Considering buying a Roland sol jet 2 sc-540 printer/cutter

[White Designs]

Hey guys, new to signs101. I've been cutting vinyl making decals for a little over 3 years now with some off brand plotter. Found a fairly cheap Roland sc40 and wondering what the pros and cons are to them really. Also the printer has been sitting for a couple years but am being told it worked awesome up until then. Owner says with a good servicing it should be up and running no problem. It seems to be in good shape. I just don't know enough about these to know if what I think is fairly cheap is actually a good deal and if I should go through with it. He's asking $2,100. What do you think?
And sorry if this isn't the place for this post. Thanks!

 

[FrankW]

Hands off. Dangerous.

If this printer is in proofed working condition, $ 1'200 is a good price (SC540 is at minimum 11 years old). But if not, it could take several tousand Dollars to bring it up and running again. 6 x DX4-Heads, each of them around $500 or more, 12 Dampers, 6 Cap Tops, 3 Pumps ... this printer have a big chance to be a real money pit, even if you can do the work yourself.

 

[BigfishDM]

Don't do it man, your asking for a nightmare! Those machines need to print all the time to keep the lines and heads in check.

 

[lgroth]

Bigfish is right... We have one, recently bought an XR640 and kept the old one for overflow and small jobs. Now that it's not being used daily it's a nightmare to keep it printing. An SC that has been idle for a while will probably need new heads...

 

[niksagkram]

If the owner says a good servicing will get it up and running, tell him/her to get it serviced before you even consider buying it! Then offer $1500.00 at the most. As FrankW said, it's not just heads to be concerned about.

Good luck.

Mark

 

[White Designs]

Thanks for the input guys! I'll stay away from it.