Very poor quality image with a new CISS Is it Normal

[bigj2552]

I love Epsons too ...1500W is a great printer and works well with CISS...So your Epson is a great option 6 colours and A3 ..I hear some CISS can be buggy and you can get banding .1st of all make sure your printer head is working properly (I normally buy normal carts and check the head if its good then I know either my CISS or Ink is not good )....If you think the head is blocked check some you-tube videos for DIY solutions ...

90% of the problems with CISS is with AIR in the system...

you MUST prime these systems (carts) BEFORE you put it in the machine.
you dont prime first, you not gonna get it working right period !
also check hoses/tubes for pin holes, yes pin holes !!!

all the epsons we have had over the yrs we been in this game, never had any with the major banding issus that the 3 ricoh's have sitting here - NEVER.

one machine, one would say...ok, you will get the odd bad apple, so to speak...two machines with same fault, you start to think...on no, cant be can it ?...and finally, when you buy another 3rd machine, and its the same as the 1st two, you then come to the sad conclusion that would have been better spending that £200 you spent buying these dam things, getting rat assed down the pub :rolleyes:

so if you all on here can say "ricoh" the best printer for sublimation" can tell me why we got 3 brand new sealed in the boxes duffers ? as i said before...RICOH know about this and are still selling the bloody things....
go research guy n girls on the net and it will be apparent the banding issues with these printers

as with any machine, maintenance is the key here as well to longevity of printers. thats why our wee epson wf3520's, have lasted us, and still going ( just ), after 2 yr of heavy sublimation pounding...and we still got our original brother printers, and yes, they still print with sub ink...we just dont get the deeper reds, blacks as we do with the epson 1500, or even with the epson 3520's, so they are used only for office work, flyers, invoices etc ( with dye inks )

but bare in mind, all these epson and ricohs etc, they were not built to have the thicker sub inks flowing though them...so it obviously gonna take its toll on them - eventually

you all have a great day

[Paul]

and what ink have you inserted the buddy? cheapest you could find or sublijet?

[Justin]

I think you're being a 'tad' unfair on the Ricoh printers BigJ. For you to get 3 faulty ones would possibly bring in to question other common denominators. In the past the Ricoh had history for banding sure but there are many many unit sat out there working perfectly well and have been a godsend for many starting out with little or no experience.

If you buy the Ricoh from a supported supplier then you get the 2 year warranty inspite of it being used for sublimation, this is taken over from Ricoh by that Supplier. Whilst we're all quick to point out how expensive SGi ink is, how much time have you personally wasted on these 3 printers? 5, 10, 25 hours? What's your hourly rate, £25, £30, £50 maybe? It soon starts to become evident that for users who need the support you have to look at the whole picture.

I have a 3110 sitting happily working away with very cheap inks so yes it can be done.

You mentioned the Epsons/Ricohs not being built for thicker inks. The Ricoh is a Gelprinter, specifically designed for thicker ink, therfore you need a carefully formulated thicker ink to work with them. As Paul asks, what ink are you using?

[bigj2552]

I think you're being a 'tad' unfair on the Ricoh printers BigJ. For you to get 3 faulty ones would possibly bring in to question other common denominators. In the past the Ricoh had history for banding sure but there are many many unit sat out there working perfectly well and have been a godsend for many starting out with little or no experience.

If you buy the Ricoh from a supported supplier then you get the 2 year warranty inspite of it being used for sublimation, this is taken over from Ricoh by that Supplier. Whilst we're all quick to point out how expensive SGi ink is, how much time have you personally wasted on these 3 printers? 5, 10, 25 hours? What's your hourly rate, £25, £30, £50 maybe? It soon starts to become evident that for users who need the support you have to look at the whole picture.

I have a 3110 sitting happily working away with very cheap inks so yes it can be done.

You mentioned the Epsons/Ricohs not being built for thicker inks. The Ricoh is a Gelprinter, specifically designed for thicker ink, therfore you need a carefully formulated thicker ink to work with them. As Paul asks, what ink are you using?

you know fine well what inks i,m using justin. they ARE GEL INKS, just not from the rip off sawgrass

and as you know, ricohs can also run perfectly well on ORDINARY sub inks ( not gel ) i have few friends who have them and no problems :rolleyes: why i decided to buy them tbh.
i,m very happy for you that you have ONE thats working perfectly m8, really am.
that still leaves me with THREE brand new ricoh 3110's that are so bad banding issues, they cant be used for anything.....

and as i said before, ricoh STILL have a history with banding on these machines, even with there own stupidly expensive, over priced inks installed.
a quick search on google will reveal a lot of pi$$ed of people...
but...
yes there are many with min probs and are happy ( the lucky ones ) so.....have i just been that unlucky to get 3 duffers in a row ?

or....could it just be the actual "gel inks" are not in fact gel inks ? ok, that could be an issue but....we been using sublinova inks for yrs, and others have used them in the ricohs with great success = no banding....
so where does that leaves me - with 3 ricohs that cant be used for anything....tip they are going m8 if we cant get solution to the banding :rolleyes:
super head cleaning only wastes a shed load of ink, with no results - so if ANYONE has any options/opinions as to what the probs may be with THREE ricoh 3110's we would be very grateful - either that tip they go, and write it off as another lesson:rolleyes:

[Justin]

OK, I don't think we're helping the OP much here but just a note, you DO NEED thicker inks in the 3110, normal sublimation inks don't work.

[bigj2552]

OK, I don't think we're helping the OP much here but just a note, you DO NEED thicker inks in the 3110, normal sublimation inks don't work.

ok, ok...for the novice/beginner/OP here....you need the expensive sawgrass inks.....but for the rest of us who like to dabble in the dark side of sublimation, normal sub inks do work, but at your own pearl

i like the dark side...can be expensive,frustrating, but bloody great when it works lol

[Justin]

No, I'm not saying you need expensive inks. I'm saying normal sublimation inks don't work in the 3110. I think that's what your problem is BigJ. You DO NEED thicker ink for a Gelprinter.

If it's expensive on the 'dark side' as you call it why waste your time? Just buy off the shelf and get the support, you'll save all that time and won'#t be any worse off! Just sounds like your making life a lot harder for yourself

[bigj2552]

No, I'm not saying you need expensive inks. I'm saying normal sublimation inks don't work in the 3110. I think that's what your problem is BigJ. You DO NEED thicker ink for a Gelprinter.

If it's expensive on the 'dark side' as you call it why waste your time? Just buy off the shelf and get the support, you'll save all that time and won'#t be any worse off! Just sounds like your making life a lot harder for yourself

the dark side is only expensive if it dont work...as with anything tech related...its a gamble when trying something out with the norm.
only reason i,m cheesed off is....thats £200 could have been spent down the pub with the boys lol

[Justin]

Or £200 spent getting a working printer that will make you far more money to spend down the pub! I'm all for trying new things and working out better/cheaper routes but surely the main reason for us all doing this is to make money, if your system isn't working you're making nothing.

[bigj2552]

Or £200 spent getting a working printer that will make you far more money to spend down the pub! I'm all for trying new things and working out better/cheaper routes but surely the main reason for us all doing this is to make money, if your system isn't working you're making nothing.

didnt say the system aint working....this was a gamble i took, and they were cheap @ £65 ea

i did get another one - the epson 1500w
and the way this thing performs/print quality, it will make more sense to get another one of the same tbh, instead of messing about with other printers...
but...
if i can get the wee ricohs to work then....

as you know justin, this aint my main business bud - i started this 4 yrs ago to see if i could do it....and it just went from there...i actually like doing it..
it gives us spare money to buy other things , and i like the buzz when myself/girls make new things and fire em up for sale