CJ-500 converted - Big thanks to sfr hockey table

[tiredcreations]

Well I finally got around to converting my Roland CJ 500 to Eco-Sol Max inks. It was kind of a fun project & good getting to know my machine a little more intimately

I flushed the ink lines, replaced the pump, capping station, print heads, wiper, dampers AND added heaters, thermocouples & PID controllers.

Here she is in action http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=boMmX3BCdG4

Still have a lot of playing around to get everything right, messing with color profiles and what not, but it's not too bad.

Again, a big thanks to sfr hockey table
he has been very generous with his time, answering questions, etc.

If I can pass along anything I learned during the solvent conversion, I will do my best.

 

[tomence]

Man thats a cool thing you have done now you are able to print on anything. I am looking to get one of this machines or maybe fj52 they sell for a decent price or maybe i will get one ready to print from solventprinterconversion.com guys. How long did it take to convert it.

 

[sfr table hockey]

You are welcome... good to hear things are up and running. I had been helped by several on this site so it was more of a pay it forward kind of help.

** If you did not change the drain lines from the original waterbased ones, watch for the thin drain lines getting plugged more easily. If you did bypass the thin drain lines then you should be ok.

 

[tiredcreations]

It took a weekend to do the conversion & then another 2 weeks to do all the alignments & work out some bugs. That was an hour here an hour there type of thing, in between some traveling.

I replaced the thin drain lines with larger surgical tubing & routed it to the existing drain bottle. I've been keeping an eye on it during the cleanings & it seems to work fine now, just not sure if the solvent inks will eat up that tubing...

 

[tomence]

whats the printing speed for this printer, like what is the sqf per hour at good resolution.

 

[ddarlak]

30-40 sq ft per hour

 

[Charlie J]

 

[tomence]

that is not bad. I was thinking maybe 20-25 sqf the max.

 

[artsnletters]

what heater system did you go with? What would you say you have invested in the conversion? I need to replace pretty much everything on my CJ-500 as it's been sitting for 2-3 years, and one of the heads will print but the other isn't (i think)...so rather than replacing everything needed with stock aqueous heads & related parts, i should upgrade to solvent. Sorry for all the questions.
Tim

 

[ddarlak]

i use the same heads, and capping station with a solvent pump.

built my own heaters for around $300

 

[tiredcreations]

what heater system did you go with? What would you say you have invested in the conversion? I need to replace pretty much everything on my CJ-500 as it's been sitting for 2-3 years, and one of the heads will print but the other isn't (i think)...so rather than replacing everything needed with stock aqueous heads & related parts, i should upgrade to solvent. Sorry for all the questions.
Tim

I kind of came up with my own heat system based on some searching in this forum & some other research. I spent about $1200 on everything including ink & a few extra small parts. I didn't really cut any corners, but you could do it cheaper if you wanted.

 

[anozira02]

Wow....that machine looks awesome! I also have a Cj-500 and been doing a lot of research on conversion parts. I got two heat control devices for $60.00 a peace the adhesive backed heat strips cost me the most. I replaced all the ink related parts to solvent parts. All I have left to do yet is get bulk ink cartridges, inks and tune it up, also the guys were lots of help in this forums....

 

[tomence]

What temperature do you set your heaters on for permanent adhesive vinyl. I just bought an FJ52 converted to eco sol max inks and trying to figure out the temperature. What i set them at are back at 95F and front 100F

 

[tiredcreations]

What temperature do you set your heaters on for permanent adhesive vinyl. I just bought an FJ52 converted to eco sol max inks and trying to figure out the temperature. What i set them at are back at 95F and front 100F

Man, honestly I can't tell a difference. I have tried as low as no heat, all the way up to 110F - I really can't tell, but I'm new to this & all i've done is played around with it, no real jobs yet. Still working on profiles & trying to get colors right.

From what I've heard, youre right in the ball park though.

 

[ddarlak]

i keep miine at 105 front and back. sometimes i bump it up to 115 front and back when i'm doing 13 oz banner material or laying down alot of ink.

 

[grlazsigns]

Where you get the part for heater

Where did you get the parts for the heaters. Is there information on how to install them or you just went for it.

 

[CropMarks]

Hello all, I have a FJ540 that I'm really considering converting. As far as printheads go... after converting, how long have they lasted? I've heard some people say that they sometimes don't last quite as long. They also mentioned that they were using bulk ink systems. Here's a quote from our email exchange "Ours seem to have been building up some ink crud inside that is causing some misting". Could this be due to the bulk ink and not running Roland brand ink?

So any input on printhead life would be great! thank you very much.
Mike.

 

[sfr table hockey]

Hello all, I have a FJ540 that I'm really considering converting. As far as printheads go... after converting, how long have they lasted? I've heard some people say that they sometimes don't last quite as long. They also mentioned that they were using bulk ink systems. Here's a quote from our email exchange "Ours seem to have been building up some ink crud inside that is causing some misting". Could this be due to the bulk ink and not running Roland brand ink?

So any input on printhead life would be great! thank you very much.
Mike.

Not 100% sure but I think the FJ 540 and SC 540 both use the same DX4 print head. The hard part is getting a waterbased head clear of the waterbased fluid and ink so that the solvent does not gel and plug up the head. This is why a new head is needed most times. Our printers that are talked about in the above posts are a much cheaper head DX2 or epson 3000 ($110) compared to the DX4 (closer to $1000). If we mess up its not a big deal but for you it's a little more $$. From a parts search they are the same part# and head so brand new should not be an issue. Cleaning a waterbased head and using it for solvent might work for a short period and then show the blockage but if you can totally clear the waterbased inks and solutions out then you stand a better chance of lasting. How long I don't think anyone could say.

 

[tomence]

Also i heard from people that third party ink works better than original eco sol max inks. I use eco sol max inks and i cannot get a decent print they all come out looking grainy, i have used different profiles but no luck so far to find a good one. i tried different Oracal vinyl but no help, i heard that Avery 2120 should work the best using this printers but i am not fan of Avery but i will buy some just to try it and see if print quality will get better.

 

[musquoni]

I have a converted cj-540 and a year later the print patterns look just as good as the day I converted it. I do use Roland ink because of problems ive had with 3rd party inks in one of my other machine. The bulk ink does tend to clog heads, it's the problem i had in my other machine.