southpointeyouthman
New Member
My church is looking at buying an Encad Noavajet 700. We have found one at a reasonable price. I would like to know what you guys think of this machine.
-
I want to thank all the members that have upgraded your accounts. I truly appreciate your support of the site monetarily. Supporting the site keeps this site up and running as a lot of work daily goes on behind the scenes. Click to Support Signs101 ...
Encad Novajet 700 60" Wide
- Thread starter southpointeyouthman
- Start date
Pro Image
New Member
It is a good machine for what it was made for..............Make sure it work and prints all right...........It prints at 600 dpi and was made for indoor use.........You will have to upgrade your ink system (if it hasn't been done)
to GO inks and use coated material like banner and vinyl for any outdoor stuff..........You will get a reasonable time outdoors with the right media and lamination when you use the GO inks..........I have a 850 and have prints that have been outdoors for over a year and a half and still look nice.........Fellers will have all the media you will need to get going...........
www.fellers.com
OH and Howdee from VA.................
to GO inks and use coated material like banner and vinyl for any outdoor stuff..........You will get a reasonable time outdoors with the right media and lamination when you use the GO inks..........I have a 850 and have prints that have been outdoors for over a year and a half and still look nice.........Fellers will have all the media you will need to get going...........
www.fellers.com
OH and Howdee from VA.................
Techman
New Member
don't pay more than $1500..for it
ITs a good basic machine.. BUT
Why would a church want a printer like that anyway? It is not like operating a desktop printer. It is not a plu and play device. Your gooanneed cleaning supplies, distilled water, cleanign tools and a large enuf work area. You will need a sink close by and other ink proof work areas. IT is a messy machine at that.
Your goona need a RIP, and someone trained in color profiles, Its goona take maintenance and ink. Your goona need materials and all of that will cost lots more money.
If tha tmachines is shut down without proper cleaning it will gum up and the cartridges are costly and often break. Someone will need to practice running it, cleaning it and be the official operator. I wouldnt waste the time.
By the way I owned 2 encads and still own a 60". It runs fine but it isnt something I would hae laying around to do an occasional wall banner for the church.
ITs a good basic machine.. BUT
Why would a church want a printer like that anyway? It is not like operating a desktop printer. It is not a plu and play device. Your gooanneed cleaning supplies, distilled water, cleanign tools and a large enuf work area. You will need a sink close by and other ink proof work areas. IT is a messy machine at that.
Your goona need a RIP, and someone trained in color profiles, Its goona take maintenance and ink. Your goona need materials and all of that will cost lots more money.
If tha tmachines is shut down without proper cleaning it will gum up and the cartridges are costly and often break. Someone will need to practice running it, cleaning it and be the official operator. I wouldnt waste the time.
By the way I owned 2 encads and still own a 60". It runs fine but it isnt something I would hae laying around to do an occasional wall banner for the church.
southpointeyouthman
New Member
We spend enough money on banners and signs to easily pay for an inexpensive printer.
Thanks,
Justin
Thanks,
Justin
Matt Cuellar
New Member
Justin, depending on your budget, you might want to take a look at an HP. The Encad 750 was a good printer in its time, but now, it's a real dog. Maintenance is very laborous, and parts and consumables are harder to come by on those models. I'll send you a private message with some recommendations and if you're interested, give me a call or email.
Matt Cuellar
Matt Cuellar
Techman
New Member
No u don't... There is no way you can come out ahead in the long run. How can you disput that when professional users find it a challange to come out ahead.
It will take several years to pay for the printer via the savings you think you will save if every thing runs perfectly.
By then the printer will cost you more than you can imagine. I cannot understand why anyone with very little experience usign large format printers would dispute anything that an experienced user would state...
It will take several years to pay for the printer via the savings you think you will save if every thing runs perfectly.
By then the printer will cost you more than you can imagine. I cannot understand why anyone with very little experience usign large format printers would dispute anything that an experienced user would state...
asignstop
New Member
I agree with techman, have you been paying retail prices for your banners, and signs ect? Find a good wholesaler - it sounds like you know enough to submit files in proper format, speak the lingo, ect. to not incur extra fees.
Do you have a vinyl cutter? I would definitely recommend a cutter (quality used) over a printer for someone starting out making their own signs and banners. Plus a used cutter will have less headaches than a used printer.
If your dead set on buying a printer, then buy a very low maintenance inkjet - not an encad - buy the newest with the most ease of use, probably an HP.
Ali
Do you have a vinyl cutter? I would definitely recommend a cutter (quality used) over a printer for someone starting out making their own signs and banners. Plus a used cutter will have less headaches than a used printer.
If your dead set on buying a printer, then buy a very low maintenance inkjet - not an encad - buy the newest with the most ease of use, probably an HP.
Ali
Checkers
New Member
I ran the 700 for about 4 years and I have to agree with everything tech said. It's a good printer when everything is running well and you're using it on a regular basis. But, let it sit idle for more than a long weekend, or when things go wrong, they can go wrong in a really bad way.
During my time running the printer, we maintained a $2,000 per year service contract on it and it paid for itself, and then some, every year. In 4 years, I maybe bought a dozen print heads. Fortunately, their fairly cheap. The rest were replaced under warranty. The issue with the warranty claim forn is that it took 30 minutes or more and about $5 in materials to properly fill out the paperwork and do all the test prints. Then you had to pay for shipping. When you're replacing 2 or 3 a month, those figures add up quick.
Depending on how often you run the machine, the bushings needed to be replaced every 6-10 months, a 3-4 hour job by itself by a trained technician. We would average 2 additional service calls per year for "other" repairs and all the service calls averaged between 4 and 5 hours.
Daily maintenance wasn't bad, maybe a 5 minute wipe-down with a damp rag. Weekly cleaning and maintenance took about 30-45 minutes and Rapid Prep worked great!
You can print directly to it from some software applications, but it can be a time consuming process that will eat up the resources of the computer. So, I would suggest a dedicated work station with RIP software to make production a lot faster and easier and produce better looking prints. This should be SOP for any large printer.
With all this being said, I think you probably would be better off with a used solvent printer. It will cost more up front. However, the long-term costs, care and maintenance issues will be a lot less.
Checkers
During my time running the printer, we maintained a $2,000 per year service contract on it and it paid for itself, and then some, every year. In 4 years, I maybe bought a dozen print heads. Fortunately, their fairly cheap. The rest were replaced under warranty. The issue with the warranty claim forn is that it took 30 minutes or more and about $5 in materials to properly fill out the paperwork and do all the test prints. Then you had to pay for shipping. When you're replacing 2 or 3 a month, those figures add up quick.
Depending on how often you run the machine, the bushings needed to be replaced every 6-10 months, a 3-4 hour job by itself by a trained technician. We would average 2 additional service calls per year for "other" repairs and all the service calls averaged between 4 and 5 hours.
Daily maintenance wasn't bad, maybe a 5 minute wipe-down with a damp rag. Weekly cleaning and maintenance took about 30-45 minutes and Rapid Prep worked great!
You can print directly to it from some software applications, but it can be a time consuming process that will eat up the resources of the computer. So, I would suggest a dedicated work station with RIP software to make production a lot faster and easier and produce better looking prints. This should be SOP for any large printer.
With all this being said, I think you probably would be better off with a used solvent printer. It will cost more up front. However, the long-term costs, care and maintenance issues will be a lot less.
Checkers
southpointeyouthman
New Member
What do your recomend to get a good price. We just had yard signs that cost us $720. Right now I need to order some banners and signs that total $2200 dollars and that is with a man I have met that wants to help our church. We do this much advertisement buisness every 3-4 months. I could just about afford a used printer every 6 months. If you guys have any recomendations, I would appreceate it.
Urban Image
New Member
Get a different machine. By looking at that machine (Ebay, I presume) I can tell you it is not in a condition that I would pay $1,000 for when there are other options out there. Canon has some low cost options out there but you won't get a decent piece of equipment for less than $4,000 at the very least.
learned the hard way
New Member
Look on some of the other forums like signweb and find a used HP 5500 with UV inks. Probably gonna cost a little more than an Encad, but it is a much more user friendly printer. Very little maintenance required. It can sit for a few days and still crank up and run perfectly. UV inks work well for outdoor banners. They cost about $120 per color (it has 6 colors) but the cartridges are 680 milliliters, so they last a long time. You will be much happier with this than a finicky, high maintenance Encad.
asignstop
New Member
Lease a solvent printer, maybe a smaller sp300 this will do cutting and printing. It will cost more than other printers but will be less headache and under warranty. You could buy a used one also. Again I think a cutter will be the most bang for your buck on a limited budget.
southpointeyouthman
New Member
What do you think about this printer.
MUTOH ROCKHOPPER 1 62" WIDE FORMAT PRINTER 62" SOLVENT PRINTER WITH & BULK INK FEEDER SYSTEM
MUTOH ROCKHOPPER 1 62" WIDE FORMAT PRINTER 62" SOLVENT PRINTER WITH & BULK INK FEEDER SYSTEM
JMDigital
New Member
You also have to think of the time you or whoever is going to spend designing and printing these banners and signs. Currently you place an order and go about your day. Now you will have to create them yourself.
I also have not heard you talk about what type of computer will run this printer, and if you get a used one what software will you use to run it. If you get a used printer be ready to learn how to maintain it yourself. The big printers are not as easy to deal with as the desktop ones.
I don’t mean to tell you not to do this just pointing out what I have not seen.
The eco-solvent printers use un-coated material so you will buy cheaper banner rolls. Plus they will be good outside. Do you need 62" wide? A smaller eco-solvent would be cheaper?
I also have not heard you talk about what type of computer will run this printer, and if you get a used one what software will you use to run it. If you get a used printer be ready to learn how to maintain it yourself. The big printers are not as easy to deal with as the desktop ones.
I don’t mean to tell you not to do this just pointing out what I have not seen.
The eco-solvent printers use un-coated material so you will buy cheaper banner rolls. Plus they will be good outside. Do you need 62" wide? A smaller eco-solvent would be cheaper?
southpointeyouthman
New Member
20 Signs - 18" x 24"
I know I shouldn't say this...but...it kind of bothers me that there are consumers of signs sniffing around a professional sign forum looking for ways to save money (read that take money out of ours). I wish that there was a mandatory form for people to fill out prior to viewing our posts, of course some people would lie and see it anyway but the majority would just go else where for the minor inconvenience. If in this post alone we have 2 end users sniffing around how many are lurking behind the scenes? sadly I think we really need to think before we reply.