Awfull colour reproduction

[trenton]

Before I discovered this forum, I purchased a Ricoh AfricoSG2100N and cheap dysub inks and refillable cartridges from ebay for doing dye sub mugs. I wish I had done more research. I am getting muddy brown colours and fine vertical lines in the same place every time. Having now read about this on this forum, I now seek advice.

What should i do?

Should I dump the printer and inks, buy another printer and quality inks or can the existing printer be made to produce good quality dye sub if I just purchased high quality inks?

If I need to dump the printer, what printer should I get and can you suggest a quality ink and supplier that will work well.

Thanks for any help.

Trenton

[Quinsfan]

Some people have got there 2100 working they can be found on this forum and will say it is fine. Personally I prefer something to work right out of the box so I know I am starting from a sound platform so a Ricoh/Sawgrass printer with Sawgrass inks. We this in mind I would pay my £10 membership and get a good starter pack from one of the many suppliers with your discount.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Justin]

Many eBay options are a waste of money. IMO the 2100 should be avoided. The 3110 is a tried and tested printer and isn't expensive. You need to know exactly what you're getting with Fleabay inks, a couple I've found appear to be ok but I prefer to carry out long term tests before being 100%.

It's good advice to start with a supported option if you can afford it, then set something up alongside using cheaper stuff for comparison.

[trenton]

Some people have got there 2100 working they can be found on this forum and will say it is fine. Personally I prefer something to work right out of the box so I know I am starting from a sound platform so a Ricoh/Sawgrass printer with Sawgrass inks. We this in mind I would pay my £10 membership and get a good starter pack from one of the many suppliers with your discount.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

What is the difference between the Sawgrass SG400 and the Ricoh SG3110DN ? The Ricoh can be purchased for much less.

Does the Ricoh SG3110DN use the same cartidges as the SG2100N? I ask because I have purchased refillable, auto resetting cartidges for the SG2100N. Can they be used in the SG3110DN?

I was looking at the Subinova Bulk ink from dyesublimationsupplies.co.uk. Have anyone here had experience with the 3110DN and these inks. How easy is it to get a good colour reproduction? Are colour profiles supplied or are the even needed?

The Sawgrass solution looks great except for one thing --- cost. I know the Sublinova bulk inks arn't cheap to buy, but they are big bottles and will last a long long time.

Thanks for the help so far.

Trenton Oliver

[Justin]

First thing, do not use Sublinova ink in a Ricoh printer. The Ricoh needs a gel consistency, Sublinova is standard (but excellent) sublimation ink and will not work, probably destroying the printer.

SG400 and 3110 are same printer. SG400 is the rebadged model and Sawgrass take on the warranty direct. Inks were improved between the 2 models being released and the 400 is supposed to have a wider gamut but stil 4 colour so there are the same limitations.

I have Epson Workforce working well with standard sublimation inks. Ricoh 3110 I have on non SG inks and it works fine but you have to have a custom made profile (see moderator Paul) for these printers.

Not sure if the carts are the same for both Ricohs, quick search on eBay would confirm.

A side note for anyone looking at eBay inks. DO NOT USE a seller with the name sy1506. He is selling standard inks for Ricohs that are not gel based and will destroy your machine.

[trenton]

OK, the Ricoh route looks good until you look at the cost of Gel Dyesub inks and custom colour profiles. Maybe I should look at Epson, but how do I know if a printer has a DX4 or DX5 printhead? Do any of the ecotank models meet the requirement as it would be easy to refill these when required?

[Justin]

DX4 and 5 are used on the Pro machines if that's what you're looking at? The 2100 is A4 so are you just looking for that size? Epson 1500 is an excellent 6 printer for A3+ use.

[Justin]

Refil carts and inks can be sourced cheaply for the 3110, mine were very cheap and appear to work fine but at the end of the day the 3110 is a business printer, nice and quick, great paper entry etc. but quality is borderline 4 colour.