Wanting to upgrade to something to do more volume

[jtd]

Hi guys,

We currently use two Epson - ET15000 and they just aren't fast enough for where we are at the moment

I am wanting to upgrade to something bigger in time for Christmas as this is when our volume will explode.

The Epsons we use are CMYK and we don't do much in the way of skin tones or anything like that so not sure if a 6 or 8 colour is worth it, I was after a 24inch tbh and something that is quick.

Googling brought up the

Epson SC F500

Then I was told that the Epson SureColor SC-T3100x is a better model, but can't find much out about them.

I notice a lot of you recommend Repro and spotted the Epson stylus pro 7890

Can anyone give me any advice or info on the above printers?

Many thanks
Jamie

[pw66]

There is a thread on the forum highlighting the shortcomings of the Epson F500. It is based on the SC-T3100x printer. Epson themselves only sell that model as a low volume 'workgroup' printer, so don't pin your hopes on it as a volume printer.
https://www.dyesubforum.co.uk/vbforum/s ... epson+f500

[gazfocus]

I’ve spoken to people that love the F100 and the F500, I’ve spoken to people that hate them.

It all really depends on your budget to be honest and what you’re printing with them.

If you want truly high capacity you could get an Epson SC-F6300 which is a £4.5k+vat printer.

If you’re only doing mugs, and smaller stuff, the Sawgrass printers are way faster than any Epson desktop printer. We switched from using Epson Ecotanks to SG500’s and while I’m not a huge fan of the colours, they work well and we regularly knock out 500 mugs a day on a single SG500.

I’m looking at upgrading to the F6300 soon but will need to also invest in a graphtec (or similar) cutter to appreciate the most from it.


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[UK Printed Mugs]

We were in your boat a few years ago and now run two Epson 7800 24" printers from Repro that handles flat press items from coasters to textiles. Then bank of SG400's for mugs and Epson P800 for fine detail on small items such as keyrings. Along with that you'll need big press to handle work load of course so we upscaled to adkins omega 750 for glassware but kept adkins beta maxi for everything else as extra pull down pressure is needed.

[gazfocus]

We were in your boat a few years ago and now run two Epson 7800 24" printers from Repro that handles flat press items from coasters to textiles. Then bank of SG400's for mugs and Epson P800 for fine detail on small items such as keyrings. Along with that you'll need big press to handle work load of course so we upscaled to adkins omega 750 for glassware but kept adkins beta maxi for everything else as extra pull down pressure is needed.

Being nosey, how does the colours of your sg400’s compare to the 7800/p800? Are you using sawgrass inks? What inks are you using in the p800?

[UK Printed Mugs]

Sawgrass ink in SG400. Inktec Sublinova Smart inks in both Epsons (same ink from same bottle). All printers highly profiled up to ensure accuracy so all colours are the same. Once we made the jump to larger printer and larger press they soon paid for themselves in no time with speeding things up and could probably do with another 7800 soon just to keep up with demand which hopefully for everyone in the industry is also going well currently. As long as supplier stock keeps up hey. Longer you leave it the more expensive equipment will get no doubt so make an investment soon and perhaps give Repro repairs a call just for cost ideas.

[gazfocus]

Sawgrass ink in SG400. Inktec Sublinova Smart inks in both Epsons (same ink from same bottle). All printers highly profiled up to ensure accuracy so all colours are the same. Once we made the jump to larger printer and larger press they soon paid for themselves in no time with speeding things up and could probably do with another 7800 soon just to keep up with demand which hopefully for everyone in the industry is also going well currently. As long as supplier stock keeps up hey. Longer you leave it the more expensive equipment will get no doubt so make an investment soon and perhaps give Repro repairs a call just for cost ideas.

Problem with the sg500’s that we use is you can’t use them with icc profiles. Ricoh have a new model out which they’ve not licensed to sawgrass so a friend has bought that with some refillable carts to try.

Been looking at something better quality for keyrings etc so may take a look at the likes of the p800 or a wide format as we do loads of keyrings.

[UK Printed Mugs]

That's why we returned the sg500 printers we initially purchased as sawgrass said you can print direct after firmware upgrade thus being able to profile. They lied. We stuck to sg400 and nothing else desktop wise touches it. We've tried every printer but nothing gets colours exact like sg400 after profiling. Good luck with new set up if you take plunge.

[jtd]

Would you be investing a Graphtec so that you can print registration marks and then perf cut? Am I on the right lines?

I am going to give Repro a call today and see what they have available and take it from there

Looking at the SC-F6300 I could definitely get good use out of it as we will be printing some pieces which are 50cm wide so could side by side to fill the space on prints

Thanks for the info

[jtd]

Thanks for the info

Do you just load up a load of coasters on the Omega 750 and press all at once?

I'm going to give repro a ring and see what they have in stock.

No doubt I will return with more questions