Ink usage on 1 sq/ft on L360

[BIG EASY DOES IT]

I am trying to work up some production quotes for our owner. I want to give them a rough estimate of what it will cost to print all our own signs for inventory. I was hoping someone on here that operates a L360 or a 330 even, could give me ink usage for full coverage on a 1 sq/ft section. Just the total ml used across all ink cartridges.

 

[BIG EASY DOES IT]

Or maybe someone could give me full coverage on a know area of vinyl. I can calculate what each sq/ft uses.

 

[Robert Gruner]

Easy,

In the past, we have calculated ink costs:

The cost of 1 ml ink equates to 1 sq ft printed at 100% saturation of all inks. In the case of latex ink for L300 series (assuming $135 for 775ml cartridge), this equates to $0.174 per sq ft.

If you factor in disposable print heads, the cost of ink is probably closer to 20 cents per sq ft printed (100% saturation for all inks).

Obviously the cost will vary depending on ink saturation levels as well as ink coverage.

Hope that helps.

Bob Gruner

 

[BIG EASY DOES IT]

Yes thank you very much Bob. This will help a lot. I didn't factor in cost of the heads, but that's not a bad idea to throw it in also. Then your accounting for almost all the cost, except electrical of running the printer to make our signs. Thanks very much again.

 

[AF]

Ink, consumables, depreciation, service contract, energy costs all add up.

 

[BIG EASY DOES IT]

Number one cost also Labor.

 

[johndstevens]

On vinyl at 8 pass, 6 color mode at 100% coverage, would expect the total cost to be .22 psf - including ink, printhead and maintenance cartridge. The mix is .18 of ink, .03 for the PH (based on expected life of 4,000 ml) and .01 for maintenance cartridge (expected life of 14,000 ml). Also - above based on US list prices. The Embedded Web Server (EWS) will tell you your ink consumption to the ml for every job if you check it - and if you build out your cost assignment - can you give you an ink cost for every job - so you could actually do your own math if you want based on your actual prices etc. You could even build out your media portfolio to include media costs as well. You access the EWS by typing in the printer IP address into your browser. Hope this helps.

 

[MikeD]

Check your RIP for a cost estimator. Wasatch (and I think Onyx) will itemize costs based on your input for substrate and ink prices. If not, your equipment/consumables vendor or manufacturer can provide a ball park figure, but it won't be exact, as your profile will most likely vary from theirs.