Avantra 30 or ECRM Mako 56

[miamiseps]

Hello everyone.

I am new to the forum and I am in the market for a used Imagesetter. My primary objective is to provide superior film separations for screen print. My question is, would you go with an AGFA Avantra 30 Machine or an ECRM Mako machine? I need something reliable and easy to find part for and maintain. Thank you in advance.

 

[VladCanada]

Av30 - dual cassette internal drum machine with a vacuum system to hold the film during the imaging.
ECRM Maco - capstan machine with mooving film when imaging.
As a Field Service tech, trained for both ones, I stay for Avantras if you need the best separations for a commercial printing.
In case of the silk screening production - almost any type of the imagesetter is a good stuff for that.
You can save some money and room space with Maco.
The reliability for second hand machines is a big, big question mark.
Ebay.com has lots of sparepats for Avantras but not for ECRM machines.

 

[miamiseps]

Thank you Vlad for your reply. Would you say that the Avantra 30 machine as far as quality and construction is a reliable machine, or difficult to work on?

 

[VladCanada]

Avantras (all models) are very reliable ones. There are many Avantra users at forums.

 

[DaveOrbit]

ECRM Mako56

ECRM Mako56

I bought my Mako 56 brand new about two years ago (right before ECRM stopped making any more 56s). I have had a smooth run with it but have productivity issues with it since it is an offline solution. Chinese films don't agree with it much either since scratch images come out when using inferior film.

 

[graficworx]

Avantra has a much better source of aftermarket parts than the Mako. This should always be a big consideration when buying any machinery, especially used machines that are no longer made anymore. I have seen Avantra's run for almost 30 years with very little work done to them if the are maintained properly.

If you are only doing screen printing, have you considered a thermal filmsetter or inkjet based system, as they will produce resolution much higher than any screen you could possibly need. They are also more ecologically friendly as they don't require any chemicals, and are cheaper to operate as film becomes increasingly more expensive due to the silver.

What size film output do you need?

 

[Joe Duffy]

Agree with graficworx, if I was a screen printer I would look at inkjet solutions, no processor, simply to work and low cost per film.
If I had to go imagesetter, would go for the drum device just so I could remake a single film and have them all fit together. Capstan for speed, drum for repeatablility.

 

[Armya Inc]

Av30 - dual cassette internal drum machine with a vacuum system to hold the film during the imaging.
ECRM Maco - capstan machine with mooving film when imaging.
As a Field Service tech, trained for both ones, I stay for Avantras if you need the best separations for a commercial printing.
In case of the silk screening production - almost any type of the imagesetter is a good stuff for that.
You can save some money and room space with Maco.
The reliability for second hand machines is a big, big question mark.
Ebay.com has lots of sparepats for Avantras but not for ECRM machines.

Agree with Vlad! Avantra 30 is much better and reliable machine. Plenty of parts and support available for this machine in the market.
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