JV33 pros and cons

[ast]

Hi guys!

We're planning on getting a JV33 unit, but we have some questions, hope you guys can shed some light

1.) number of pass: how many pass when printing on vinyl sticker, and when printing on backlit material?

2.) which type of ink set are you using? with or without white ink?

3.) our distributor is saying that the printer should never be turned off, as in it should be in SLEEP mode when not in use, meaning there should always be a power supply even on holidays (for the head not to clog), how true is this?

4.) which RIP software are you using with your JV33? which do you recommend?


Sorry for the plentuful questions we just need insights from users, rather than from salesman


Thanks in advance!


ast

 

[Vinylman]

ast:
Based on my limited, but recent experience with my own JV33, I would say that some of your questions depend on what you are looking to accomplish with the printer.

You will be THRILLED with the end results as long as you follow the manufacturers recommendations. {They built it, they know what works best}.

As for printing on banner stock, or opaque vinyl. Again following the manufactures recommendations has given me EXCELLENT results. As you get used to the printer you might want to try different settings for the same job, and print out test pieces for yourself to see what gives you what you want to sell.

We printed out a full PMS chart on several different materials so we could get a handle on what the output looked like compared to what your monitor was showing.

THAT WAS A REAL EYE OPENER!

On the issue of printing on clear, {or back lit} material. I am working with a sign manufacturer, and have found that "most" times doing a double pass on the ink set at 6 is usually giving me the best results. Again this can vary according to what "your customer" is looking for. Test pieces are very helpful in the beginning so you can have a point of reference.

I am using the Mamaki Rastelink Pro III rip. and find it perfectly fine for what I am printing.

One of the draw backs of Rasterlink is that it came with only ONE profile. But that ONE profile has allowed me to print everything I need to date without ANY problems.

There are a number of fine after market rips available, but for my current situation, it seems like overkill to buy the high end rips. Others here might disagree, and that is fine, but we are in the sign business, NOT THE FINE ARTS BUSINESS.
Most of the time I find that I try to justify the extra money I've spent on specialty items by telling anyone that will listen that " you need this to do that".
In actuality it boils down to trying to justify {to yourself, or someone else} that spending extra money on all the wizz bang extras was justified.

I chose to run the CYMK double ink set up. Again because of what I was looking to print, this set up works best for me.

I have heard that the WHITE INK set up is not giving some of the users everything that they expected from the set up. you need to look at that issue carefully IF you see a need to print into that market niche.

Bets of luck with you purchase.

Something to consider in these tough economic times: Does the volume of your current work justify spending $20-30,000 for a printer? And any other equipment that you need to supplement the printer? Not to mention the supplies to feed the little monster.

If you are buying this printer to "build" your business, you might do better outsourcing to a wholesaler that already has the equipment {and the inherent maintainance costs} until you can justify the cost of a new equipment payment.

Hope this helps a little!

 

[Letterbox Mike]

1.) number of pass: how many pass when printing on vinyl sticker, and when printing on backlit material? 4, 6, 8 or 16 pass for vinyl, depending on the intended viewing distance and profile, 4 pass on banner material, typically 8 or 16 pass double-layer for translucent material.

2.) which type of ink set are you using? with or without white ink? SS21 2XCMYK. In my oppinion not worth the sacrifice in speed for the 6 color ink, not worth the durabilty sacrifice for the eco-sol inks (SS21s are not very smelly at all), and white ink is a waste, I've heard absolutely nothing positive about it.

3.) our distributor is saying that the printer should never be turned off, as in it should be in SLEEP mode when not in use, meaning there should always be a power supply even on holidays (for the head not to clog), how true is this? True but not entirely correctly worded. It can be turned off on the front panel as long as the main power switch in the rear is on and the power is still running to the machine. It needs to run a sleep clean every hour or so to keep the heads from clogging. If it doesn't you'll be in for a world of hurt. Uses almost zero energy doing this so there's no reason not to do it.

4.) which RIP software are you using with your JV33? which do you recommend? We use Onyx. I highly recommend it. Profiles are very easy to find, as opposed to some RIPs. It's got a learning curve because it's a high-end product but it's not a difficult program to use and the most important thing is it works, works very well, and works every time, no hicups EVER. We tried using the Rasterlink that came with the printer but it's junk compared to Onyx. Tried ripping from Signlab but it's also junk. Know alot of people who use Flexi as their RIP and know they experience a tremendous amount of heartache and frustration on a daily basis, but they are able to get prints in the end. I'd suggest you invest in Onyx, it's really worth it. Their CutServer program for contour cutting (comes with it) is awesome and couldn't be simpler or more accurate.

 

[ast]

Thank you so much for your informative reply!! we have dye-based and solvent printers already, we're planning to add eco-sol printers.

anyway, the reason why i'm asking about the print pass is because, according to our distributor here that printing on vinyl or opaque material we can use 6pass or 8pass which ok, but printing on backlits or flex should be on 24pass double layer??? isn't that a bit too slow? well, print quality is important but production speed is important as well, right?

white ink no good? we've seen some samples, they seem promising is there a printing speed difference/advantage if we use CMYK only? as compared to CMYKLcLm+White? we're inclined to 6color+white setup, no good? If we use the 6color+white setup, we can still print in CMYK only right? print speed the same?


Our bundled software is Rasterlink RIP, we can get hold of Onyx7, we will try it if we decided already to get a JV33



ast

 

[iSign]

we use Flexi in a JV3160.
works great, every day for 4 years... no headaches!

I'm not saying I never have to be awake, attentive, & invest a little time in learning and growing... I wasn't born knowing this stuff after all... but Flexi has been awesome for me, compared to others who can't seem to get it running right for their set-up... so whatever their problems are... it ain't Flexi... even though several will tell you it is.

Everything else insignia said is spot on!

 

[Zul]

Hi, I sell the JV33 in Canada as a Mimaki distributor. Recently we did our first white ink install using the SS21s. If this is something you wish to do note that white ink is only supported by Rasterlink at this time - I know of no other s/w that can support it yet. Same applies for the CJV. When printing, you would RIP and set up 2 files, 1 for CMYK and 1 for white (flood or channel specific). The Mimaki SS21 white is stable, requires no agitation or extra doohickey to make it run - it's plug and play. Cumbersome yes, but once you get it going the results are quite stunning. This was our first white install as 99% go CMYK x 2 for speed. If you can live with the drop in speed and looking for a good white solution, this is pretty spot on

 

[gabagoo]

Hi, I sell the JV33 in Canada as a Mimaki distributor. Recently we did our first white ink install using the SS21s. If this is something you wish to do note that white ink is only supported by Rasterlink at this time - I know of no other s/w that can support it yet. Same applies for the CJV. When printing, you would RIP and set up 2 files, 1 for CMYK and 1 for white (flood or channel specific). The Mimaki SS21 white is stable, requires no agitation or extra doohickey to make it run - it's plug and play. Cumbersome yes, but once you get it going the results are quite stunning. This was our first white install as 99% go CMYK x 2 for speed. If you can live with the drop in speed and looking for a good white solution, this is pretty spot on

Hi Zul,

 

[Rooster]

Hi, I sell the JV33 in Canada as a Mimaki distributor. Recently we did our first white ink install using the SS21s. If this is something you wish to do note that white ink is only supported by Rasterlink at this time - I know of no other s/w that can support it yet. Same applies for the CJV. When printing, you would RIP and set up 2 files, 1 for CMYK and 1 for white (flood or channel specific). The Mimaki SS21 white is stable, requires no agitation or extra doohickey to make it run - it's plug and play. Cumbersome yes, but once you get it going the results are quite stunning. This was our first white install as 99% go CMYK x 2 for speed. If you can live with the drop in speed and looking for a good white solution, this is pretty spot on

Wasatch softrip supports the white ink function on Mimaki printers. It also supports custom icc profiles and is cheaper than the profile upgrade for rasterlink. It has an available print/cut option as well.

 

[ast]

Hi, I sell the JV33 in Canada as a Mimaki distributor. Recently we did our first white ink install using the SS21s. If this is something you wish to do note that white ink is only supported by Rasterlink at this time - I know of no other s/w that can support it yet. Same applies for the CJV. When printing, you would RIP and set up 2 files, 1 for CMYK and 1 for white (flood or channel specific). The Mimaki SS21 white is stable, requires no agitation or extra doohickey to make it run - it's plug and play. Cumbersome yes, but once you get it going the results are quite stunning. This was our first white install as 99% go CMYK x 2 for speed. If you can live with the drop in speed and looking for a good white solution, this is pretty spot on

Thanks a lot for these infos! we're still thinking whether to go cmyk or with whites saw some samples, yes it was really stunning! although so far zero positve feedback in here

 

[Neil]

Well I just ordered a new JV33-130 bundle (with a CG-130SR2 cutter and Royal Sovereign RS 1400h Laminator).
Here in Oz we can't get SS21 ink so I've ordered it with their new ECO HS-1 ink.

Here's a snippet from their media release:

"The newly developed Eco-HS1 ink has no toxic ingredients such as Cyclohexanone and NMP, which vastly improves the work environment and health conditions. Also the inks will dramatically reduce odor to the same level of SS21 ink which is used for JV33 series. Innovations like expanded color gamut, improved Magenta, a newly added light black ink, provides a smoother gradation and a more glossy finish. In addition to these attributes, shrinkage of media (especially thin self-adhesive PVC) is prevented. Eco-HS1 ink is suitable for fleet graphics using thin self-adhesive PVC where prints are exposed to intensive mechanical stress or abrasion. Improvement in the permeability of the ink on the media due to residual solvents helps shorten job turnaround time from printing to the next job. UV and water resistance is further enhanced by an improved Yellow ink. "


I tested this ink and it's quite strong and nice and glossy (unlike their ES3 ink which is not glossy and rubs off easily).

I'll be using Rasterlink Pro III and wanted to get the profiling module but they want an extra $4.5k! Our rep says they can make profiles for me if necessary so I'll wait and see what comes with RL.

I can make profiles for use in Signlab and so will probably use this for 95% of my print & cut work.

WRT the printer always on - I'm used to shutting my old printer off completely when not in use, so I'm hoping this machine isn't going to be constantly guzzling ink while it's sitting there.
How often should these cleaning cycles happen?

 

[ast]

We might get a JV-33 with white ink setup...bundled with CG-160FX

 

[RippinPC]

My Advice

1.) number of pass: how many pass when printing on vinyl sticker, and when printing on backlit material?
2.) which type of ink set are you using? with or without white ink?
3.) our distributor is saying that the printer should never be turned off, as in it should be in SLEEP mode when not in use, meaning there should always be a power supply even on holidays (for the head not to clog), how true is this?
4.) which RIP software are you using with your JV33? which do you recommend?
ast

1. 8 pass 720x720 var, or 540x1080 6 pass on vinyl. 12 or 16 pass 2 layer (double strike) is typical for backlight.

2. Dual CMYK is twice as fast all other things being equal. Most users are happy with dual cmyk setup. If you get one and want to change your mind, it is possible, but will cost you a full set of wash cartridges and a couple of hours.

3. Solvent Mimaki's need power applied to the back continously and the rear switch left on. Periodic 'self awakenings' for cleaning keep the heads from drying out. Hourly is most likely too much.

4. Flexi or Onyx are the two I deal with most. Flexi or Onyx both work great. I think first timers are better off with Flexi but either can work well especially if someone steps you thru the basics of print and print/cut.


Chris Wallace
RippinPC@yahoo.com

 

[Neil]

Hi all, I have a CJV30 now and am still wondering about the interval for sleep cleaning and refresh settings?
My tech had no idea what to set it at. I'm thinking every 6 hours for both cleaning and refresh. This is using Eco HS1 ink which I think is similar to SS21.

What do you guys recommend?

 

[ast]

Hi! Our jv33 is set to auto clean every 4 hours in sleep mode, so far so good

 

[Vinylman]

My JV-33 is set on a once every 24 hour cycle to do the clean refresh cycle. Thank God that when ever I need the machine, all I do is press the green start button, wait for the start up cycle and heaters to complete their work and then I print.

{In my opinion} cleaning cycles if set to run to often WASTE INK, and cost you money. The suppliers love it when the clean cycle is set to 4 hours. They sell the inks.

 

[ast]

Yeah, very true...WASTE OF INK..you can see and feel the waste everytime the waste tank is getting full haha nevertheless, i am happy with the jv33 wasting some ink than changing the printhead hehe
anyone here tried to totally shutdown the machine instead of sleep mode everyday?

 

[Area51Graphix]

I hate to see the waste of ink but like ast told is better to waste ink then a printhead.

I have my jv33 in a four hours cicle of cleaning and refresh and a 48hrs cicle of pube tumb wash!!

bye guys greentings from Venezuela!!!

 

[Letterbox Mike]

48hrs cicle of pube tumb wash!!

I recognize there's a language barrier here, but wtf is a pube tumb wash???

 

[Neil]

wtf is a pube tumb wash???

I think that's what you get at one of those manscaping day spas.
Goes along with the back sack & crack wax!

 

[Morph1]

terrible results on translucent materials, I usually print 1440 = 16 pass and go to linearization mode and decrease the ink precentages to between 50 - 70 and get a nice dense print when lit and nice consistent color during day time...,
Horrible results when printing spot color - not recommended !!!! you just cannot calibrate the damn thing to print spot colors without color incinsistency , its like when printing in 8 pass every x inch of print the first new pass in 8 pass mode will come lighter than the next 7 passes , the tech support here in Edmonton told me that JV3 was not designed to print on transluccent either regular vinyls - only banners !!! lol, there were issues they were just not able to address either fix, when they sold the printer they sang to us that pretty song how great of a printer it was..., I am not sure and can not speak for all the mimaki printers, maybe the one we got is a lemon !!!!!, I would rather go to Roland anytime after experiencing the workflow with JV3.

Cheers