Are J75's still worth buying?

[bcr]

Side question but if short run stickers are a lot of your business, is that even a good application for this machine? We do most of these on a Roland wide format printer (RF 640 to be exact). Not sure what you’re expecting to pay on a J75 (imho they were okay but not very dependable, when new…I had a pair a of them, usually one was broken). If this is what most of your print business looks like, I think I would buy a Roland print and cut machine.

Yeah I have my doubts about the suitability of an old machine with questionable reliability without a service contract as being a peace-of-mind backup machine when you are desperate. In that situation you want something that just works, no?

Is this not an opportunity to improve the kit and service standards that you are relying on?

 

[gazfocus]

Side question but if short run stickers are a lot of your business, is that even a good application for this machine? We do most of these on a Roland wide format printer (RF 640 to be exact). Not sure what you’re expecting to pay on a J75 (imho they were okay but not very dependable, when new…I had a pair a of them, usually one was broken). If this is what most of your print business looks like, I think I would buy a Roland print and cut machine.

We already have two mimaki print and cut machines (CJV150’s) and also a VP700 roll to roll label printer but the bulk of our production is flat sheets of stickers. The sort of orders we do on flat sheets are not suitable for solvent printing really. A lot are eco conscious where we use compostable paper (which isn’t even great for inkjet printing), and most are for packaging where customers prefer paper stickers over vinyl stickers.

As a business we do offer all three though; sheet stickers, rolls of labels or vinyl cut stickers.

 

[gazfocus]

Yeah I have my doubts about the suitability of an old machine with questionable reliability without a service contract as being a peace-of-mind backup machine when you are desperate. In that situation you want something that just works, no?

Is this not an opportunity to improve the kit and service standards that you are relying on?

The main problem is we are still in a service contract for our Versant 80 so we have to keep it running (it has a minimum monthly cost so would be quite costly to just not use the machine).

An old machine might not be the best option, I’m 100% in agreement with that. In the next 12 months I’d definitely be up for buying a new press (or sooner if business dictates it) but I’m really just looking for something relatively short term until then.

 

[bcr]

The main problem is we are still in a service contract for our Versant 80 so we have to keep it running (it has a minimum monthly cost so would be quite costly to just not use the machine).

An old machine might not be the best option, I’m 100% in agreement with that. In the next 12 months I’d definitely be up for buying a new press (or sooner if business dictates it) but I’m really just looking for something relatively short term until then.

How much longer do you have on your lease/service contract?

With your eventual new machine try and get a zero clicks service contract. We just pay a negligible monthly service charge for our Ricoh's with zero bundled prints

 

[gazfocus]

How much longer do you have on your lease/service contract?

With your eventual new machine try and get a zero clicks service contract. We just pay a negligible monthly service charge for our Ricoh's with zero bundled prints

Our minimum term on the Versant 80 runs to May 2025. We don’t have a lease as we bought the machine outright but as I say, do pay a minimum monthly service amount regardless of whether we use the machine or not.

 

[tngcas]

nobody does 5000 a day on any color machine period
that would be a 100,000 impressions a month

That's what I was thinking. 5k a day seems like a lot of volume for one machine.

Our minimum term on the Versant 80 runs to May 2025. We don’t have a lease as we bought the machine outright but as I say, do pay a minimum monthly service amount regardless of whether we use the machine or not.

The j75 will run really awfully unless you're running a certain amount out of it on a regular basis. It doesn't work as a backup machine at all. At least it didn't for us. We had a j75 left on a lease when we got our two Versant 2100s and ended up just paying out the contract on it (for two years) while it sat there doing nothing but corner stapling preprinted jobs for us (it was reliable at that). Every time we were in a pinch and needed it as a backup for actual printing it needed a new fusers and all the drums replaced to be useable even for a day or two with halfway decent prints.

 

[kslight]

man
its jackasses like those guys that give xerox a bad rap
average versant customer runs 10-20K in volume a month and I have close to 50 of them in the field
nobody does 5000 a day on any color machine period
that would be a 100,000 impressions a month

I do on a Ricoh 7210…it’s our only sheet fed printer. Mostly 19x13 sheets.

 

[azehnali]

I do on a Ricoh 7210…it’s our only sheet fed printer. Mostly 19x13 sheets.

how long have you had it?

 

[SoggyWinter]

man
its jackasses like those guys that give xerox a bad rap
average versant customer runs 10-20K in volume a month and I have close to 50 of them in the field
nobody does 5000 a day on any color machine period
that would be a 100,000 impressions a month

6 year old V3100 operator here. I've done well over 100k/month when it gets busy.

 

[kslight]

how long have you had it?

Just over 2 years. Replaced a single KM machine.

 

[azehnali]

6 year old V3100 operator here. I've done well over 100k/month when it gets busy.

thats not a versant 80
I have a 3100 with 22 million impressions on it

 

[azehnali]

Just over 2 years. Replaced a single KM machine.

how often is the tech there?

 

[kslight]

how often is the tech there?

According to my records, about once a month.

 

[TJPrinter]

We already have two mimaki print and cut machines (CJV150’s) and also a VP700 roll to roll label printer

Nice! I have the opposite problem. I have plenty of sheets to run on the Versant 280 but I want a roll to roll like your VP700. The problem is I don't have the volume yet and have been told that the MemJet heads will be a problem if I don't keep ink running through them daily. I'm not sold on the smaller toner roll to roll machines yet.

The Versant 80 is a nice machine and should do everything you need it to do. The only issue I had with my 80 was that front to back registration was never great when duplexing heavier stock. That issue was resolved with the 280. If your service provider could step up their game a bit you really shouldn't need a second machine.

 

[TJPrinter]

6 year old V3100 operator here. I've done well over 100k/month when it gets busy.

The Versant 80 wasn't meant for that kind of volume. From the CED based on 8½x11/A4 . . .

"The press is designed to operate in the range of 25,000 – 80,000 prints per month. At an average usage of 43,000 prints per
month using centerline paper, it is expected that service will be required about once every 3.5 weeks. Prints between service calls
on a digital color press depend upon individual customer requirements for quality, volume, applications, and throughput material.
Generally, customers who participate in formal operator training from Xerox experience better performance, improved
productivity, and reduced service activity."

 

[gazfocus]

I must say I absolutely love how whenever a question is asked on this forum,

Nice! I have the opposite problem. I have plenty of sheets to run on the Versant 280 but I want a roll to roll like your VP700. The problem is I don't have the volume yet and have been told that the MemJet heads will be a problem if I don't keep ink running through them daily. I'm not sold on the smaller toner roll to roll machines yet.

The Versant 80 is a nice machine and should do everything you need it to do. The only issue I had with my 80 was that front to back registration was never great when duplexing heavier stock. That issue was resolved with the 280. If your service provider could step up their game a bit you really shouldn't need a second machine.

Unfortunatley our Versant 80 started acting up again today. Got back up and running on Tuesday, printer about 1,000 sheets between yesterday and today and now we are getting black marks on the backs of prints, even when only printing single sided.

At least it won’t affect printing stickers as it’s only affecting the backs of the sheets, but it’s literally driving me insane now.

 

[pippip]

I must say I absolutely love how whenever a question is asked on this forum,

Unfortunatley our Versant 80 started acting up again today. Got back up and running on Tuesday, printer about 1,000 sheets between yesterday and today and now we are getting black marks on the backs of prints, even when only printing single sided.

At least it won’t affect printing stickers as it’s only affecting the backs of the sheets, but it’s literally driving me insane now.

That's the 2nd btr marking them. I've found lately I'm getting through alot of them than before but I have been running alot more coated stock. Thankfully xerox have no problem with me ordering a few at a time.

 

[chrisio]

I do on a Ricoh 7210…it’s our only sheet fed printer. Mostly 19x13 sheets.

I am currently pushing 60k colour and 80k mono sra3 on my v80.

That's the 2nd btr marking them. I've found lately I'm getting through alot of them than before but I have been running alot more coated stock. Thankfully xerox have no problem with me ordering a few at a time.

We are getting more refurbished 2nd btrs that last maybe 1500 clicks before spraying toner all over the place. If I can get genuine then they will last around 4-6 weeks at my current volume.

 

[gazfocus]

Nice! I have the opposite problem. I have plenty of sheets to run on the Versant 280 but I want a roll to roll like your VP700. The problem is I don't have the volume yet and have been told that the MemJet heads will be a problem if I don't keep ink running through them daily. I'm not sold on the smaller toner roll to roll machines yet.

The Versant 80 is a nice machine and should do everything you need it to do. The only issue I had with my 80 was that front to back registration was never great when duplexing heavier stock. That issue was resolved with the 280. If your service provider could step up their game a bit you really shouldn't need a second machine.

Just a word or warning with the memjet printers…if you’re planning on printing on pre-cut labels, the likes of the vp700/L801 have very specific requirements (such as gaps between labels, if you’re doing circles you need black marks or our label supplier products circles in squares so the gap sensor can pick up the gap).

We ended up buying the printer then not using it for a year (hadn’t even set it up to save the printhead), until we could afford to buy a finisher to go with it. Now we print and cut everything, but the main issue there is you really need decent quantities to make it worth the hassle of setting up the finisher.

If I were to do it all again, I’d go for the Epson C6500 instead. Yes it’s a slower machine, but the print quality is superior and you can print on precut labels far easier. I might still buy a c6500 in the future for shorter run stuff.

 

[gazfocus]

That's the 2nd btr marking them. I've found lately I'm getting through alot of them than before but I have been running alot more coated stock. Thankfully xerox have no problem with me ordering a few at a time.

Thanks. I have gone to my dealer and asked if I can replace myself rather than waiting for an engineer to come. Hopefully they’ll just sent me a 2nd btr and instructions on how to do it.

Thankfully it’s not impacting my stickers because who cares if the backing has a bit of toner on but it’ll hold up my other printing for sure. Never a dull day