How long can you let an Eco-Sol printer sit?

[czwalga]

I own www.lightningcornhole.com we make electronic scoring conhole boards. I bought a Mutoh Prismjet and a graphtec Vinyl cutter in a package deal. I've been using the vinyl cutter for about 6 months; haven't even turned on the prismjet for fear of ruining it. (It was used in good running condition then had the cleaning cartridges ran before I bought it).


I'm finally at the point where I would like to start printing orders mainly for cornhole board wraps... but I'm worried that I won't be doing enough printing to keep this thing running properly. I know there's a daily self clean, but i'm sure thats not good enough to just sit there for a week or two without anything happening. Would it be enough to just do a test print once a week, to waste very little vinyl?



The idea of selling the printer and outsourcing isn't a great idea either... the quotes i've received are more than what I can sell the wraps and custom work for. Not to mention the extra travel and logistics. Any suggestions?

 

[P Wagner]

Turn it on and run it ASAP!

Literally the worst thing you can do with any solvent printer is not print (assuming that inks are in the machine). After sitting six months in a powered off state I would expect that you will need to perform a series of cleanings and probably purges and hopefully you might be able to get it back into a production-ready state, without having to replace printheads etc. Good luck.

 

[J Hill Designs]

find a wholesale to the trade printer to outsource - if they are still priced more than you can sell the things for, you are TOO CHEAP

 

[czwalga]

Turn it on and run it ASAP!

Literally the worst thing you can do with any solvent printer is not print (assuming that inks are in the machine). After sitting six months in a powered off state I would expect that you will need to perform a series of cleanings and probably purges and hopefully you might be able to get it back into a production-ready state, without having to replace printheads etc. Good luck.

The inks are not in the machine. Am I still in bad shape?



Once I do turn it on and put ink in it... any recommendations. Would a weekly small job be enough along with the daily cleaning cycles?

 

[Gino]

If you printed out a sample sign on a Monday and one on a Thursday, you should be fine. Instead of wasting ink on cleaning, you'd be putting it to good use making shop samples for people to look at.

 

[P Wagner]

Does this mean that cleaning fluid was run through the machine prior to when you powered it down, or simply that the ink cartridges are not installed? If it's the latter, you are in for a lot of work to get the machine printing again.

 

[czwalga]

Does this mean that cleaning fluid was run through the machine prior to when you powered it down, or simply that the ink cartridges are not installed? If it's the latter, you are in for a lot of work to get the machine printing again.

I physically didn't see them run the cleaning fluid through the machine, but that's what they said they did. It was a sign shop that was upgrading to a larger printer, so while you can't fully trust someones word; they did seem to know what they were doing.

 

[k.a.s.]

A couple jobs a week should be fine, I don't print every day. I wouldn't let it go a whole week, but 3-4 days would work. As far as getting it back up and going, that could be a whole different story. Sitting for long periods of time are not good.

kevin

 

[P Wagner]

If the machine was properly shut down, and ink was purged before the printer was shutdown, you should be good for an indefinite period of time. When you decide to power it up. you'll need new cleaning carts and ink carts, and following an ink fill procedure (less than 1 hour), you should be good to go, depending on the condition of the heads.

 

[Billct2]

find a wholesale to the trade printer to outsource - if they are still priced more than you can sell the things for, you are TOO CHEAP

This, it's a lot less headache than dealing with a machine you will only use occasionally

 

[czwalga]

This, it's a lot less headache than dealing with a machine you will only use occasionally

Any more information on a wholesale trade printer? I've never heard of it.

 

[Billct2]

There are several on here as merchant members and lots more besides.

 

[czwalga]

Thanks! I'll look into it.