HP designjet 5500 60" printer

[WB]

Anyone have any expirence with these? We are getting one in a couple days to replace our soon tobe retired Encad 850. The HP is slightly used with less then 1000 prints through it.. Thing is thats it's coming with no traing, kind of learn as you go deal.. So I'm interested in finding out about typical problems or daily/weekly maintenence that will have to be done.

Any help would be great
Thanks

 

[learned the hard way]

I have the 42" version with uv inks. I've had no major trouble with mine. It's very user friendly and almost maintenance-free. You can print with it every day or you can let it sit for weeks and the prints look just as good either way...no problems with dried ink clogging things up. I would love to have a solvent printer, but I wouldn't want to give this one up. It prints very fast...great printer for banner production and other jobs where speed is important. Post back when you get it...if you have any questions, I'll be glad to help any way I can.

 

[RobGF]

You'll love it.

No problems with preheat issues... no problems with air in the ink delivery system... no weird Encad head issues and having to wait on a replacement catridge. All in all a much superior printer to the 850/880 system that Encad had on the go a few years ago. Printer also has neat little bar codes it prints on media when unloading which identify what media and length remaining.

What you may not enjoy would be the more elaborate paper loading dance and media rejection if you're not perfectly lined up. The more elaborate paper feed curve also is a drag with really thick media that might be used for pop-up type applications.

It's faster. The prints are better. There are utilities to see how much ink a job used. Very little not to like when compared to the older Encad's. The print quality is even superior to the Encad 1000/1200 stuff that's out now.

Rob

 

[seaviewsigns]

what type of laminators are you guys using with the 5500 42/60? i'm looking into purchasing one (both printer and laminator)

 

[RobGF]

what type of laminators are you guys using with the 5500 42/60? i'm looking into purchasing one (both printer and laminator)

I currently use a GBC Titan (60") which can run hot if desired. The heat activated films really can save you a few dollars for digital work on paper. Prior to this, I had a 36" Falcon by GBC. The GBC Falcon 36 was 10 times the laminator the Titan is.

 

[learned the hard way]

I have been hand laminating...sometimes with pressure sensitive film laminate and sometimes with Clearjet. I simply don't have room in my current shop for a laminating machine. The big squeegee is looking like a good investment...everyone who has one raves about it. I've just got to decide what size I want and get around to ordering it.

 

[WB]

Thanks for the input guys,, printer should be here tomorrow or Friday..
We're also using a 60 Titan Laminator.. it's ok.. it has it's days, I'm having some problems with the display screen, but normally a good whack on the side fixes it, we were looking at the alrger GBC laminators for a replacement but went with a 60" liquid laminator instead..

 

[WB]

Well it's Here!!!.. arrived yesterday.. I spent the morning putting it together, had it printing after lunch.. NICE.. the quality is double that of our 850.. thing I find funny is the lower Max speed setting and the productivity one even.. the quality isn't that good, not really useable for to many things but I'm sure I'll find a place for it..

still haven't recieved out RIP software yet so we're just printing for Illustator.. which is a nice feature..

is there any daily/weekly maintanence I should be doing or is the printer pretty maintanence free??

 

[seaviewsigns]

glad to hear you're happy with the quality. i should be receiving my 42" early next week!! can't wait!!!

 

[RobGF]

I can't really comment on the various speed settings available from the front panel. We use a 3rd party rip which has allowed us to create our own settings for speed... For instance, the control over directions (bi or uni), number of passes, and carriage speed. These settings could be applied to profiles for various media types... A premium glossy paper might be at maximum passes and a slow carriage speed whereas a setup for crappy presentation paper might have half the passes and a much higher carriage speed.

These same controls were available to us when we had the Encad 880. The HP is in all ways providing a much superior output when you follow this path.

As for maintenance, just clean the thing on a regular basis. The machine is hardly as problematic as even the latest Encad printers (1000/1200i). No more air in the ink lines, no more priming and repriming, no more getting a cartridge replaced under warranty because it died at 100 ml of ink...

 

[WB]

we're going to be using ONXY Production House (if it ever gets here)
if it's naything like Poster Shop 6.5 that we're using on out Mimaki then I know what you mean about # of passes, carriage speed and directional printing. I didn't know the HP had those options.. good to know .Thanks

 

[RobGF]

we're going to be using ONXY Production House (if it ever gets here)
if it's naything like Poster Shop 6.5 that we're using on out Mimaki then I know what you mean about # of passes, carriage speed and directional printing. I didn't know the HP had those options.. good to know .Thanks

Curious about your call to go with Onyx... Most of the dealers in Atlantic Canada seem to push it but then again most of them consider shaded buttons a selling feature.

Anyway, I'm sure you'll love the HP compared to the Encad 8xx series unit you are using now. It's a much superior product to that generation Encad.

 

[WB]

We've been using ONXY since the start, we've always had dealer versions of the software this will be the 1st time we've gotten it directly form ONXY, so I'm looking forward to the added features like the cut software and creating our own Profiles, before with the version we have now we can only creat linerzations and grayscale profile and have been getting our ICC profile out of house.

 

[WB]

I have a question for all you guys with HP's out there.. right now I'm having trouble figuring out how to get the most out of my media.. say I have a 50" roll in and I have 2 posters that are 25"x70" how can I print them side by side? I'm used to just scrolling back the media and setting the RIP software to print beside the print. but the HP will only let you scroll back a small amount. I've read something about Nesting in the MAnual but can't seem to get it to work. I'm Using ONXY Production house 6.5 as a RIP

any help would be great

Thanks
Bill

 

[RobGF]

Can't you just change the printer settings to conserve media and set the gutter in the options from that same screen? For example, in PosterShop if you select your printer at the very top of your main screen you sould be able to select Change on the panel at the top right...

 

[WB]

Thanks I found it.. I was looking for Nesting not Conserve, never used this function before always did it manually.

Thanks..
going to try it right now

 

[Banners]

HP Designjet 5500UV Banner Media

Hello All,

I've been using an Encad Vinyljet 36 for banners and adhesive vinyl. I am really tired of the constant maintenance and ink heads going bad after a short time. I am very interested in purchasing an HP Designjet 5500UV Printer. Can someone please tell me if it will print directly onto un-coated vinyl like the Vinyljet does, or will I have to buy special coated media. Also, how long can I expect a banner to hold up outside un-laminated?

I realize a solvent printer would be my best bet, but I just don't have enough business for such a purchase.

Thanks in advance for the help.

Don
Banners Plus

 

[RobGF]

...I am very interested in purchasing an HP Designjet 5500UV Printer. Can someone please tell me if it will print directly onto un-coated vinyl like the Vinyljet does, or will I have to buy special coated media. Also, how long can I expect a banner to hold up outside un-laminated?

I realize a solvent printer would be my best bet, but I just don't have enough business for such a purchase.

The 5500 printers by HP require coated media. No matter what anyone tells you, these machines really are for indoor graphics or very short term outdoor. If you attempt to use this machine for outdoor graphics you will need to use the pigmented ink set and laminate everything. Can't tell you how long the prints would last in your area... probably so short an amount that time would actually move backward.

 

[Banners]

Thanks for the help RobGF.

I was afraid that was the case. I guess I'm stuck with my Vinyljet until I can afford a Solvent Printer. But at least now I can quit looking at the HP 5500UV.