Ink question

[FSDesigner]

We have had a Roland Soljet Pro III XJ-740 for about 5 years that my boss put a bulk ink system on. We recently bought a newer XJ-640 that uses the original cartridges. We are trying to decide what is going to be the most economical for this printer... either put the bulk ink system on it or continue with the cartridges. The liters of Triangle Ink we use for the bulk system cost about $100 a piece, and the cartridges, that come in 220cc and 440cc are $70 and $129. My question is, if anyone has ever been able to compare the costs, including hardware wear and tear from the bulk ink, vs. cartridges, material waste, does the more concentrated ink in the cartridges last longer than the watery ink? I appreciate anyone's input so I can give my boss an educated opinion on how we should move forward with our new printer.

 

[Solventinkjet]

Usually I point my customers away from bulk to avoid unnecessary technical issues caused by bulk systems. That being said, I do recommend going bulk if you are actually going to use at least 1 liter per color per month. Obviously cost is the big draw to bulk but if you aren't going through the ink fast enough, you might end up with a lot of old ink laying around which can increase the chances of clogging parts. If you do go with a bulk system, don't cheap out on it. Triangle has a great system that works well because it has mid cartridges that have bags which pressurize the system properly. They have no open to air parts so you can avoid dust collecting and debris in the ink. I have personally set one up and it was easy. Avoid the refillable cartridges as they tend to fail about every 6 months or so and can make running the printer hell as they are unreliable overall. One thing to add, research your ink options. Some 3rd party inks are just plain bad. Some are great but have higher solvent content that will eat your maintenance parts faster but make more durable prints. I would stay with anything that is equivalent to the ecosol max inks where you can find a lot of positive reviews to get the best results.