Xerox Versant 80 Maintenance... How difficult is it?

[gazfocus]

So.... our Xerox service provider has dropped us in it. Because Xerox have end of life'd the Versant 80 in the UK as of 31st December 2024, our service provider are now refusing to service our machine, despite us having 4 months left on our service contract.

We are going to be seeking legal advice for breach of contract but in the meantime we need to come up with a plan for what to do print wise.

Our Versant 80 currently has an issue with creasing the paper on anything under 200gsm if it's over A3 size (so SRA3 creases, A3 doesn't). I reported this to our service provider which is when they told me they won't support the machine now.

Anyway, I need to decide (and pretty quickly really) whether to go it alone and try self servicing the Versant 80, or, try and raise the funds to upgrade the printer. The main issue I have is unless I buy something like a Konica, which even refurbished are silly money, the only company that offer service contracts on refurbished Xerox machines in the UK seems to be the service provider that are currently screwing us over. Normally I would never consider a production machine without a service contract but it's going to be a huge struggle to raise the money to buy a newer machine at the moment.

So, anyone on here that self services your Xerox? How do you find it?

 

[azehnali]

what volume do you run

 

[gazfocus]

what volume do you run

Not massive volume. We mostly print sticker sheets and card stock and do about 20k clicks a month. However, we do get the odd week like this week where we have booklet jobs that are 500+ A4 booklets.

 

[chrisio]

We got dropped just before Christmas so I upgraded to a xerox 3100 which whilst the printer is great, the service is rubbish through a dealer who trys everything to not send some one out. After 2 months of this I am upgrading again to a fujifilm ec1100 which is a xerox 4100. Fujifilm have been very aggressive in the pricing and it's no brainer for us and I have not really lost out money wise. One thing I noticed is that no matter who I tried I could not get finance on any xerox production press of any model even through xerox direct and multiple specialist finance companies it's almost as if no one wants to finance xerox machines any more.

I would look to fujifilm if I were you.

 

[Ynot_UK]

@gazfocus i bet you wish you’d kept your C3070
Maybe deals to be had on an ex showroom C40xx if they launch it’s successor this year?

 

[TJPrinter]

The thing I like about Xerox is that they’re not too difficult to service the parts that always seem to go bad and most of those parts are the same as the 180 and 280. There’s always the questionable part of how much time do you really want to devote to learning and repairing. My thought has always been to factor in a monthly lease and let someone else take care of the repairs, but I understand not everyone has the same model in mind.

Talk to your service provider and see if they can swing a deal on a 180 that they can service for you. There should still be some around with reasonable clicks on them.

You may want to talk to Xerox about the new Primelink C9281 or Fujifilm about the ApeosPro C810. I haven’t seen the output yet, but it may be just what you need for your volume, except for the lease payment that will comes with it. Or you could jump ship on the Xerox/Fujifilm and find someone that's willing to work with you.

 

[pippip]

I don't think you'd have a problem fixing most things but it's time in doing so thatll be the problem.

Ireland here. I just upgraded from v80 to v280. Our accounts are no way brilliant but we had no problem with finance, actually had a few approvals. Looked at the c4070 and couldn't believe it was around 30% more expensive on the monthly repayments, mad money but KM do their own finance as a flexiplan so that might be a possible option for you op.

I saw prints from the primalink c9200, very impressive but speed was very slow and techs I spoke to were not confident of the machine at all, especially it's ability on heavy weights.

 

[gazfocus]

@gazfocus i bet you wish you’d kept your C3070
Maybe deals to be had on an ex showroom C40xx if they launch it’s successor this year?

Indeed. I said to a friend of mine today I deeply regret selling my Konica (I regretted it as soon as it left our building to be fair).

 

[gazfocus]

The thing I like about Xerox is that they’re not too difficult to service the parts that always seem to go bad and most of those parts are the same as the 180 and 280. There’s always the questionable part of how much time do you really want to devote to learning and repairing. My thought has always been to factor in a monthly lease and let someone else take care of the repairs, but I understand not everyone has the same model in mind.

Talk to your service provider and see if they can swing a deal on a 180 that they can service for you. There should still be some around with reasonable clicks on them.

You may want to talk to Xerox about the new Primelink C9281 or Fujifilm about the ApeosPro C810. I haven’t seen the output yet, but it may be just what you need for your volume, except for the lease payment that will comes with it. Or you could jump ship on the Xerox/Fujifilm and find someone that's willing to work with you.

I’ve always had the mindset that a production machine without a service contract is a big no and my gut still tells me I need to get a newer machine on a contract. I just don’t want the commitment of a lease/finance payment to go with it.

I have actually asked our Xerox dealer for a price on a bare bones 180 so I can use my current finishing but he’s said the finishing isn’t interchangeable (though the engineer that comes out said it would be as the 80/180 speeds are the same).

That said, I’m not entirely averse to servicing the Versant 80 myself if I can work out what I’m doing. Our service provider would always make us half diagnose an issue anyway before they’d replace a part so it’s only something like the fuser needing a rebuild that might prove too much for me to do myself but I’d say most things should be doable with the right guidance.

I’ve looked at the primelink machines (our dealer actually has one as a refurb) but yeh I’m not convinced about them running heavier stocks. Saying that my friend does run 350gsm in his c60 so the primelink should do it without too much issue. I think by the time you get the high cap feeder and a fiery though, you’re talking the same, if not more than a refurbished v180.

 

[gazfocus]

I don't think you'd have a problem fixing most things but it's time in doing so thatll be the problem.

Ireland here. I just upgraded from v80 to v280. Our accounts are no way brilliant but we had no problem with finance, actually had a few approvals. Looked at the c4070 and couldn't believe it was around 30% more expensive on the monthly repayments, mad money but KM do their own finance as a flexiplan so that might be a possible option for you op.

I saw prints from the primalink c9200, very impressive but speed was very slow and techs I spoke to were not confident of the machine at all, especially its ability on heavy weights.

To be honest, I’ve not looked at our company credit score in a while but I just don’t want to commit to another monthly cost. If I can hang on with the v80 for a few months I might be in a position to fork out for a v180 without having to worry about a finance payment. Out of interest though, did you apply for the finance through the dealer or independently?

We had our KM C3070 on finance and I hated the payment going out of the bank every month lol so want to try and avoid that again if possible.

Regarding pricing, when we got our KM C3070 I had a quote from a different Xerox dealer for the Versant 180 (I think it was at the time). The Xerox was about £5k cheaper so I told the KM rep that I was going with Xerox. He bent over backwards to get the sale and ended up matching the Xerox price. The only problem was the finishing side of things on the KMs are way more expensive than Xerox. Example being the decurler on the Xerox (new) was about £900. To get that on the KM was close to £3k and you had to buy something else with it. S

Our KM was literally high cap feeders and the standard stacker finisher with hole punch and stapler. Our Xerox finisher is the pro booklet finisher with the square edge trimmer. Never would have been able to afford that from KM.

 

[adriansto]

So.... our Xerox service provider has dropped us in it. Because Xerox have end of life'd the Versant 80 in the UK as of 31st December 2024, our service provider are now refusing to service our machine, despite us having 4 months left on our service contract.

We are going to be seeking legal advice for breach of contract but in the meantime we need to come up with a plan for what to do print wise.

Our Versant 80 currently has an issue with creasing the paper on anything under 200gsm if it's over A3 size (so SRA3 creases, A3 doesn't). I reported this to our service provider which is when they told me they won't support the machine now.

Anyway, I need to decide (and pretty quickly really) whether to go it alone and try self servicing the Versant 80, or, try and raise the funds to upgrade the printer. The main issue I have is unless I buy something like a Konica, which even refurbished are silly money, the only company that offer service contracts on refurbished Xerox machines in the UK seems to be the service provider that are currently screwing us over. Normally I would never consider a production machine without a service contract but it's going to be a huge struggle to raise the money to buy a newer machine at the moment.

So, anyone on here that self services your Xerox? How do you find it?

If you are handy man and have some skills you can purchase the service documentation for this printer and maintain it yourself. As for spare parts you find them overseas.

 

[pippip]

To be honest, I’ve not looked at our company credit score in a while but I just don’t want to commit to another monthly cost. If I can hang on with the v80 for a few months I might be in a position to fork out for a v180 without having to worry about a finance payment. Out of interest though, did you apply for the finance through the dealer or independently?

We had our KM C3070 on finance and I hated the payment going out of the bank every month lol so want to try and avoid that again if possible.

Regarding pricing, when we got our KM C3070 I had a quote from a different Xerox dealer for the Versant 180 (I think it was at the time). The Xerox was about £5k cheaper so I told the KM rep that I was going with Xerox. He bent over backwards to get the sale and ended up matching the Xerox price. The only problem was the finishing side of things on the KMs are way more expensive than Xerox. Example being the decurler on the Xerox (new) was about £900. To get that on the KM was close to £3k and you had to buy something else with it. S

Our KM was literally high cap feeders and the standard stacker finisher with hole punch and stapler. Our Xerox finisher is the pro booklet finisher with the square edge trimmer. Never would have been able to afford that from KM.

For KM they offered finance immediately, based from last year accounts which weren't great at all. I had new accounts coming from accountant for this year which I knew would be better. For Xerox they don't do direct finance so went to two independent firms and our bank with the new accounts, all approved.

I don't like the idea of monthly payments either but for the first few years the drop in click charge is going to cover most of it. I also feel it's something that you should be incorporating into your quoting costs for the machine, at the end of the day that's business.

If you go the 180 router your just back in this boat in 2-3 yrs.

From your description it does seem like you underutilise the machine, could you add another product range to offer?

 

[gazfocus]

For KM they offered finance immediately, based from last year accounts which weren't great at all. I had new accounts coming from accountant for this year which I knew would be better. For Xerox they don't do direct finance so went to two independent firms and our bank with the new accounts, all approved.

I don't like the idea of monthly payments either but for the first few years the drop in click charge is going to cover most of it. I also feel it's something that you should be incorporating into your quoting costs for the machine, at the end of the day that's business.

If you go the 180 router your just back in this boat in 2-3 yrs.

From your description it does seem like you underutilise the machine, could you add another product range to offer?

Great to hear you got the financing you needed. I will give it some thought but as I say, I'd rather not go that route if I can help it and in all honest I'm not convinced we'd be approved anyway haha.

The last couple of years have been tough for us...some bad decisions at the start of 2022 caused us a lot of stress and financial strain last year which is why I want to try and avoid any extra monthly commitments. I completely get what you're saying about building the lease cost into pricing and we do build in an element of cost for the machines used during any job when we quote but the issue is, with finances being strained, we've not been able to hold that element back to replace the machine when needed where in the past we would have squirreled away the machine element of the jobs to cover the cost of replacing the machine (or when we had the KM, to help cover the finance payments).

From what I've read, it's expected that the 180 will EOL'd around end of 2026 so if I buy with the mindset that I'll get 2 years out of it before the service provider wash their hands of it, it gives me 2 years to save the cash for a brand new machine....that's the idea anyway.

We do definitely underutilise the machine... one of the reasons I regretted selling the KM so much is that when we bought that we were probably doing 5k clicks a month at most and so when we sold the machine (at the end of the 5yr finance), it had just under 300k clicks on it... imagine trying to find a used production printer with that usage now! We have grown our usage a fair bit since then and we're doing more and more as time goes on. We are focusing on printing card stock more this year so will hopefully increase our usage further which in turn will hopefully pave the way for a better, new machine. We just kinda need something in the short term.