Reliable CISS & Printer for sublimation printing? Please advise.

I've been sublimation printing for about 18months.

I use a modified Epson WF-7210 from City Ink Express, A3 (kit worth about £300)
Have experienced issues every two months.
e.g.
Yesterday the black failed.
Head cleans did not fix the issue.

Today they sent me a new cartridge.
The black printed successfully :)
After 6 prints the machine no longer recognised the cartridge/ink :(

Tried for hours different solutions (from Google research);
Cartridge chip battery change, pull out plug to erase error memory etc.
So I presume the chip is faulty? I reported the new fault at lunch-time but they did not reply today.
Nightmare.:mad: Another ruined day.


I'm on my third Epson printer and my second CISS within 18months.



I now make about 40 t-shirts a weeks. I aim to make approx 100PW.
PLEASE CAN ANYONE ADVISE ME ON A MORE RELIABLE SUBLIMATION (A3) PRINTING SET-UP?

I could be very wrong in relation to your CISS problem.

I have a large format printer which had a bulk ink system fitted, at first it worked really well and after a year or so of time started to play-up. I am going to make this short because there was a long process that we went through to get it resolved.

It appears that you really need to be working the system and keeping the ink flowing, topping-up systems from bottles ultimately carry problems, some systems don't have a little sumps per ink reservoir to catch elements that are in the ink or get introduced in the topping-up process. Also from what I have back read on this forum it appears there are leaks, gaps, holes and various problems with the piping system. All these areas are potential for contamination, these little, VERY LITTLE particles make there way to the print head. Another part of the problem is the solvents / additives within the ink allowing them to flow the problem is that it evaporates due to the exposure, hence the ink losses it's viscosity.

In my case I have had to go back to cartridges there are 8 of them in my machine, each cartridge costing roughly €70 for a 440mm as against paying €70 for bulk bottles off 1000mm. Bulk system half the cost but came with all the problems of down time and wasted prints. As a stated before this was my problem and might not be yours, but I feel there is a link in all this.

In real terms the true cost of the ink against each print is really very small, it's just psychological when you are having to purchase the cartridges / ink.

This was my problem and might be part of the bigger picture, not sure what do you think guy's

LB

Thanks, yes it's probably no coincidence then that my black blocked v.soon after I'd topped up my black ink reservoir.

Would it be possible for you to tell me the model of printer and ink types you use?
It's time I upgraded to something more pro and stable.


Best

Hello Bispham,

My printer is a Roland 64" ( 1600mm ) wide format printer that I use mainly for large signage and vehicle graphics only, for my sublimation I use A SG400. I know many people within the signage game that use bulk systems a lot of them are always tampering with their machines and don't seem to mind the hassle because of the cost saving I however cannot be arsed with all this tinkering. Bigger sign company's just call in an engineer ultimately because they can afford too.

As I mentioned before there are other factors room temperature being one of them no matter what ink system you use.

I also use cmyk and white toner Oki printers and mono printers these all have there own environment demands, don't get me wrong it's not a big deal it's just a case of knowing the little things that keep them happy. I'm sure all you married buck's know what I'm talking about:biggrin: and the ladies too, I only added that to look:cool::biggrin:.

If you are thinking of upgrading I suggest you read back post on here, these guy's know what they are talking about as I am pretty new to the dye-sub game.

This is my experience with my machines and bulk systems.

LB

Recommend P600 and CISS from Ink Express.

ALSO - We will be selling our A3+ Epson P600 soon fitted with a CISS and inks from inkexpress (less than 12 months old). We probably head clean every day if not twice a day due to lots of printing but this is fantastic printer and we sell to many national retailers so quality, ink cost and consistent printing is paramount. Will post up soon but even if you want to buy brand new then recomend P600. We jumped ship from Sawgrass a couple of years ago and don't regret it one bit.

:cool:P600 deal seems like a formidable machine.

I probably only need 4colours though.
Currently looking at the A3 EpsonWF deal Inkxpress are offering. What’s is their support like? Quick response time?

cheers

Had a quick look on the Ink Express site and their Epson P600 package with CISS system looks a good deal. I currently use an A4 Ricoh with sublisplash inks which works well for me, though I'm limited to the size of the items i can print. I don't do a great deal of dye sublimation as it's more of a sideline to my general print business but would like to push on with doing more this year. Would there be more maintenance issues with CISS system compared to cartridge printer as I was also considering the Epson Workforce from Dyesub Supplies?

We have both a P600 and P800 working from a CISS and no issues at all. We head clean daily due to number of prints we do and no probs found.

My current EpsonWF7210 set up has all the hallmark typical niggling problems to be expected from a £300 budget setup.

Firstly before migrating to a more expensive set up, i will attempt to print on it daily from now on in order to keep head from blocking. See how that goes.

i also get quite a lot of paper jams too which call for a vertical head alignment (half of the printed test squares remain striped, yet the thing still produces good prints).
Also sheets can also come out with corners folded and ink stains.
These various random setbacks do consume a lot of time and create STRESS. A day (or more waiting for e.g a new head in the post)is ruined, many working hours are lost, productivity is impacted and customers get their orders late.

I am tempted to go for the A3 Sawgrass but at £1K along with v.expensive ink cartridges (£140! for 4 x 70ml carts) I am hesitant.

The p600 from inkexpress is also tempting.
Bit worried that if I go away for a few days I won’t be able to keep the heads running and it will block though? Is there no way to program it so that it performs an automatic print daily to keep it’s head clear?

Our P600 is now available in the Buy forum section if interested.

Nothing very helpful to add but I had exactly the same experience with my WF7210 and CIE inks. The guys at CIE were really helpful and even replaced the printer at cost, but when the second one failed after a couple of weeks I gave up on the whole set up, ditched the printer (which felt awful as it was about a month old and HUGE!) and threw the inks out.

I bought an Epson 1500 from inkexpress together with their Inktec sublimation ink and a CISS system about 18 months ago, and have not had A SINGLE problem with it ever since. (obviously it will go t*ts up now - talk about tempting fate!).

I spent a long time trying to get the WF setup to work - all of it a total waste of time and effort..

I love the 1500 but I know it won't last forever (and I think mine must have been one of the last ones sold) so I'll be interested to see what other people recommend you get as a replacement (coz it'll be me soon!).

Good luck, hope you get it sorted. I really do share your pain!

Talk to Alex or Christian who have moved from Ink express to set up www.inkexperts.co.uk

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by UK Printed Mugs

Talk to Alex or Christian who have moved from Ink express to set up www.inkexperts.co.uk

---

Thanks Olly :)

In reference to the original posters question, a reliable A3 printer for sublimation is getting a bit like a unicorn (especially at a low price point), we are personally leaning towards supplying Epson Ecotank printers for sublimation.

The ET-14000 is an A3 printer with an Ecotank; for those that do not know the Ecotank printer range are printers supplied by Epson with a continuous ink system or ecotank already fitted. As such there is no need to retro fit a CISS this removes the issues of firmware updates, ink level readings, issues with the microchips recognising etc etc.

The ecotank printers truly are a plug and play option. Unpack the printer, fill it with sublimation ink, allow it to self charge (have a brew whilst its doing that) and you're ready to print!

Alex

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by InkExperts

In reference to the original posters question, a reliable A3 printer for sublimation is getting a bit like a unicorn (especially at a low price point), we are personally leaning towards supplying Epson Ecotank printers for sublimation.

The ET-14000 is an A3 printer with an Ecotank; for those that do not know the Ecotank printer range are printers supplied by Epson with a continuous ink system or ecotank already fitted. As such there is no need to retro fit a CISS this removes the issues of firmware updates, ink level readings, issues with the microchips recognising etc etc.

The ecotank printers truly are a plug and play option. Unpack the printer, fill it with sublimation ink, allow it to self charge (have a brew whilst its doing that) and you're ready to print!

Alex

---

The ET14000 looks to me that it is largely based on the internals of the 1500w ( albeit only four colours). Is that correct?
If so then the build quality and reliability should be second to none in the price range.

I print mainly onto fabric, which by definition is a low resolution substrate ( when compared to hard items) so six colours is far from essential. Having said that, is there any sign of the ET18000 coming onto the UK market yet?

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by pw66

The ET14000 looks to me that it is largely based on the internals of the 1500w ( albeit only four colours). Is that correct?
If so then the build quality and reliability should be second to none in the price range.

I print mainly onto fabric, which by definition is a low resolution substrate ( when compared to hard items) so six colours is far from essential. Having said that, is there any sign of the ET18000 coming onto the UK market yet?

---

Exactly right, the ET14000 is based on the 1500W, and therefore the paper feed and other internal mechanisms are very hard wearing.

It really is the best machine in the price range.

Unfortunately, as of yet there is nothing on Epson's road map to indicate a 6 colour Ecotank coming to the UK.
We have pointed people towards the L1800 from European sellers, but no sign of it reaching the UK marketplace any time soon.

In all honesty, if you are looking at the L1800 you are in P600 territory, and that machine is hard to beat.

Sorry, I meant L1800, not ET18000 - when has epsons' numbers ever been intuitive? I agree that it would need to come down in price for it to make sense.

When you strip out the cost of the Ciss and Ink the ET14000 is good value. The premium over the 1500w is well worth paying for the plug and play convenience.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by pw66

Sorry, I meant L1800, not ET18000 - when has epsons' numbers ever been intuitive? I agree that it would need to come down in price for it to make sense.

When you strip out the cost of the Ciss and Ink the ET14000 is good value. The premium over the 1500w is well worth paying for the plug and play convenience.

---

I agree 100%, as a reseller of the converted Epson sublimation printers we found some users just couldn't get to grips with a CISS (either fitting it and / or using the printer with it in the long run) so for ourselves the Ecotank printers are a really simple to use, reliable option for customers and we are moving a lot of our product lines over to them :)

Alex

How does the print quality compare on the ET14000 to the P600?

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Andrew

How does the print quality compare on the ET14000 to the P600?

---

Remarkably well to be honest. The SC-P600 will naturally produce a slightly better print when you compare two identical prints side by side. But the differences are actually quite small. SC-P600 has improved tonal gradients, and slightly more detail in darker areas (detail in dark hair for example) but overall the print on the ET-14000 is surprisingly good for a 4 colour printer.

https://www.dyesubforum.co.uk/vbforu...tid=5720&stc=1

Alex

So if modifed printers are left 3 days - heads can block?
What about going away fro a few days??

Is there a way to automatically make them do a simple testprint daily?
Can Epsons do this?
If not - can Sawgrass?

I'm tying to print 70 A3 transfers per wk


Thanks

You don't often see a machine block after 3 days without use, unless the printer is one of the known "problem machines".

The ink you use will also play an integral part in blocking the print head. Try to avoid ink that has gone past its expiry date.

70 transfer prints a week should be more than enough to keep your printer running without hassle.

We recommend printing as often as possible, but our test machines can go 2 weeks without being used.
They may need an automatic head clean afterwards, but that is usually it.

Keep on top of your machine maintenance and you should never have an issue.

Oh thanks.
What kind of printers do you use?


I'm currently using Epson WF7710DWF with sublimation ink.
Magenta ink head is blocked. Only bought it 2months ago.

Prior to that Epson WF-7210DTW
had head problems with this every 3 weeks. Knocking my production back two days, nightmarishly inconvenient.

We have had a lot of experience with the WF7000 series.

The old 7110 and 7610 were great when made chipless and run on a CISS.
I sold more of these than any other A3 and they worked great.
However, fit them with a standard CISS or RIC and the problems were endless.

The new 7210 and 7710 I found to be quite troublesome no matter the method used.
Our problem is we can't explain why, as the print head is meant to be the same as the older series.

Epson may have made revisions to the materials used in the new WF7000 series heads, but I'm just not 100% sure.

When we started the new company Alex and I made the conscious decision to not stock the WF7000 series printer anymore purely based on not being able to pinpoint the problems with them.

Should we finally come up with a curable diagnosis this may change, but so far we have nothing.


For the money you have spent on both machines an ET14000 would have been in your price bracket, and there is no messing with these machines.
Epson built the CISS into it making it practically built for sublimation printing.

I sound like a broken record, but the extra expense is negligible when you total up how many headaches an ET machine saves you.

No ink out errors,
No installation of third party CISS or RIC,
No firmware updates knocking out cartridges,

They really are incredible for the price.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Bispham

So if modifed printers are left 3 days - heads can block?
What about going away fro a few days??

Is there a way to automatically make them do a simple testprint daily?



Thanks

---

I have several Epson 1500w's using Inktec Sublinova ink and rarely have problems with clogging.
One was left from Xmas until Easter ( I needed the plug for the xmas lights!! and only put it back on for a large job in April). Aside from recharging the ciss there was no clogging and it was printing fine from the start.

I have had clogging with other inks in the past, but not with Inktec.

When I need to replace the 1500's I will go for the ET14000, because it is based on the same machine.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by pw66

I have several Epson 1500w's using Inktec Sublinova ink and rarely have problems with clogging.
One was left from Xmas until Easter ( I needed the plug for the xmas lights!! and only put it back on for a large job in April). Aside from recharging the ciss there was no clogging and it was printing fine from the start.

I have had clogging with other inks in the past, but not with Inktec.

When I need to replace the 1500's I will go for the ET14000, because it is based on the same machine.

---

I can only agree PW66, the Inktec inks do rarely block up compared to other inks. Apparently the particle size of the dye is smaller than other inks on the market hence the improved anti clogging.

For us either the ET14000 or SCP600 are the best choices for A3/A3+ sublimation especially when comparing to the 1500W. We are leabning towards the ET14000 at the moment due to the very slight difference in print quality, ease of use and price when compared to the SCP600.

Alex

sounds good.
How do you recharge the CISS btw? Not familiar with this.


I'm definitely interested int he Epson ET.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Bispham

sounds good.
How do you recharge the CISS btw? Not familiar with this.


I'm definitely interested int he Epson ET.

---

To refill the Ecotank simply unclip from the side of the printer (lift up about 1cm), remove, lie the tanks down on their side, remove the rubber plug and either pour or inject the ink into the corresponding ink tank. Extremely simply. Obviously just ensure the tanks are not left to run out completely, we recommend refilling when they reach 1-2cm from the bottom, but can be filled at any time in-between.

https://www.dyesubforum.co.uk/vbforu...tid=5760&stc=1

Alex

ah so semantics really? Not quite recharge (I imagined an electronic procedure perhaps involving a battery) just refill!
Thanks

Where can I get the EpsonET14000?

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Bispham

ah so semantics really? Not quite recharge (I imagined an electronic procedure perhaps involving a battery) just refill!
Thanks

Where can I get the EpsonET14000?

---

Yes, the printer will 'charge' the ink on its first setup i.e. when the printer is brand new it has no ink in the ecotank or ink feed lines. The tanks are filled with ink and the ink button pressed and held for 5-8 seconds, this initialises the 'ink charge' this charges the ink feed lines and prepares the printer.

This process is only done on the very first power up of the printer. Thereafter it does not need / perform this. Although we do have software that can repeat this process should you ever need it- the ink tanks were left and ran empty for example.

We supply the ET-14000 as a complete sublimation package here - https://www.inkexperts.co.uk/product...-ink-a3-paper/

Kind regards Alex

OK great. Thanks for the link.

BTW are https://www.inkexperts.co.uk the same company as https://www.inkexpress.co.uk/
or associated?

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Bispham

OK great. Thanks for the link.

BTW are https://www.inkexperts.co.uk the same company as https://www.inkexpress.co.uk/
or associated?

---

Myself and Christian used to work for them, we have since setup our own venture Ink Experts which is similar but not associated in any way.

If you have a look through the forum you will see we are both well liked for our honesty and product knowledge :)

Alex

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Bispham

ah so semantics really? Not quite recharge (I imagined an electronic procedure perhaps involving a battery) just refill!
Thanks

---

If you are refering to my post then by recharge I mean making sure the cartridges are full of ink. Sometimes if ciss are left for a long time some off the ink can syphon back into the tanks.

OK great.

InkExperts, if I order the ET14000 tomorrow will I receive it on Saturday?
I would order today if delivery can be guaranteed for 9am, which is the only time I can receive it tomorrow.
Please let me know. Thanks

I’m getting random navy blue dots on my prints
any ideas why??
i have an epson WF7710dwf
from Ink-express

dust ... use a lint roller
keep your workshop and kit clean

https://www.dyesubforum.co.uk/vbforu...tid=5780&stc=1
...Here is a typical example of the dots which are spoiling my prints.

I didn't have this problem with my previous setup from CityInkExpress. I'm wondering at which point the specks are contaminating my transfers, it must be during printing. Any advice welcome.

It could be caused by excess CISS tubing inside the printer.

If the tubing gets too long it can strike the casing a little too hard.
This can cause the print head to judder slightly and splat small amounts of ink onto the page.

How old is the printer and CISS?

it's a couple of months old.

I'll try tightening the tubing, thanks for the tip.


I've just noticed after printing a transfer that the dots are actually minuscule crumbs. They can be removed. Not ideal though. I wonder how have they got there?
Mainly it is ink spatters though... after tightening the tubing I notice the problem is still there, perhaps worse.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by InkExperts

It could be caused by excess CISS tubing inside the printer.

If the tubing gets too long it can strike the casing a little too hard.
This can cause the print head to judder slightly and splat small amounts of ink onto the page.

How old is the printer and CISS?

---