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we are officially in the UV printing business!!

petepaz

petepaz

New Member
the LEJ640 is up and running...IT KICKS ***!!
we were able to print on all the materials we silk screen on(so far)
only item we had a problem with was a corogated box but i will figure that one out (it printed ok on the box but had some issues pulling it through, rollers slipping)
all the main things we want to print on worked out ok (alum, polycarbonate, foamboard, vinyl) and i think i saw the silk screener sweating because he will soon be replaced by a machine...haha
ink adhesion was good, colors were good, speed not that great but we knew that going in. very easy to use runs on versa works. we also ran some labels, printed on matte silver mylar/polyester on the UV machine and cut them on the xc solvent machine/plotter THAT WAS BIG

it's only been a day but i am really excited about how this will boost business
 
HulkSmash

HulkSmash

New Member
petepaz said:
the LEJ640 is up and running...IT KICKS ***!!
we were able to print on all the materials we silk screen on(so far)
only item we had a problem with was a corogated box but i will figure that one out (it printed ok on the box but had some issues pulling it through, rollers slipping)
all the main things we want to print on worked out ok (alum, polycarbonate, foamboard, vinyl) and i think i saw the silk screener sweating because he will soon be replaced by a machine...haha
ink adhesion was good, colors were good, speed not that great but we knew that going in. very easy to use runs on versa works. we also ran some labels, printed on matte silver mylar/polyester on the UV machine and cut them on the xc solvent machine/plotter THAT WAS BIG

it's only been a day but i am really excited about how this will boost business
Click to expand...

How much was that unit?
 
Custom_Grafx

Custom_Grafx

New Member
Hey congratulations.

I know with Rolands they always like to advertise the low quality speed most... but in reality, I hardly ever use those settings. My jobs require a good quality print.

In saying that, how long does it take you on this machine to print, in good quality (not photo, but say "standard quality on an eco-sol") for a full sheet 8x4? I'm thinking PVC 3mm or alucabond 3mm.

Sounds like a nice machine - am sure you'll enjoy :)
 
Andrew O

Andrew O

Merchant Member
@Petepaz - Thanks for the kind words and good review of the LEJ-640. It sounds like your dealer did a great job of getting you up and running. Let them or me know if there is additional information you need as you start to explore the capabilities of your machine.
 
Gino

Gino

Premium Subscriber
Big Congrats there pete.....................

I noticed you mentioned rollers. Is there a weight limit ?? Ours is 90lbs. Anyway, more important, can you print onto MDO with the cupping involved. We're still having problems getting a head height that will not hit in the middle and still print nice at the edge.

If you haven't tried it, try a piece and let me know when you get around to it.
 
petepaz

petepaz

New Member
thanks guys and no problem andrew but if the machine sucked i would have said so..haha
the kind workds are mostly facts and yes the guy who did the training did good job getting us up and running.
gino there is a weight limit but i don't remember the spec (i'll have to check)
also i will search around the shop and see what we have to print on. MDO isn't a big mover around here but we can print up to 1/2in thich and when you print rigid material it has a sensor that travels the lenght of the material to check the material so you won't get head strikes (not to say if you have a small wave towards the middle you won't have a problem but it definately cuts down on the disasters) also there is a bracket/roller (optional) that you can use when printing rigid material hooks on the front before your rack and it weighs down the material to help keep it flat
 
T

thesignpost

New Member
Be careful printing on PVC material, if you have the heads set to high, you will have track marks in it from the pinch rollers. When you print on ½ inch foamcore or gatorfoam, you will have to remove the rubber curtain covering the back entryway, it will fold over the top of your substrate and damage the surface. You cant run magnetic through it because it will stick to the metal plate at the entryway, I mounted the magnetic to a piece of 24 x 36 sheetmetal, pre -ecut my magnetic to 30inches and printed it as a sheet, worked really well. I wished they had the same features as the XC 540, like having the "piece" and "edge" options when you load the material. Hopefully they will have that in the next firmware upgrade. You have to really pay attention to the ink usage on white and clear. Sometimes you wont get notified that they are empty. I hate that its always cleaning clear and white, so you keep using them when your printing or not.
 
J

Jack Knight1979

New Member
@petepaz

Please post photos or a video of this thing running. How fast are you running a 4x8 sheet through?

Does it run DX4 heads? How much art the carts of inks? Do they come in 440's? When it runs white, does it lay down that first then reprint the sheet or are the heads staggered so you don't need to reload the sheet?

Sorry about all the questions. That printer is some NICE hardware and Roland doesn't talk about it too much on their site. I'm curious how it was built/runs.

I'm happy for you. Very exciting.
 
S

Slamdunkpro

New Member
I'll be following this thread with interest as we're looking hard at this machine. Please keep us updated on your experiences.
 
petepaz

petepaz

New Member
i will make some videos and post them as we move along but unfortunately for you guys the 4x8 stuff isn't really our thing (not that we won't be doing it and when i do i will post some vid's)
it does print faster than we expected but not as fast as the xc but one of the main things is no out gassing, no dry time just print and ship and bill. we are running some polycarbonate nameplates right now that will be done and shipped out today or monday that normally would be in our silk screen dept for 3 weeks. print heads are identical to the xc heads. cleaning is the same except they recommend once per week for manual as where i can go 3-4 weeks on my solvent machines. best results with the white so far is to run white and color separate similar to a silk screen style , so set your base point and return to origin then print the second color ( for us we are mostly sub surface printing so we print our color then return to origin and then print white) cart between $85-90 each don't know about 440's but we won't need them i think we will be fine with 220's and we always keep a backup set on the shelf. must make sure to shake the clear and white every morning to prevent separation
 
Gino

Gino

Premium Subscriber
thesignpost said:
Be careful printing on PVC material, if you have the heads set to high, you will have track marks in it from the pinch rollers. When you print on ½ inch foamcore or gatorfoam, you will have to remove the rubber curtain covering the back entryway, it will fold over the top of your substrate and damage the surface. You cant run magnetic through it because it will stick to the metal plate at the entryway, I mounted the magnetic to a piece of 24 x 36 sheetmetal, pre -ecut my magnetic to 30inches and printed it as a sheet, worked really well. I wished they had the same features as the XC 540, like having the "piece" and "edge" options when you load the material. Hopefully they will have that in the next firmware upgrade. You have to really pay attention to the ink usage on white and clear. Sometimes you wont get notified that they are empty. I hate that its always cleaning clear and white, so you keep using them when your printing or not.
Click to expand...


Does this machine have 'Pinch Rollers' ?? Doesn't it work similar to ours with conveyor and vacuum ??

If you only have a 1/2" opening, I doubt you'll be capable of getting an MDO board through there.


Anyway, let me know.
 
petepaz

petepaz

New Member
you can put material up to 1/2in thick to print on. and the head is manually adjustable. it does have a vacuum but still uses rollers to move the material not a belt
 
petepaz

petepaz

New Member
well had our first problem friday. started printing after the first 6in of the print, it stopped and got service call: 0211. called our vendor and roland. they are on it and it should be fixed monday or tuesday the latest (we will see if they live up to their end of the bargain) they said this code is a loose wire to the UV lamp and a sensor forces the machine to stop so nothing gets damaged, could be an actual loose wire or a bad sensor. will keep you posted
 
Custom_Grafx

Custom_Grafx

New Member
Pete, curious to know, can you print full bleed to the edge of the material with this machine? If not, how is your place tackling those sorts of jobs? Trimming/cutting/guillotining after print?
 
DRamm76

DRamm76

New Member
Custom_Grafx said:
Pete, curious to know, can you print full bleed to the edge of the material with this machine? If not, how is your place tackling those sorts of jobs? Trimming/cutting/guillotining after print?
Click to expand...


Oh there's ways to do it. Depends on the board thickness and materials you are working with.
 
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