Gerber Ion reliability and ink cost

[melphillippi]

Hi,

I need feedback on the Gerber Ion. My distributor is offering me a Demo Solara IONx for $70k, installed.

Is this a good deal?
What is the ink cost per sq ft at 90% coverage?
Is the machine reliable and continue to print good quality after the warranty runs out?
Would I be better off with an Agfa M4F for corex and .020 styrene?
Any comments are appreciated

thanks

mel

 

[Molenbeek]

The Gerber Solara ion X is a great printer for what it does. For the price point you really can't beat it.

The price of $70k is quite high. Our demo unit installed and shipped is $60k with a 1 year warranty.

The stated ink cost per square foot from Gerber is $0.16.

 

[melphillippi]

Hi,

Do you own and operate one of these machines? If so, for how long?

thanks

mel

 

[Molenbeek]

No- sorry. I am Gerber largest distributor, Advantage Sign Supply, Inc

www.advantagesignsupply.com

 

[greenchuck]

I don't have personally experience on this machine but have not heard great things about their reliability from multiple users. Sometimes new technology is worth taking advantage of, but I'd steer clear of the Ion in this case.

I'm very intrigued by the technology though and would love to see some posts from real live Ion users in this thread.

 

[BuildaSign]

I do have one, and from advantage

Ordered it before it came out - got it a year later
and run it every day Oct. will be 3 years

The 1st year was not good - but Gerber fixed it and runs great now.

Ink more like .30 to .40 per. sf

 

[econolinesigns]

We have one as well and like BuildaSign, we run it everyday and if you remember that it is designed to print signs and not fine art, you can make a ton of money with it. Also, just like BuildaSign, our first year or just a bit more was not good but everything is fine now. Gerber has been STAND UP about everything and taken care of any problems that came up without hesitation. Also, what no other printer manufacturer will admit to you is that the Cationic ink is capable of doing things that their inks just can't do. It sticks to just about anything without having to use special adhesion promoters. If you plan to do a lot of printing at 8 pass uni-directional, it will slow the print speed down but that would happen for any UV. One of the best features it the true flatbed, not a hybrid or vacuum belt pull through design.

Hope this help!

 

[sirees01]

Gerber Ion X

I bought a Ion X in the UK last December and took install in January.
To be fair we have had a number of issues with the printer within the first 3-4 months mostly related to firmware gremlins.
Spandex (UK distributor) have been absolutely first class, nothing has been too much trouble. Other distributors in the UK could learn a thing or two in my experience.
The printer is now stable and printing beautifully after the latest upgrades & firmware update.
Very happy with the purchase, great value for money compared to other printers which cost considerably more.

Hope this helps.

Simon

 

[seaserpent]

I agree with all the above positive comments. A bit rough starting out, but running all day and then some every day and the process just gets better with every upgrade Gerber performs on the machine. I would not own any printer like this without a warranty. Just too risky with this technology. Ink cost is actually somewhere between 16 and 25 cents for the ion x model. Outdoor performance on the prints is excellent after one year. Hardly a visible difference in from the day our test samples went outside. Can't wait to get the z model to compliment this one.