Discussion ROLAND SOLJET Pro 4 XR-640 3RD PARTY INKS

I am getting an XR soon and I already own 3 other Roland's. I'd never use a 3rd party ink. First of all 3rd party inks void your Roland warranty. So they basically tell you, your screwed. Second, when you decide to sell it and a buyer sees 3rd party ink, they will drop it like a hot coal.

Do they work the same? Probably, last as long? Not likely, damage your printer? They can, but unlikely.

 

Yes always. I tried 3rd party inks in my desktop regular $150 printer, the inks screwed up the papers, created a mess. Tried again and it clogged or something and wouldn't print. Plus the ink was like water, so it soaked the paper and had horrible color. Also tried 3rd party toner in another regular desktop printer and it prints a grayscale instead of black. So it's hard to read whats printed.

You get what you pay for and you don't get what you don't pay for.

 

We've got a 5 year old XR-640 and have switched to Nazdar inks just over a year ago. The ink does smell different and has a bit of a different finish, but works very well. Our printer does seem to clean more than it's supposed to (we have auto-cleaning turned "off" yet it still cleans every couple of hours) but we haven't had any issues with print heads or other parts.

We're paying $88 CDN for Nazdar vs $156+ CDN for OEM Roland so it's a no-brainer for us.

I'm not saying that everyone should go out and switch to third party, but if you're off warranty and want to save some cash, it is worth considering. I would never try anything other than Nazdar as I trust them as an ink manufacturer given their long time history of making good inks.

 

Ran OEM ink for 1 year then switched to Bordeaux 1 liter bottles and bulk ink system on our SP-540. Its 9 years old and has 1 set of heads replaced because of a strike on the media clamps. I do change dampers 1 time a year. Captops 2 to 4 times a year. Wipers at least 4 times a year. Regular cleaning at least once a week. We print 2 to 5 rolls a week through it. I thought about upgrading but dont have to room to add a new one and keep the old one, and the old printer is worth more to us running than selling off. I also run a Mimaki sp250 98 inch printer on the same ink.

 

We have both rasterlink and versaworks installed,but we usually drive everything from flexi. After we got the colors sorted out I can get consistent prints from both machines. I cant really pick a favorite from any of them. In some ways one will be easier than another. If I could take the good parts from all 3 and combine them I would love it.

The printers run pretty clean most of the time. No spraying any more than oem inks. The smell is stronger and I believe they use harsher solvents but we have had great results.

 

Agreed with white haus. One of our old techs made the jump from tech to ink sales and since our roland had gone out of warranty, we jumped on the bulk ink setup. been loving it ever since. cant say enough good things about nazdar and their ink. started with the carts and moved to the bulk, both were great. have actually gotten some better quality imho than i did with the OEM.

 

I said it in another thread having in mind mine XC 540, so will just repeat it here :
"Unfortunately none of the second hand printers i looked here In Spain uses original inks. Understandable. Roland ink is 240 per liter vs 60 per liter compatible and i have seen even for 10-20EU per liter. 6x240=1440 vs 6x60=360. Given that a printhead is 500euro, thats 2 pritheads price in every 1 liter spent per color.

Online competition is really tough here in Spain. i have seen 6-8euro per m2 , laminated and 4 euro not laminated. The cheapest material i see is 3 euro per meter +3 per laminate+2 per ink and printer and i am already there.."

Obviously i don't see how and why the hell i will use Roland inks. I am using Bordeaux ink, as previous owner was using this. Printer is like 10 years old and has 3 heads changed once. Printing every day. Have been in Spanish forum and no one uses Roland inks.

 

Previous owner said normally 2-3 caps per year, so obviously he was changing them once per year per color or more rarely. Original Roland.

I read in Spanish forums that most of the alternative inks people tried were Not OK , until they have figure which brands work well. And untill brands fix their problem inks. Especially when the first year a brand is offering inks, whatever they say to you, we are just test subjects. Paying ones.

 

roland xf640. i havent noticed more cleaning at all. with the chips, its all visual so you just need to keep an eye on your secondary tanks and make sure they stay above 33% full. there is no link up between the bulk system and the printer digitally. we change caps once per year or as needed.

 

We run the Roland xr640 and we run a 3rd party ink in it. we have been running the 3rd party ink for 2 years with no issues. I do a manual clean twice a month or if we are printing a lot I may manual clean once a week. I would normally do this clean anyways. I havent run into any issues other than a head strike which was a non ink related issue which has been the biggest bummer since we have had the printer. If the warranty is finished I would recommend trying a 3rd party ink as the price difference is usually half the cost.

 

Should you use 3rd party ink is a question nearly as old as this forum. The replacement parts schedule you were warned about is bunk. ("I have been told you must change dampers and captops every 3 months when using 3rd party ink" )
Some inks will have more wear on parts (caps, heads, wipers, dampers, and o-rings) because of stronger solvent mixtures. (this usually translates into much faster dry time for higher print speeds). This will increase replacement by about 10-20% at most overall. (barring a really crap ink that has sedimentation issues, which is pretty rare nowadays)
Some inks have a weaker solvent which would mean better head nozzle recovery (no missing nozzles after sitting for days) and less in maint. issues. This would also mean it would need to print slower to compensate for slower dry time.

Some manufacturers have inconsistent production methods and unreliable raw material consistency...sourcing new pigments when prices change for them. (causes color shift).
This crap happens with the OEM's too, just less frequently.

There are a few reliable 3rd party manufacturers out there. PM me if you need recommendations.