Question Printable Primer for Mimaki jfx200

[NathanR]

Has anyone had any experience with switching out their clear tanks for mimaki's printable primer?

We've had our printer for about a year and the currant setup is a CYMK 2x clear 2x white and we almost never use clear for anything and are really just dumping money down the drain with it at this point.
We do a decent amount of printing on acrylic and use a pre-print wipe on primer that works really well but it would be nice if we could just make it an all in one sort of print job if possible.
Just wondering if anyone has tried this setup and what you think of the quality of the primer and where there any possible issues with using the primer (filters having a shorter life span or heads clogging etc)

Alternatively any experience with switching out the clear for a light cyan and light magenta layout and if the range of color/qualty of print seemed worth it
Oh and we are running Rasterlink 6 so any information on potential headaches trying to do either of these tank switches would also be appreciated as I've learned that some times there is more than one place in the printing process that can throw a wrench into your day.

 

[Solventinkjet]

The primer is much more harsh than the other inks so it requires a different subtank that is made out of metal instead of plastic. In my experience it eats up the heads much faster than the regular inks. So hopefully there is someone on here using the primer regularly who can tell you if it works well or not. It might be worth the hassle if it works well but just take into account that maintenance on the primer will be more involved.

As far as switching ink sets, Mimaki has an official switch over procedure for each ink type and color set. You can go from CMYK CLCLWW to CMYK PPWW but once you get the primer you can't go back. You can also go from CMYK CLCLWW to CMYK LCLMWW and vice versa. Just keep in mind that if you want to follow the official Mimaki switch over, you need to replace every bottle holder, every primary filter, both sub tanks, both cap tops, and you have to flush the entire system. That's the official procedure. In reality I would normally quote a customer 2 bottle holders, 2 primary filters, flush only the clear and white head, and a new sub tank for that head. Although I have done the procedure and it's always worked fine, there is no guarantee the head makes it out alive. So just be ready to have to buy a new one. I personally make sure to warn customers about that before they approve the procedure because like I said, it's never a guarantee the head won't clog up during the process.

 

[NathanR]

The primer is much more harsh than the other inks so it requires a different subtank that is made out of metal instead of plastic. In my experience it eats up the heads much faster than the regular inks. So hopefully there is someone on here using the primer regularly who can tell you if it works well or not. It might be worth the hassle if it works well but just take into account that maintenance on the primer will be more involved.

As far as switching ink sets, Mimaki has an official switch over procedure for each ink type and color set. You can go from CMYK CLCLWW to CMYK PPWW but once you get the primer you can't go back. You can also go from CMYK CLCLWW to CMYK LCLMWW and vice versa. Just keep in mind that if you want to follow the official Mimaki switch over, you need to replace every bottle holder, every primary filter, both sub tanks, both cap tops, and you have to flush the entire system. That's the official procedure. In reality I would normally quote a customer 2 bottle holders, 2 primary filters, flush only the clear and white head, and a new sub tank for that head. Although I have done the procedure and it's always worked fine, there is no guarantee the head makes it out alive. So just be ready to have to buy a new one. I personally make sure to warn customers about that before they approve the procedure because like I said, it's never a guarantee the head won't clog up during the process.

Thank you, all really good things to know.

 

[The ADA Guy]

Thank you, all really good things to know.

We run CMYK PCLWW and use the primer on most prints with great results. The biggest downside being if your primer bands for any reason you will see that come through the white and color layers. I was suprised when printing 2nd surface (PR,CMYK,W) that the colors actually popped a little more through acrylic with primer 1st laid than without it. I thought for sure the color would be a little subdued visually having to show through the primer.