Help choosing a second printer

[XtremeXccessories]

We'll still throw heavy coverage prints on our dryer/fan set up overnight and laminate next day, but haven't seen any shrinkage/offgas-related issues at all.

What does your dryer setup look like? We've only ever had HP Latex so haven't had to deal with extra drying, but our 360 is getting about seven years old so we're looking at replacements.

 

[Bxtr]

Right now we're very interested in the Epson 80600L. If anyone has one I'd love to hear about your overall experiance with it. The 60600 was also taken into consideration.

I'd also like to know specifically what is the dry time like with darker colored prints? What the exhaust is like and maintenance/upkeep?

Hello Richard,

We purchased an 80600L last year and just got our 2nd in last week. The colors are amazing! We replaced our 60600s which were great! We did steal the dryers off of the 60600s, we noticed when printing heavy saturation on banners it was still tacky and that took care of it. So if you buy one, spend the additional money on the dryer. It's crazy how far the bulk ink lasts compared to the cartridges, I bought two full sets of ink and it was 2-3 months before changing 1 out. The white ink isn't super opaque but it works nicely on clear vinyls when needed. The maintenance is minimal, it takes care of the daily, so it's only the weekly that you need to do. You also need to buy a maintenance kit every 6 months or so and change out 4 parts, which also takes very little time. We have ours in their own room which is vented so I can't speak too much to the smell. In the room itself it can start to smell if we are printing high saturation prints.

With our last two Epsons we had a tech out maybe 5 times total on both printers, we did purchase the extended warranties on both. They also had an ink rewards program at the time which you could extend the warranty with, which they unfortunately cancelled. Before they hit that 5-6 year age, I would start getting a replacement plan in place. We had the same sensor go out on the 60600s it would've been almost $3k to fix, we pumped money into fixing our Mimakis we had before Epson and never got the return of investment out of it.

Let me know if you have any other questions.

 

[coltonwanderson]

I'm a tech that works on both Rolands and a lot of Epsons. Both the SG3/VG3 and the S-series printers tend to be workhorses. Roland warranty is significantly better then Epsons, especially if you have a Reputable Roland dealer near you. Epson's warranty is only for a year, and not as many people work on the Epsons, Epsons service is hit or miss. The S series can have a few different types of head issues, but usually the machine is at least a few years old before those crop up. The VG3s I've honestly yet to see any real issues with.

As for the pros and cons, I always tell people that if you're looking for high volume, the S60 is definitely the way to go, you won't get a faster workflow then that. But if you don't need that kind of speed, the SG/VG3s are super user friendly, and the ability to print and cut is a nice advantage.

The S40 tends to not be worth it unless you need a more budget friendly option, and the S80 I'd only recommend if the extended gamut is really important to you.