Ink & Service ?

[copythat]

My service contract is up soon! They are asking for $2500 for service for the year & to offset the amount of the service contract, they say that they will sell ElevenTen solvent inks at a much cheaper price with a warrenty. I have a Mutoh 1204 has anyone have any experience with these inks & is the amount for service high? I'm curious about the amount on the service charge!

Thanks as always in advance!

 

[SE SignSupply]

If your service contract from the distributor is though Mutoh that idea will not work. Using any 3rd party ink while under any Mutoh service contract/extended warranty will void the warranty.

Personally I would not by a extended service contract for a VJ, they have been rock solid machines.

 

[Arstron]

I was never offered an extended warranty at the end of my warranty. However I am giving the Eleven Ten inks a try, they guaranty that if anything goes wrong because of the inks that they will pay to have it fixed. I have one full set of oem inks in the printer now and then I will be trying them.

 

[AznSensation]

companies say they will fix... but it will take months..
They will try every possible way to get out of paying for a new printhead.

 

[Arstron]

I've already bought and installed one, minus well make it two. hehe j/k My printer is over two years old and its my bosses choice, I just will get to fix it if anything happens.

 

[AznSensation]

eleventen ink is horrible....
1) SMELLS more than the oem inks
2) causes air bubble in the print head sometimes.
3) Gray looks like a brownish purple.
4) I sometimes get ink droppage onto the media

 

[Mass Signs]

Dont Do it

Give your customers the good stuff, Ink is the blood of your business. One question you should ask yourself... How much will you save?? Not enough to put your reputation on the line.

 

[hoppers]

Ditto....the cents difference isnt worth it to me. Unless you truly have a firm grasp on the machine inside and out.

not doubting aftermarket ink since a lot of people use them, but not worth the hassle if you ask me. Like buying a Porsche and putting in regular gas (87)..theres gonna be some compromise

 

[copythat]

Thanx's all for your reply.

I feel the same about the inks being the blood source of this machine. On the other hand, ryanthig you said I shouldn't get another service contract? I guess I should find out how much they will charge per call!


Thanks again to you all!

This site Rocks!!!!!!!

 

[jiarby]

Well, it just cost me $1K for a service call (ended up being a capping station)

but that is still $1500 LESS than your warranty. Even if the head goes later in the year it will still be a break even proposition.

 

[Arstron]

Sorry to bring up an old thread, but wanted to give my $0.02 on the eleven ten inks. The first set of trial inks the company sent me was 440ml, they paid for shipping back to them and sent out another set which was 220ml. However these inks gave the error "not original" after talking with their support, they said I must have received a set with older cards that wouldnt work with the 1.18 firmware. They sent me a third set to try out and got the same message. I am not sure if it does have to do with the firmware, but I lost all faith in them after 3 failed attempts. I wouldn't recommend anyone to use these inks.

 

[MacDaddy]

Good Information, thanks...

 

[gnemmas]

It is like the hacker & Microsoft, third party come out with a chip for Valuejet, Mutoh update the firmware to defeat it. Our ink supplier warned us not to update the firmware.

Out 1204 required a new capping station exactly one month after warranty expired. It costed $1000. As long as you have good relation with the tech that they will take of you ASAP, I think it is worth the risk. Then again, we have two printers, so if one is down for a week, will not cause a work stoppage.

Switch to third party ink, use the savings as lease payment for a 2nd printer. If your ink cost for oem is $1,000/mo, you can save $500/mo. That is enough for a mutoh 1504 printer.

 

[heyskull]

I was told NOT to take a service contract out (and I havent) as by the time I had paid for it I could have replaced all the wearable components in VJ1604 twice over.
That includes printheads!!

I hope that's true because if it isn't I am now panicing as the advice was given on this forum.

SC

 

[Julia The Signgirl]

I pay about $1800 for my service contract for my Mutoh, and it's well worth it IMO. Already had the heads replaced two times and about a dozen service calls in the last year since my original warranty expired. Had a lot of other parts replaced too. Maybe we just over use the machine? I don't know. But the service guy told me if I was paying out of pocket the service calls would have easily cost me between $300-500 per visit plus parts. They charge for travel as well as time spent diagnosing and fixing. As for the ink, I don't think I would use anything other than the oem.