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First time buyer for Large Format Printer

fin71

New Member
We are ready to start wrapping vehicles. I recently went to the Sema Show in Las Vegas to check out some printers can someone help guide us on what printer would be best. The two that we are considering in

HP Latex 700/800 Printer series or Mimaki UCJV300-160 Printer series.​

 

rjssigns

Active Member
Buy from the dealer in your town or within an hour of your shop. Getting "the deal" from a place two states away is great until the printer breaks. Almost guaranteed it will break when you have a fleet job with a drop dead date on it.

To add to the confusion I bought a Mutoh. It's been a great printer. It was between Mutoh and Epson but the Mutoh dealer was 20 minutes away.
 

karst41

New Member
We are ready to start wrapping vehicles. I recently went to the Sema Show in Las Vegas to check out some printers can someone help guide us on what printer would be best. The two that we are considering in

HP Latex 700/800 Printer series or Mimaki UCJV300-160 Printer series.​

Media Management is Paramount in wide format printing.

Latex is less expensive to maintain and keep running.
Solvent Inks are going to bleed your wallet to death,,,DO NOT
Solvent,, Do Not Eco Solvent.

If you are starting Out, Latex is your friend and Keeps Money in yo Pocket


If you get a laminator, get a GFP with Top Heat Assist. Write that down.
these are the Best for the dollar Period. I got a RS and have reqret.
But it gets job done real fast and quiet.

For wraps be it a car or a 24' Cargo Truck or a 53' Trailer.
You will be buying 54"w Media. 3m Media give you less trouble than
all the others. AND 3m 1J180 cv3 with 8519 Luster Laminate will get
you a 3m 7 year MCS Warranty with HP Latex Inks.

Like that Krazzy Cajun Stale Kracker say.. Dude! Thats Money,,,,,,,Lets Get it!
 

Joe House

Sign Equipment Technician
You can certainly take anyone's recommendations into account, but don't buy anything till you get to see it in action printing your files. As mentioned, get to know your dealer and ask about support metrics and if possible, meet with the tech who will be helping you out. Make sure that you understand how they plan on supporting you and make sure that you mesh with them.

Good Luck!
 

SignMeUpGraphics

Super Active Member
Latex is less expensive to maintain and keep running.
Solvent Inks are going to bleed your wallet to death,,,DO NOT
Solvent,, Do Not Eco Solvent.

Can you elaborate on this?
Our Epson costs us nothing apart from ink and electricity (certainly less electricity than a latex).
Still running the same heads after 4 years and prints as good as the day it was installed.
 

timalh3

New Member
We are ready to start wrapping vehicles. I recently went to the Sema Show in Las Vegas to check out some printers can someone help guide us on what printer would be best. The two that we are considering in

HP Latex 700/800 Printer series or Mimaki UCJV300-160 Printer series.​

i would go with the mimaki the uv works great on wraps and outdoor signs no need for laminate will cost you less and there are a lot of good third party inks out there that is cheap but you need to look at the after service for your printer as someone said look for a dealer that is close to you and have a good tech that is friendly after all the printer will be with you for a long time and it will give you some problems and you will also need to be a hands on person with the printer and learn as much as you can cause there might be some simple problems you may get that you can fix yourself with help from these guys here on the forum i have ask for help here and got it and it just cost me the parts and i was up and running . so make a good choice and happy printing.
 

Pauly

Printrade.com.au
i would go with the mimaki the uv works great on wraps and outdoor signs no need for laminate will cost you less and there are a lot of good third party inks out there that is cheap but you need to look at the after service for your printer as someone said look for a dealer that is close to you and have a good tech that is friendly after all the printer will be with you for a long time and it will give you some problems and you will also need to be a hands on person with the printer and learn as much as you can cause there might be some simple problems you may get that you can fix yourself with help from these guys here on the forum i have ask for help here and got it and it just cost me the parts and i was up and running . so make a good choice and happy printing.

Nearly lost my breath reading that. Use some full stops. hahaha.

But i wouldn't recommend UV ink for wraps. do they work. Yes. Sustainable, not really.
UVgel - yes.
UV - no
 

White Haus

Not a Newbie
i would go with the mimaki the uv works great on wraps and outdoor signs no need for laminate will cost you less and there are a lot of good third party inks out there that is cheap but you need to look at the after service for your printer as someone said look for a dealer that is close to you and have a good tech that is friendly after all the printer will be with you for a long time and it will give you some problems and you will also need to be a hands on person with the printer and learn as much as you can cause there might be some simple problems you may get that you can fix yourself with help from these guys here on the forum i have ask for help here and got it and it just cost me the parts and i was up and running . so make a good choice and happy printing.

If I'm understanding you correctly........are you saying you're wrapping vehicles with unlaminated UCJV prints? Would love to hear more about this, because I find it hard to believe. Which ink-set are you running?

Out of all our printers, the UCJV has the hardest and most scratch-resistant ink but I would never even fathom putting those unlaminated prints on a vehicle, let alone a wrap.

To the OP: I wouldn't consider the UCJV for wraps. It's a great machine but if you were to handle/work with UV and solvent/latex prints you would get why it's a bad idea. (Short story - UV ink sits on top of the vinyl and adds thickness and does not like to stretch like solvent or latex ink does) I personally don't have any experience with latex, and not sure I'll ever jump on that bandwagon, but I'll be looking at the Epson solvent printers next.

As already mentioned, make sure to check out the machines in person, see how they operate, and work with a dealer that will be a partner, not just a sales rep. They will be a valuable resource as you move forward.

Good luck with your search.
 

MHester

New Member
I have an HP latex and love it. Been using it for over 5 years now. Easy to use, very little maintenance, no smell, no outgassing before laminating, brilliant colors. Never touched a UV or solvent printer, so I have nothing to compare it to, sorry. As folks have told you already, as much $$ as you'll be spending on a new printer, DEMAND that you see YOUR files printed on a sample printer. Any good distributor will allow you to do this. And yes, things DO break, and you'll need maintenance, so make sure your distributor is close by, not out of state. Good luck!
 

victor bogdanov

Active Member
I have 2 roland SG2 that have been flawless printing 15k sq/ft each per month for over a year and 1 Roland VS that has been printing for 10 years with only 1 print head replacement.
 
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