What to look out for in a used Gerber

[deep six]

Hi all

After doing some research and asking a few questions on what would be the best printer to buy for my requirements (making motorcycle decals) it seems the Gerber edge is the pick.
Now having decided which printer to buy I'm wondering what sort of things go wrong with these units and what I should be looking out for.

I have a Gerber Edge (not Edge II) to look at possibly this weekend so wondering what questions to ask and what tests if any would show up any flaws.

I read on another thread you can get a readout of how many minutes the machine has done but not quite sure how to get that.

Supposing the machine needs a new print head are these very expensive to buy and are they a specialist job to fit??

Thanks in advance for any suggestions!!!

 

[Dane DeFord]

I have a Gerber Edge. I've had it for 6 years and it does a great job. I would ask to see a sample print. Not something that had been previously printed, but have them run a full width print for you. Look for fine lines where the print is missing (looks like fine straight scratches). That would indicate blown pixals. After you get the Edge fired up scroll through the setup menu by pushing the setup button several times until you come up to "print minutes". That will tell you exactly how much that machine has been used. Hope this helps!

Regards,
Dane

 

[Billct2]

Try searching here...
I think there's a test print you can do to check the head is good, a bad head is a very expensive to replace.
http://www.4edgetalk.com/homepage/

 

[deep six]

Hi Guys

Thanks for the info. just on the subject of head replacement, when you say it is very expensive, are we talking thousands of dollars "Machine just became an expensive door stop" or Hundreds of dollars "Oh crap, gonna have to fork out to fix this thing"

Cheers

 

[beckys]

yup. thousands...good anchor too at that point.

 

[Shovelhead]

My Edge would only show a blown pixel after a CMYK print...spot color was fine.

 

[signage]

I would contact Gerber to make sure that the heads are available for that model!

 

[Neon RTG]

Also ask Gerber....

I would contact Gerber to make sure that the heads are available for that model!

Also see if you can purchase a service contract. Well worth it!

 

[deep six]

OK, so since I am going in at entry level, does it make more sense to buy a different used printer such as maybe a Roland???

My logic is that a used printer is at some point going to need some replacement parts and the print head seems to be the first thing that would wear out. Guessing a Roland print head would be cheaper??