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Never use 20/20 ink for your printer heres why!!

M

Motoskins829

New Member
I went ahead and bought this 20/20 ink from GRIMCO of Denver, CO who swore to me it was the exact same thing as my Roland Ink, just cheaper. That there was almost no difference EXCEPT that I would have to clean my printer more often. I agreed to this, WHAT THEY DIDNT TELL ME was that if I left my printer sitting for a week (while I was out of town) that my printheads would be COMPLETLY DRY! I have left my printer with the Roland Ink in it for a few months a few strong cleanings and I was back up and running. After I came back after a week it took me two weeks of cleaning my printer every day to get most of my inks back, but I ended up having to buy a $880 printhead to pay for the damage it did too my black printhead. I talked to Grimcos tech when it first happened and he kept recommending head soaks and STRONG cleanings! Which as most of you know took ALL of my ink I had. I then had to PAY for additional ink to continue printing my heads. TWO SETS OF INKS at four catridges cost me $440 TO FIX A PROBLEM THAT THIER INK CAUSED!!! Their tech kept saying that it was probably a issue that I had before their inks were in my printer and that it just coincedentially happened when I put their inks in. THEN I go out and buy new captops, and new printhead. I print for two days without issue. Im gone overnight come in the next afternoon on my THIRD day with a brand spanking new printhead and the 20/20 ink dried in my printhead already!!! I had to run 2 strong cleanings (A TON OF INK) before I had my blue color back!

DO NOT MAKE THE SAME MISTAKE DONT BUY 20/20 INK

DONT BUY FROM GRIMCO! I HAVE ALSO BOUGHT THIER BRIGHTLINE VINYL THAT HAS A 6HEAR DURABILITY ON IT, IT WAS ON MY CUSTOMERS WINDOW FOR 6MONTHS AND STARTED CRACKING.

WHAT HAS GRIMCO DONE ABOUT ALL THIS DAMAGE? ABSOLUTELY NOTHING!!!!!!!!! I EMAILED THEM WITH NO REPSONSE! TOLD ME THEY WOULD REPLACE THE BRIGHTLINE THAT FAILED AND HAVENT HEARD BACK ON THAT EITHER!!!!!!!!!!!

DONT WANT ANYONE ELSE TO GO THROUGH THIS SO IM JUST TRYING TO WARN EVERYONE I CAN!!

THANKS
TABITHA
MOTOSKINS
 
Flame

Flame

New Member
I know you're "in the zone" right now, but just FYI....NEVER leave your printer sitting, off, for a week. If I did that, doesn't matter what printer or inks I had in it, I'd expect the heads to be dry.

2 days tops. Otherwise you're asking for trouble.
 
Bly

Bly

New Member
Did you turn it right off at the power switch?
If you do that it won't do the regular cleans which stop the heads drying out.
 
M

Motoskins829

New Member
No the printer was left on so it would still do the nightly cleanings to keep it maintained, like I said, I would leave it for weeks with the roland ink in there and it would be just fine. print like nothing happened. Left it for two months when were first getting started. Took two strong cleanings and was back up and running. I was out overnight and it already started drying on me with the 20/20 ink. Ive been at this for 5 years and never had a problem til I started using their ink.
 
petesign

petesign

New Member
^^ those two are right. Your printer does a regular clean interval which keeps the head from drying out, and ink clogging everything. If you have been letting it do this for a long time, its a miracle it hasnt ruined the heads before now. I can leave my printer in the "sleep" setting for weeks (if i ever had to it would not be a good thing) and it would be ready to go after a quick cleaning of the wiper and maybe a 5 minute head soak. A few cc's of ink to keep things running smoothly sure beats a head replacement.

I never understood the desire to run third party inks anyway. Charge an extra $.05 a square foot if you have to. Do you put crappy motor oil in your car, or drink pond water because it is cheaper? Your printer is a big investment. Take care of it, and it will take care of you.

*edit* just saw your reply while i was typing my post. That's odd, what are your cleaning intervals set for, time-wise? Does your capping station seal tightly, or is it allowing a lot of air in there to dry out the inks? Make sure it is nice and clean too, i have seen printers get ink gunked up all over those things and prevent a nice seal. Also, are you leaving your heat/air on when you are out of town? Could that have something to do with it?
 
M

Motoskins829

New Member
I agree I never should have went with 3rd party ink. And I didnt even consider it until Grimco told me it was pretty much the same thing. NOT EVEN CLOSE!

Cleaning intervals are set for every 24hours. and at first the tech told me this was probably due to ink buildup before I had even put their inks. So I replaced the captops, wipers (Ive always been really good about keeping the printer clean with weekly cleanings) thought everything would be running in tip top shape, until I came in yesterday to find my blue not even working because the ink had dried up OVERNIGHT in a brand new printhead. Needless to say I was pissed.
 
J

john1

Guest
Been letting my versacamm do cleanings every 8 hours for about 3 years now, Works great when your not as busy and it sits for a day or two.
 
C

CustomRide

New Member
20/20 was declared junk a long time ago.....like over 2 years ago when it was 10/11 or whatever it was called.

In regards to Roland oem eco solvent ink. I personally have bought printers that have been setting for 2-3 months cold with the dx4 heads and was able to get them unclogged and up and running within 2-3 hours without even removing the print head or doing and crazy flush process with a syringe.

Roland ink will allow you to go on vacation for a week or two and be fine with machine unplugged....I have done it with several XC540's with great cap tops of course to keep the seal. I never EVER keep them plugged in overnight or when I am not printing. That is just too much room for an electrical problem to occur from power outages in summer and winter weather. I will chase a clogged print head problem all day before I chase a bad board, pin or cable problem which can even give the best of techs a run for their money on isolating the issue.

I say use OEM roland ink or use Lyson ink but I have noticed Lyson is less forgiving in the head recovery part after sitting 3 weeks but is still a stable inkset with identical color match to Rolands inks....they even won an award for it in 2010 for what that's worth.
 
C

CustomRide

New Member
20/20 was declared junk a long time ago.....like over 2 years ago when it was 10/11 or whatever it was called.

In regards to Roland oem eco solvent ink. I personally have bought printers that have been setting for 2-3 months cold with the dx4 heads and was able to get them unclogged and up and running within 2-3 hours without even removing the print head or doing and crazy flush process with a syringe.

Roland ink will allow you to go on vacation for a week or two and be fine with machine turned off....I have done it with several XC540's with great cap tops of course to keep the seal. I never EVER keep them plugged in overnight or when I am not printing. That is just too much room for an electrical problem to occur from power outages in summer and winter weather. I will chase a clogged print head problem all day before I chase a bad board, pin or cable problem which can even give the best of techs a run for their money on isolating the issue.

I say use OEM roland ink or use Lyson ink but I have noticed Lyson is less forgiving in the head recovery part after sitting 3 weeks but is still a stable inkset with idential color match to Rolands inks....they even won an award for it in 2010 for what that's worth.
 
HulkSmash

HulkSmash

New Member
Motoskins829 said:
I went ahead and bought this 20/20 ink from GRIMCO of Denver, CO who swore to me it was the exact same thing as my Roland Ink, just cheaper. That there was almost no difference EXCEPT that I would have to clean my printer more often. I agreed to this, WHAT THEY DIDNT TELL ME was that if I left my printer sitting for a week (while I was out of town) that my printheads would be COMPLETLY DRY! I have left my printer with the Roland Ink in it for a few months a few strong cleanings and I was back up and running. After I came back after a week it took me two weeks of cleaning my printer every day to get most of my inks back, but I ended up having to buy a $880 printhead to pay for the damage it did too my black printhead. I talked to Grimcos tech when it first happened and he kept recommending head soaks and STRONG cleanings! Which as most of you know took ALL of my ink I had. I then had to PAY for additional ink to continue printing my heads. TWO SETS OF INKS at four catridges cost me $440 TO FIX A PROBLEM THAT THIER INK CAUSED!!! Their tech kept saying that it was probably a issue that I had before their inks were in my printer and that it just coincedentially happened when I put their inks in. THEN I go out and buy new captops, and new printhead. I print for two days without issue. Im gone overnight come in the next afternoon on my THIRD day with a brand spanking new printhead and the 20/20 ink dried in my printhead already!!! I had to run 2 strong cleanings (A TON OF INK) before I had my blue color back!

DO NOT MAKE THE SAME MISTAKE DONT BUY 20/20 INK

DONT BUY FROM GRIMCO! I HAVE ALSO BOUGHT THIER BRIGHTLINE VINYL THAT HAS A 6HEAR DURABILITY ON IT, IT WAS ON MY CUSTOMERS WINDOW FOR 6MONTHS AND STARTED CRACKING.

WHAT HAS GRIMCO DONE ABOUT ALL THIS DAMAGE? ABSOLUTELY NOTHING!!!!!!!!! I EMAILED THEM WITH NO REPSONSE! TOLD ME THEY WOULD REPLACE THE BRIGHTLINE THAT FAILED AND HAVENT HEARD BACK ON THAT EITHER!!!!!!!!!!!

DONT WANT ANYONE ELSE TO GO THROUGH THIS SO IM JUST TRYING TO WARN EVERYONE I CAN!!

THANKS
TABITHA
MOTOSKINS
Click to expand...

I use grimco denver all day. I'm close friends with all 4 of the guys who rep there. Great people.. always get me replacement rolls if needed.. Why are you using cheap vinyl like that on direct sun windows? You want to try a cast vinyl for that. If your using a solvent printer..never turn it off.. and if it's on and not used.. at least run some stuff through it a few times a week. maybe even a cMYK test to get the inks flowing. We had an hp9000 with oem inks not printing for 2 months.... went to print on it... all the heads were gone, and most of the pumping stations too. The way these things work.. the more you print the better it works....

Don't trash grimco, they're a good company to work with. Try calling instead of emailing.. im sure they'll get it fixed for you.
 
SignManiac

SignManiac

New Member
When you're a cheap azz, don't complain when you get what you pay for!

Charge what you should and you won't have to save pennies by using third party inks.
 
A

AnotherSignManiac

New Member
I have been running 20/20 inks for 2 years now, without any issues, as well as using Grimco. They are amazing and I have never had any issues. If you left your printer sitting without even running clean cycles then there in lies your issue... Just my 2 cents
 
M

Motoskins829

New Member
I dont get it...so Im suppose run cleaning cycles every single night? like I said I left it overnight OVERNIGHT and it already started clogging up my brand new printhead, with brand new captops. It is set to clean every 24hours, but I may change that to every 12. But I put in the Roland Ink and everything has been smooth sailing.

SignManiac I agree!! I have learned my lesson tenfold! I will never go for the cheap stuff again! LESSON LEARNED ::::Hitting myself in head much right now::::: lol :doh:

CustomRide, I hadnt heard about the junk that changed names with the same product until Signspecialist in Denver told me about it when I was replacing the printhead.

As far as Grimco, these guys have emailed and called me back and I appreciate it. The guy I emailed I guess was out of town so Im an ***hole for that I agree. Dont think right sometimes when your mad. So I apologize to these guys as they are doing what they can to make it right. Everyone jacks up and in this situation I am still pissed at the 2020 ink and will never use anything 3rd party again, but agree its my fault for trying to scrap a few dollars. And I should have given Grimco the benifit of the doubt.

Hope everyone learns the lesson at my expense. lol
 
Last edited by a moderator:
ProWraps

ProWraps

New Member
why anyone would use 3rd party inks is beyond me. do you use 3rd party materials as well? pay rent on a 3rd party building? have a 3rd party website?

GIGO. garbage in, garbage out.
 
W

www.esigns.com

Guest
Respect for taking accountability regarding speaking out in a time of frustration I've got to give it up for anyone who can dothat, most people won't own it in the same situation. Hopefully no love is lost with your vendor and your printer issues are resolved.

Unfortunately in my life if there isn't a price tag applied to most of my mistakes I tend to repeat them...price of education.

dan@esigns.com
 
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