I work for an ambulance manufacturer. We mostly cut vinyl but we do have a 10 year old Summa DC4sx printer that desperately needs replacing. I believe it was around $9-12K when purchased and would say we have about $15k to spend. This printer is suuuuuuper slow and cranky as an old man yelling at kids on his grass. I do not do the actual printing much but it is a solvent printer and we have issues with some of the colors not being reflective when printed on reflective vinyl, and our limited ability in creating custom colors. Our installers have worked with some outsourced graphics and loooove the printed striping because of speed of installation. We do not currently have a laminator but we would need one to protect the graphics from "the elements"-- I have no clue how to research or price these. Keeping in mind that we are not a graphics company, but a vehicle manufacturer looking to step up our offerings, can you recommend some equipment that might be a good fit? Thanks so much!
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printer suggestions
- Thread starter missytoe
- Start date
Not at all. Our company has been doing the graphics for years but we do need to upgrade our equipment in order to continue to provide the best product we can for our customers. I expected that this would be a friendly forum to get some honest advice on a good fit. We aren't a graphics company, as I mentioned, and we are not trying to become one. We do, however, have a graphics department and aim to provide the best product and service we can. 99% of our customers already have their striping done by us so we aren't trying to "steal" business from anyone.
Eveny Medeiros
Finesse Graphic Solutions
I have installed and printed on both solvent and latex. We have a latex printer and prefer it. It is quick and there is no outgassing time needed before lamination and install. We also subcontract installs for a few companies who use solvent and you can tell the difference and when they aren't outgassing long enough. Reflective material looks amazing and we've never had an issue with the inks not showing the reflectivity. We have an HP360 and a Royal Sovereign laminator. The only other laminator I've used that I liked better was a Seal but those are top dollar. When we used a solvent printer it was a Mimaki, a Mutoh and a Roland. The HP is still my favorite to run and print on.
Gino
Premium Subscriber
Why not try farming out your prints to a few places and see which one you like best, before purchasing one ?? I would think you're gonna spend way more than 15 grand for a decent printer and you should've had a laminator all along. Beings we do a lotta ambulances and other emergency vehicles, I've never been particularly fond of companies, such as yours which try to do what a professional knows how/what to do before turning out a finished product. Your printer is thermal, not solvent, unless you gave the wrong information on that, too.
BigfishDM
Merchant Member
$15k might not be enough, but you could get into an HP Latex. (From me of course and I have a branch near you) You can get an HP 315 print and cut combo for around $15k. I am a nerd with this industry so if you want to have a conversation just let me know.