Hi guys
Just wanted to report in as I don't check the forums too often.
I started this thread several years ago to document my findings and knowledge on what was, at the time, a newer technology without much in the way of online resources. The HP knowledge center now has a lot of what you'll find in here, which is great. I hope this thread has helped others make an educated decision. I appreciate
balstestrat and other R series owners for contributing. I'm curious how many R series are out there now?
Our R2000 Plus is still running great, 8-10 hours a day, 6 days a week. Between it and the summa I can have 1 man do the job of 3 most days.
Having owned both the R1000 and R2000 for over 18 months each, I have to say that the R2 is the way to go. The 5L ink boxes and associated cost savings are too beneficial to overlook.
Our most common items are:
coro
foamboard
SAV
transparent vinyl w/ color-white-color sandwich printing
48pt chipboard
max metal
110# high gloss poster
paper
roll-up film
mesh banner
blockout banner
040 aluminum
There is no end to our workload. Once people find out you have this kind of machine, you start getting calls and emails daily just from word of mouth. The print quality and durability ensures repeat business. The IPS provides a super low learning curve that anyone can pick up on after 1 shift.
I love the machine and would buy another if I had the space. The cost of production is cheap due to the high throughput. The maintenance is dummy proof and takes minutes, leading our downtime to be almost non-existent. My only real gripe is that sometimes fine text doesn't come out as crisp as what we can get on our epson roll to roll, but otherwise the R2 does what it's designed to do and does it well.
The included warranty provided a great education. The engineers I worked with are insanely knowledgeable and have a real passion for helping people. Several of them even helped us in a bind after hours or on the weekend. I want to give a shoutout to Randall in particular, he saved my ass on more than one Friday night.
Now my warranty is up, and in case anyone is wondering here's what HP's extended warranty costs are:
View attachment 159493
Unfortunately, in my opinion, the contract is not worth the bill. HP designed a machine that when properly cared for does not require many on-site visits from technicians. I believe I've seen most, if not all, catastrophic part failures and fixed them myself at this point. Once you know the procedure for fixing these things they are simple and require minimal tools. The most memorable machine failures so far are:
cistern had ink in it- 1 person fix, 10 min
pip sensor got ink on it - 1 person fix, 10 min
alignment bar / gate failing - 2 person fix, 60 min to swap out a motor
carriage belt ripped itself in half - 1 person fix , 20 min
white intermediate tank exploded - 30 min clean up
white ink box exploded - 30 min clean up
Perhaps if the warranty included a print head allotment I would reconsider. I will ultimately see if my decision to go without warranty is wise. The priority parts shipments are the only real benefit I see in that chart. And I'm sure HP prices their parts at a fair rate without warranty...
Wishing you all continued success.
Best,
Ryan
