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Eco-Sol inks durability ?

P

printmaster

New Member
Hello !

We are juste entering the large format digital printing industry, and
based on tech support we only have 2 options: Mimaki or Roland.

After research we have collected the following info:
Mimaki will print faster, better and the print will last minimum 5 years
with the true solvent inks.
Roland has a superior print & cut system, Eco-Sol inks produce much less
odour issues but will only last less than 3 years.

Are these facts true, what is your opinion?

Thanks a lot guys !
 
heyskull

heyskull

New Member
We run a Mutoh Valuejet with Eco solvent inks (Eco = Economical not Ecolgical!).
I have used a JV33 and the prints were less scratch resistant than our machine.
The Valuejet is as fast if not faster than the JV33 and I couldn't live with a printer that is a plotter as we have both machines running most of the time so having a machine that did both would slow things down a lot.
If you are wanting anything to last I overlaminate anyway which makes the prints last a lot more.
I have unlaminated prints from the JV33 and the Valuejet from 2 years ago and the JV33 have faded terribly were the Valuejet is as good as the day it was printed.
Both machines were at that time were running original inks.

SC
 
P

printmaster

New Member
Thanks for the reply and the "eco" input !

Unfortunately Mutoh is not properly represented nor supported over here
so I guess our option will have to be Roland then.

Since we are just starting off, I suppose a print & cut system will
be ok even though it might slow us down at some times.

Thanks again !
 
S

Salmoneye

New Member
When it starts to slow you down you add a stand alone cutter. I like my print/cut (xc-540) but my volume is not that large.
 
T

TCBinaflash

New Member
Go Roland. Better build quality and less user maintenance. The VS-640 with 2xCMYK should be faster than the Mimaki.
 
P

printmaster

New Member
Is the cmyk x 2 config the best way to go you think?
I am not really concerned about the metallic, however white for
window designs and LC and LM for high quality posters mostly crossed my mind.
 
Fatboy

Fatboy

New Member
I own a Roland sp540 v wich is propably one of the slowest machines available. However I don't really find it to be a problem.I print a double shift late into the night sometimes.I leave the easier prints for nigh time. More important than speed I would say is technical backup. Make sure your supplier is in your area and will help you(even though it is Friday night and 11;00 clock...he must be available on the phone) The way I look at it is that if my machine is that busy that it slows me down ....yeepee time to buy a second one!
 
Gino

Gino

Premium Subscriber
Fatboy said:
I own a Roland sp540 v wich is propably one of the slowest machines available. However I don't really find it to be a problem.I print a double shift late into the night sometimes.I leave the easier prints for nigh time. More important than speed I would say is technical backup. Make sure your supplier is in your area and will help you(even though it is Friday night and 11;00 clock...he must be available on the phone) The way I look at it is that if my machine is that busy that it slows me down ....yeepee time to buy a second one!
Click to expand...

Are you serious ?? You have a tech that will return your calls at 11pm ??
 
P

printmaster

New Member
Not sure about 23.00 oclock ! The best I got was Monday to Saturday 8.00 to 20.00 !

Not too worried about very high speeds either, I can put in a few extra hours if needed no problem.

But not to wander away to much from the original topic guys, straightforward
will laminated prints with Eco-Sol Max last for 3 years before starting to fade ??
 
petepaz

petepaz

New Member
we have had roland for years with very few problems
we just traded in our sp-300 for soljet 54" with 2x cmyk and white option
the white is slower but just cmyk is super fast it's almost 3x faster than our vp540 and it is 4x faster than the sp300
we looked at the metallic printer and found it to be too slow
and haven't had any problems with the eco inks
 
Gino

Gino

Premium Subscriber
I would think not.

If you tell us your current guy is using a Roland printer such as you're getting [or contemplating] and is using OEM inks with laminate, then I would think you'll get the same results.

There is no reason to think you'll get something different than from him... using all the same supplies.


You might want to check your air over there.... it must be contaminated if you're barely getting 1 year while we're all getting four and five years over here... and most of the rest of the world.
 
Gino

Gino

Premium Subscriber
Good for you. I've never heard of anyone doing it, let alone a tech offering it. Glad I don't have that job.
 
Fatboy

Fatboy

New Member
Gino said:
Good for you. I've never heard of anyone doing it, let alone a tech offering it. Glad I don't have that job.
Click to expand...

I know...and I certainly wont make a habit of it. He makes tons of money though.He is well known in South Africa for his good service. The trick with these machines is to learn to solve problems on them by yourself.I got more info here than from anywhere else.At the end of the day they are just machines that can be fixed.Forums like these is a must have if you want to print wide format(like the way you guys helped me with the carriage separation problem the other day)
 
artbot

artbot

New Member
with all this discussion of how long these inks last outdoors, is there every any data on indoor longevity? i've switched from archival dye with my work to triangle and am sending out projects without any idea of what kind lifespan these pigments have.
 
B Snyder

B Snyder

New Member
If you have the space buy a separate printer and cutter. I own a VersaCamm printer/cutter and and Gerber Edge and Gerber Envision. When I went to wide-format I'd much rather have had a separate printer and cutter but I simply don't have enough space.


Might want to start a separate thread for that question artbot.
 
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