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Roland Bulk Ink System/Third Party Inks??

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GnG_Josh

New Member
Wanted to post a thread up and see if anyone had any experience or opinions on the matter of a bulk ink system for a Roland XJ-740. We are a high volume, fully color managed shop, currently running through a full set of 440 mL cartridges/week if not more. Also considering picking up another XJ-740 due to the halt of ink manufacturing for our Colorspan 72SR.
I've heard horror stories in the past about third party inks, but I am starting to see less and less negativity. So much so now, that I don't really see anything.

We've been considering a few options, but I'm currently looking at GRAF Inks.

Does anyone have any experience with any bulk ink systems and/or third party inks on a Roland. I'm currently running a Roland XJ-740 with the factory EcoSol Max 440 mL inks.

Any input would be much appreciated!

Thank you,
Josh
 
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TXFB.INS

TXFB.INS

New Member
this topic is long been debated, the search function is your friend.


boils down to a couple of things.
is the machine under an extended warranty?
if it does break are you confident to handle repairs?
 
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GnG_Josh

New Member
TXFB.INS said:
this topic is long been debated, the search function is your friend.


boils down to a couple of things.
is the machine under an extended warranty?
if it does break are you confident to handle repairs?
Click to expand...

I've been reading for many days on multiple forums. Just can't seem to find a consistent opinion.

Honestly, I'm opposed to the whole idea of third party inks. The owner of the company on the other hand, is insisting that we find the best solution for a third party ink. Convinced he'll save wads of cash I suppose.

The machine is currently under warranty, yes. Was only purchased about a mere three months ago.

Repairs? I'm confident to a degree. Probably isn't anything I couldn't figure out. I can tear apart all of our other printers and put them back together blind folded. Have not had that experience with the Roland as of yet though.
 
TXFB.INS

TXFB.INS

New Member
GnG_Josh said:
I've been reading for many days on multiple forums. Just can't seem to find a consistent opinion.
You will not find consistency, some claim it was the best move they ever did overs loathe the day and switch back to oem

Honestly, I'm opposed to the whole idea of third party inks. The owner of the company on the other hand, is insisting that we find the best solution for a third party ink. Convinced he'll save wads of cash I suppose.
That's why everyone does it, if you are going through that much ink surely your supplier will be willing to offer it at a discounted price

The machine is currently under warranty, yes. Was only purchased about a mere three months ago.
Roland is very adamant that the machine must stay with oem if you want the warranty to stay in place. I'm not getting into the legality of this statement just what we were told

Repairs? I'm confident to a degree. Probably isn't anything I couldn't figure out. I can tear apart all of our other printers and put them back together blind folded. Have not had that experience with the Roland as of yet though.
Click to expand...

we run VS-640, and they are on OEM inks, and see no reason to switch. too many horror stories on 3rd party inks plus the maintenance is not as demanding with OEM inks
 
ChicagoGraphics

ChicagoGraphics

New Member
I know a lot of people running bulk 3rd party inks on Roland and other printers, and if your going to go that route stay away from the cartridges and buy your inks in liters or gallons that will save you the most money.

I use a refillable bulk system with 3rd party inks in my Mimaki JV3 and the savings are huge with zero problems.
 
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GnG_Josh

New Member
TXFB.INS said:
we run VS-640, and they are on OEM inks, and see no reason to switch. too many horror stories on 3rd party inks plus the maintenance is not as demanding with OEM inks
Click to expand...

That's pretty much my stance as well. Just trying to find substantial evidence to convince the owner that 3rd party might not be the best idea. He's a tough one to convince once he sets his mind to something...
 
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Jack Knight1979

New Member
We use Solaris Roland ink from Fellers. In liter bottles. We use the bulk system that has tanks connected to carts with floats in the cart. This keeps the ink pressures perfect. We run our carts at about 1/3rd full and never have problems. I love Solaris ink.

The inks due stink more than OEM, so you need the printer in a different room or vent it.

I probably save 20k plus a year in ink costs.
 
anozira02

anozira02

New Member
Thread: Roland Bulk Ink System/Third Party Inks??

I have been using third party inks for over 3 years new,,, and not experiencing any issues, so much that now I am starting to offer third party inks and large refillable cartridges for sale for Roland printers. I do a lot of vehicle decals, heat transfers and banners...
 
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iladi

New Member
I've been using jetbest for almost 5 years. absolutely no problems regarding heads. for 2 years i'm using the 0,5 liters sealed bottles and it is more easy than refilling with the funnel.
 
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baijurj

New Member
bulk ink system

Hi I thought i would put in my experience as well.
well we stopped using oem cartridges about three years back, and switched to a third party ink on both or roland xc-540 and mimaki cjv 30-130. and we again switched to bulk ink system on our mimaki about 8 months back and we have been printing pretty well without any problems. we are also moving our roland to bulk ink system as soon as the current stock of carts are over.
the only problem i faced with bulk ink system is that occasionally i would have to pull ink through the head (charge it manually), but that was a small price to pay for the savings i would make on the oem inks and cartridges.. third party carts were half the price of oem and bulk ink was half the price of third party carts.
so it is yes yes and yes from me.
 
Robert M

Robert M

New Member
Bordeaux

If you want to try out Bordeaux inks before investing in a bulk system, we have them
440ml cart for Roland and Mimaki for $69.95
220ml cart for Roland $49.95

www.solventinkjet.com

ships from Denver Colorado USA
 
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