Hello! We are looking into getting somthing to upgrade over our Mutoh Value Jet 1604. Looking at the HP 25500. Any one have opinions/experience with this machine? After using the Value Jet for a few years, I know what I don't want. How well does this machine print for wraps? I'm hoping to get a little better stretch out of the vinyl with less fading, closer to a REAL Solvent. Also hoping for less head strikes on long runs, less maintnance as our Mutoh runs nearly 24/5. Also, speed comparison, I know it's much faster in production mode, but I don't know what the quality is in production mode compared to that of ValueJet running at 720 bidirectional. Things you like, don't like? Thank you!
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HP Design Jet L25500 Opinions?
- Thread starter RSofS
- Start date
Christian @ 2CT Media
Active Member
Love it, switched from 1304 and would never go back unless there is some major innovation in their new offerings.
Speed is very quick and quality is very good production mode, we run 600bidi 10 pass for 99% of our jobs and its the best trade-off of speed for quality in our opinion.
Things I don't like are that its a furnace, and our 115 degree summers are hot enough as it is. Also the take up system leaves much to be desired.
Speed is very quick and quality is very good production mode, we run 600bidi 10 pass for 99% of our jobs and its the best trade-off of speed for quality in our opinion.
Things I don't like are that its a furnace, and our 115 degree summers are hot enough as it is. Also the take up system leaves much to be desired.
Christian @ 2CT Media
Active Member
There is no smell... I've never smelt anything and I've run vinyl through at 230 degrees.
The take up system is just not right, it has temperamental alignment issues if you aren't using the exact size of core and perfect positioning. Also sometimes if you forget to set the printer into take up mode it will stop taking up 45ft or so into your print.
The take up system is just not right, it has temperamental alignment issues if you aren't using the exact size of core and perfect positioning. Also sometimes if you forget to set the printer into take up mode it will stop taking up 45ft or so into your print.
IndyAutoGraphics
New Member
Love it. It's fast, great prints and you can go straight to the laminator.
2CT, what kind of vinyl are you running. I really like my L25500, and it prints beautifully on a variety of Oracal vinyl, but yeah the smell is rough on us. Let me know...who knows, it might make a difference.
As for recommending the machine, I can only tell you it's great for us. No wraps here....essentially we have it for use as a machine to complement our little aqueous army (yes, also HP) when we need prints that need added durability etc.
As for recommending the machine, I can only tell you it's great for us. No wraps here....essentially we have it for use as a machine to complement our little aqueous army (yes, also HP) when we need prints that need added durability etc.
Christian @ 2CT Media
Active Member
We run 5000 - 10000 sqft of Oracal 3604G a month, We also run 2000+ sq ft of Fellers PopUp, and a few 1000 sq ft of UltraFlew Jet Flex FL and never a hint of smell. Either your noses are super sensitive or mine is broken..
Signvertise
New Member
We have two 60" L25500s and love them! We have had some challenges with a few types of media that we used to print with solvent ink (like 9 and 12 mil PVC), but I would never go back to solvent ink.
bigben
New Member
What do you use for the 9 and 12 mil pvc? What where the problems you had and how did you resolve it?
My experience is mixed, due in large part to Onyx 10.
There is now an update which we've yet to install (waiting for it to slow a bit to perform this update).
The take up system is pretty flimsy. Worse, it will abort a print if problems are detected in the takeup. Cores tend to spin freely on the crappy core plugs, which in turn aborts after so many seconds of the motor turning and no material being taken up (sensed by an electronic eye). A member here helped out with a trick of putting rubber bands on the plugs so they grip the core tighter.
The loading system is just awkward. Nothing really specific to note... just awkward.
We do quite a few wraps, and have now done about 7. Most of which involve short term race wraps (Funnycars, dragsters, indycars). We use Avery 1005 EZ for most wraps, and our guys tell us that it tends to seem a little more aggressive than solvent prints. We're thinking maybe the heat is affecting the ez texture in the wrap. So we're still adjusting heat settings. I have nothing long term yet (We have had this machine since January). It does stretch/wrap similar to solvent prints. (It doesn't crack or anything goofy. We actually purposefully stretch sample prints to test this prior to purchasing as well).
I've noticed some slight waviness/warping with backlit film materials, using the proper profiles. We don't have enough experience with films, and heat settings playing on it yet.
We haven't had alot of success printing on metallics.
From the get-go, we had issues with print errors due to onyx. So we've been baby stepping this thing quite a bit, relying more on our tried and true jv-33. The goal is to become more dependent on the hp.
At 600 10p, we get about 5"/min print speed. As stated earlier, this is more than enough quality and speed for wraps for us.
There is now an update which we've yet to install (waiting for it to slow a bit to perform this update).
The take up system is pretty flimsy. Worse, it will abort a print if problems are detected in the takeup. Cores tend to spin freely on the crappy core plugs, which in turn aborts after so many seconds of the motor turning and no material being taken up (sensed by an electronic eye). A member here helped out with a trick of putting rubber bands on the plugs so they grip the core tighter.
The loading system is just awkward. Nothing really specific to note... just awkward.
We do quite a few wraps, and have now done about 7. Most of which involve short term race wraps (Funnycars, dragsters, indycars). We use Avery 1005 EZ for most wraps, and our guys tell us that it tends to seem a little more aggressive than solvent prints. We're thinking maybe the heat is affecting the ez texture in the wrap. So we're still adjusting heat settings. I have nothing long term yet (We have had this machine since January). It does stretch/wrap similar to solvent prints. (It doesn't crack or anything goofy. We actually purposefully stretch sample prints to test this prior to purchasing as well).
I've noticed some slight waviness/warping with backlit film materials, using the proper profiles. We don't have enough experience with films, and heat settings playing on it yet.
We haven't had alot of success printing on metallics.
From the get-go, we had issues with print errors due to onyx. So we've been baby stepping this thing quite a bit, relying more on our tried and true jv-33. The goal is to become more dependent on the hp.
At 600 10p, we get about 5"/min print speed. As stated earlier, this is more than enough quality and speed for wraps for us.
Signvertise
New Member
We started using polyester and polypropylene films - PPM7 and a house brand for the polyester from Advantage Sign Supply. As for the problems - the heat would warp the films and we were getting head scrapes and full crashes (didn't take long to decide I didn't want to work too hard to try to make the films work after a lost a head in a crash). We also had some cheap 13 oz gloss scrim simply fall apart within one day after delivering to the client. In my very un-scientific opinion, the heat "damaged" the media, causing it to become brittle. Anyone else have that problem?
Brandon708
New Member
How does this printer do with the 3M 180c vinyl?
HulkSmash
New Member
as good as any other printer
Christian @ 2CT Media
Active Member
It works great with 180C(v3)... + latex makes installing easier in my opinion.