Please recommend an A3 printer for sublimation

[Justin]

Orders coming in and no printer, been there, not good. Go get something supported and look at refilling further down the line. Do you need A3? or would A4 do most of your work. if it helps I'm sure we could print transfers and send on to you (we being me or another kind member)

I'm on A4 right now and one of my regular customers keeps ordering products that need larger prints, typical, I go months not needing A3 and being able to run everything through a 44" printer....now that's gone my trusty A4 isn't enough!

[bms]

Ive spent 48 hours battling with my one after refilling the cartridges it wont print, today ive printed 60+ sheets of ordinary A4 just trying to get the ink to flow, it was perfect before the refill, ive just launched my website, have orders starting to come in and i'm dead in the water!! I'm reading this thread with a view to getting another A3 printer ASAP and with funds tight at the mo ACAP too

Sawgrass have just upped the MSRP of the A3 SG800 but there may be deals around if suppliers haven't had to source the printers from Sawgrass recently. Do you need an A3 printer? Only ask as the A3 is significantly more expensive than the A4 Ricoh.

[malkram]

Sawgrass printers use cartridges, and they are expensive as hell. Epson 1500W (A3) uses ArTainium inks (by Sawgrass) through a CISS,.

6x125ml ArTainium costs €480 total (€3.84/ml) while SubliJet-HD for Sawgrass SG 400 (dunno about SG 800, maybe it's more expensive) costs €260 for 3x29ml+42ml(black) which makes roughly €8.06/ml

[bms]

Sawgrass printers use cartridges, and they are expensive as hell. Epson 1500W (A3) uses ArTainium inks (by Sawgrass) through a CISS,.

6x125ml ArTainium costs €480 total (€3.84/ml) while SubliJet-HD for Sawgrass SG 400 (dunno about SG 800, maybe it's more expensive) costs €260 for 3x29ml+42ml(black) which makes roughly €8.06/ml

Can't argue with the cost data but that doesn't always reflect the cost of printing - head cleans with Epson consume inks, the amount of ink placed on the paper maybe higher with Epson compared to Ricoh gel inks etc. There are comparisons of cost of ink per page/ image density of colour from Sawgrass to help get a better view, but having supported Epson and Ricoh printers for years in the sublimation industry the support calls from Ricoh users are minimal compared to Epsons using CISS.

[Spitzy]

Is this a good deal and is it something i could fill with my sublinova inks when it arrives and get up and running pretty quickly? Really appreciate the replies so far everyone, will reply later as I'm up to my neck in google searches

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Epson-Photo-1 ... 1550169846

[Spitzy]

Can't argue with the cost data but that doesn't always reflect the cost of printing - head cleans with Epson consume inks, the amount of ink placed on the paper maybe higher with Epson compared to Ricoh gel inks etc. There are comparisons of cost of ink per page/ image density of colour from Sawgrass to help get a better view, but having supported Epson and Ricoh printers for years in the sublimation industry the support calls from Ricoh users are minimal compared to Epsons using CISS.

Thanks BMS but I really can't stretch to £1k + at the moment, I need the A3 for t-shirts, cushion covers etc.

[malkram]

I think it's a good deal, I paid €480 for the printer & CISS.

[knightweb]

If you do go for the Epson 1500W, fit a waste ink tank before you begin using the printer, saves a lot of mess in the long run

[knightweb]

Last week, I paid £210 for the Epson 1500W from Tesco Direct, £20 for a CISS tanks and £20 for a waste ink tank

[Spitzy]

Thanks Justin.
The supported systems are just a bit too out of my price range right now but will definitely be something I will be looking at in the future.

Thanks for the offer to help with my printing too I have been very lucky that everything so far has just required black ink text which is about the only thing working on the WF although that was looking ropey on the last nozzle check too! I have new refillable carts arriving tomorrow will try them to see if that helps, if not I will have to look at the epson 1500 with ciss, several on ebay some with ink supplied too.