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Solvent Conversion on Epson 10000

bovegas

New Member
Hi, I was wondering is it posible to convert Epson 9600 or 10000 to eco-solvent. I cant find any info about anyone ever did this but again I dont know why it cant be done. I have Epson 9500 and I am thinking about doing it, but it would be cool to do that on Epson 10000 since it is much faster. Thanks in advance on any info.
Bo
 

artbot

New Member
i know nothing about epson parts, but i think there isn't a good solvent replacement part supply (wipers, wiper holders, capping stations, pumps, dampers, etc.)

maybe you should try using outdoor water/alcohol based ink? i'm thinking about getting some samples myself just to see what properties they have. from what i've read they already have the latex inks beat.

some of the latest water based acrylic clears in the last few years have come in a long way, i don't see why this couldn't apply to the alcohol based ink too.

http://www.sepiax.com/applications/outdoor
 

Rooster

New Member
By the time you're finished retrofitting a suitable heater to the machine you won't have saved a lot of money. The sepiax inks require 60˚C of heat to cure correctly. My JV33 doesn't even go that high. I doubt that little halogen light is working very well, as evidenced by the comments of the operator at the end of the video.

This ink has real possibilities, provided the machine can provide the right environment for the ink to dry correctly. I wouldn't trust a converted machine to do it.

Adding in your own custom heaters can also void any insurance you may have should your jury-rigged system short out and cause a fire.
 

artbot

New Member
in one of the videos he was doing a scratch test with a drill bit and a box cutter after the print was no more than a inch out of the machine. the halogen light was very crude. but, some of those little lights can be extremely hot up close. the mutoh 1608 can run this ink and it has the usual heaters and a heated air hose (like a mini hair dryer) blowing onto the substrate. my figure is that this ink doesn't have the dyne/ink crawling issues that solvent ink does because it is laying down half as much ink for the same saturation. as mentioned in the data sheet, it prints on to PET and PP. that means the ink can work with very low surface energy. this would make for a much more forgiving DIY retrofit.
 

Rooster

New Member
I agree the ink is very impressive. I'd love to see some samples. I haven't looked into it much but it's definitely on my radar. I think a solvent flatbed would be an ideal machine for this ink.
 

Rooster

New Member
Yeah, I'm not such a big fan of Dr. Helmuth. Although he's definitely gotten a little better over the years.
 

artbot

New Member
tell me about it. definitely a little european mad scientist going on there. i think i might call graphics one or whatever the supplier is and ask for a small sample of the ink. you can just put the ink in a mini-jet and do testing. no need to convert an entire machine.
 

Jager

New Member
Gday,

I am new to the printing world...

I am also a proud owner of a Epson Stylus 10000 pro printer.
I've been very impressed by the print quality of this printer... unfortunately a little slower then I would like but the results are awesome!

Have read that the Sepiax inks are practically made for the Epson Pezio print heads. I detect light at the end of the tunnel as far as being able to use this machine for more then just specially coated print vinyls.

Thank you Artbot for your in put... I was wondering if I attached a rheostat to a halogen lamp if that would provide the temperature control needed to preheat the print medium (in my case convex print vinyl) to the 35c-50c degree temps required to fix the ink.

jager

:wavingflag:
 

artbot

New Member
hell if i know!!!! just kidding. whatever mods you do, i'd recreate the effect before installing. such as you could get a minijet (a small paint sprayer) and mist ink onto some different substrates, then hovering halogens judging distance and feed and such to see how the ink behaves. or preheat those surfaces with a hair dryer and then mist to see if you feel the ink drys better being printed onto a warm surface. with the halogen you have a heat and dwell time issue. it will have to dry very quickly or else you will experience dot gain on low dyne substrates.

the rheostat is a great idea. also...the youtube video had a crude lamp fixture. i'd wire a series of those tiny halogen bulbs in a small row, maybe three or four of them.
more compact more surface area. AND when you do install that bank of light, configure some kind of lamp height adjustability.

i'd imagine installing a pre and post lamp would be best. the preheater would be on the left of the print head very very close to the surface. the post heater on the right with more of a flood. also get one of those silocone heating blankets to experiment. they are really cheap and would make for an easy compact reheat on the back of the printer.
 
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Jager

New Member
This is all very exciting the thought being able to retrofit this printer to do more then picture on photo paper........

If I could heat the media before it went into the printer that would same allot of time and effort. I'm thinking of a maybe a silicone heat pad before the printer head. That would be easier to experiment with also.

Thanks for you input... keep it coming.

I'll post pictures of any progress I make..

Jager

:wavingflag:
 

artbot

New Member
better than that, you will be able to print to more substrates than solvent. like acrylic, aluminum, polyester, and polypropylene!!! keep us posted guinea pig!
 
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