Looking for help on purchase of used HP315

[regardstobuck]

For what it’s worth… I was gifted a 360 latex that had been sitting for over a year. It was a well used machine. I was running a 315 at the time. Anyway, it took a bit to get it going, but I was able to get all the printheads working. I would soak them in distilled water and wipe them clean on a lint free cloth. It took a few hours but I was eventually able to get a decent print. I did purchase a new ink set though. I have used that same printer everyday for the last two years and had zero issues. Just regular maintenance stuff. I sold the 315 and plotter and bought summa tangential. I haven’t looked back. I wouldn’t hesitate to pick up that machine, the hp line seems to be pretty robust.

 

[rcook99]

For what it’s worth… I was gifted a 360 latex that had been sitting for over a year. It was a well used machine. I was running a 315 at the time. Anyway, it took a bit to get it going, but I was able to get all the printheads working. I would soak them in distilled water and wipe them clean on a lint free cloth. It took a few hours but I was eventually able to get a decent print. I did purchase a new ink set though. I have used that same printer everyday for the last two years and had zero issues. Just regular maintenance stuff. I sold the 315 and plotter and bought summa tangential. I haven’t looked back. I wouldn’t hesitate to pick up that machine, the hp line seems to be pretty robust.

My biggest concern isn’t the heads as samples were printed for me to check out. It prints very nice. I have a good friend that went from the same Mutoh I have to a man HP 115 and he can’t get his prints to dry. He has turned up the heat and even put a pause in on each pass for drying time but still doesn’t dry. He was using 6mil vinyl and has also had that trouble on other media. It is usually on darker colors. Can you give me any comfort or direction on why that is or how to fix it. I know there is a learning curve to new equipment but I have to say the Mutoh was pretty easy to setup and use.

 

[balstestrat]

Sounds like a case of he doesn't know what to do to solve it. Max out heat, add interpass-delay, go higher on passes, lower the ink limit. Eventually it can't be wet.
Maybe he didn't correctly save the settings, maybe not enough interpass-delay. It can all be cured with a little tuning of the profile.
Is the heater clean? Maintenance done? It will make a difference.

 

[regardstobuck]

My biggest concern isn’t the heads as samples were printed for me to check out. It prints very nice. I have a good friend that went from the same Mutoh I have to a man HP 115 and he can’t get his prints to dry. He has turned up the heat and even put a pause in on each pass for drying time but still doesn’t dry. He was using 6mil vinyl and has also had that trouble on other media. It is usually on darker colors. Can you give me any comfort or direction on why that is or how to fix it. I know there is a learning curve to new equipment but I have to say the Mutoh was pretty easy to setup and use.

I can’t really speak to prints not drying… I’ve never had an issue. I do live in Utah, a very dry climate, which may have something to do with it. It is nice with latex, because there is no off gassing, the prints are ready for laminate out of the printer. If they’re not wet that is .

Did the test prints dry coming out of the printer?

 

[rcook99]

Sounds like a case of he doesn't know what to do to solve it. Max out heat, add interpass-delay, go higher on passes, lower the ink limit. Eventually it can't be wet.
Maybe he didn't correctly save the settings, maybe not enough interpass-delay. It can all be cured with a little tuning of the profile.
Is the heater clean? Maintenance done? It will make a difference.

He’s still trying to figure it out. He’s using Signlab and I almost wonder if that is some of the problem as I see they sell that printer with Flexi. He has always used Solvent with Signlab. Now he has to figure it out with the HP. I did pass your post on to him to help out.

 

[islandwide]

That's definitely low mileage -- "on the same first set of inks" -- I've been running a 315 for 1 year, am "not a sign shop" (meaning I started our business as small format digital press shop and am in year one of doing large format) and have gone through roughly 4 complete changes of ink. Seems like a decent price. If they weren't taking the inks out every 6-8 weeks to give them a swirl, they may need new inks right away. Doing test prints will help determine that along with the need for new printheads. I would run some of the onboard tests for you to look at the patterns, colour rendering, etc.

And for what it's worth, I love our 315. In year one, it has been a workhorse. Very diverse materials can be used. Instant dry is a lifesaver. I don't see a take-up reel in their setup and if you're doing anything more than 4-6' prints at a time, I highly recommend getting one. They're about ~$1200-1600 (I'm in Canada, not sure of US pricing).

Good luck.

 

[islandwide]

That's definitely low mileage -- "on the same first set of inks" -- I've been running a 315 for 1 year, am "not a sign shop" (meaning I started our business as small format digital press shop and am in year one of doing large format) and have gone through roughly 4 complete changes of ink. Seems like a decent price. If they weren't taking the inks out every 6-8 weeks to give them a swirl, they may need new inks right away. Doing test prints will help determine that along with the need for new printheads. I would run some of the onboard tests for you to look at the patterns, colour rendering, etc.

And for what it's worth, I love our 315. In year one, it has been a workhorse. Very diverse materials can be used. Instant dry is a lifesaver. I don't see a take-up reel in their setup and if you're doing anything more than 4-6' prints at a time, I highly recommend getting one. They're about ~$1200-1600 (I'm in Canada, not sure of US pricing).

Good luck.

And if my answer seems a bit out of sync with the thread on print test results, I missed the last page of this conversation. Apologies.

 

[balstestrat]

He’s still trying to figure it out. He’s using Signlab and I almost wonder if that is some of the problem as I see they sell that printer with Flexi. He has always used Solvent with Signlab. Now he has to figure it out with the HP. I did pass your post on to him to help out.

Signlab shouldn't make any difference because all the adjusting is done on the printer.
Unless he's trying to change some settings in signlab but that doesn't mean it would sync&deploy to the printer...

 

[rcook99]

That's definitely low mileage -- "on the same first set of inks" -- I've been running a 315 for 1 year, am "not a sign shop" (meaning I started our business as small format digital press shop and am in year one of doing large format) and have gone through roughly 4 complete changes of ink. Seems like a decent price. If they weren't taking the inks out every 6-8 weeks to give them a swirl, they may need new inks right away. Doing test prints will help determine that along with the need for new printheads. I would run some of the onboard tests for you to look at the patterns, colour rendering, etc.

And for what it's worth, I love our 315. In year one, it has been a workhorse. Very diverse materials can be used. Instant dry is a lifesaver. I don't see a take-up reel in their setup and if you're doing anything more than 4-6' prints at a time, I highly recommend getting one. They're about ~$1200-1600 (I'm in Canada, not sure of US pricing).

Good luck.

I am being told that they had an HP tech in a couple years ago to go through it. I will be sending them a couple test prints for one of my bigger customers to see how it looks before I make my final decision. I will update as things go forward. Thanks for all the help.

 

[rcook99]

Okay, I know its been a while but I finally made the deal for the new to me HP315. Was waiting all this time for a response to my offer and finally got it yesterday. I will be picking up the printer next week along with rolls of media, media stand and whatever other extras they have to go with it.

Would like to get some input on what needs to be done to transport it to my shop. Does the head need to be secured or inks taken out. Keep in mind it may need to go down a flight of stairs on their end. I just want to make sure it is secured so we don't have any problems once we get it. We will be moving it so we know it was done right. Thanks for all your input.

 

[balstestrat]

If anything I would replace the maintenance cartridge or check there is no waste ink slushing inside it.

Nothing else needed.

 

[rcook99]

If anything I would replace the maintenance cartridge or check there is no waste ink slushing inside it.

Nothing else needed.

Thanks for your help. I just wanted to make sure the head did not need to be secured. I have only ran Mutoh prior to this HP. I am looking forward to the newer technology and love the waste tank being self contained.

 

[rcook99]

Okay so I just wanted to say we finally got the HP315 up and running on Signlab. But it appears SL is over riding the profile I choose on the printer. Once it starts printing it changes it to Generic substrate which then causes it not to have the correct drying temps. Can anyone help me out with what needs to be changed in SL or on the HP. Never had this issue with our old Mutoh. Not complaining as I know its a learning curve when you get new equipment. LOL

 

[balstestrat]

That definitely comes from sigblab. There's no settings to change on the printer.
However I don't know SL.

 

[rcook99]

That definitely comes from sigblab. There's no settings to change on the printer.
However I don't know SL.

I am trying to figure out how to let the printer profile be priority instead of SL. Might have to try Flexi, Onyx or another RIP. It printed vinyl with no problems as far as drying and saturation. Hoping someone with a similar setup will be able to help.

 

[regardstobuck]

We run flexi with our hp printer. The rip can pull the data from the printer. Basically they talk to each other. I just make sure that the printer and flexi settings are the same. If that makes any sense .

Do you have the profiles from your printer loaded into the rip?