Heat assist laminator Seal vs Rite Media vs GFP

[Troy Oddo]

Would like some feedback on experiences with the above laminators. We are looking at buying a new 65" heat assist laminator. We purchased a Rite Media one 3 years ago and are not happy with it. So looking to replace it. We have an 11 year old non heat 54" Seal unit that has been awesome. However, my main distributor no longer sells them and suggested the GFP. Price is way better on the GFP, however, now I am gun shy after the experience with the Rite Media. I have heard rumors that the new Seal units are not built or maintained like the old ones. This would be our main work horse, laminated primarily vinyl for vehicle wraps and signage. It would be used pretty steadily. Please let me know your experiences.

 

[keith10999]

Consider the Neschen Line. https://www.colex.com/new-neschen-coldlam-1650/

 

[Superior_Adam]

I run a GFP. No issues on ours. Ran full rolls through it no problems.

 

[ozzie2433]

Booth #848 at Printing United Orlando

Pro1700-F1 Heat-Assisted Laminator

Industrial-Grade Laminating with SMART Precision and Vertical Slitting See Brochure Link The Pro1700-F1 Heat-Assisted Laminator from B&C Graphics is a high-performance, wide-format finishing solution engineered for demanding signage, packaging, and display production environments. With advanced...

www.4bnc.com

 

[MarkSnelling]

Would like some feedback on experiences with the above laminators. We are looking at buying a new 65" heat assist laminator. We purchased a Rite Media one 3 years ago and are not happy with it. So looking to replace it. We have an 11 year old non heat 54" Seal unit that has been awesome. However, my main distributor no longer sells them and suggested the GFP. Price is way better on the GFP, however, now I am gun shy after the experience with the Rite Media. I have heard rumors that the new Seal units are not built or maintained like the old ones. This would be our main work horse, laminated primarily vinyl for vehicle wraps and signage. It would be used pretty steadily. Please let me know your experiences.

Classic tale of buying a laminator to save money. Seal Base units are good. The Pro models are really, really good but way too expensive if you ask me. The Kala Mistral gives you a production unit with top heat assist and you can reset the nip by simply pressing two buttons. The unit is around $14,500 USD. These units are built almost as well as the Seal line and we rarely have to repair any of the units we've sold. The best part is they run dead-ass straight for an entire roll...your take up looks like a factory cut roll. GFP machines are nice...American designs made in China...but in my experience having sold a few is they don't last nearly as long as Kala/Seal/AGL.

 

[CC-CMYK]

We just bought a GFP 563 with heat assist. It was 11k I think.

I think it kind of depends on the distributor closest to you, what they sell, and how good they are with technical service.

I was looking for a Kala but two things steered me away: No local dealers and tariff pricing went up and I was uncomfortable with the new price.

We like the distributor we work with: IntoPrint. They brought the laminator to us and set it up. The owner was part of the install team.

We got the new GFP just as two new employees came on with little experience. I showed them ounce and they’ve been laminating with flawless results. We primarily print large wall wraps, often printing and laminating multiple rolls.

GFP also has a lot of instruction videos and that’s been helpful too!