I would like to move over to the NuTec inks as it is cheaper and apparently it has the same make up as the Ecosol inks. The supplier has asked me to check on the roland software which parts may be due for replacement before using the nuTec ink. How do I check the lifespan of the parts?
-
I want to thank all the members that have upgraded your accounts. I truly appreciate your support of the site monetarily. Supporting the site keeps this site up and running as a lot of work daily goes on behind the scenes. Click to Support Signs101 ...
NuTec Inks
- Thread starter solantis
- Start date
synergy_jim
New Member
stick with roland inks. You'll be sorry if you dont....
Fantazia
New Member
I 've the chance to change Roland original inks to something alternative (even with the half price for 440 ml cartridges with 6 free cartriges as a gift with the first order and the promise that I will have no problem) BUT after a lot of searching and talking with others there are some issues like color profiles not working, ink levels not working well, clogging etc. I think I save money and time keep working with the original inks. Till now (started with SOL ink 10 years ago, moved to Eco SOL later and now Eco SOL Max) I am satisfied and I think it's a risk to play with inks... Just my opinion.
I've previously used Nutec inks both in my Roland and my production printer, solvent in the latter.
In the market that I'm in it's impossible to operate with Eco Sol Max, it's simply too expensive. After having a problem with our printer and realizing that out dealer is retarded and that we're going to need to service the machine ourselves even while it's within warranty we soon contemplated the idea of aftermarket inks. Our trusted technician told us that he's working with Nutec inks and has a very good experience. We first used them in our production printer where they solved a lot of problems we had with our previous inks.
After a few weeks we decided to give it a go with the Roland as well. Our technician flushed out the system and installed the bulk system with the Nutec inks. The first thing you need to do is profiles. They'll tell you that you can use the default ones but that wasn't the case for us. It might be OK if you don't really need accurate colors but if you do doing the profiles is essential so keep that in mind.
For about half a year we had no problems with the inks. One day all of a sudden we lost a bunch of nozzles on our head. We called the technician who also supplied us with the ink and he tried declogging it but to no avail. He contacted the Nutec people and they sent him over some kind of cleaning solution. When he came by and opened it he immediately said that he can tell that this is far more aggressive that eco solvent by the smell alone but he doesn't give a flying **** since they told him to use it, so it's their responsibility. He put that stuff into the head and it burned a huge hole in the test print, so basically the head was a throw away which doesn't make much different since we can't print with nozzles missing anyway so we needed a new head in any case. Our technician figured that the Nutec people probably sent him old ink and that's why it happened. He told them to buy us a new head, they refused and in the end he basically strong armed them and said he wouldn't pay for the ink unless they pay for the head, which in the end they did.
A few weeks after the new head was installed we still used the Nutec ink and there was a major nozzle blockage again. Our technician came very quickly and managed to clear up every single nozzle by carefully pushing cleaning solution through the head with a syringe. The same evening we also cleaned out the system from the Nutec ink and replaced the inks.
Since then we have had one nozzle blockage which was solved by a powerful cleaning and still have perfect nozzles. No trouble whatsoever for a few months now.
As far as printing and operating goes, all in all for us it was a must to switch to the aftermarket inks. In our market EcoSolMax just isn't viable, it is far too expensive for us to use. Other than the issue described above we have had no real issues with the ink and printing is the same as with EcoSolMax. You just have to make the profiles and that's it. Scratch resistance is the same as EcoSolMax once it's fully dried. Coming out of the printer the ink is a bit less dry than EcoSolMax but that has never been a problem for us since it goes straight into the take up. Once the ink is fully dry you'll have no trouble in that regard. Color gamut is also the same.
It really comes down to how comfortable you are with making such a switch and how much work you actually do. If your machine is busy going along all day long, then it is probably a good idea to make the switch since you'll save a lot. If your printer spends more time idling than printing then no, probably not a good idea. The worst that can happen is that you have to replace the head, that's it. If you're doing a lot of work, the savings should be enough to cover the possibility of a print head failure once a year.
In the market that I'm in it's impossible to operate with Eco Sol Max, it's simply too expensive. After having a problem with our printer and realizing that out dealer is retarded and that we're going to need to service the machine ourselves even while it's within warranty we soon contemplated the idea of aftermarket inks. Our trusted technician told us that he's working with Nutec inks and has a very good experience. We first used them in our production printer where they solved a lot of problems we had with our previous inks.
After a few weeks we decided to give it a go with the Roland as well. Our technician flushed out the system and installed the bulk system with the Nutec inks. The first thing you need to do is profiles. They'll tell you that you can use the default ones but that wasn't the case for us. It might be OK if you don't really need accurate colors but if you do doing the profiles is essential so keep that in mind.
For about half a year we had no problems with the inks. One day all of a sudden we lost a bunch of nozzles on our head. We called the technician who also supplied us with the ink and he tried declogging it but to no avail. He contacted the Nutec people and they sent him over some kind of cleaning solution. When he came by and opened it he immediately said that he can tell that this is far more aggressive that eco solvent by the smell alone but he doesn't give a flying **** since they told him to use it, so it's their responsibility. He put that stuff into the head and it burned a huge hole in the test print, so basically the head was a throw away which doesn't make much different since we can't print with nozzles missing anyway so we needed a new head in any case. Our technician figured that the Nutec people probably sent him old ink and that's why it happened. He told them to buy us a new head, they refused and in the end he basically strong armed them and said he wouldn't pay for the ink unless they pay for the head, which in the end they did.
A few weeks after the new head was installed we still used the Nutec ink and there was a major nozzle blockage again. Our technician came very quickly and managed to clear up every single nozzle by carefully pushing cleaning solution through the head with a syringe. The same evening we also cleaned out the system from the Nutec ink and replaced the inks.
Since then we have had one nozzle blockage which was solved by a powerful cleaning and still have perfect nozzles. No trouble whatsoever for a few months now.
As far as printing and operating goes, all in all for us it was a must to switch to the aftermarket inks. In our market EcoSolMax just isn't viable, it is far too expensive for us to use. Other than the issue described above we have had no real issues with the ink and printing is the same as with EcoSolMax. You just have to make the profiles and that's it. Scratch resistance is the same as EcoSolMax once it's fully dried. Coming out of the printer the ink is a bit less dry than EcoSolMax but that has never been a problem for us since it goes straight into the take up. Once the ink is fully dry you'll have no trouble in that regard. Color gamut is also the same.
It really comes down to how comfortable you are with making such a switch and how much work you actually do. If your machine is busy going along all day long, then it is probably a good idea to make the switch since you'll save a lot. If your printer spends more time idling than printing then no, probably not a good idea. The worst that can happen is that you have to replace the head, that's it. If you're doing a lot of work, the savings should be enough to cover the possibility of a print head failure once a year.