Thoughts on a Vutek Uv Printer

[bjt140]

I have an opportunity to buy a used ~2007 Vutek PressVu UV 200/600 SC and I was curious what thoughts may be out there regarding this printer.

I want to use it to print on metal, wood, and clear acrylic and then laser cut the pieces to make awards etc.

Curious if the print quality will be acceptable on smaller awards, and if there are any thoughts on what the printers value would be.

Thanks for any help/advice you can offer!

 

[TheFreshPrints]

I don't have experience with that particular model but I've handled color management and maintenance/repairs for a large clutch of 3250's in the past. Both hybrids and roll to rolls.

I'd say that Vuteks are great machines when they're working. There's a few flaws we encountered over the years like bad carriage lift screw assemblies and idler bearings but Vutek would work with us to find a solution or at least keep replacing the parts.

My biggest complaint with the Vuteks would be that their ink system would lose prime or reverse through a solenoid fairly often.

All that being said, we kind of forced all of these issues by running these things 24 hours a day roughly 355 days a year.

What I would suggest to you is to come up with a few different print jobs that you would think are challenging and ask the seller to run them for you so you can see the quality and how the machine behaves.

If you have any specific questions, feel free to ask and I may be able to help.

 

[artbot]

keep in mind that, though these are on the market very cheap, replacement parts are NASA space shuttle expensive. getting in to flatbed on the cheap should be done with a
dual dx5 or Ricoh GS2200 based hybrid from china.

get one of these for $16,500, boards and such are cheap.
http://www.mtutech.com/en-us/product/HybridUVPrinterMT-R180(RolltoRoll&Flatbed)_79.html

 

[bjt140]

keep in mind that, though these are on the market very cheap, replacement parts are NASA space shuttle expensive. getting in to flatbed on the cheap should be done with a
dual dx5 or Ricoh GS2200 based hybrid from china.

get one of these for $16,500, boards and such are cheap.
http://www.mtutech.com/en-us/product/HybridUVPrinterMT-R180(RolltoRoll&Flatbed)_79.html

Thanks for the reply. What would you say a good price would be for this machine?


And thank you all for the help on this!

 

[artbot]

for the 200/600, i'd compare with others on globalgarage.com (currently they have three or four... all in the parting out section. anytime the majority of a model is in the "parting out" section that means, they all broke and the repair was so exotic and costly that they weren't worth saving. this is a lesson that can be learned without experiencing). and with an old EFI machine if you do get on the phone need to speak with their free techs. you'll get one of two techs, both with Portuguese accents so strong, you can barely make out each sentence (this i also know and have learned from experience).

 

[wunder]

this is not a machine to run more or less...1day print 2-3-4hours than stays for 1-2 days aso...This is a production machine and need to work daily......need good cleanings/maintenance a very friendly (it must like the pressvu) Operator......little modifications (solvent must be disassembled) brings to mutch trouble with overfills aso.

Parts yes sure...expensive !
Some machines runs very stable like a workhorse...and some bring you weekly problems...

Printingspeed is good.
Quality: 600dpi by Dropsize 30pico outdoor signage

Is not a machine for print time to time more or less !

 

[Quark]

not sure if this was covered: Curious if the print quality will be acceptable on smaller awards -- absolutely not. Think banners / 4x8 coros

 

[bjt140]

keep in mind that, though these are on the market very cheap, replacement parts are NASA space shuttle expensive. getting in to flatbed on the cheap should be done with a
dual dx5 or Ricoh GS2200 based hybrid from china.

get one of these for $16,500, boards and such are cheap.
http://www.mtutech.com/en-us/product/HybridUVPrinterMT-R180(RolltoRoll&Flatbed)_79.html

Have you tried or used these machines? I am curious how well the print and adhesion is, as well as the quality of the machine. Also, I assume this is a direct import from China so I was wondering how trying the process is. I am very interested in their flat bed units to get this product idea up and running without spending 100k on a potentially good idea.

Thank you all for the help and advice, I hope to buy a better suited unit soon!

 

[artbot]

i'd contact meitu. i was discussing this printer a while back with Echo Wang (echo@mtutech.com). there are several versions from a super base solvent only to ricoh gen5. i'd read up on the ricoh GS2200. seems to be
the new head that will be replacing the dx5. the gs2200 requires subtanks. from the pricing/performance it seems to print finer than the epson and is cheaper and built for uv ink @ $400 per channel.

this printer is licensed all over china. there must be eight or so OEMs all building them. from the look of the hull and vacuum plenum the mechanicals are Meitu, also some ad from other OEMs brag that they contain meitu boards. i don't believe meitu is legally allowed to say that this is their printer and others are simple licensed versions.

all the chinese OEMs will get you samples quickly. you can send your substrates to them or they can ship out a pack. the resolution should be really good form both heads, with flatbed, what's usually the hang up is adhesion and speed.

price looks to be around $16,000.
[h=3][/h]

 

[DougWestwood]

Vutek small print - single pass

Hi There,

We have a Vutek GS3200, roll/flatbed machine. I've only worked on it for two weeks, but it is a great printer.
Parts are expensive yeah, but the folks here say it's a day-in, day-out workhorse, and I'm seeing that firsthand.

We had a very small text to print today. We set it to print SINGLE PASS, and it came out crystal clear.
Takes a little more time, yes, but the result was excellent.

Good luck!
- Doug Vancouver