all day without issue. It just takes some tweaking....
 
jasonx

jasonx

New Member
Never had a head crash on any of our machines. We use the take up all the time.

Substrate usage 6,738.53 m²
Substrate usage 5,143.19 m²

Fair sample size.
 
D

Desert_Signs

New Member
jkdbjj said:
To answer the OP. These machines are not good to leave unattended very long. If you are running good vehicle wrap vinyl you might get away with that for a bit, but once it starts walking on the take up reel, it needs to be corrected, as it will crash the head fairly quickly.

Perf sucks on this machine until HP puts a side guard to cover the edges of the material on, and the learning curve can be just downright frustrating.

Other than that I love the machine, and just have accepted I need someone near it if I am running a lot of stuff.
Click to expand...

Something's up with your settings. I do overnight runs all the time on all kinds of vinyl. Perf? No problem (as long as it's latex approved - which pretty much demands a paper backer - clear focus sucks for me).

And, yes, I have a little bit of material run through my latex.

Substrate usage 121,820.18 ft²
Substrate usage 11,317.48 m²
Ink family HP 789 total usage 127874 ml*

Things to look for on a used machine? You're really going to need to connect to it. Check all the Service Maintenance Kits. If #3 is almost out, count on about $600 to have it replaced. Look at total usage. As you can see, I've run ALOT on ours. It's about 4 years old. I've never had any major part failures.

Heads don't matter much as they're consumables. Is the platen fairly clean? Does the take up work? If the machine works, it just pretty much works. I can't really think of anything, short of obviously broken parts, that you should be looking for.
 
jkdbjj

jkdbjj

New Member
Wow, nice to see others running over night. I think it is in how I load the take up real I suppose.
First, I don't use the automatic setting for the take up real, I just have the sensor on so it activates when the media gets far enough down.

Do you think by telling the machine I am going to be using the take up real on the control panel makes a quality difference in how it runs?

How do you guys load the take up real? I just use a single piece of tape in the middle. Is that why it walks occasionally?

As to PERF, I have been using the Clear Focus, but it seems the paper back works much better from what you are saying, I'll give it a try.
 
D

Desert_Signs

New Member
jkdbjj said:
Wow, nice to see others running over night. I think it is in how I load the take up real I suppose.
First, I don't use the automatic setting for the take up real, I just have the sensor on so it activates when the media gets far enough down.

Do you think by telling the machine I am going to be using the take up real on the control panel makes a quality difference in how it runs?

How do you guys load the take up real? I just use a single piece of tape in the middle. Is that why it walks occasionally?

As to PERF, I have been using the Clear Focus, but it seems the paper back works much better from what you are saying, I'll give it a try.
Click to expand...

I load mine the same as you, except I use 3 pieces of tape. Also, I think one key is the "ends" of the empty tube. Set the one to the right (closest to the control panel) really tight on the take up bar. Set the one on the left a little loose. This lets the material push it out of the way a little if it ends up skewing. It always does, to some extent.

I've seriously never ever had a problem with the takeup causing a head strike.
 
jkdbjj

jkdbjj

New Member
ragedracer1977 said:
I load mine the same as you, except I use 3 pieces of tape. Also, I think one key is the "ends" of the empty tube. Set the one to the right (closest to the control panel) really tight on the take up bar. Set the one on the left a little loose. This lets the material push it out of the way a little if it ends up skewing. It always does, to some extent.

I've seriously never ever had a problem with the takeup causing a head strike.
Click to expand...
Thanks Raged.
I have gotten the strike on banner material sometimes, if I am running like a whole roll at a time and don't watch it, if it starts walking, it creates an arc of sorts by the head, and if it doesn't crash, I have witnessed it rub and leave the head marks on the media.

Anyway, I am going to give your method a try, thanks.
 
S

Suz

New Member
Raged,

Great advice on how to tape down the media on take up roller. I had a head strike the other day, not too long after installing all new heads, yikes! But no error messages, so that's all good!

Thanks!!!
 
S

sha

New Member
jtoon86 said:
My company is looking at buying a 2yr old L25500 as a replacement for our aged Mimaki JV3.

Any advise on what I should be looking for (ie warning signs) on the L25500? I was told light use -- is there an internal counter that I can see exactly how much the unit has been used? Any gauge on other parts that I might be needing to replace on a unit this age?

In addition, we have been running Onyx Postershop for years but would need to upgrade (currently on v6.5) -- I've been hearing a lot about Caldera -- as the upgrade on Onyx to get it current is rather pricey, I'm wondering if it is a good time to switch to something else.

For users of both the L25500 and L26500, any advise here (in the realm of should be focused on the L26500 because of certain "must have" improvements).

Ultimately we would like to run this largely unattended. Thanks for any advise!
Click to expand...

On L25500 and L26500 you can see usage and maintenance history using web server.
Unfortunately you can't see if previous owner did a good lubrication maintenance (lubricating rail and replacing felts)
This can lead to wear of carriage, carriage belt and scan motor...
On machine 2 years old you will probably need to replace belt and carriage.
 
D

Desert_Signs

New Member
sha said:
On L25500 and L26500 you can see usage and maintenance history using web server.
Unfortunately you can't see if previous owner did a good lubrication maintenance (lubricating rail and replacing felts)
This can lead to wear of carriage, carriage belt and scan motor...
On machine 2 years old you will probably need to replace belt and carriage.
Click to expand...

I don't know about that. Maybe.

My machine has the same belt, carriage, and encoder strip as the day we got it. In 2008.
 
D

Desert_Signs

New Member
Suz said:
Raged,

Great advice on how to tape down the media on take up roller. I had a head strike the other day, not too long after installing all new heads, yikes! But no error messages, so that's all good!

Thanks!!!
Click to expand...

I still get head strikes. Most of the time it's on window perf, some on this crappy reflective I've finally burned through, and occasionally on banner. It's just a matter of getting the vacuum and heat dialed in. Some days are hotter or more humid in the shop and that's when I get head strikes. Very rarely have I had it damage a head. When it has, it destroys it.

I don't know what it is about perf. I've tried pretty much everything, and it all wants to head strike if you aren't careful. I know bigfish has some he says works phenomenally, I'll probably grab a roll of that next time around.
 
S

Suz

New Member
Raged,
Bigfish has some good stuff, he works hard to make sure you are happy too. I'm sure if he says it works, it does! I'm planning on trying his perf too. He sold me some beautiful Poster paper. Love it!
 
V

VolunteerSign

New Member
jtoon86 said:
My company is looking at buying a 2yr old L25500 as a replacement for our aged Mimaki JV3.

Any advise on what I should be looking for (ie warning signs) on the L25500? I was told light use -- is there an internal counter that I can see exactly how much the unit has been used? Any gauge on other parts that I might be needing to replace on a unit this age?

In addition, we have been running Onyx Postershop for years but would need to upgrade (currently on v6.5) -- I've been hearing a lot about Caldera -- as the upgrade on Onyx to get it current is rather pricey, I'm wondering if it is a good time to switch to something else.

For users of both the L25500 and L26500, any advise here (in the realm of should be focused on the L26500 because of certain "must have" improvements).

Ultimately we would like to run this largely unattended. Thanks for any advise!
Click to expand...

This guy can't be a real sign person...no sign guy (or girl) worth their salt could use the word "advise" for "advice" that many times and not go "OMG I can't believe I did that". Sorry couldn't resist...have a good day.
 
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