If you prefer Summa over Graphtec or Roland. I'm curious why? Fill me in

[splizaat]

We don't run a big summa plotter, but I will say that in our experience with our little ol' 24" D60 (owned since it was new) thats about 9 years old now, we have NEVER called a tech out to replace or fix anything. I can't even imagine how many thousands of $$$ this machine has made us.

In those 9 years, the only thing we have replaced for maintenance was the cut strip.....ONE TIME in 9 years. This thing is a BEAST and we run a ton of vinyl through it. We love this machine. Our original debate 9 years ago was summa 24" vs roland 24" plotter and we went summa because (at that time) summa had a 2 year warranty and roland only had 1. That has changed since then.

...and I will vouch for Summa tech support. We call them just to verify a few things before we do firmware upgrades and every time we are able to get a knowledgable guy on the phone in about 30 seconds. Every time. Also, if this still rings true, any hardcore repair that has to be done to Summa machines are done right up in Seattle area which is only a few hours from us. I haven't had to find out tho

 

[Kottwitz-Graphics]

I love Summa tech support. Best that I have ever had.

Years ago, I worked at a national sign manufacturer, and they tasked me to purchase a plotter. I looked at them all, Ioline, Roland, Summa...more than I can remember... I chose the summa. We got the tagential 48", and it was one of the best plotters I ever used.

When I started my business, and it came time to purchase one, I got another Summa, without thought. Great machine, and tech support is top notch. I bought mine in 2009, and if I have a problem (and it has never been the machine, just the software running it) I call them up, and get help that same day.

I have used Roland, and I found it way to difficult to load material straight. My summa, I can load material, and cut... the longest plot that I have run on mine was 18' long. I have run paper plots out well over 30'.

It is built like a tank. The only thing that I have ever changed is the blades. I have yet to change the cutting strip. The only thing that I need to change is the alignment strips on the front and back, as they are about worn off. The only material that I have never been able to cut is sandblast mask.

 

[Asuma01]

The only material that I have never been able to cut is sandblast mask.

Its hard to cut all right. My big problem is that masks with thin synthetic liners slide all over the place. So I experimented and put transfer tape on the liner side after wiping it off with alcohol. Works (mostly) like a charm.

 

[FrankW]

Is this even true on an older D60???

No. SummaCut R-Series (from 2007) or S-Class (from 2005).

 

[lexcell]

Summa ALL DAY.... Literally!

I have a D60/U as a main in my shop and haven't needed anything besides a cut strip in almost 7 years. I also have a 61" GCC Jaguar II as a backup, which was bought to be the main when the SummCut started sputtering, however it seems over time the D60 has worked better and better. I will NEVER buy anything to cut that isn;t made by Summa. These guys got it right and get high praises from a guy who took that couple thousand dollar machine and has made high 6 digits without a single hiccup.

 

[Clem]

this last year ive recently changed from graphtec fc8000 to Summa due to ongoing issues with the print/ cut issues to which the maintenance companies flat out said 'we dont know whats going on'.. for nearly a year, with production grinding to halts at some point most months.

We got a tangential plotter in the t160 from Summa, but have recently had sporadic issues with it too.

this is a thread i posted recently showing one issue
http://www.signs101.com/forums/showthread.php?122997-SUMMA-T160-print-cut-jobs-cutting-paths-twice

and more recently the cutlines are not lining up with the print, which was one of the main reasons we went to summa in the first place! the printing straightness optimization (which compensates for any warping of the media from heat) has been corrected as it was out by 5mm, but this was printed/ cut this morning.. i'll start a thread shortly for this, i'm not asking for any answers/ take over the thread.

 

[Clem]

I love Summa tech support. Best that I have ever had.

Years ago, I worked at a national sign manufacturer, and they tasked me to purchase a plotter. I looked at them all, Ioline, Roland, Summa...more than I can remember... I chose the summa. We got the tagential 48", and it was one of the best plotters I ever used.

When I started my business, and it came time to purchase one, I got another Summa, without thought. Great machine, and tech support is top notch. I bought mine in 2009, and if I have a problem (and it has never been the machine, just the software running it) I call them up, and get help that same day.

Man i wish we had the same service here, i was calling the company we bought ours from daily for a week before we even got a callback