Ion users

[BCV]

Hi Ion users - I have been keeping and I-on what you guys have been saying about the printer and i have to say, its been better than what i expected. I had a look at the printer almost 2 years ago and was not imprest. But just saw some prints off it yesterday and the quality was looking good for 42pl dot. I would like to know how the heads on your printer are holding up, I run a Seiko 64 and are always replacing 14pl konica heads, the same brand as what the ion uses, But the ion has the 42pl at the moment. My question is, are you going through alot of heads?
I know the konica heads dont like being wipped because of the soft nosel plat, and i would imagine a head strick would kill the head real fast?
Are you having problems? :Australia

 

[econolinesigns]

We have had our Solara Ion in use since daily (with few exceptions) since September of last year and have not had any head problems. Regarding the 42pl heads, remember that this printer was designed to print signs and not fine art (although we have done large canvas prints for a few wineries). They do have a new one that is just out or coming out with 14pl (I think) heads. So far, so good for us!

 

[BCV]

Thanks for the feed back. Sounds like your happy with the printer. Do you use Bi or Uni direction for your production speed. and are you able to wrap a car with this ink set. I had a feel of some 3M control tac after it was printed on the Ion and it did seem a little stiff?

 

[mmorse]

Just a heads up. We've had our Ion for a year, and loved it at first. But have since had numerous problems with it, and cannot imagine owning one without a warranty.
Gerber service has been great, but a lot of problems are a mystery to them and has ended up costing us a lot more than it's worth.
Recently our biggest issue is customers returning signs because they are faded, dramatically faded, and the ink is literally running down the sign. These are signs that vary in age from 9 months to 2 months. We are not all looking forward to the the future signs we have to replace. Our own sign for the front of the store is faded, ink is bleeding down the sign, and the ink wipes off with nothing more than a paper towel.
The best Gerber can do is recommend a laminate. Not what we had in mind when we purchased the Ion, laminate was supposed to be a cost we eliminated.
Don't want to be negative here, but think it's only fair to warn you.
Good luck

 

[RoCo]

Recently our biggest issue is customers returning signs because they are faded, dramatically faded, and the ink is literally running down the sign.

Yikes. I considered one of these in the past and was always very impressed with what it could do for its price tag. And the strength, adhesion and flexibility of the inks was probably the biggest positive about the whole deal. Apparently the cationics stick well, just not for very long?

 

[mmorse]

Yikes. I considered one of these in the past and was always very impressed with what it could do for its price tag. And the strength, adhesion and flexibility of the inks was probably the biggest positive about the whole deal. Apparently the cationics stick well, just not for very long?

On some prints it does stick well...temporarily. But that is mainly of Coro. On aluminum, PVC, glass and vinyl, most times does not with stand a the tape test, even days later.
In our opinion the Ion is best suited for temporary signage.
We've had lots of problems with aluminum. No...it's not our cleaning method, or our printing environment, humidity or anything like that, it's the printer.
Don't want to discourage you but check out some of the things people say in Yahoo Gerber Groups.
There are a few Ion lemons out there, hope you don't get one on that cheap price tag

 

[RoCo]

On some prints it does stick well...temporarily. But that is mainly of Coro. On aluminum, PVC, glass and vinyl, most times does not with stand a the tape test, even days later.
In our opinion the Ion is best suited for temporary signage.
We've had lots of problems with aluminum. No...it's not our cleaning method, or our printing environment, humidity or anything like that, it's the printer.
Don't want to discourage you but check out some of the things people say in Yahoo Gerber Groups.
There are a few Ion lemons out there, hope you don't get one on that cheap price tag

Fortunately, circumstances dictated otherwise and I've ended up with an HP FB6100 to run instead. But when I send a job out the door, I don't ever want to see it coming back. Clients - yes, always, but never holding something I sent out the door 6 months ago.

 

[mmorse]

I'm glad you chose another printer. When did you get it?

 

[RoCo]

About 2 months ago. Happy with it so far. Think I finally found a source for some banner material that I like. The only source of 7' banner (max I can go) was Oce, of all people. But it seems stiff and brittle and not very tough. I found a source that will slit down a wider roll for me into a long one and a short one.

 

[seaserpent]

Hmmm . . . we've found the Gerber to stick perfectly, permanently and stand up to the tape test on coro, factory painted aluminum, vinyl, digital magnetic, rigid vinyl sheet, Maxmetal, alumalite, some other plastics I cannot name, properly painted mdo plywood, and others.

Obviously, user experiences are vastly different for some reason. I don't know why, but am very pleased with the Gerber Ion.

 

[econolinesigns]

Like seaserpent, we have never has any adhesion problems with any substrate.