Mimaki UCJV300-160 - After one week of use..

[Decomurale]

So after about a week of using the UCJV300-160 I must say I am satisfied overall. First off, odourless inks? I think not. Depending on your environment and ventilation it could be tolerable. But the inks smell during printing and days after. Mimaki was wrong to publicize these inks as odourless. The print quality is very good. I alternate between 8 pass (300 x 600) and 16 pass (600 x 600) modes and both do a great job. I have not been able to build my own profiles yet. Using Rasterlink is awfully painful. Drivers won't be available for Caldera until end of 1st Quarter 2018 from what I was told. The printer uses tons of yellow as it stands now in Rasterlink. something I will correct in Caldera asap. The only issue we have been having so far is ink starvation causing missing nozzles a few times a day. the technician came to boost the positive pump pressure above recommended setting to try and fix this, but it is still an ongoing issue. It has improved but is not perfect. The white ink is perfect. Opaque and effective even on black media. We have printed on many different substrates including solar window film with success. The only issue we have seen with the inks so far is that they crack very easy on canvas for some reason. For our wallpaper applications it is fantastic. Our installers love that they can't scratch or scuff the prints at install. I will upload some video and pictures for show and tell. As soon as the ink starvation issue is resolved, we will probably buy a second one. We also received an Epson S60 this week and LOVE that machine on all fronts! here is a link to a video I shot of an 8 pass print this week.

 

[Ahmed Samy Nagada]

Ik starvation could be an ink issue, what inks are you using ?

 

[ProColorGraphics]

Thanks for sharing! I have been eyeballing one of these as well. I too was keeping an eye for when the Caldera driver would be available, I would probably end up waiting until that is out. It's always good to see and hear directly from end users as to what they think of it.

 

[Dave Faby]

Thanks for sharing, please continue to update; will you be doing any Wraps ?

 

[SightLine]

I doubt they will be doing any wraps with it. The UV inks are really not intended for that and are not really flexible enough to take much in the way of stretching..... Saw it demo'd firsthand at the SGIA show in New Orleans and they did have a print from it on a hood to show that it can work for an application with very limited curves and stretching. It is really not marketed for vehicle wraps or even vehicle graphics at all.

 

[Solventinkjet]

I think by odorless they were trying to say there are no VOCs like in solvent but I agree. The inks do have a strong smell almost like wet wood to me.

 

[dale911]

My rep says Mimaki doesn’t know when they will start shipping in the USA even though I continue to get flyers and things for the printer. I am very curious as to the price as my rep said MSRP is $29,995 and the Mimaki USA web site says MSRP is $27,995. I already have a CJV-150 that I bought over a year ago to see how I liked it as well as a latex machine and the Mimaki has done well. It seems that by using almost all the same parts aside from a different curing system, this new printer should be easily produced and fairly bulletproof.

 

[Decomurale]

I have had constant banding issues since I’ve had this printer. Chromatic banding is a constant problem. Also after every few feet of printing we keep dropping a significant amount of nozzles and banding occurs. So far I am not impressed and we are holding off for the delivery of the second one we ordered. We may be heading towards a Colorado at this point. Waiting for Mimaki to change the heads , pump and sub tank to see if this solves the problems.

I will keep everyone posted!

 

[ProColorGraphics]

This has been interesting. I got a Fuji LED1600II not too long ago, which also is my first UV printer. I totally love it!! I find myself pushing more and more work to it, which is why I am looking at the Mimaki UCJV and following this thread. I would like to add another, but don't need the added cost of the flatbed. Coming from solvent, I too find the UV takes a bit more TLC to keep it running at 100%. Which I just figure it is what it is. I do clean daily and make sure I have perfect nozzle checks when I get in and before I leave.

Definitely keep us posted as to what you come up with! The info and results you share are much appreciated!!

 

[L.D]

Hello
I am also a happy owner of a ucjv300 since December 23, after the first few weeks and have printed and cut almost 700 square meters, I can feel quite satisfied, a few days I was updated the firmware from 1.00 to 1.30, the update has disabled and hidden the heater options, the seller and distributor can not give me answers and wait for answers from mimaki jappone.

Does anyone know anything about it? if you are interested in the heaters do not update the firmware because the distributor has refused to go back to firmware 1.00 and says to wait for the new update

The proof is the manual with reference firmware 1.00 and manual with firmware 1.30 I enclose the image

This is a big problem for me because the vinyl without temperature embarks and rubs under the heads

Anyway for those interested the ucjv 3000 mounta richo gen 5

sorry for my translator's english

I believe firmware version 1.42 is currently available. And 1.50 should be coming out next month.

 

[L.D]

1) There was a defect in firmware version 1.30 that causes a dot position misalignment during 2 layer printing. The problem has been fixed in the firmware version 1.42.
2) About the panel display of "head height". If you set the head height to "Mid", it shows "High" on the panel display.
It is a defect of firmware version 1.30. The problem has been fixed in firmware version 1.42

L.D

 

[L.D]

you are a great one

the problems of misalignment on two layers I noticed them more marked with the firmware 1.0, with 1.3 I had already noticed improvement

Are you aware of why they have disabled the heaters and if they ever reactivate them?
And why now near WF2 appeared / OFF with fw 1.3?

Thank you so much

Mimaki originally enabled the heaters to see if they would be beneficial mitigating silvering during the laminating process. They then deemed the heaters as not being useful. They were then disabled in firmware 1.3. If you want to use the heaters you would have to revert back to firmware version 1.00. But then you would lose the benefits of the all the fixes in version 1.3 and the current 1.42. Since the UCJV300 is such a new machine I would not recommend going back to version 1.00.

I believe WF2 is used for North America LUS175 ink and since you are using LUS170 you don't need WF2 so it was disabled.

L.D

 

[L.D]

Thank you very much, for the things you share with us

Your welcome!

L.D

 

[zeek]

Hello Andre80, i just got the UCJV300-160 but i have a problem with white ink, i print white at 50% on a PET film adhesive and when i try to apply on a glass the ink dissolves ( only white ) with a classic glass surface cleaner … i use LUS170 i see there is LUS175 do you know what is the difference ?

Best regards

 

[zeek]

in europe we use lus 170 and the glove seal is excellent, even with nitro thinner, it must be rubbed with a lot of force before taking away the ink,

Any print should be cleaned with water and non-detergent soap, but should not go away with a simple glass cleaner

thank you for your reply Andre, we are in france and we have LUS170 be please see the result on my squeegee glass after using a simple glass cleaner … the white ink dissolve


Regards

 

[zeek]

Where can I see? sorry but I speak little englis

Sorry

Here : Dropbox - IMG_0912.jpg

 

[zeek]

my prints resist the nitro thinner, I tried to put them for 2 months in the freezer to do tests knowing that the uv suffers the cold and I had no problems, I tested alcohol, glass cleaners, but everything on adhesive and pvc non on pet

Are you using the appropriate pofiles? on site '' mimaki global 'there are a lot, the first profiles were throwing too much ink, you tried printing with the speed' 'standard' 'so the lamp better cure ink

I try all the profile speed, same result , but i have firmware 1.4 and you ?

 

[Decomurale]

I will be posting a couple of videos here this weekend to show how our UCJV is banding in all resolutions. Although our dealer is doing what they can, we have had this printer for 2 months and haven’t been able to produce any work. So far we have lost at least $10k in materials, inks and payments all while trying to get this thing up and running properly. We are very disappointed with this printer. We can’t even use it to do our decorative films.. whenever we try to print white patterns or gradients on clear film the ink washes off and streaks. Mimaki needs to step up and get to the bottom of this. I’m getting lots of calls and emails with other users telling me they are experiencing the same thing. Horrible.

 

[ProColorGraphics]

I will be posting a couple of videos here this weekend to show how our UCJV is banding in all resolutions. Although our dealer is doing what they can, we have had this printer for 2 months and haven’t been able to produce any work. So far we have lost at least $10k in materials, inks and payments all while trying to get this thing up and running properly. We are very disappointed with this printer. We can’t even use it to do our decorative films.. whenever we try to print white patterns or gradients on clear film the ink washes off and streaks. Mimaki needs to step up and get to the bottom of this. I’m getting lots of calls and emails with other users telling me they are experiencing the same thing. Horrible.

WOW!! I was super close to getting one! Makes me very glad I decided to hold off.

 

[Decomurale]

I think the preserie built in Japan was sent out without being well regulated, because Mimaki wanted to sell more Roland printers in 2017, in Europe there is a cold war between the two brands, I think in America too, and wait for the retailer to do it, but not everyone is capable of it



the rubber lip of the capping does not get dirty with ink, if it is dirty the position is not corected

Mine is always dirty!! It has been adjusted by the technicians. They did it wrong?