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STRATOJET FLATBED PRINTER

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RockenGraphics

New Member
Hello, I am currently looking at a Stratojet Flatbed Printer Model: Shark FB-2512 Flatbed 8'x4 It will have 3 printheads: 2 CMYK and 1 WW. I am looking for feedback from anyone that happens to be using this particular model. I want the good, bad and ugly before I invest my money. I am currently running an HPFB550. Although the HP is a good machine, it isnt the right fit for our application.

Any feedback or help is much appreciated.
 
G

GC Decor

Super Printer
From Stratojet website looks like another imported china machine with some in house upgrades. Many companies are doing this now, we own a Fluid color and its a similar setup, CET as well. 90K doesn't seem bad for a 4x8 UV, with the 3 head setup you would be printing a full sheet every 10-15 minutes. Im guessing for this price your getting Rich gen 6 Heads ?? If its Gen 5, that its not a good price. If your gonna do any testing I would run the machine in High Quality mode and see how the results & speed are. With a 3 head setup you most likely wont do much in there production mode other than Yard signs, not enough heads to get the full speed. We have a 3 Head system and it works fine, Full 4x8 prints in 10 - 12 Mins. I can get them down to 6 Minutes but the color aren't as vibrant.
If you haven't owned a Flatbed, Beware they need alot of maintenance and care to run at there best. We run ours atleast once a day, we skip Sundays - Not to scare you away, just something we noticed compared to our other equipment.
Cant leave it sit for a week, you'll have a very expensive bill if you leave the heads unprepared for long periods of time.
 
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RockenGraphics

New Member
Thank you for the feedback. Yes, we currently have an hp fb550 hybrid machine. I am aware of all the pros and cons of owning a machine. I am specifically looking for someone that owns a stratojet and to get their feedback. We are looking at several different manufacturers and doing our best to make sure we purchase the best machine for our investment
 
Caw

Caw

Minister of Percussive Maintenance
Ill be able to tell you in 2 weeks...ours it on the truck coming our way. A lot of reason we went with this machine over the others. We were told this wasn't a rebranded cheap chinese machine: metal frames are build in India, actual printer build in the USA, at least the US version. Got samples from 4 different companies and their print quality matchd a machine with 3 times the pricetag but not as fast...but fast enough for what we do at our shop. We do a lot of backlit displays and full sheets of plexiglas/petg and this ink backlights beautifully and has very good adhesion. I'll come back to this thread once we are running it.
 
Pauly

Pauly

Printrade.com.au
RockenGraphics said:
Thank you for the feedback. Yes, we currently have an hp fb550 hybrid machine. I am aware of all the pros and cons of owning a machine. I am specifically looking for someone that owns a stratojet and to get their feedback. We are looking at several different manufacturers and doing our best to make sure we purchase the best machine for our investment
Click to expand...

This forum is full of stratojet "good reviews" by one particular owner.

I personally would avoid Chinese machines,
Id find local dealers and see what you can get. maintenance support is key.
Get real demos, get real samples and compare.
Get samples printed in all print modes.... Some printers can print fast but the quality is so bad. For example someone mentioned here, their printer can print fast but lacking in vibrancy which means not enough ink in the passes (this usually means the fast print mode is a gimmick), where a printer like a Canon Arizona (and others) can print at full speed and can print with enough density not to lack vibrancy.
 
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RockenGraphics

New Member
Caw said:
Ill be able to tell you in 2 weeks...ours it on the truck coming our way. A lot of reason we went with this machine over the others. We were told this wasn't a rebranded cheap chinese machine: metal frames are build in India, actual printer build in the USA, at least the US version. Got samples from 4 different companies and their print quality matchd a machine with 3 times the pricetag but not as fast...but fast enough for what we do at our shop. We do a lot of backlit displays and full sheets of plexiglas/petg and this ink backlights beautifully and has very good adhesion. I'll come back to this thread once we are running it.
Click to expand...
I sent you a private message. Thanks, Kenny
 
richsweeney

richsweeney

New Member
We bought the FB2512 4X8 in July 2021. My clients have been very happy with the output and had no problem going from a better print hp latex, (to my surprise) I looked for 5 years at a fb, and went with the stratojet. I really like the fact that you could get 24/7 tech phone support for the life of the machine. We bought it with the white varnish option with some hesitation, and were told that I had about 12 months to change the head to a cm or yk. It cost about 8k to upgrade and get rid of the white and varnish to make for 4 2c heads. The upgrade was a bit bumpy, but I think we are on the right track. Note, if you have white you have to purge and bleed every week. We did not and that color (m) is only about 90% good. Our tech thinks it will work itself out, but in case it does not we can send it back for cleaning. If you look through this forum, you will not see any one asking how to fix anything on a stratojet, that is very telling about this machine. If this machine or support was bad, you would be hearing from me.
 
Caw

Caw

Minister of Percussive Maintenance
Sorry for not getting back to you right away RockenGraphics...
I had one of these units installed in April and compared to my old roland UV flatbed this thing is a DREAM. Their is a lot more maintenance but I love that I can just call support and fix problems either remotely or over the phone. We actually got a Shark, Hawk, and Graphtec cutter from them. The equipment itself all functions very well but some communication issues between strato and their graphtec installer made install a huge hassle with me not being able to use my cutter for a while but I'm up and running now. The software is just a flexi permanent license for the rip and the programs that actually control the printers are really in need of a interface designer...but once you figure it out it's pretty painless. I have to agree with richsweeney, the support is top notch. My poor tech has had to move my software between 3 different computers(like I said...rocky install) and I had some help that decided to pour the hawk clean-ink into the UV and what I thought would be a disaster was a quick half hour phone call.
 
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RockenGraphics

New Member
Thank you. We actually had our shark installed 3 weeks ago. We absolutely love it. The prints are phenomenal and the support has been top notch.
 
Chase

Chase

New Printers for Christmas!
How’s everyone’s Stratojets running?

I met their team at to PU and liked what I saw. I got a bid for the following.

Shark flatbed 4x8 with cmyk wc inks

Falcon XL 10’ RTR with dual cmyk

Installed for $175k

Vs a Colorado and flatbed Epson, Mimaki 130k installed.

I’m thinking the maintenance on the stratojets might be the deal breaker since I’m a one man print shop. Trying to hire help.

Print quality > speed
Printing heavy wallcovering and 1/2” substraights pvc wood.

I’m torn for which way to go.
 
Pauly

Pauly

Printrade.com.au
The colorado is a no brainer.
While you're at canon, check our their flatbeds. They are better than stratojet.
Mimaki flatbeds are pretty good also.
the epson is also great, just more entry level. I was impressed with the quality.
 
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