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HP L360 Vehicle Wraps

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dan1942

New Member
We are in the market for a new machine and we currently have a Roland. I wanted to know if Latex is the way to go for vehicle wraps ? I spoke with a HP Sales Rep and he stated that solvent is still better for wraps. Is there anyone on here using the new L360 for wraps ? Is there issues with over stretching with the latex inks, and problems with the vinyl getting to much heat from the printing process making it loose some of its reposition characteristics? I know with the previous generations there was a lot of Wrap shops making the switch to latex saying that it was the way to go but have not been able to see anything on the new generation of HP's
Thanks for the help!!
 
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tylercrum

New Member
Been using the old school l25500 for 4.5 years now for wraps, no problems at all. Had a mimaki before that I'd take a broken HP over a working mimaki any day.
Talk to prowraps, he's been using latex for years as well. He had the l25500's, then upgraded, now he's upgrading again. He's running 3 of them.
Go latex and never look back.
 
danno

danno

New Member
We have a L26500 and a LX800. We prefer our HP9000, solvent printers, over the latex. When stretching around complex curves, the ink color stays more consistent. For the flatter not so complex items, latex has been fine.
 
P Wagner

P Wagner

--
dan1942 said:
We are in the market for a new machine and we currently have a Roland. I wanted to know if Latex is the way to go for vehicle wraps ? I spoke with a HP Sales Rep and he stated that solvent is still better for wraps. Is there anyone on here using the new L360 for wraps ? Is there issues with over stretching with the latex inks, and problems with the vinyl getting to much heat from the printing process making it loose some of its reposition characteristics? I know with the previous generations there was a lot of Wrap shops making the switch to latex saying that it was the way to go but have not been able to see anything on the new generation of HP's
Thanks for the help!!
Click to expand...

I would be very surprised to hear someone who works for HP say that solvent is in any way superior to HP Latex for any wrap applications. Both ink chemistries are very solid choices when printing onto cast and calendared pvc vinyl media. However, several manufacturers have more recently introduced non-pvc cast wrap films (3M, Oracal, Hexis to name three) that are all recommended for HP Latex ink and do not adhere well with eco-solvent ink sets. I am most familiar with the 3M film, called Envision IJ480C, and it offers significantly more stretchability than their pvc-based IJ180c film.
 
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AF

New Member
Castek Resources said:
I would be very surprised to hear someone who works for HP say that solvent is in any way superior to HP Latex for any wrap applications. Both ink chemistries are very solid choices when printing onto cast and calendared pvc vinyl media. However, several manufacturers have more recently introduced non-pvc cast wrap films (3M, Oracal, Hexis to name three) that are all recommended for HP Latex ink and do not adhere well with eco-solvent ink sets. I am most familiar with the 3M film, called Envision IJ480C, and it offers significantly more stretchability than their pvc-based IJ180c film.
Click to expand...

3M now offers an "SX" version of Envision non-pvc digital film that is only for Solvent and not for latex. The latex version now uses the "LX" prefix.
 
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dan1942

New Member
Thanks for the info. The person was a salesmen for some other printers as well but did not work for HP directly they just sell HP printers. I did not realize there is a new 3m material for latex.
Thanks!
 
P Wagner

P Wagner

--
AF said:
3M now offers an "SX" version of Envision non-pvc digital film that is only for Solvent and not for latex. The latex version now uses the "LX" prefix.
Click to expand...

Thanks for that information, I was unaware that 3M is now offering different products for distinct ink chemistries, SV (for hard/ mild solvent ink sets), and LX (for Latex ink sets).

I see that 3M is still not referencing any ether-based eco-solvent ink sets for the SV product on the new data sheet.
 
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nate

New Member
dan1942 said:
Thanks for the info. The person was a salesmen for some other printers as well but did not work for HP directly they just sell HP printers. I did not realize there is a new 3m material for latex.
Thanks!
Click to expand...
That's your problem-- it's a sales man trying to sell you something.

We've been doing Latex wraps since May of 2010. First with our LX800, then with our Latex 3000.. No comparison to solvent. It's far superior. The best part is it doesn't eat the media so installing a heavy ink area (like a black) goes on just as well as unprinted media.
 
jasonx

jasonx

New Member
danno said:
We have a L26500 and a LX800. We prefer our HP9000, solvent printers, over the latex. When stretching around complex curves, the ink color stays more consistent. For the flatter not so complex items, latex has been fine.
Click to expand...

If you're getting discoloration from stretching you're stretching the film too far. Regardless if its solvent or latex. You can do a measurement test to see what % of stretch you are trying to achieve.
 
Jester1167

Jester1167

Premium Subscriber
Some of the things I have heard from multiple people about stretching latex prints. If you overstretch latex to the point that the color thins out you can't heat it and expect it to go back like a solvent print. In essence you have ripped the ink and it won't go back. That being said, a lot of people with lots of experience aren't experiencing this problem so it's probably installer error.

I have only installed a couple of latex wraps but I loved it. I don't have problems with the color thinning with either ink set because I don't stretch the vinyl that much.
 
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meritan

New Member
we make a test with our HP 310 latex, we wrap a car without laminated, no scrratch, do discoloration, 0 problem, we can garantee, we have also a roland xc 540, and we have problem with eco solvent without lamination,
 
eahicks

eahicks

Magna Cum Laude - School of Hard Knocks
meritan said:
we make a test with our HP 310 latex, we wrap a car without laminated, no scrratch, do discoloration, 0 problem, we can garantee, we have also a roland xc 540, and we have problem with eco solvent without lamination,
Click to expand...


No lamination on a car wrap? Hmm....I still think it will get scratched. And that would be a pain to install. Don't recommend.
 
BigfishDM

BigfishDM

Merchant Member
Yes they are great for car wraps! In fact why buy a new one when Pro-Wraps has 3 L26500's for sale for like $7k thats a steal!
 
Typestries

Typestries

New Member
We're currently running 5 latex devices from 60" to 120".

We've been through all matter of printers from a home-brew solvent in 2000 (yes, 2000) to Arizona 180's to seiko to colorspan to hp9k's. We've breathed a lot of solvent and dealt with all of the solvent issues. Latex is so far superior to any solvent in terms of machine, maintenance, and installation it's really incomparable.

I can't imagine buying a new printer and NOT getting latex.

And if you can find a used one, especially for $7k, go get it. A used latex is not a used solvent.
 
ProColorGraphics

ProColorGraphics

New Member
Typestries said:
We're currently running 5 latex devices from 60" to 120".

We've been through all matter of printers from a home-brew solvent in 2000 (yes, 2000) to Arizona 180's to seiko to colorspan to hp9k's. We've breathed a lot of solvent and dealt with all of the solvent issues. Latex is so far superior to any solvent in terms of machine, maintenance, and installation it's really incomparable.

I can't imagine buying a new printer and NOT getting latex.

And if you can find a used one, especially for $7k, go get it. A used latex is not a used solvent.
Click to expand...

I couldn't imagine having all of the daily/weekly cleaning of a solvent machine again either! I don't miss the spell either.
 
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