Demo-ing Flatbeds and Hybrid

[nick.dring]

Hi,

This year I'll be purchasing a hybrid and/or a flatbed.
We want UV LED - so far we have tested.
SignRacer HD - Impressive machine - but its not a well known name or I'm worried about technical support. Anyone own a SignRacer?
FujiFilm Acuity - Signracer much better quality prints - didn't realise that actually the Acuity is mercury non LED.
Flora XTRA2000HUV - Quality somewhere in between Signracer and Fujifilm but I have reservations about quality of machine.
Roland LEJ640S-Belt 150 and LEJ640S-F300 - Quality on par with SignRacer and it has a well established support network.

Still to try EFI and Mimaki.

Anyone have any recommendations? The Canon/OCE machines I think are out of my budget.

Cheers

 

[arossetti]

Why specifically LED?

I would also look at CET Color for a printer in that price range although I don't know if they have a LED option.

 

[nick.dring]

Why specifically LED?

I would also look at CET Color for a printer in that price range although I don't know if they have a LED option.

Thanks for the reply! Haven't heard of CET - maybe they don't operate in Europe, but I've contacted them anyway. Thanks!

 

[Correct Color]

Vanguard should be on your list.

 

[arossetti]

Vanguard should be on your list.

I was going to include them instead of CET but didn't think they had a hybrid option on their flatbeds, do they?

 

[Correct Color]

Not as of yet, although I think one's on the way. The OP said hybrid and/or flatbed though.

I'm also not sure how they are in Europe, if at all. But I'd still at least do the homework on them. It's a good group and they're solid machines.



Mike

 

[conestogadpi]

The Sign Racer looks like a re-branded CET. Also the Fuji Acuity is a re-badged Oce Arizona. We have run an Oce Arizona for 4+ years and it has been a good investment. Only 3 service calls still on original heads.

 

[nick.dring]

Thanks guys, I haven't heard of CET in europe. The quality of the Fuji isn't up to those machines with iGen5 heads.

 

[dallasprinting]

We have an EFI H1625 and love it. Prints great, fast, little maintenance.

 

[nick.dring]

As it happens, tomorrow I'm having a demo of precisely that machine!

 

[makker]

With Signracer led Ricoh Gen5s a lot of problems : static spray on te prints and under the heads. Different kinds of banding. Even with the Signracer HD inkt.
And the support is not good. When you have a demo print a grey full cover in VDS mode on a forex or dibond and you know enough it looks terrible.

 

[TheProcessIStheproduct]

Vanguard is rebranded flora

 

[nick.dring]

With Signracer led Ricoh Gen5s a lot of problems : static spray on te prints and under the heads. Different kinds of banding. Even with the Signracer HD inkt.
And the support is not good. When you have a demo print a grey full cover in VDS mode on a forex or dibond and you know enough it looks terrible.

Going on our demos the best quality prints came from the Signracer HD, EFI 1625, Roland Versa UV and Mimaki JFX200-2531 Flatbed. However the Roland is much slower than the EFI or the Signracer.
Makker, your comments are worrying, one of my own doubts is the support as they aren't (yet) a big name. We ran tests on Forex and Dibond, but not grey and we found the Signracer to be very versatile and excellent quality. We also had the demo in big warehouse in the middle of winter near Turin and it was very very cold but the Signracer worked away without any issues.
From you comments it seems I need to have another demo, printing a few greyscale but to be honest I don't see that as being a type of job that we will run. Can you explain in more detail the static spray issue?

As for the Flora we did't think the quality or build of the machine was up to the spec of the others.

 

[makker]

With Signracer have you tested ?
I work with a Signracer 320 hybrid with Ricoh Gen5s heads 2,5-7 picoliter. The finest print quality on the market, but a lot of problems. Maybe the Gen4 heads 7 picoliter are better but not so fine. At the moment they can't set the fine dot. When you print with the large dot 7 pl there are less problems.
Print a very dark grey full cover with some vertical white lines of a width 3cm. In this white lines you can see static spray. But it is not always when the relative air humidity is high 70 % you have less than when it is 30%. Best tested on a Forex and take of the foil just for printing.
At the moment I have to clean all of my forex plates with a wet cloth to avoid static spray on the prints. On paper or vinyl there is no static spray because this materials have no static loading. The static cause that inkt came on the heads. Check it after printing images with much inkt. After half hour printing you have to clean the heads and do nozzle test to check. The variable dot 2,5-7 pl give also a lot of banding in full cover dark colors.
Have you tested the Agfa Annapurna ?

 

[nick.dring]

We tested the Signracer 1600 HD Hybrid with the Gen 5s 2.5pl. We have a controlled environment in both terms of humidity and temperature. When we ran the demo we were printing for a few hours solid without any issues. The Agfa I think costs a lot more than I have to spend.

 

[makker]

What was the inkt configuration of the Signracer 1600 you tested ? CMYK or CMYK plus light magenta and light cyaan. We also have problems with the vacuum, is not strong enough under the carriage for some materials. With the 2,5 pl you have to print 1,3mm height and than you need a strong vacuum. I also work with a Vutek and the vacuum is twice stronger and make less noise.
But the biggest problem is the banding in the variable dot ( VDS ) make also a file with solid cyaan, magenta, dark grey and black. Print it in 600x1200dpi VDS on a dibond and you see a lot of banding especially when you look in reflection at the plate. We can't sell them.

 

[nick.dring]

Hi, no we just had CMYK plus white and varnish but they did say that we could have it with LM and LC but they reckoned it wasn't needed. Your comments are very interesting. I'll have to think a little about my next step! Thanks.

 

[logitone]

Hi, no we just had CMYK plus white and varnish but they did say that we could have it with LM and LC but they reckoned it wasn't needed. Your comments are very interesting. I'll have to think a little about my next step! Thanks.

Did you get a machine? I'm looking at the new EFI Pro 16H Hybrid. Apparently its the newer generation from the 1625.........