Bringing in an HP FB6100 UV....

[RoCo]

Anyone have any hands-on experience with these? I know they are the old NUR Tempo machine and can do some nice prints (under controlled trade show conditions), but what about the real-world, volume production conditions of a print house? What can I expect? What to look out for? Tech Support? Reliability?

Been digital for over a decade, but my first in-house UV printer. Thanks for any and all input!

 

[rfulford]

I too am looking at bringing in this machine. I wish I could give you some personal feedback but we are still in the planning phase. By talking to other users, I have learned that this is one of the most reliable platforms for flatbed printing developed. The build quality on the machine is outstanding and I love the fact that the machine is both a dedicated flatbed and roll to roll printer instead of a hybrid. The HP inks are supposed to cost around $.12 to $.18 a square foot and have none of the problems that plague sericol inks.

Do you plan on getting the Caldera rip with this printer? Take the time to look into Caldera if you have not already.

 

[RoCo]

Thanks for the rip tip. Have you researched Caldera, already? See some good things?

 

[rfulford]

I completed a 90 demo of Caldera several months ago. I definitely prefer it over Onyx. It is amazingly fast but requires its own workflow (for me at least). You set up a watched folder for incoming jobs. After a file transfers, it generates and low res preview and pre-rips the file to some type of PCS I assume. Drag the icon for your job onto your printer and It will start printing/transferring immediately. This give the illusion of zero rip time for most jobs. On large jobs, you will notice the rip time but it is still very fast. I ripped a bus wrap that took 2.5 hours in Onyx in 30 minutes using Caldera. You should be able to get a Demo from Paul Fite at HP.

Edit:
The rip runs on linux or Mac OS X. You can back up your entire rip config to a CD, reinstall the OS, the rip, and be back up and running within a couple of hours. This is a very nice feature for disaster recovery or upgrades

 

[RoCo]

Update: Been running the FB6100 for a few months now and very pleased with what it can do. HP service has been great so far, as well. Fastest roll-to-roll printing speed I get is 835 sqft/hr in the 4 Color mode, and it'll flatbed print a 4x8 in 2 minutes. Fastest flatbed speed in 8 Color is about 450 sqft/hr, and over 300 in roll-to-roll. Very happy with the print quality, too. Caldera is a great RIP and the color profiling module could NOT be any easier. Great choice for us!

 

[MachServTech]

Caldera is a great RIP and the color profiling module could NOT be any easier. Great choice for us!

It sure makes my life easier. When I perform a Caldera install/training the customer stays up and running with zero problems afterward.

 

[supersignmart]

2 mins?

that 2 minute 4x8 is in what mode and how many colors?

 

[RoCo]

On the machine it's called 4C100 XPRESS, as in 4 color 100 sq meters / hr. It's a little bandy, but at that throughput it's to be expected. Still very sellable as banner output, though.