Mutoh Falcon Outdoor ???

[OKEE SIGNGUY]

http://www.mutoh.com/products/pd_falconoutdoors.html

who has one of these?
i am considering this instead of a Versacam as i have had tons of problems dealing with Roland and do not care for their business practices...

i have seen a demo and the print quality is outstanding...
it plots quicker than the Versacam and has a fore and aft heaters so prints are ready to use as soon as they come out of the machine...

i would love some feedback from people that have bought this machine...

Gary...ph 863-610-6922 (cell)

THANX !!!
signguy@corvettemail.com

 

[Fred Weiss]

There have been lots of posts about the Mutoh line. Have you read through the forums named

• Digital Printing
• Miscellaneous Printers
• Miscellaneous Print & Cut Systems

 

[Vital Designs]

I have a Mutoh Falcon outdoor which is Badged as a Prismjet for the distributor. It is also known as a rockhopper in europe. I purchased it a couple of years ago just prior to the original eco-solvent ink release. I had lots of problems with it which were to a certain degree setting related. I am now running the Eco-sol-2 inks.


My advice would be if you are considering the Mutoh pick your distributor VERY VERY carefully. Mutoh will not help with support and will just refer you straight back to the distributor. I even tried to obtain support from another distributor which was willing to help but told me they couldn't because of their agreement with Mutoh. I ended up taking my distruibutor to the BBB.

I have it working fairly well now (took me a year and a half) although I still struggle with printing on Vinyl. I still get bleeding between certain colors (black/yellow, black/red).

One of the improvements they have made from mine is they moved the rear heater from just behind the print head to directly underneath it for slightly better control.

If I had to make a printer purchase today I would be swayed towards the Versacamm.

 

[Steve C.]

VersaCam seems to be the printer of choice. I have a Mutoh Falcon Outdoor and really love it. I had problems for about a month learning settings and so forth. No problems now. Printing on Banneres you should let set for about 24 hrs. even though they look and feel dry.
I like having a seperate cutter, but thats just me.

 

[ChiknNutz]

I looked at the Falcon and VersaCamm with equal scrutiny and was almost decided on the Falcon, but ended up getting the VersaCamm SP-540V and am very pleased with my decision. I am also running a bulk-ink system with is FAR superior to current OEM Eco-Sol ink in durability, color gamut and price. I also opted to buy a very good RIP program (Wasatch SoftRip) which has good industry support for ICC color profiles.

There are MANY things to consider beyond the printer itself. Support, both from your dealer and the industry at large, cannot be overlooked.

 

[ReedAerospace]

I have a Mutoh Falcon Outdoor 46 for about 5 months now. It is my first printer I was scared to death of it at first and actually started to hate its guts , but I still have to pay for it so I have been trying to use it for everything I can and now the prints are getting better and easier. I bought mine from The Exciters

and they were ok to deal with . I have only had one problem that is the little
media guide that goes in the roll of media breaks really easy. I was going to get a versacamm but the Mutoh puts out more vinyl per hour. It depends what kind of production you are going to get into . The Exciters gives you support for a year when you buy from them .

Kendall

​

 

[Barry]

I have said this several times before and its all about the support and availability of information for the machines. Roland, Mutoh and Mimaki all have good machines. There is just the most information available about the Roland’s. More users are using Rolands which means more profiles for more medias, more help from the community, etc.

This link says it all:
http://www.googlefight.com/index.php?lang=en_GB&word1=Mutoh+Printer&word2=Roland+Printer

 

[Steve C.]

Barry,
You offer a good argument and I am coming around to seeing your point. No one printer is right for everyone though and knowing what I know now I would still go with my Mutoh. I guess I have been lucky in solving problem on my own. I know how you feel about SW, but they have been pretty good to me for the most part.
As for profiles, I think they are over rated. At least that has been my experience. I print on about 10 different substrates and use the same generic profile for all with only changes in my heat settings.
I think Roland should consider offering a printer separate from the cutter, because it just makes more sense IMO.

 

[Barry]

Steve,

Roland does offer print only machines, but they are 64 inch or larger. They are a bit cheaper due to the fact that they do not have the cutter in them.
http://www.rolanddga.com/products/printers/SJEX/

I would not say profiles are over rated at all. Although some profiles can print on different media's, a good profile for that media can improve performance greatly. Media's have different white points, and react to ink differently. Think ink may stick to the substraight with a profile not meant for it, but the proper profiles will improve colors, resolution and possibly speed.

With the profiles Im using on my 30 inch versacamm I have boosted print speeds up to 56+ sfph, the 54 inch versacamm can print at 64+ sfph with the same profiles. The quality of these prints are excellent at these speeds as well. These are speeds that you normally cannot achieve with a versacamm and get sellable output. Im currently working on some new profiles to increase that speed even further. Without good profiles for each media I use this would not be possible.

 

[Steve C.]

Steve,

Although some profiles can print on different media's, a good profile for that media can improve performance greatly. Media's have different white points, and react to ink differently. Think ink may stick to the substraight with a profile not meant for it, but the proper profiles will improve colors, resolution and possibly speed.

This could be the reason my banners take so long to dry properly. I know you are all VersaCamm, but can you direct me to a sourse for Mutoh profiles? Thanks.

 

[Derf]

I Have a Falcon 48" (AKA "Rockhopper 46") I got it from Denco Sales and was very happy with the customer service. Exciters is not the best place in the world to do business with.

I did have setup issues however Denco Sales and Mutoh had a Tech out to my place with in a day to fix the problem. The on site install and training was great and I would recommend Denco.

The Falcon works great now and I can't see how I ever got by with out it.

Derf

 

[Barry]

This could be the reason my banners take so long to dry properly. I know you are all VersaCamm, but can you direct me to a sourse for Mutoh profiles? Thanks.

What media are you printing on? So far we only have the Oracal profiles put up on printingdigital.net.
http://printingdigital.net/forums/local_links.php?action=links&catid=57

We have thousands of profiles for Rolands, Mutoh and Mimaki's, we just have not uploaded them to the site. If you let me know your medias Ill see if we have the profiles.

And yes the profiles can have a great deal to do with dry times since the profile is what controls the amount of ink laid down.

 

[eldominico]

ink profiles, do we need them?

I have said this several times before and its all about the support and availability of information for the machines. Roland, Mutoh and Mimaki all have good machines. There is just the most information available about the Roland’s. More users are using Rolands which means more profiles for more medias, more help from the community, etc.

This link says it all:
http://www.googlefight.com/index.php?lang=en_GB&word1=Mutoh+Printer&word2=Roland+Printer

OK first of all this is my very personal opinion, I don't mean to insult any one's personal believes.
If you are trying to match a color samples for a picky customer or you need to output on media the exact color for a corporate logo such as cocacola, or companies that are well known for their trademarked colors, you sure need color profiles (and a pantone chart, a professional calibrated high resolution monitor, OEM inks, an expert graphic designer and well trained plotter operator) if your printing regular outdoor banners, vehicle wraps, with plain and natural colors, you don't need the profiles at all, I have printed in all kind of media with the same color profile and nothing goes wrong, it might get a little translucent or a little over sprayed but that's it, this industry is like religion every body has it's own opinion and version of it.

 

[Stealth Ryder]

All Printers are "pretty much" the same... The individual maintaining it dictates what problems he or she may have... The age of the machine dictates the technology, pick whatever technology you want and perform the proper maintenance and you will have no problems.