eco solvent wide format question

[wonderings]

We have slowly, very slowly, been shopping around for a wide format to do some sign and that type of work. Originally a dealer was recommending Mutoh
Mutoh Valuejet 1624
http://www.mutoh.eu/en-us/products/s...ejet1624x.aspx

Since we started looking at that Epson came out with the S-Series and one of the features they are touting in their adds are "same-day lamination".

Is this a problem with other wide formats that they need a day before they could be mounted or laminated?

 

[DYP]

You could also look at the HP Latex machines. More durable longer lasting ink that the eco-sol inks and "same-hour lamination". We used to run a Mutoh. Epson style print heads it had nozzle clog problems like all other Epson style printhead printers we have ever run. After going with Canon aqueous and the their thermal head printers I wondered why we ever used the Epson head printers. The HP Latex are thermal head printers but are not as reliable as the Canon but are way better than dealing with that Mutoh or Epson we had. Since you are familiar with digital presses the HP Latex printer need calibrated more often but not to the extent we have to do with the digital presses. Latex is just a different animal as far ink density and color management than a eco-sol and sol printers.

 

[Correct Color]

Lamination time can be an issue with solvent or Eco-solvent. But there are other issues to consider as well.

Lamination time can be an issue depending basically on how much ink you put down and how much heat you give it and when -- meaning of course that your printer profiles and how they're made wind up having a great deal to do with it. Many people who do vehicle wraps and vehicle wraps only wind up loving HP Latex machines because they're very forgiving on the time-to-lamination issue.

However, they have their weaknesses as well. Which I'd quickly summarize as lack of speed, lack of stability, inhibited black point and color gamut, and cumbersomeness when it comes to changing media and printing many small jobs on different material quickly.

Since a large part of what I do for a living is profiling large format printers, I've seen all of them, and profiled all of them in just about every circumstance and situation.

Right now my personal favorite is the Epson S80600, and by a pretty wide margin. If I was buying a general-purpose non-aqueous printer that needed to do everything, that's what I'd buy.




Mike Adams
Correct Color

 

[wonderings]

Heard a few negative things about Mutoh, are they not a reliable brand? Price is great and salesmen always make it sound amazing but hard to find real world reviews, at least in my searching.

We have an Epson 9900 right now and the print heads do bother me. It is almost years old and for probably a year I have been unable to clean 1 spot on the black. Still prints fine, but it bugs the crap out of me with something that new. Are the print heads better on the S-Series? Do they need a lot of cleaning especially if they are not being used in a 24/7 shop?

If we went with Epson it would be most likely be the S40600 or maybe at most the S60600. Not sure what the benefits of having CMYK X 2 is.

Thanks for the replies and info, it is all much appreciated.