Display Maker 72uvr... good segway printer?

[ScotJ]

We're thinking about making the move to a UV machine, but I don't want to dive in head first and buy a $100k machine. I have the ablity to get one of these for around $20k, and use it to build up that spectrum of my business a bit, and then go from there.

Keep in mind, I'm mainly doing roll to roll stuff for now- very little tru flatbed.

Thoughts and comments on this machine would be great.

Thanks!

 

[Gino]

That's what we thought about the same machine and were talked out of it by almost everyone that owned one and numerous links about the many problems these printers have.

 

[Typestries]

My 72 UVR has run every day since it was installed. Sure, we don't run boards through it any more, but it's still an awesome banner and fabric machine.

It does VERY well on coro, PVC, foamcore, gator and dibond and acrylic. And just about any roll stock. If you want or expect it to print anything else, well, don't.

Operator attentiveness is key with boards, and needless with rolls. We often load a roll of banner, turn the lights out and leave, and come in in the AM to a full printed roll.

It does have a few quirky maintenance issues, ones that Colorspan swore were $1k repairs, that we have fixed with readily available cheap parts or just a good cleaning( the vacuum canister in particular).

I should probably go knock on wood, but ours has been very good to us. Watch, it'll blow up tomorrow since I wrote this!

the 72UVR is VASTLY different than the 5440 and others that have been bashed here. They DO suck, that's been proven.

Do a search and read the posts, but remember to carefully look at part numbers. Even the 72UVX did not work as well as the 72UVR.

Good luck!

 

[omgsideburns]

Run a 72UVR daily, problems are few and far between. The most recent problem was a fried UV power supply. Other than that, the only big issues we've had are the static discharge strip almost caught on fire, and some color profiles went corrupt and started causing some weird banding.

I don't have any problems with it. The key to operating it successfully is understanding how it works completely. I run only roll media through it, banner and vinyl.

 

[hydo1]

I can't speak for the UVR but I have had a UVX for close to 2.5 years and I really love it. I think I'm one of the handful of people who had good luck with their machine, as I have heard a lot of horror stories about ColorSpan printers. I have had a few issues due to the ink vacuum system dropping in and out but that is mostly it. I do lots of banners, vinyl and coroplast. I think the UVR can only do up to 1/4" material, while the UVX does 1/2" which is why we went with it.

 

[ScotJ]

Wow guys! Thanks for the quick response!

Regarding ink costs, is $0.20 a fair ball park?

Do they run well under high volume orders? (10-20k sq ft?)

Also - what are resonable expected print speeds under production, medium q and high q modes?

 

[Mspec]

If you are buying a used one of those, be sure to clean it well before you put it into production. I'd bet the guy above with a burned up UV power supply found all of the air vents furry with dust when it got replaced.

Open up the electronics, and blow them out with air. You should do that yearly and it will keep the components from overheating and burning out.

 

[omgsideburns]

If you are buying a used one of those, be sure to clean it well before you put it into production. I'd bet the guy above with a burned up UV power supply found all of the air vents furry with dust when it got replaced.

Open up the electronics, and blow them out with air. You should do that yearly and it will keep the components from overheating and burning out.

yeah, it fried shortly after i started operating it so im guessing it was from prior neglect. i am very ocd with the maintenance on it. purge the heads once or twice a day, blow out the lamps, controller boxes, etc.. wipe any ink residue and banner fuzz off the platen and parking stations, dry lube squeeky things, etc..

it's a neat machine, but you'll never get "photo quality" like a solvent. the print has a texture to it that you can bandaid with laminate but it will print on just about anything (the only time i ever see finger prints are if i eat a cheeseburger at the same time!). lasts for years in the sun, even on cheap vinyl.

its fastttt on low quality mode, the middle mode is fairly quick and if the printheads are all cleaned up you cant really tell a difference from that to high quality. the thing that makes a big difference in quality is "fine text" mode which you can set any print mode into. it drastically reduces the print speed but eliminates any overspray. i only use it for veryyy small text signs.

keep the heads clean and you won't ever have a problem with the print quality.

 

[Bellandi Signs Inc]

We are having an issue with our 72 UVR, and I realize it is probably something that only a qualified tech repair guy should be messing with, but I thought I'd put it out there in case somebody has experienced the same thing, and been able to take care of it themselves.
This is the nature of the issue:
We're running 4mm cor-x, and the print is blurred (sometimes) because the media advance move seems to be what I would call "Sluggish", and it is still advancing when the head carriage is moving. I don't even know what kind of mechanism drives the grit shaft, like whether it is a slipping belt, or what.
Does anybody have any input on this?

 

[jhanson]

You probably should have just posted a new thread rather than resurrecting one from 2009.

Anyway, as far as your question... I'd check the encoder mechanism for the media advance. Since that's a hybrid flatbed, it should be either a disk mounted on the end of the driving shaft, or an enclosure directly bolted to the motor. If it's the former, disks can be cleaned with lint-free wipes and rubbing alcohol. If it's the latter, it usually means replacing the driving motor assembly.