• 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 ...

HP 5500UV, 60 inch..$10K ?

Ken

Ken

New Member
Saw an ad at printingdigital.net for this machine , new with 3 yr warranty...I imagine shipping etc is on top of that.
Anyway..is this a good printer?
Anything special about uv inks?
TIA...Ken
 
M

mondo

New Member
Its a good printer for volume production. Nothing really special about them UV Inks except for the price.lol Its quite expensive and good cheap media for it are hard to find. You cant rely on its outdoor longevity. Its about 3-6 months on outdoor . I only use mine for posters and art reproduction. HP uv inks are pale compare to the dye inks. When I got the Mutoh my HP was on the sideline for a while so I have to sell it.
 
O

oc63rag

New Member
Great printer but $10K with way too much. You can find a used one for about $2K. Even if you paid an independent service tech to go through the machine and bring it completely up to spec you'd spend less than $2500 total. There's not a lot to go wrong with those machines and the common wear items are easily, and inexpensively, replaced.
 
Billct2

Billct2

Active Member
I don't know about $2500 but you should be able to get a good refurb w/warranty for less than $5k.
I have had laminated prints outdoors for 5 years, just depends on their exposure.
Its a nice asy to use machine.
Lexjet has good aftermarket inks for about half the OEM inks.
 
Matt Cuellar

Matt Cuellar

New Member
Billct2 is right. $5k is reasonable for a refurbished or used 60" unit. For comparison sake, we have a 2-year old 5500ps 42" model for sale right now for $2,500, so, not unreasonable to get a 60" unit for between $3,500 and $5,000. Good luck!
 
FrankenSigns.biz

FrankenSigns.biz

New Member
Hey Ken, I have heard HORROR stories about this machine. This machine originally was sold for much more under another brand. HP bought them out and they're trying to get rid of them. Literally. Be careful. Find some people who have one. Keep doing your homework. Also, it has to be vented or the fumes will freaking kill you.
 
Matt Cuellar

Matt Cuellar

New Member
Dude, you must be looking at the wrong thread. First off, the 5500 is an aqueous based printer, meaning the ink is water-based. There are no fumes to affect your health. Next, HP developed this printer and sold it until last summer when it was discontinued and replaced with the DesignJet Z6100 series printer. You might want to do your homework and research because nothing you said is remotely close to true. The 5500 is a good printer, but $10K for a new one is too much.
 
O

oc63rag

New Member
No to the Eco-Solv, UV and dye aqueous only. These printers are real workhorses. If you want a good deal on one try and find a dealer who has taken one in on one of HP's trade in programs.
 
BoogerB

BoogerB

New Member
Kevin T said:
If you want something new that is faster, better print quality and very reasonable for what you get look at the Canon Prograf 8000S(44" about $7K with take up) or 9000S(60" about $13K with take up). Both are 8 colour machines. There are also 12 colour versions of each. Both are aqueous based. Good luck.

http://www.usa.canon.com/consumer/controller?act=ProductCatIndexAct&fcategoryid=170
Click to expand...

but aren't those 1 or 2 printheads only? I've heard through various vendors and salesmen that they are expensive to replace, but *somehow* only need replacements once a year.

The new Z6100s are nice, a bit of a pain to learn how to load, but they are twice as fast as the 5500s, print better and take forever before banding is an issue.

I've got 2 42" 5500s, 1 60" and one 60" Z6100. They all run 75% of the day at minimum (except for the past week they have been 50%). I rarely have problems with them even with that much usage. Common problems are generally easy fixes and there is a ton of information and parts available online for cheap.

I believe Media 1 and Unica Digital have refurbs with great warranties.


FrankenSigns - I believe you are taking abuo tthe 3500 and 4500 that HP just introduced. HP bought out MacDermid Colorspan and rebranded them and possible changed a few things up. They are a roll-roll or flatbed setup with foldable tables. From what I've heard they are good machines and do well with many different substrates.
 
animenick65

animenick65

New Member
We have a 5500 here with UV ink. Very easy to use and maintain. Its a true workhorse. Really its designed to be used for giclee printing and fine art stuff. Not designed to print wraps with. Media and ink can be quiet expensive.
 
C

Carolyn

New Member
questions about the HP 5500's

Hi my name is Carolyn and I used to work in a sign shop and found this board during that time. It was very helpful. Now I am working for a Print Shop and we just recently got an HP Designjet 5500ps we really don't know anything about it and are only going to do very minor wide format printing, banners, coro signs magnetics and the like. Do you have any words of wisdom, and can we/I post the inevitable questions we will have, here?

My first question would be:
before I got here so I am not 100% sure about the facts they said the printed a test banner on HP opaque SCRIM Q1899B and the ink (not sure of the ink specs) didn't dry why would that be?

Thanks in Advance.

Carolyn

BoogerB said:
but aren't those 1 or 2 printheads only? I've heard through various vendors and salesmen that they are expensive to replace, but *somehow* only need replacements once a year.

The new Z6100s are nice, a bit of a pain to learn how to load, but they are twice as fast as the 5500s, print better and take forever before banding is an issue.

I've got 2 42" 5500s, 1 60" and one 60" Z6100. They all run 75% of the day at minimum (except for the past week they have been 50%). I rarely have problems with them even with that much usage. Common problems are generally easy fixes and there is a ton of information and parts available online for cheap.

I believe Media 1 and Unica Digital have refurbs with great warranties.


FrankenSigns - I believe you are taking abuo tthe 3500 and 4500 that HP just introduced. HP bought out MacDermid Colorspan and rebranded them and possible changed a few things up. They are a roll-roll or flatbed setup with foldable tables. From what I've heard they are good machines and do well with many different substrates.
Click to expand...
 
Last edited:
animenick65

animenick65

New Member
Carolyn said:
Hi my name is Carolyn and I used to work in a sign shop and found this board during that time. It was very helpful. Now I am working for a Print Shop and we just recently got an HP Designjet 5500ps we really don't know anything about it and are only going to do very minor wide format printing, banners, coro signs magnetics and the like. Do you have any words of wisdom, and can we/I post the inevitable questions we will have, here?

My first question would be:
before I got here so I am not 100% sure about the facts they said the printed a test banner on HP opaque SCRIM Q1899B and the ink (not sure of the ink specs) didn't dry why would that be?

Thanks in Advance.

Carolyn
Click to expand...

I'm not familiar with that type of banner material, but the media you print on with the hp5500 needs to be ink jet receptive. Meaning you can't print on just anything. Some things to keep in mind with the 5500 is not to over promise outdoor longevity. With the right media and UV inks, you can get decent outdoor life, but don't expect it to out last a good laminated solvent or thermal print.
 
Billct2

Billct2

Active Member
Ditto, you have to use the right media.
We have stuff out there printed with UV inks and laminated that are 5 years old now.
But I would never promise that.
Try Lexjet, they have lots of media for the HP, a great aftermarket ink that's half the cost of HP ink and are now servicing HP printers.
 
animenick65

animenick65

New Member
Billct2 said:
Ditto, you have to use the right media.
We have stuff out there printed with UV inks and laminated that are 5 years old now.
But I would never promise that.
Try Lexjet, they have lots of media for the HP, a great aftermarket ink that's half the cost of HP ink and are now servicing HP printers.
Click to expand...

How is their ink for the 5500? The 680ml cartridges are crazy expensive and we have always looked for an aftermarket solution but we are worried that it doesn't have the same longevity or color performance. What is your experience?
 
Billct2

Billct2

Active Member
I've been using it for several years, so far so good.
I didn't notice any difference as I switched over.
I always keep two cartridges of each in stock in case there's a glitch with one.
Doesn't happen often but I have a weekly deadline for one client that can't be missed.
I tried several others and this one was the only one that was equivelent to HPs.
 
RobGF

RobGF

New Member
BoogerB said:
but aren't those 1 or 2 printheads only? I've heard through various vendors and salesmen that they are expensive to replace, but *somehow* only need replacements once a year.
...
Click to expand...

Piezo aqueous heads aren't the same as thermal aqueous heads and while they are a part of the system which will fail, it's not like with an HP or Encad where the heads are considered a consumable. It's entirely realistic that that piezo head will last a few years.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top