Review Mimaki UCJV300-160 vs Mutoh 1682SR

[chrism]

We are looking at purchasing our first printer for the shop. I have ran a Roland XR-640 in the past so I have some experience with the Eco Solvent inks. I went to printing united to look at some of the new printers that are out. I took a look at the Mimaki UCJV 300 and liked the variety of materials you are able to print on and if you ink it up with the 200 series inks you are able to do wraps. While I was there I also looked at the Mutoh 1682 SR and was pretty impressed with the machine. There are times that we have a quick turn around and that's what has me leaning towards the UCJV. Curious if there is anyone out there that has either machine and could tell me if there is anything I need to watch out for or need to know about.

 

[BigfishDM]

Any reason you are not checking out latex, if you are doing wraps I would stay away from UV. Mutoh machines are good, but its solvent and lots of wasted inks and time cleaning your machine everyday.

 

[chrism]

I have looked into the latex. I found that service after the warranty period can be very pricy and takes a while to have them come out. I've heard this from multiple HP owners.

 

[chrism]

I feel wraps may only be a small portion of our business. Mostly decals, banners and window perf.

 

[Solventinkjet]

The Mutoh is a brand new model which means you won't get too many reviews yet. Mutoh printers are generally solid though. As BigFish said, UV hasn't really proven itself yet in the wrap market. The UCJV is a great machine but that would be one concern for sure.

 

[White Haus]

We got a UCJV and are liking it so far. We got the LUS 170 ink (cmyklclm) with LUS 200 white. We were also coming from Roland printers so a bit of a learning curve that way, Roland and Mimaki do things quite differently.
It's been working great for us so far and have about 6k sq.ft. run through it so far. Banners are awesome as you can take them right off and finish them.
Same with solid coverage prints, but you have to watch out for silvering when laminating due to UV ink, and keep in mind the thickness of the ink. Anything with, say, a white background and spot text or light coverage we'll still run on our XR-640 since the raised ink doesn't play well with laminates, even cast. Vehicle graphics and permanent signs we still run on the Roland too.
To summarize, we're very happy with it but wouldn't want to be without a solvent roll to roll or flatbed UV as well to cover all the bases.

 

[premiercolour]

We got a UCJV and are liking it so far. We got the LUS 170 ink (cmyklclm) with LUS 200 white. We were also coming from Roland printers so a bit of a learning curve that way, Roland and Mimaki do things quite differently.
It's been working great for us so far and have about 6k sq.ft. run through it so far. Banners are awesome as you can take them right off and finish them.
Same with solid coverage prints, but you have to watch out for silvering when laminating due to UV ink, and keep in mind the thickness of the ink. Anything with, say, a white background and spot text or light coverage we'll still run on our XR-640 since the raised ink doesn't play well with laminates, even cast. Vehicle graphics and permanent signs we still run on the Roland too.
To summarize, we're very happy with it but wouldn't want to be without a solvent roll to roll or flatbed UV as well to cover all the bases.

LUS 170 CMYKLcLM + LUS200 WH? Is there a reason why you opt for this setup? Pretty cool to hear that.

 

[Superior_Adam]

I would be careful with Perf on a UV machine. We have run into the issue where the ink is thick enough that it will fill the holes and not stay on the transfer when applied. We have UV, Latex and Eco solvent machines as they all serve a different purpose and we can chose the best option for each job.

 

[BigfishDM]

LUS 170 CMYKLcLM + LUS200 WH? Is there a reason why you opt for this setup? Pretty cool to hear that.

Probably because their is only 1 White ink and that is LUS200.

 

[premiercolour]

There are LUS120, LH100, LUS150, LUS170, LUS200 white ink. Each bottle comes with unique chip.

 

[RazorsEdge]

Anyone have experience using ucjv150 or 300 for car wrapping? I currently use mutoh 1628x ecosolvent inked double cmyk for wraps/signs/banners etc. I am intrigued by the mimaki uv ink printer for instant curing as fast turnaround is important to me. Mimaki claims the new lus200 ink has flexibility and is good for wraps and vehicle graphics. They do suggest a heat assist lamination since the print sits on the media and is textured. Im thinking this is great for our signs/banners/decals but really concerned about wraps. Any suggestions from someone that is using this setup? Media type,lamination techniques, performance with wrap installs/ durability? Also I'm familiar with Flexi rip and print. Am I limited to mimakis rip software?

 

[White Haus]

Anyone have experience using ucjv150 or 300 for car wrapping? I currently use mutoh 1628x ecosolvent inked double cmyk for wraps/signs/banners etc. I am intrigued by the mimaki uv ink printer for instant curing as fast turnaround is important to me. Mimaki claims the new lus200 ink has flexibility and is good for wraps and vehicle graphics. They do suggest a heat assist lamination since the print sits on the media and is textured. Im thinking this is great for our signs/banners/decals but really concerned about wraps. Any suggestions from someone that is using this setup? Media type,lamination techniques, performance with wrap installs/ durability? Also I'm familiar with Flexi rip and print. Am I limited to mimakis rip software?

We're running the LUS-170 ink on our UCJV but I personally wouldn't trust the LUS-200 ink for wrapping. I do believe it is 3M certified for wrap films but when you see how thick the ink lay down is on this machine you would understand my concerns. It's also a fair bit more expensive than the LUS-170 ink. Great printer, and I would also love to know how realistic it is to print/install wraps with it, but I personally wouldn't count on it. (Don't let me discourage you though, I would get samples printed and see how they stretch/behave)

I would avoid having to use Mimaki's RIP Rasterlink at all costs. I went from Versaworks, to Onyx Thrive, then Rasterlink. It looks and acts like it was developed by a child that didn't speak english.
We use it when we have to (it is OK for doing layered printing w/ white ink) but I much prefer driving all our printers from Onyx Thrive. Also keeps our options open for cutting, as I don't like how the UCJV cuts either!

Any questions about it, ask away. We've run quite a bit of material through it and despite having a couple of complaints, it is a great entry-level production machine. Blows our Roland XR-640 out of the water!

 

[RazorsEdge]

We're running the LUS-170 ink on our UCJV but I personally wouldn't trust the LUS-200 ink for wrapping. I do believe it is 3M certified for wrap films but when you see how thick the ink lay down is on this machine you would understand my concerns. It's also a fair bit more expensive than the LUS-170 ink. Great printer, and I would also love to know how realistic it is to print/install wraps with it, but I personally wouldn't count on it. (Don't let me discourage you though, I would get samples printed and see how they stretch/behave)

I would avoid having to use Mimaki's RIP Rasterlink at all costs. I went from Versaworks, to Onyx Thrive, then Rasterlink. It looks and acts like it was developed by a child that didn't speak english.
We use it when we have to (it is OK for doing layered printing w/ white ink) but I much prefer driving all our printers from Onyx Thrive. Also keeps our options open for cutting, as I don't like how the UCJV cuts either!

Any questions about it, ask away. We've run quite a bit of material through it and despite having a couple of complaints, it is a great entry-level production machine. Blows our Roland XR-640 out of the water!

Agreed, I don't trust it yet either! Still considering a Mutoh 1641sr and the Mimaki cjv150 to stick with the eco solvent and flexi RIP but haven't taken the UV off the plate yet. Your right about 3M certified, Avery too I think. I already requested some samples and salesman says he is going to get me in touch with some clients that use the UV for wraps. I would love it to work but have my doubts. Hopefully there is a few that have tried it out and can tell me to go for it or run!
I've heard stay away from Rasterlink also, I know the drivers for the jv150/300 are available in Flexi Production but not the UCJV as of yet. I hate having to learn new software.
I do have a question about the hybrid, I watched a few videos about the onboard cutter and didn't particularly think it was great. I've always run a separate cutter for workflow . What didn't you like about the cuts? Could you still do a print and contour cut on the mimaki and cut it on a mutoh or graphtec? Wondering about how the registration marks would translate.

 

[BigfishDM]

I have looked into the latex. I found that service after the warranty period can be very pricy and takes a while to have them come out. I've heard this from multiple HP owners.

I could show you 1000 customers who would disagree with that lol. Its the #1, 2, and 4 machine out there. Roland, Epson and Mimaki COMBINED make up #3. The numbers are radically skewed towards latex and its only been out 11 years.

 

[rjssigns]

Any reason you are not checking out latex, if you are doing wraps I would stay away from UV. Mutoh machines are good, but its solvent and lots of wasted inks and time cleaning your machine everyday.

Stop with the scare tactics. I own a Mutoh and it gets cleaned a few times a month. Flawless prints every time. Solid colors look like cut vinyl. Crisp text at 6pt.

 

[ProColorGraphics]

I had the first 3 latex printers. They were nice, but after that I went to the Epson and don't think I would go back. At the same time, I think it depends what you are doing. If I needed to crank out stuff for same day type production, latex would probably be better. I however wanted the best print quality possible, so I got the S70 and then the S80.

 

[BigfishDM]

Stop with the scare tactics. I own a Mutoh and it gets cleaned a few times a month. Flawless prints every time. Solid colors look like cut vinyl. Crisp text at 6pt.

Your input is great, but you only have one experience to compare it to, I have seen thousands of cases that support my claims. If I personally had to choose, I would get a latex for what he is doing.

 

[rjssigns]

Your input is great, but you only have one experience to compare it to, I have seen thousands of cases that support my claims. If I personally had to choose, I would get a latex for what he is doing.

I have experience with latex. Had an older one in the lab at school. Ran well but had an electrical issue that was too costly to repair according to our tech.
Lab also has solvent, UV and aqueous roll to roll and UV flatbed. Roland, Mimaki, Epson, HP and now Mutoh I run them all, even an HP Indigo. Six years worth.

Point is the printers I run and maintain aren't as big a PITA as you make them out to be, requiring very little in the way of maintenance. Every printer has it's strengths and weaknesses and one is not the be all end all for every application. Do your homework, get samples, ask the folks on Signs 101 and pick your poison.

 

[BigfishDM]

I have experience with latex. Had an older one in the lab at school. Ran well but had an electrical issue that was too costly to repair according to our tech.
Lab also has solvent, UV and aqueous roll to roll and UV flatbed. Roland, Mimaki, Epson, HP and now Mutoh I run them all, even an HP Indigo. Six years worth.

Point is the printers I run and maintain aren't as big a PITA as you make them out to be, requiring very little in the way of maintenance. Every printer has it's strengths and weaknesses and one is not the be all end all for every application. Do your homework, get samples, ask the folks on Signs 101 and pick your poison.

I gotcha.

 

[Yeahgor]

I would be careful with Perf on a UV machine. We have run into the issue where the ink is thick enough that it will fill the holes and not stay on the transfer when applied. We have UV, Latex and Eco solvent machines as they all serve a different purpose and we can chose the best option for each job.

Can you please share your experience? Which printer better for which work?