Which Solvent printer to get? Mimaki JV100-160 or Epson S40/S60

[InkHead]

I'm looking into purchasing a solvent printer. This would be our first solvent so I need some recommendations. We currently use a Mimaki UCJV300 and 95% of our work is decals/stickers printed on white vinyl.

Although the UCJV is great, due to the UV ink, some things can look or appear to be grainy especially some grays. Never had any complaints about quality but would like something near photo quality.

Based on my research on here, a lot of people recommend the Epson S line due to their amazing print qualities. I definitely need to get some sample prints but I'm wondering which machine would be the best choice. I believe the S40 is CMYK, S60 dual CMYK and the S80 CMYK with the light colors, etc..

I like the idea of the S40 or S60 for speed as well as $$. And If we ever needed to get another we could run side by side. However having a UCJV and familiarity with Mimaki, does anyone have any thoughts on the Mimaki JV100-160?

Looks like it has 2 heads that can do Dual CMYK or CMYKlclm etc..

Does anyone here have a JV100? How does it compare to the Epson S series? Interested to know the print speed, ink costs/usage, maintenance, and print quality. The price seems pretty good too so potentially adding additional ones in the future is a plus.

 

[Gary1]

I had two Mimaki’s so far, the CJV130 and the JV150-160. Heads are crazy expensive. Next machine I will go with Epson. Technology is newer and just by looking at the machines they also seem better built.

 

[marsuni]

Go to Epson (best choice for unparalleled quality is SC80600) with eyes wide shut. Excellent Machine even after 5 yrs and thousand sqms on us !!!

 

[InkHead]

So far sounds like the epsons are the better machine. No much of a surprise on this based on the popularity on this board.

Gary1 we have a ucjv300 and one head was replaced during warranty and yes they appear to be super expensive.

How much are head replacements on the Epsons? Also how easy is it to work on these machines outside of warranty. Can heads be replaced without a tech?

 

[neutrinocv]

If you want museum-like photo quality prints, go for the S80. If high quality photo print suffice the S40 or S60 will be more than fine. If you have the space and some extra $$$, I'd go for 2 S40's for speed and versatility instead of just 1 S60 (they are exactly the same machine except for the extra head and over-platen dryer for the S60).

 

[InkHead]

If you want museum-like photo quality prints, go for the S80. If high quality photo print suffice the S40 or S60 will be more than fine. If you have the space and some extra $$$, I'd go for 2 S40's for speed and versatility instead of just 1 S60 (they are exactly the same machine except for the extra head and over-platen dryer for the S60).

We mainly do stickers and decals and half the time the files we receive aren't the best of quality lol. So I'm leaning more towards the S40/60. I'm assuming the S40 is probably around the same speed as the UCJV which we print at 600x900. We make our own profiles.

Also we can print rolls at a time. I assume the vinyl can go on the take-up real without sticking or smearing the ink? I'm used to UV ink curing instantly.

I think the S40 is probably the way to go and we can always add another when needed. I think I would rather have 2 machines especially if one goes down we still have the other. Probably the smarter way to go.

How long has the S40/S60/S80 been around? Are there any plans from Epson to replace these models anytime soon?

 

[hybriddesign]

We have a s60 and love it. It’s got a few quirks such as the fact that there is no automatic sheet cutting and we actually have a hard time running 54+” banner without head strikes. Maintenance is so minimal it’s almost a little weird and ink cost is competitive.

We’re coming from a history or solvent Roland and mimaki printers and the epson is definitely better but after that first week of “wow” it just feels like another solvent printer.

One thing it definitely improves on over the jv150 we have sitting next to it is color repeatability. We did a 60x40’ floor graphic on our mimaki last year and had some color drift across panels and the epson is a lot more consistent.

The prints will definitely be dry enough as they go onto the take up.

The concerns that might come into play with the s40 are speed, floor space and warranty. The s60 is a fast printer although not blazing fast and the s40 is likely around 50% slower. For us floor space/rent is a premium ($$$$ rent in Hawaii) and the epsons are big machines so two S40s side by side was a no go for us. Warranty wise we used to do all our own work on our mimaki and Roland printers and just kept a shelf of spare parts but you pretty much need to keep the epsons under warranty so you may want to check on the cost of two s40 warranties vs one s60

I can’t imagine buying the jv100 over the epson unless you just have better local support.

 

[InkHead]

We have a s60 and love it. It’s got a few quirks such as the fact that there is no automatic sheet cutting and we actually have a hard time running 54+” banner without head strikes. Maintenance is so minimal it’s almost a little weird and ink cost is competitive.

We’re coming from a history or solvent Roland and mimaki printers and the epson is definitely better but after that first week of “wow” it just feels like another solvent printer.

One thing it definitely improves on over the jv150 we have sitting next to it is color repeatability. We did a 60x40’ floor graphic on our mimaki last year and had some color drift across panels and the epson is a lot more consistent.

The prints will definitely be dry enough as they go onto the take up.

The concerns that might come into play with the s40 are speed, floor space and warranty. The s60 is a fast printer although not blazing fast and the s40 is likely around 50% slower. For us floor space/rent is a premium ($$$$ rent in Hawaii) and the epsons are big machines so two S40s side by side was a no go for us. Warranty wise we used to do all our own work on our mimaki and Roland printers and just kept a shelf of spare parts but you pretty much need to keep the epsons under warranty so you may want to check on the cost of two s40 warranties vs one s60

I can’t imagine buying the jv100 over the epson unless you just have better local support.

Thanks for the detailed post. I'm leaning more into the the Epsons. Grimco is local and I believe support these machines however I am not sure how good their service would be. They are good for everything else though.

Why do you say you pretty much need to keep these machines under warranty? Ideally we would want to do that but just wondering why you wouldn't want to do any of the work yourself? Is there something about these machines that make it hard to work on?

We are working with a Mimaki UCJV with 2 heads but the 2nd head is clears and white ink. Majority of our work is CMYK so I can't imagine it being any faster than the S40. Obviously speed does matter and is great but the price point may allow us to get a 2nd S40 down the road. It's all something to think about though

The reason I was thinking of the Jv100 is because it's a new machine so the tech may be better and the familiarity of Mimaki. Other than that, I don't know much of anything else about the JV100

 

[tbullo]

We have had our JV100 for just over a year. We bought it during a sale they were running and the 3 year warranty was hard to pass up. Had a few quirks with it at first, but it works very well for us. Just search JV100 on the forum and you will see the post I made with the issues and resolutions. I will say that we were using a Seiko w-64 before we purchased the Mimaki. The Seiko was way more heavy duty then this JV100 and had some better settings that I miss. One being after loading the material the Seiko would warn you to check edge guards before the head runs across. Another one is that the Seiko would warn you the next day "check for media ripple". But I have gotten use to it now. I'm not crazy about weighing the ink during the life of the bag, but at least it don't run dry that way. Overall it works great and prints very nice. We hardly ever use the 1200DPI but it is pretty good as well.

 

[hybriddesign]

the epsons are much more locked down than your mimaki was and it’s harder to get individual parts. You should probably try to fact check this though as our epsons haven’t really had any issues. The only thing we’ve had was Our 6370 blew a main board right after we got it and an epson tech came out and got it fixed the in just two days which kind of blew our mind as we have never had local tech support for any of our equipment.

On the epsons they really gear their equipment around keeping it under warranty and having a tech work on it whereas with your mimaki you can probably get parts on your own and fix most issues. You’ve got gray merchant members like solvent inkjet etc to help if you’ve got a mimaki.

We purchased our epson through grimco and we purchase some supplies from them as well. Our install tech was nice but had never installed or even seen one of the epson printers before and what a hard time with the install and didn’t really walk us through anything at all. We upgraded to Thrive when we got the epson and I guess that was a good thing but if we had to do it again we might just stick with the factory rip as we don’t really use any of onyx’s features and haven’t had the time to hook it up to any other machines (install tech wasn’t very experienced with onyx)

Bottom line is that the epsons print beautifully and are very low maintenance but are definitely more of a let the tech fix it under warranty versus a user serviceable machine.

 

[InkHead]

the epsons are much more locked down than your mimaki was and it’s harder to get individual parts. You should probably try to fact check this though as our epsons haven’t really had any issues. The only thing we’ve had was Our 6370 blew a main board right after we got it and an epson tech came out and got it fixed the in just two days which kind of blew our mind as we have never had local tech support for any of our equipment.

On the epsons they really gear their equipment around keeping it under warranty and having a tech work on it whereas with your mimaki you can probably get parts on your own and fix most issues. You’ve got gray merchant members like solvent inkjet etc to help if you’ve got a mimaki.

We purchased our epson through grimco and we purchase some supplies from them as well. Our install tech was nice but had never installed or even seen one of the epson printers before and what a hard time with the install and didn’t really walk us through anything at all. We upgraded to Thrive when we got the epson and I guess that was a good thing but if we had to do it again we might just stick with the factory rip as we don’t really use any of onyx’s features and haven’t had the time to hook it up to any other machines (install tech wasn’t very experienced with onyx)

Bottom line is that the epsons print beautifully and are very low maintenance but are definitely more of a let the tech fix it under warranty versus a user serviceable machine.

I did not know the epson printers were more restrictive to work on because Epson locks it down and parts are harder to come across. Interesting. I'm going to get samples for the Epsons and the Mimaki. I know the JV100 has 3 year coverage promo going on right now and a sale on the printer itself. Are the heads on the Mimakis much more than the Epsons? That 3yr coverage sounds pretty good right now lol

 

[Solventinkjet]

I did not know the epson printers were more restrictive to work on because Epson locks it down and parts are harder to come across. Interesting. I'm going to get samples for the Epsons and the Mimaki. I know the JV100 has 3 year coverage promo going on right now and a sale on the printer itself. Are the heads on the Mimakis much more than the Epsons? That 3yr coverage sounds pretty good right now lol

Make sure you read the fine print on the Mimaki 3 year warranty. It's usually 1 year of full warranty and then 2 years of parts only. The heads in the Mimaki are about $4500 and there's 2 of them.

I've installed many machines in my 13 years career. My take on the JV100? Get the Epson.

 

[InkHead]

Make sure you read the fine print on the Mimaki 3 year warranty. It's usually 1 year of full warranty and then 2 years of parts only. The heads in the Mimaki are about $4500 and there's 2 of them.

I've installed many machines in my 13 years career. My take on the JV100? Get the Epson.

Yikes! The cost of those 2 heads is the cost of the machine basically. Wow.

Thanks Solventinkjet for the info. I've purchased parts, ink and you have provided support for my UCJV from you so thats saying something. Thanks!

 

[Notarealsignguy]

You can still get the cjv300 I think. If I had to buy a printer right now, that would probably be it. I don't like the idea of being locked out for service and also not having an Epson print head.

 

[InkHead]

You can still get the cjv300 I think. If I had to buy a printer right now, that would probably be it. I don't like the idea of being locked out for service and also not having an Epson print head.

There appears to be a CJV300 Plus. How does this compare to say the S60600? Print heads still cost a trillion dollars?

Anyone know anything about the Epson R5070?

 

[InkHead]

Looks like the CJV300 has a cutter. Don't need an all in one but there is a JV300. Still the same questions above about comparisons to Epson

 

[Notarealsignguy]

The cjv300plus has the barcode function which works on the ar plotter which is relatively inexpensive. This should automate your cutting which is nice. I'd buy a jv300 over an Epson just because of the luck I've had with the cjv150

 

[InkHead]

The cjv300plus has the barcode function which works on the ar plotter which is relatively inexpensive. This should automate your cutting which is nice. I'd buy a jv300 over an Epson just because of the luck I've had with the cjv150

we use summas with barcoding so don't need the extra cutter stuff. I'll look a bit more into the JV300. Thanks!