how much would you pay for a SC500?

[bigben]

Hi folks,

a friend of mine is selling his Roland sc500. The printer is in perfect condition, have an extra heater an use ecosolmax ink. The heads have been changed about 2 months ago. I've try it today to print on 3M reflective film and the quality was good enough.

First question: how much would you pay for the printer?
Second question: I did not check, but does this printer have the optical reader for crop marks (for print, lam then cut).
Tird question: Is it a good ''first'' printer?

Thanks for your help.

Ben

 

[jessew1987]

Our company has a very similar printer. We have the SC 540, now I'm not sure how different it is. I've only been working for this company for 3 weeks, but the 540 has the optical reader and it's a very good easy to use printer from what I can tell. A printer tech was by doing maintenance on it and said that he could sell it for about $5000-$8000 (We're thinking about upgrading). We also have 2 heads getting ready to be replaced and some strip thing that needs to be replaced. About $3000 worth of repairs. I don't know how much this will help because it is the 540, not the 500.

 

[FatCat]

Older Roland printers like the SC 500 hold their value pretty well, especially since there are still people out there making money with them. While the SC 500 was considered a solvent printer, it was actually a modified CJ-500. it didn't come with any heaters originally - Roland later offered a heater kit for these.

I've seen some of these older printers fetch serious money on ebay etc. but realistically they are old technology. Parts like boards and major mechanicals are getting harder to find because Roland doesn't like these older units competing with new printer sales. Also you have to realize that they are VERY slow compared to current printers - even an old SP-540 would run circles around an SC 500.

However, that said if the printer is producing good prints and will do what you want it to do it might be a good first printer to tinker with.

 

[sfr table hockey]

Well I just finished the conversion over to an eco sol ink on my CJ500 and I made my own heater plates. I am thrilled with how this unit is working. If you already have heaters and it's working good then to be in the $4000 to $6000 CND would not be out of the question. As of late some have gone as low as $2000 to $3000 but to get one shipped is close to $1000 to $1200 and they still have to be converted.

The best of all is when you want to repace a print head. Ours can be got for about $150.00 each USD which beats the heck out of the $800 plus for the newer units. Also we can work on these units by your self ( if you have a bit of time to learn and are some what mechanically inclined ). These units print great and cut, but yes they are slow. If you don't have anything to refer to speed wise then you won't find that the slower speed is a problem. It might take 20 min to 30 min to print off 6-8 sq ft but thats at a fairly good quality. If you are looking for a starter unit to get your feet wet these are the units.

 

[bigben]

ok, so here is the deal he's offer: The printer sc500 (with the details of my first post), and aournd 1000$-1200$ CND of different rolls of vinyls, banners, backlid, window perf, etc. He offer me to deliver the printer with is cube truck (so shipping inclued). Asking price: 7000$ for the whole thing.

What do you think?

Should I ask for a roland tech to check it out and calibrate it?

Thanks again for your help.

Ben

 

[bigben]

oh! does someone can confirm me that it have the ''optical registration system''?

Thanks.

 

[Stan B]

long time ago,
my sc500 did not have optical. I heard rumors that it does - but it did not.

regardless of it's printing capabilities - it is not a bad 54" wide "stand alone" cutter - that's why it will always worth $3k+

if you can make it print, and add heaters - your prints will be same high quality as newest printers that cost thousands more.

sacrifice? - speed.

 

[schurms]

There's a lot of cheap printers out there. i would get something that you can get profiles for. I would think in the longrun that would be a better plan.

 

[digitalsolutionsok]

The SC doesnt have optical sensor on cutter head, nor do any of the roland units prior to the SC model.

You can still print cropmarks take out laminate and then put back in and instead of automatically reading those marks you align your cutter head on top of those marks. If you look on the control panel of the sc, cj like table hockey has there is a button called base point and align point.

Basically you line up the first mark as your base point then you have 3 more marks on the print that you set as alignpoint's once done you send the cut job and it cuts.

My opinion the old way it takes more time to setup but works better cut registration is more on point especially longer runs anything over 4ft. long.

The new way trys to compensate the print for loading crucked by using optical eye it doesnt work all the time and wont be as effective as the manual way of alignment.

The SC you are referring to is well worth 7k, Like stan said if you buy a front dryer unit and takeup unit you will be printing with the same speed and quality as the newer machines.

In this market I find if you take advantage of the printers that are already out there you can save 10k or so and be in production for alot less and have a lot bigger smile on your face.

Be aware of functions of the printer though you were asking if a roland tech. needs to look at printer. If you havent seen it print you might want to atleast get a sample print or a test print so that you can be for sure of printing functions.

It all depends how long it set without printing or if it was maintained well??

 

[digitalsolutionsok]

One other thing, profiles exist for this printer in droobs it has some good profiles out there you will probably be running color rip with this model it is basically a wasatch type of RIP and works well.

If there are alot cheaper units out there that do what the SC does like Schurm states. Please be more specific Schurm....

SC-500 Print/cut 54" 6 color printer that prints 1440x720 at a production speed around 280sq.ft. per hour.

I am thinking and cant come up with anything used,new of that type for 7-8k delivered?

Dude you got a ROLAND!

 

[Stan B]

digitalsolutionsok - my personal opinion, you are greatly mistaken about it's speed. It is very slow.

also I found profiles hard to find. I ended up printing everything in Gloss White profile (adjust speed / resolution) with good results

 

[digitalsolutionsok]

I said it wrong production speed is about 160sqft. hr. but you can run billboard mode on that printer and run it up to 300sqft. hr.

Sorry bout the mistype just got going to fast..... see what happens when you compensate speed for quality LOL

Profiles exist for that printer I have a list of atleast 30 profiles, there again they are canned profiles so you get what you are given.

Give me the SC-500 w/ onyx production house and a eye-one spectro. and I guarantee I can profile that printer and have profiled that printer to the T...

Another option with the SC is you can buy a serial keyed version of Versaworks and get good generic profiles with the newest roland RIP ...

Nice catch Stan

 

[bigben]

If I laminate 95% of my printing, does the lack of having the optical reader will be a problem?

I've tought of changing my CX-500 cutter with a FC8000, but again buying both of them will comme to the same price of buying a used sp-540.

I'm so confused...

 

[digitalsolutionsok]

Why would you need a cutter if you buy a print/cut machine?

 

[bigben]

Why would you need a cutter if you buy a print/cut machine?

because it does not have the optical registration mark detection. Or if you can tell me how could I print, laminate then contour cut without it or ''manualy''.

 

[sfr table hockey]

On my CJ 500 the manual says there is an automatic registration mark setting. It says you just need to re load the material after lamination on the same roller area and line the cutter head to the approximate line of where the registration marks are and it will do it automatically from there. So the SC 500 must have it as well.

For print speed here is the specs.
This is sf/hr
Draft bi 180dpi 95
uni 180dpi 67
Fast bi 360dpi 52
uni 360dpi 37
Normal bi 360dpi 29
uni 360dpi 19
Fine2 bi 540dpi 27
uni 540dpi 17
Fine bi 720 dpi 27
uni 720dpi 19
Super bi 720dpi 17
uni 720dpi 11
Photo bi 1440dpi 8
uni 1440dpi 5

If you can see it work and view the test prints thats the basic. Most will need to be alligned but with a service manual you can do that.

Make sure the material you are getting is not over valued but if you still get the unit for $6000 CND to your door you are in better shape than I was. I was just under that to get the CJ and I still had to do the changeover and make heat plates then clean and replace parts to go eco solvent. If you stay with roland inks then you will have no issues with profiles but if you go with other inks you might need a newer rip that accepts custom made profiles. Color choice 4.5 is what you will have to run it and its ok to get things printed and cut but you need something like Illustrator to do your layout and set cut lines etc.

Be prepared to have a couple print heads on hand and dampers and wiper blades. You might need cutter blades and a cut off blades unless ha had spares.

I don't think you can use versa works on these older units but watsach and flexi support them.


If you want to call me to go over things let me know.

 

[bigben]

On my CJ 500 the manual says there is an automatic registration mark setting. It says you just need to re load the material after lamination on the same roller area and line the cutter head to the approximate line of where the registration marks are and it will do it automatically from there. So the SC 500 must have it as well.

For print speed here is the specs.
This is sf/hr
Draft bi 180dpi 95
uni 180dpi 67
Fast bi 360dpi 52
uni 360dpi 37
Normal bi 360dpi 29
uni 360dpi 19
Fine2 bi 540dpi 27
uni 540dpi 17
Fine bi 720 dpi 27
uni 720dpi 19
Super bi 720dpi 17
uni 720dpi 11
Photo bi 1440dpi 8
uni 1440dpi 5

If you can see it work and view the test prints thats the basic. Most will need to be alligned but with a service manual you can do that.

Make sure the material you are getting is not over valued but if you still get the unit for $6000 CND to your door you are in better shape than I was. I was just under that to get the CJ and I still had to do the changeover and make heat plates then clean and replace parts to go eco solvent. If you stay with roland inks then you will have no issues with profiles but if you go with other inks you might need a newer rip that accepts custom made profiles. Color choice 4.5 is what you will have to run it and its ok to get things printed and cut but you need something like Illustrator to do your layout and set cut lines etc.

Be prepared to have a couple print heads on hand and dampers and wiper blades. You might need cutter blades and a cut off blades unless ha had spares.

I don't think you can use versa works on these older units but watsach and flexi support them.


If you want to call me to go over things let me know.

Wow! thanks for all the infos!!!

For the test print, I've done some small stickers printed on 3M reflective film. Everythings went fine, but there is small banding in the print. So maybe just an alignment job. If I can find the service manual, I will do it by myself.

For the price of materials, there is around 10-15 rolls of materials. In this, there is a full roll of window perf, 22oz banner, wall paper, 3951 oracal, 3551 oracal and more. So I realy think it worth 1000$-1200$.

As for using original ink, yes it does and yes I will.

For using Illustrator, I work with this software everyday + flexisign pro 8.1 with my roland cutter. In the past I've outsourced all my prints. But now I have a chance to do it myself. So I think it will be better to update the vesawork (or colorchoice).

My biggest consern is speed and optical registration mark. I gest I will need to make some test before the purchase.

thanks again and don't stop this tread, I still want opinions and technical details.

 

[sfr table hockey]

In your regular menu if you go about 6 places down you should hit the crop mark area to enable or disable it. You can also see a black bump under the cutter head carriage where the sensor is. Again I would think the SC 500 would be identical. Back to the speed issue, if you do a large volume of printing then yes the speed will be a bit of an issue, but if you are doing that much volume, it won't take long to build up the funds to buy a faster unit later. For starters you will love the lower priced parts and would be a great way to see how much volume you can do.

Again I am fairly sure that you can not use versaworks on our units, but if you know illustrator then color choice 4.5 will be all you need as long as you can use profiles that are in it for the media you wish to use.

 

[digitalsolutionsok]

Lets get it clear the CJ, and SC have a crop mark sensor. It doesnt have auto registration sensor"

Hey Table you ever done a print/lam/cut on your CJ , if you have you know you have to set base point on first crop mark then hit align point the cutter head goes over and finds the next three marks. This is crop mark sensing not auto registration which compensates for loading media cruked.

The SC is a totally different printer than the CJ. The SC uses epson DX4 heads and 6 of them not like the CJ's DX3 head and uses 2 of them. The SC can be fitted with rolands new pump that is outstanding were as the CJ cant. The SC has 2 wipers were the CJ has 1. The SC has 6 captops were as the CJ has 2.

SC's surpasses the CJ in speed and quality.... Hey ben if you want the user manual and the service manual I can give those to you just PM me.

 

[sfr table hockey]

Lets get it clear the CJ, and SC have a crop mark sensor. It doesnt have auto registration sensor"

Hey Table you ever done a print/lam/cut on your CJ , if you have you know you have to set base point on first crop mark then hit align point the cutter head goes over and finds the next three marks. This is crop mark sensing not auto registration which compensates for loading media cruked.

The SC is a totally different printer than the CJ. The SC uses epson DX4 heads and 6 of them not like the CJ's DX3 head and uses 2 of them. The SC can be fitted with rolands new pump that is outstanding were as the CJ cant. The SC has 2 wipers were the CJ has 1. The SC has 6 captops were as the CJ has 2.

SC's surpasses the CJ in speed and quality.... Hey ben if you want the user manual and the service manual I can give those to you just PM me.

We might be talking two different units. The SC500 and CJ500 are the same units, just the SC had some solvent parts to allow the ink change to solvent. There is even a switch on the main board to go from a CJ 500 or to a SC 500. Also the first SC 500 units did not have heaters and did not print on vary many medias. Then when the heater kit came in it opened the door to way more medias but by then the next versions were being released and the SC500 fell by the wayside.

By any chance are you thinking SC 545??? Our SC 500 and CJ 500 use epson 3000 print heads and only two of them. I think the version after the SC 500 was much faster and got into a different print head and more of them.