Head Life

[V-P]

Got some question :

1. What is an average in Print Head usage ?
2. How do you measure it up (ml or m2) ?
3. Which company is best known for long life print-heads and less banding ?
4. Is "waving technology" at Mutoh really smth or it is more marketing ?

thnx

 

[FatCat]

Got some question :

1. What is an average in Print Head usage ?
2. How do you measure it up (ml or m2) ?
3. Which company is best known for long life print-heads and less banding ?
4. Is "waving technology" at Mutoh really smth or it is more marketing ?

thnx

1. No such thing as average. Too many variables involved based on printer type, shop size, type/size of things being printed, etc. A large dedicated wrap shop may print 10-16 hours a day while a small 1 man shop might be lucky to print 1-2 hours per day on average

2. I'm assuming you're trying to figure out ink usage - my advice, give up. Unless you're doing contract work where you're constantly printing the same thing over and over, you'll see that ink used, and amount used will change like the weather. One week you might do a lot of jobs that require yellow, the next blue and black are disappearing at an alarming rate. Heavy/light coverage will also affect your ink usage.

3. If you're talking 30" - 64" solvent/eco-solvent, (Mimaki, Mutoh, Roland, etc.) realize almost all of those print heads are made by Epson. Epson Dx2, Epson Dx4, and Dx5 which I believe is the newest. Difference between them is the size of drop they produce. Head life is directly related to age, cleanliness, condition of printer and ink lines/drain lines and how hard they are abused (head strikes, poor maintenance, etc.) The head on my Mutoh is 2 years old and prints a perfect test print with no nozzles missing. I keep my machine immaculate and keep it running to keep the ink flowing. An idle solvent/eco solvent printer tend to start drying up and you'll begin having problems with things clogging, etc.

-Banding most often is a problem related to the feed rate of the media going into the printer. Sometimes a material is thicker/thinner or has a rougher/smoother texture which causes it to feed through the machine un-evenly. These small gaps or overlaps are called banding. You need to calibrate your machine to the different materials you print as some will feed faster and some will feed slower. The controls on your printer can compensate for this. You can also get banding from an improperly firing print head when you have nozzles missing, ink starvation etc.

4. "Wave" printing from Mutoh is actually pretty cool. Yes, you can still get banding, but it is typically less noticeable because the banding is in a wave and not in a straight line. Again, adjusting your material feed rate can eliminate banding.

 

[V-P]

I liked your description but still there must be some standards.
If not how do you know if your actual print head did perform well or not.
In pigment printing I know that a printhead will last for at least 2.4 km2 print which is roughly 240.000 sq feet

 

[rushworks graphics]

1. No such thing as average. Too many variables involved based on printer type, shop size, type/size of things being printed, etc. A large dedicated wrap shop may print 10-16 hours a day while a small 1 man shop might be lucky to print 1-2 hours per day on average

2. I'm assuming you're trying to figure out ink usage - my advice, give up. Unless you're doing contract work where you're constantly printing the same thing over and over, you'll see that ink used, and amount used will change like the weather. One week you might do a lot of jobs that require yellow, the next blue and black are disappearing at an alarming rate. Heavy/light coverage will also affect your ink usage.

3. If you're talking 30" - 64" solvent/eco-solvent, (Mimaki, Mutoh, Roland, etc.) realize almost all of those print heads are made by Epson. Epson Dx2, Epson Dx4, and Dx5 which I believe is the newest. Difference between them is the size of drop they produce. Head life is directly related to age, cleanliness, condition of printer and ink lines/drain lines and how hard they are abused (head strikes, poor maintenance, etc.) The head on my Mutoh is 2 years old and prints a perfect test print with no nozzles missing. I keep my machine immaculate and keep it running to keep the ink flowing. An idle solvent/eco solvent printer tend to start drying up and you'll begin having problems with things clogging, etc.

-Banding most often is a problem related to the feed rate of the media going into the printer. Sometimes a material is thicker/thinner or has a rougher/smoother texture which causes it to feed through the machine un-evenly. These small gaps or overlaps are called banding. You need to calibrate your machine to the different materials you print as some will feed faster and some will feed slower. The controls on your printer can compensate for this. You can also get banding from an improperly firing print head when you have nozzles missing, ink starvation etc.

4. "Wave" printing from Mutoh is actually pretty cool. Yes, you can still get banding, but it is typically less noticeable because the banding is in a wave and not in a straight line. Again, adjusting your material feed rate can eliminate banding.

an excellent discription/answer.

 

[wildside]

I liked your description but still there must be some standards.
If not how do you know if your actual print head did perform well or not.
In pigment printing I know that a printhead will last for at least 2.4 km2 print which is roughly 240.000 sq feet

he gave a great answer and you are missing it apparently.

printheads have alot of variables, some come from the factory bad, some last 10 years

i can buy two brand new mowers, how long will the blade stay sharp? ones a john deere the other a hustler, is there a standard for that? depends on how many rocks, manholes, etc you run into or over.........

 

[Stealth Ryder]

1. No such thing as average. Too many variables involved based on printer type, shop size, type/size of things being printed, etc. A large dedicated wrap shop may print 10-16 hours a day while a small 1 man shop might be lucky to print 1-2 hours per day on average

2. I'm assuming you're trying to figure out ink usage - my advice, give up. Unless you're doing contract work where you're constantly printing the same thing over and over, you'll see that ink used, and amount used will change like the weather. One week you might do a lot of jobs that require yellow, the next blue and black are disappearing at an alarming rate. Heavy/light coverage will also affect your ink usage.

3. If you're talking 30" - 64" solvent/eco-solvent, (Mimaki, Mutoh, Roland, etc.) realize almost all of those print heads are made by Epson. Epson Dx2, Epson Dx4, and Dx5 which I believe is the newest. Difference between them is the size of drop they produce. Head life is directly related to age, cleanliness, condition of printer and ink lines/drain lines and how hard they are abused (head strikes, poor maintenance, etc.) The head on my Mutoh is 2 years old and prints a perfect test print with no nozzles missing. I keep my machine immaculate and keep it running to keep the ink flowing. An idle solvent/eco solvent printer tend to start drying up and you'll begin having problems with things clogging, etc.

-Banding most often is a problem related to the feed rate of the media going into the printer. Sometimes a material is thicker/thinner or has a rougher/smoother texture which causes it to feed through the machine un-evenly. These small gaps or overlaps are called banding. You need to calibrate your machine to the different materials you print as some will feed faster and some will feed slower. The controls on your printer can compensate for this. You can also get banding from an improperly firing print head when you have nozzles missing, ink starvation etc.

4. "Wave" printing from Mutoh is actually pretty cool. Yes, you can still get banding, but it is typically less noticeable because the banding is in a wave and not in a straight line. Again, adjusting your material feed rate can eliminate banding.

 

[MikePro]

Printheads typically wear out after a couple billion fires. It's like asking how long until the trackball on ur mouse wears out. Just keep a close eye on your test prints, take care of ur printer, and you'll get at least a couple years of use before having to worry about replacement