STS Fluorescent eco sol max inks

[S4mxdotcom]

I tried searching and did not see anything. But today while looking around at printers and ink, I came across the STS aftermarket inks and saw a fluorescent Yellow and pink option . It was not labeled as Sublimation inks and was being sold alongside the other regular eco sol max inks. Has anybody used these? ANd how did you use them? I was thinking I could swap out the standard yellow and magenta and have a dedicated printer for the bright colors. Or maybe replace the White and silver channels on my VS640 and treat them more like spot colors. I have seen a couple inkjet printers that had neon color inks before, but they only made them for a short time and are not available anymore. So I assume they did not work well. To the people who have run these inks, is the color like a high vis bright shade like you might see on a construction worker , or 90's type clothing? Or just a kinda standard looking shade that happens to glow under black light making it fluorescent ? Again it's been a bit since posting on here , so I am sorry if this has been brought up and or if I happen to double post. I had written out another post that either was not posted , or I made a mistake in posting it.

 

[garyroy]

Ask the company making the inks how their product is used in specific applications, and which printers the inks are for.
Then give us a post on your findings.

 

[S4mxdotcom]

It gives a list of the printers , pretty much all of the printers that run/ran Eco sol max inks. Listed alongside the standard color inks. I'll ask them and post what they say. In general , has anybody on here used STS inks for any of the ink types and colors they offer?

 

[S4mxdotcom]

I sent them an email. I looked on their website some more and did not see anymore info about the inks. I looked and noticed they do not make the flo inks for many of the other ink types they offer. I was thinking that maybe a customer asked them to make some for a custom application and then they started to offer them to the public. Just a guess, but it wouldn't be the first time. I was really hoping that somebody with some real world experience would be able to post on here. In the past I've seen so many people asking about doing this on here. maybe the people who have it figured out just do not want to let their secret out.

 

[S4mxdotcom]

I got this Email back today. Looks like the inks are being used in Roland printers that ran Ecosolmax inks to begin with and then some custom tweaking is needed. Below is the response from STS inks

Our customers replacing the LC LM with FM and FY as well you need to generate profile or print as spot color.

BTW florescent inks is not that good for outdoor durability

 

[Pauly]

SwissQprint have Neon inks, they only last a few days to a week outdoors.
cant remember the indoor rating. indoor was really good, but the outdoor UV kills the neon inks.

 

[garyroy]

Yeah, sunlight usually fades them out in a month or so.
Well so much for that idea. Thanks

 

[S4mxdotcom]

The swissQprint inks are UV type inks though. Nothing neon colored lasts very long outside anyway. If they had a similar life to a neon colored vinyl that might be worth it. It depends on what they would be used on. Some stuff that is stored inside most of its life might get a couple years of use if it could last a solid month of outside hours . Race cars might be outside 2 days a week so it might last a season . Or on an exotic car wrap that only sees use a day every few weeks. And inside signage and wall wraps. I was hoping somebody on here would be using them and have some real world feedback. Maybe I can get a print sample and see how long it lasts under the types of use I would use it under. Why do fluorescent colors fade faster ? Construction marking paint fades super fast , I think by design. But there are street signs that are neon yellow now that will last for years. And high vis clothing that lasts for years. Hopefully someday there will be a longer lasting neon ink that is available.

 

[Zse444]

I have SwissQprint Nyala-4 since 4 months. The factory say, that neon inks last for 3 months outside. I have neon pink, neon yellow colors in the printer. When I was in the SwissQprint factory about 6 months ago, I become few neon print samples, and when I come home I put one piece outside and one piece inside right next to the window, and few samples back to box. Few weeks earlier I checked, and nothing serious fading only on the outside sample. It must be noted that it is now winter and there is little sunlight here, maybe it will fade faster in the summer. Somwhere I see some coatings to protect again UV light, maybe this helps for UV neon inks. Maybe I see something useful on FESPA 2023 Munich. But the neon inks and mixing neons each other and with CMY colors look amazing!

 

[S4mxdotcom]

What do you plan on printing with yours with the neon colors? Those printers are amazing looking!

 

[Joseph44708]

I print neon colors on my Seiko W64 printers and I'm down to my last ink cartridge, they are no longer available.
Have two Roland XR-640 printers and just bought the new VG3 for the orange color.
I will look into the Neon colors for Roland and see if I can change one of my XR-640 printers to use them.
I'll report back

 

[S4mxdotcom]

Did You ever end up getting the neon inks working on the Roland?

 

[Joseph44708]

No we did not.
I reached out to my customers and asked them all if they really wanted to continue using the Neon inks for their projects and they all said NO because they fade out within a few weeks.
But they say the New Orange I'm printing is working great

 

[autoexebat]

I almost did this years ago but bailed on the idea , plus you have to flush your who system and use nothing but STS inks .

 

[azprintguy]

I print neon colors on my Seiko W64 printers and I'm down to my last ink cartridge, they are no longer available.
Have two Roland XR-640 printers and just bought the new VG3 for the orange color.
I will look into the Neon colors for Roland and see if I can change one of my XR-640 printers to use them.
I'll report back

Are you still printing neon colors?

 

[Joseph44708]

No.
It's been a year now and customers don't miss the Neon colors.