Here's the situation. I have been approached by a large race team to start their own in-house print shop. I currently work with a Durst printer and Caldera RIP. Having a Durst do the printing is out of their budget so it will be up to me to decide which brand wide format printer will be the best solution. I have been looking at the usual suspects, Roland, Mutoh, Seiko, HP, Epson and Mimaki. I am torn between the Roland Soljet and HP latex L26500 at the moment. The printer will be used for vehicle wraps, car hauler wraps, and pit box graphics. There are several advantages to going with latex (no outgas time, water based rather than solvent, print heads are basically always new, color gamut). The cons I see is the need for 220 volt and the heat it generates. I would appreciate any opinions on which direction I should go in when deciding which printer would be the best for our needs.
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I know there's no perfect printer, but help me get close...
- Thread starter milchad
- Start date
synergy_jim
New Member
I cannot comment on the HP, but I've been a roland guy for 10 years and cannot say enough good things about their build quality and accuracy. I would check out the new XR-640. Its on my short list of things we'll be adding very soon.
Matt-Tastic
New Member
i'm the exact opposite of Jim, so maybe this will help.
I like the HP, and in an automotive shop, 220 shouldn't be an issue. The heat, if you have a decent height ceiling, also doesn't bother me. I've had them in small (100sqft) rooms, and that's a bit excessive, but i've done open houses with them in an office space, and there wasn't much issue.
The Latex seems to be the darlings of the sign world at the moment, so there are plenty of people supporting it with medias, profiles, and knowledge. In the end, both are solid machines and you won't be upset with your decision, but my vote would be for an HP.
I like the HP, and in an automotive shop, 220 shouldn't be an issue. The heat, if you have a decent height ceiling, also doesn't bother me. I've had them in small (100sqft) rooms, and that's a bit excessive, but i've done open houses with them in an office space, and there wasn't much issue.
The Latex seems to be the darlings of the sign world at the moment, so there are plenty of people supporting it with medias, profiles, and knowledge. In the end, both are solid machines and you won't be upset with your decision, but my vote would be for an HP.
Bly
New Member
For doing wraps - HP latex.
MikePro
New Member
switched from a jv3160 to an HP26500 this last year, and can't be happier! no printer maintenance, whatsoever, until you swap the heads like once a year.... the wiper blades and foam swabs have been replaced by a little black-box that you put inside the printer, forget about it, and then replace every few months. instant-dry is perfect for any "quick-flip" situation that we always come across. lastly, but most likely forgetting to mention a few other great tid-bits, the onboard automatic aligning and color profiling simply puts the icing on the cake. out of a 10, i give it an 11 because i never would have even thought to want some of these things in my printer until I now have them.
Andrew O
Merchant Member
Looks like you're in NC, which I assume means a NASCAR team. Here's Nick Woodward at RCR, talking about his shop. - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9ZKjWycK8lM
I talked to Nick this morning and he would be happy to give you a tour of the RCR Graphics Center and talk about his experiences. He's been working in motorsports graphics for years and knows the applications and requirements well. Drop me a PM if you want to set up a visit.
I talked to Nick this morning and he would be happy to give you a tour of the RCR Graphics Center and talk about his experiences. He's been working in motorsports graphics for years and knows the applications and requirements well. Drop me a PM if you want to set up a visit.
HIGHSPEEDGRAPHIX
Rog
Thanks for sharing the video, My Father raced against Nick At Old Dominion Speedway in Manassas, VA in the 90's. I think his number was 99
rjssigns
Active Member
Here is my advice and it will serve you well. Buy your printer from the shop closest to you that has qualified techs, period. I can't stress that enough. I don't give a rats rump who makes it or what people claim. They all break, and usually at the worst possible moment. I learned a $15,000 lesson getting the "deal" from a place 1300 miles away.
My current printer is a Roland SP540V. Yes it is old. Yes it is slow. But it rarely gives me grief and just keeps running. At some point I may get another to double output and have redundancy.
Last nugget of wisdom:
If you have to pay a bit more for a printer, but end up with same day service DO IT!
My current printer is a Roland SP540V. Yes it is old. Yes it is slow. But it rarely gives me grief and just keeps running. At some point I may get another to double output and have redundancy.
Last nugget of wisdom:
If you have to pay a bit more for a printer, but end up with same day service DO IT!
tomence
New Member
This is VERY useful information, thanks to all who provided input. I've met with Nick at RCR and they have an impressive shop. I talked to people at The Decal Source and they use HP latex and love it. I also found out the Red Eye Designs who does the car wraps for Hendrick Motorsports also uses HP, that's why I am leaning that way. The room will be 3500 sq ft so heat probably won't be much of an issue. Does anybody have an opinion on which HP reseller would be the best? Grimco, Athens Paper?
Thanks!
Thanks!
MikePro
New Member
only down-time is warm-up/cool-down, takes about 5-10min for the printer to start/stop. this thing flies, however, while it is actively printing. still feels way faster than my jv3.
How does it do running "lights-out"?
Matt-Tastic
New Member
"listed print speeds" for the L26500 are below:
4-pass bidirectional 22.8 m²/hr (246 ft²/hr)
6-pass bidirectional 16.5 m²/hr (178 ft²/hr)
8-pass bidirectional 10.6 m²/hr (114 ft²/hr)
10-pass bidirectional 9.0 m²/hr (97 ft²/hr)
12-pass bidirectional 7.6 m²/hr (81 ft²/hr)
16-pass bidirectional 6.3 m²/hr (68 ft²/hr)
I never get to run in 4-pass (i'm always trying to show quality) but the 8 and 10 pass prints are excellent. 6-pass works great for banners. still your standard print speed will be about 100sqft/hr. And you don't have to worry about letting the print dry (which people say is a myth anyway), immediate finishing/installation and all the stuff.
Also, another high volume shop in NC (Motorsports Designs) runs 2 ancient Vuteks, 2 JV33s, 2 L25500s and 2 LXs. They say they hate the HPs, and love the JV33s, so everyone has their preference. Every shop has the printer that is right for them, you just have to find the vendor that will help you figure that out (rather than sell you the flavor of the week).
Sign Up Graphics
New Member
Sign Up Graphics
10sacer
New Member
I assume based on your location that your race team is based in Kernersville. Good luck. If you are in Greensboro, why would you not buy it from Grimco - they are right there. Word of advice after using all the printers you have mentioned - do EXTENSIVE color testing to ensure you can hit and continually MATCH whatever spot or built colors you will be required to hit. What I mean is this - anyone can make a 3" square look good for color matching - print 50 feet of it and see how it works. There are certain ranges of colors that HP latex is not great at producing large runs of in solid color.
The shop is in the Charlotte area and if this deal takes place, I will be relocating. You're right about spot color consistency, that will be a must. I wonder why Motorsports Designs doesn't like HP latex printers?
10sacer
New Member
I'm 10 minutes from the Speedway off of Weddington Road. Drop by one day and we can chat about printers. I don't do any vehicle wraps as Jim from Red Eye is a good friend of mine and I see what a hassle it is and anyone with a roll to roll printer and a business card thinks they can do wraps - so the market is pretty saturated. I started with a UV flatbed and grew out from there.
I could tell you why they don't like latex - but not here.
Sean