Please recommend an A3 printer for sublimation

[gazfocus]

epson 1400 or 1500 is first class . just steer away from chinese inks if theyre unfeasible cheap theyre generally not good inks even though sometimes they give decent colour the cleaning agents and other agents aremissing hence theyre cheap

how do I determine the difference when buying that they're Chinese?

[mags1892]

how do I determine the difference when buying that they're Chinese?

If theyre really cheap theyre generally chinese, sawgras licensed inks are cheaper than sawgras original and generally a higher quality, good companies such as INktec, Sensient, Jtech, Kian all make good quality inks.
Whereeve you go insist on having custom profiles made any good company will offer that service, even on ebay.

[malkram]

I ordered an Epson 1500W with CISS and ArTainium ink. I think it's one of the best options for an A3 printer supporting sublimation. I paid €665 for the printer, the CISS and ink (6x100ml).

I bought it because I'm not satisfied with the results of a Sawgrass SG 400 (Ricoh SG 3110DN) I bought less than 2 months ago for €420...

If you send me a PM then I can send you my results as soon as I receive it (hopefully tomorrow).

[gazfocus]

Just wondered if anyone has the Epson WF-7110 printer that they use for sublimation? Any good?

[bigj2552]

@gazfocus

thats the reason my THREE, yep 3 brand new ones are sitting here doing bugger all - banding issues on 2 colours on ALL 3 machines ! :rolleyes:
got new inks here for one of them to trial, so will report back when i done so....

are you using the proper gel inks ?


@mags1892
we used Chinese inks way, way back at the very beginning of this venture, and had no bother at all with the inks, once we got profile done from paul on here
we were using brother 5910's, and brother 6510 printers at that time. just the usual routine head cleans by machine and they worked fine...

yes we had the usual rooky set up probs, but once they were ironed out, 5 month later, we were selling to the public - with Chinese inks.
so, not all Chinese inks are what you call cheap my friend, in price maybe, but not always bad in quality - just depends how good one is at finding the right supplier in china .
and that takes time, some spare cash and trial samples from them

a lot of things also depends on your paper as well....
example....when we use xpres sub papers, we cannot get the real deep reds for the keep calm products, no matter what profile we try/make
if we move over to tru-pix + dino sub papers, we get the really deep red we are looking for....all times using the same inks/printers
we got sample pack paper here from another supplier in china to try....on inspection,
they look/feel same as tru=pix papers...will be trialling them tomorrow..so fingers crossed, as they lot cheaper than the leading brands at the moment

....................................................................


as for the ricohs, google the probs people are having with them....then go google the probs people are having with any 1500w.
fact, search on here for both printers and there faults..wonder which one comes up with most problems ...Hmmm

[Justin]

I hope you're not putting those 'new' inks into the same machines?

[gazfocus]

@gazfocus

thats the reason my THREE, yep 3 brand new ones are sitting here doing bugger all - banding issues on 2 colours on ALL 3 machines ! :rolleyes:
got new inks here for one of them to trial, so will report back when i done so....

are you using the proper gel inks ?

To be honest bigj, I'm past even trying with the Ricoh. I did buy specific Ricoh compatible inks, but gave up many months ago and would not even waste my time with it anymore. I didn't even need to get a profile for my epson, it just worked straight away.

Actually tempted by the Epson WF-7110 now because the running cost will be slightly less (only have 4 colours, not 6). I guess all printers have issues, eh?

[bigj2552]

I hope you're not putting those 'new' inks into the same machines?

er...yes .....but i dont go with the purge ink stuff that ricoh says is ok....it will be getting a good flush out with cleaning fluid tomorrow before we do anything with it.
after that, i cant see any problem....can you ?

[bigj2552]

To be honest bigj, I'm past even trying with the Ricoh. I did buy specific Ricoh compatible inks, but gave up many months ago and would not even waste my time with it anymore. I didn't even need to get a profile for my epson, it just worked straight away.
Actually tempted by the Epson WF-7110 now because the running cost will be slightly less (only have 4 colours, not 6). I guess all printers have issues, eh?

some on here said i was just unlucky to get one that was banding....ok, so went bought another 2....and had same dam issues...:rolleyes:
BUT....
like i said, just got some diff inks for these ricohs, so gonna try them this week coming, when i get min to clean it out

[Justin]

If it was me I'd start with a new printer but hopefully the banding you've seen was ink rather than machine.