Thermal Printing (Summa DC5) for Vehicle wraps...

[designfx]

Anyone use the Summa DC5/DC4 thermal transfer printer for vehicle wraps? If so, I have a few questions...

1. What type of vinyl do you use? 3M IJ60C? 3M 40C? IJ180C? Other?

2. Do you laminate? If so, what laminate do you use?

3. How long does it last without laminate on a vehicle?

4. Have you had any failures?

5. Any tips/tricks for thermal printing in the wrap category?

I know inkjet is preferred by most but I have heard of shops using thermal as well...just not a lot of info out there on it so I thought I'd ask here.

 

[smdgrfx]

I've done hundreds of vehicles with Gerber Edge prints. No laminate. They last for years. I've also done some with a DC4, but never saw the vehicles again, so I don't know how they held up. I still use the Gerber Edge for certain jobs. I only laminate dirt bike graphics when using Edge prints. If I'm printing from my large format, I laminate everything.

 

[XtremeXccessories]

We did a few vehicles and trailers with our DC4 when we were first getting into wraps.

1. We used IJ180cv3 with Scratchguard and no lam (unfortunately).

2. I would highly advise using lam and not Scratchguard. Scratchguard cracks and flakes off at the slightest stretch of the material, it's a giant waste unless it's going on a flat surface.

3. It holds up really well against the the weather, but that's all. On a van we did, the first area to go was where the driver grabbed to close his door, same spot every time. It started to discolor in just a few months if I remember correctly. Because it's so thin it, of course, scratches and gets dinged really easily. If you rub up against it too hard with a button or zipper it'll either rip the vinyl or smear the print.

4. See 3.

5. Honestly, don't. As I'm sure you know, the ribbons are EXPENSIVE. The cost of the ribbons alone to print in 4 color is about the same as ink, media, and laminate using inkjet/latex. And, as I'm sure you know, it's hard as hell to get an acceptable CMYK print with no banding at all. If you're doing all spot colors that's a different story, but still expensive. I would highly suggest finding somebody to outsource your printing to. You can find some people on here that'll do it for $3.50-$4 per square foot (which is probably about your cost if you don't have to reprint any due to banding).

Hope this helps.

 

[designfx]

Thanks for the replies. I've actually decided to just go ahead and buy an inkjet. Thinking about selling my DC5 unfortunately, I just won't have enough use to keep it around.