Here we go again.. The true test for the LX850 year 2 .

[National Sign Co. - Print]

Our favorite annual project about to kick in full steam. Year #7 for this. 2nd year on the LX 850.

2011 was 705,000s/f non stop 24/7 and the machine did perform as expected. Now for 2012 this project is a little over 900,000 s/f . Machine already has 1.3million s/f on it and about to run 24/7 once again. I do have my reservations on if LX will survive the mission...

1900 hours of print time or 80 days non stop, 750 rolls of media, 2300 liters of ink, 190+ heads.

Should be interesting to say the least. Guess we will really see if this is a true production machine.

Keep you all posted on the good, bad and hopefully not ugly...

 

[FatCat]

Lol, man what a job. When you have to start figuring in how many heads you have to replace during the run length - that's a BIG job!!!

Good luck to you guys.

 

[GB2]

Yea but I bet it smells a lot better in your shop using the LX 850!

 

[National Sign Co. - Print]

Yea but I bet it smells a lot better in your shop using the LX 850!

Nope smells the same still have every other machine also and a couple new UV's. We still run the big solvents all day everyday..

 

[Jack Knight1979]

Mike,

That's insane. What I would do some some solid work like that. Need a kidney?

 

[HulkSmash]

Our favorite annual project about to kick in full steam. Year #7 for this. 2nd year on the LX 850.

2011 was 705,000s/f non stop 24/7 and the machine did perform as expected. Now for 2012 this project is a little over 900,000 s/f . Machine already has 1.3million s/f on it and about to run 24/7 once again. I do have my reservations on if LX will survive the mission...

1900 hours of print time or 80 days non stop, 750 rolls of media, 2300 liters of ink, 190+ heads.

Should be interesting to say the least. Guess we will really see if this is a true production machine.

Keep you all posted on the good, bad and hopefully not ugly...

Mike,.... you should share that job.. WITH ME.

hope all goes well man.

 

[ProColorGraphics]

Mike,

That's insane. What I would do some some solid work like that. Need a kidney?

Tell me about it!! I'd just take 1/10 of that!

 

[Jack Knight1979]

What's the head life on this machine? How many heads does it have and what's the cost of the heads?

 

[bigben]

Damn! That's a job! is it all on the same material?

 

[National Sign Co. - Print]

Yes this is the 7th year we will be doing this project. Each year it grows about 20%.

first 3 were done solvent
next 2 UV curable
last year Latex
this year Latex

Next year who knows???

Heads on the machine last about 12 liters per color and then they start to wear out. No biggy the heads are figured into our ink costs. We usually replace full set of heads once a week.

I just question if that big plastic printer is up for the production and will hold up... We do have back up machine but that is used on day to day production so worst case we will use that.

Whole project is produced on the same media. It is a custom mfg. canvas like media with a juvenile grade poly coating. 48" x 450' rolls

 

[10sacer]

12 liters per color sure seems like a low number to require replacement.

 

[National Sign Co. - Print]

12 liters per color sure seems like a low number to require replacement.

That is spec.. They go out of warranty after 12 liters (24 per head) as they run 2 colors per head. After that they just diminish in print quality quick. Latex heads are disposable and factored in operating cost so it is what it is.

 

[ProColorGraphics]

You get new heads, new head print quality once a week AND you can install them yourself! I definitely love my latex! Even if it is just the baby brother of your machine.

 

[10sacer]

I don't know nuthin' 'bout birthin' no latex... so how difficult is it to change heads and re-register them? Once changed, do you have to re-linearize or recalibrate for color fidelity?

 

[signswi]

They cost almost nothing and you can change them out in 2 minutes. 20 seconds to pop out the old one and pop in the new one, 1m40s while it realigns the heads automatically. No screws, nothing to mess with. A 2-year old could do it.

Merritt thanks for those numbers, interesting to hear what a big production shop is doing with these things. Look forward to the updates!

 

[jasonx]

Merritt: Do you guys have a video tour of your plant? I'd love to see it to etch it into my dreams.

 

[National Sign Co. - Print]

Merritt: Do you guys have a video tour of your plant? I'd love to see it to etch it into my dreams.

Sorry nothing yet...

For the record our success and growth is not about the plant or the print presses it is about the people and culture here. I am fortunate enough to have the best most talented and dedicated crew in the industry.

They make it happen...

 

[Turtle]

If you get anymore printers you will need to take over the front lobby....

 

[ForgeInc]

How's this beast coming?

 

[ProWraps]

i concur. how is the beast running. we are thinking about upgrading to one ourselves.

any issues with maintenance and/or maintenance costs?

i know chris from azpro has one i think, maybe he can chime in?

 

[jkdbjj]

Our favorite annual project about to kick in full steam. Year #7 for this. 2nd year on the LX 850.

2011 was 705,000s/f non stop 24/7 and the machine did perform as expected. Now for 2012 this project is a little over 900,000 s/f . Machine already has 1.3million s/f on it and about to run 24/7 once again. I do have my reservations on if LX will survive the mission...

1900 hours of print time or 80 days non stop, 750 rolls of media, 2300 liters of ink, 190+ heads.

Should be interesting to say the least. Guess we will really see if this is a true production machine.

Keep you all posted on the good, bad and hopefully not ugly...

Pfft... Showoff, I just printed a sticker today :U Rock:

On a serious note, that is just awesome!

 

[National Sign Co. - Print]

Production running pretty smooth. About 120 rolls into it. Then Tuesday it happened we went down HARD.. No one had any idea what the problem was.
Machine keep shutting off and would not print in registered at all would not allow us to calibrate or anything.. No sweat we will continue running on our backup LX. No luck there either since it was backed up running backlits for a national Vonage rollout campaign that had no wiggle room in deadline and 20 hours to finish and make the deadline. Since we have taken our LightJet out of productin a few months ago we print all backlits on a LX.

Turns out the entire encoder assembly and servo engine decided to call it quits. We had to rebuild the encoder assembly and replace servo engine. HP specialist was here Wed AM to make sure machine was stable. All is good now...

Found out yesterday someone had a lightly used LX600 for sale at pennies on the dollar and had to sell it. No brainer there so an LX600 will be here next week.

I still have major reservations if the LX850 dedicated to this project will survive without major issues. I must say HP support and the Latex specialist were on point which was a pleasant surprise.