Colorado 1650 owners, How are they?

[Pauly]

We've been looking at UV roll-roll printers for a very unique application.

Considering the Colorado 1650 for medium - high volume runs.

I've been though most of the threads already, but any pros and cons from longer term use?

i keep seeing banding issues? Is there an advance media correction to solve this?
how is the print at the higher speed modes?

Any "need to know" tips?

 

[balstestrat]

for a very unique application.

For this don't trust anything that anyone says. You have to test it and do a proper test.
If it's something that others do a lot as well it's not unique application.

 

[Pauly]

For this don't trust anything that anyone says. You have to test it and do a proper test.
If it's something that others do a lot as well it's not unique application.

Yes but i still want to know how it prints in general. banding, quality, speed, known issues. things to watch for.... etc.

The "unique" application is just a very thin paper. It prints fine on my Arizona roll-roll. but need more speed.

 

[iPrintStuff]

Our 1640 prints on a very thin paper no problem.

If you use the high quality setting or higher then it prints AAC marks (auto advancement correction) that automatically fixes any banding during the run.

And anything higher than high quality also automatically monitors nozzle drop outs and corrects them too.

That speed is 40m2 an hour. Anything faster than that (production, high speed and max speed) dont support those features. Though we use production print mode a lot and don’t have any issues. Probably depends on your application.

 

[Pauly]

Our 1640 prints on a very thin paper no problem.

If you use the high quality setting or higher then it prints AAC marks (auto advancement correction) that automatically fixes any banding during the run.

And anything higher than high quality also automatically monitors nozzle drop outs and corrects them too.

That speed is 40m2 an hour. Anything faster than that (production, high speed and max speed) dont support those features. Though we use production print mode a lot and don’t have any issues. Probably depends on your application.

I don't see why it couldn't print on it. for reference it's 30gsm / 0.02mm. - my arizona does it fine.

What's the quality like at 40m2? -
what about 60m2?

Would you know the ink consumption per m2?

im having a feeling the 48m2 "matte" application would be the one i need.. as i need the properties of the UV cured inks (ink to sit on top of media) but we're trying to find someone local to do tests on as canon melbourne have removed theirs from the showroom temporarily.

 

[iPrintStuff]

I don't see why it couldn't print on it. for reference it's 30gsm / 0.02mm. - my arizona does it fine.

What's the quality like at 40m2? -
what about 60m2?

Would you know the ink consumption per m2?

im having a feeling the 48m2 "matte" application would be the one i need.. as i need the properties of the UV cured inks (ink to sit on top of media) but we're trying to find someone local to do tests on as canon melbourne have removed theirs from the showroom temporarily.

The quality is perfect at 40m2, we have 0 issues on any media’s. For standard vinyls/posters production mode is fine. (That’s the 60m2 at gloss and assuming the 48m2 at Matt) - Matt is slower than gloss at the same quality mode.

Production mode doesn’t use the AAC or automatically monitor the nozzles but it’s not too necessary. We’ve never had any noticeable nozzle drop outs during printing.

Our actual usage may be different to yours but we use about 100 litres of ink for every 18500ish m2. I’m going to guess at that weight you won’t need to lay down a lot of ink either so ink probably won’t be an issue. I’d guess it will be either the same or less than your Arizona.

I would definitely at least send them a roll and make them print on it if you can’t view it first hand before you think about buying anything.

Best thing about canon is their tech support. After a few dealings with some other companies recently it’s really highlighted how great canon have been about any issues!

 

[SignMeUpGraphics]

we're trying to find someone local to do tests on as canon melbourne have removed theirs from the showroom temporarily.

Maybe ask Bly if he can run something off for you.

Oce visited us on Tuesday this week, and they said head office relocated to Melbourne, so I'm not even sure we have a demo room up here any more.

 

[Bly]

Sure mate is there a specific paper you need to use?
We've run 80gsm bond paper on ours successfully.
We normally just run ours in the Quality modes which are usually fine and fast enough for most jobs.
I'm sure jobs without heavy solid fill could be run at faster speeds.
Maybe Canon know someone in Melb who can print some samples or I can do a few and send them down to you.

 

[Pauly]

Sure mate is there a specific paper you need to use?
We've run 80gsm bond paper on ours successfully.
We normally just run ours in the Quality modes which are usually fine and fast enough for most jobs.
I'm sure jobs without heavy solid fill could be run at faster speeds.
Maybe Canon know someone in Melb who can print some samples or I can do a few and send them down to you.

Thanks! i've got cannon coming in an hour to take some media to the Sydney showroom. They still have one there. They couldn't get time on anyone in Melbourne, and the job is getting fast tracked by the clients quickly.

For reference the media is 30gsm. (im running it on the arizona fine)

Unfortunately the job images are full saturated prints. heavy colours.

But i am worried i might struggle with speeds

 

[Pauly]

Update:

Canon have came, great chat and they've got my arizona samples and media. We'll see how it goes.

They are concerned about my application with the speed i want. but at the moment, it's the best entry option available with speed behind it.

 

[Pauly]

Maybe ask Bly if he can run something off for you.

Oce visited us on Tuesday this week, and they said head office relocated to Melbourne, so I'm not even sure we have a demo room up here any more.

There still is a demo unit over there. There was one in melbourne but they pulled it out to replace someone elses. turns out, printer was fine and it was a power issue on their end.

 

[SignMeUpGraphics]

Ahh good to know. Cheers

 

[Pauly]

Ahh good to know. Cheers

Are you looking at getting one?
The samples i have look great. and they have a decent speed on them.
We're hoping that the sampis will work with the intended application or we are literally looking at a 2380XTF just for the RMO speed.

 

[iPrintStuff]

I’ve always been under the impression that the R2R on the Arizona’s is poor? So guessing the Colorado would handle the media no problem if you can print from a roll on the Arizona.

 

[Bly]

The RMO on our 660 is slower than the bed and way slower than the Colorado.
How fast is the 2380XTF?

 

[iPrintStuff]

The RMO on our 660 is slower than the bed and way slower than the Colorado.
How fast is the 2380XTF?

just had a look, max speeds of about 90m2, for comparable quality I’d say it’s a little over half the speed of the Colorado on most settings. So Colorado still the quicker (and a fair bit cheaper) option!

 

[SignMeUpGraphics]

Are you looking at getting one?
The samples i have look great. and they have a decent speed on them.
We're hoping that the sampis will work with the intended application or we are literally looking at a 2380XTF just for the RMO speed.

Nah, not at the moment. Rep showed us some very impressive samples (matt vs. gloss on the same media) however our Epson is still doing us well enough to not start shopping for the next machine yet...

BTW, new firmware for your Fuji came out last week if you haven't seen it yet

 

[SignMeUpGraphics]

How fast is the 2380XTF?

 

[Pauly]

On paper the Colorado is quicker than the 2300. but pending on how fast the Colorado can go with out banding with full colour coverage.

On my Arizona I can achieve the quality I need on production mode which is 18-20m2/h

yes it’s slower on the RMO but I cannot find another UV roll to roll that will do the same job faster with out buying a swissqprint Karibu.

we need something available with in weeks atm not months to get us moving forward.

other option was run 2-3 mimakis but I don’t think they’re right for the job either.

right now we’re hoping the Colorado does what we need

 

[Pauly]

Sure mate is there a specific paper you need to use?
We've run 80gsm bond paper on ours successfully.
We normally just run ours in the Quality modes which are usually fine and fast enough for most jobs.
I'm sure jobs without heavy solid fill could be run at faster speeds.
Maybe Canon know someone in Melb who can print some samples or I can do a few and send them down to you.

Have you made your own ICC profiles for it? I have been told that threes a hard limit for ink limits which means we cannot reduce ink to save costs.
What are your experiences with it?