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EFI VUTEk GS 5000r - Large-format

1. EUGI 312 Is a computer and monitor included to run the RIP It is not included but there are recommended brands 313 What kind of monitor is included with the printer s computer You get a 19 Acer monitor 314 What is the operating system of the RIP software You can run the RIPs either in Mac or Windows ofi 315 Is the included RIP fine tuned for this printer or merely the RIP that the manufacturer happens to favor For example how does this RIP handle the sequence of placement of white ink How will this RIP handle spot varnish or other spot colors in the future The Fiery XF RIP is manufactured by EFI in Germany EFI offers its own RIP the Fiery XF Image taken from EFI website 316 Is your printer and or RIP Pantone certified Yes the RIPs are Pantone Certified COLOR MANAGEMENT FEATURES 317 What color management sensors or measuring tools are on board There is no system built in to color manage files this equipment is external and part of the workflow The options are X Rite and Barbieri FLAAR has a glossary on color management terms and an evaluation of Barbieri spectrophotometers you can get in our Free FLAAR Reports section ColorSpan has color management tools built into its UV printers but otherwise this feature is not yet available on other brands of UV curing wide format inkjet printers PRODUCTIVITY amp ROI Return on Investment 318 Can you sell the output at the m
2. BE IER RERRERERERRER RRR ERE The main operation area is at right 70 What aspects of the printer can you operate from behind the loading area At the back you find the main AC disconnect switch emergency stop buttons and panel knobs to control the loading mechanism The waste ink tank is also at the back 71 What controls are on either end Neither end has control buttons but the red coverings can be removed in case an internal procedure needs to be done 72 Can you do unattended printing For how long How about overnight You can load media start printing and do other tasks within the room for example operate another printer cut a previous print job etc but it is not advisable to let the printer running and totally leave the room for along time Since most operations are performed via software you find only a few buttons at the back 73 How many operators or operator assistants does this printer require Normally you need only one person to operate the printer but because the weight of a 5 meter roll of media in reality you would need at least two persons In the case of printing multiple rolls these can be loaded by one person if the rolls are not too heavy Super Wide Format UV Printer for Flexible Substrates amp LAAR Reports EFI VUTEk GS5000r For heavy rolls in case there is only one person available media can be passed under the dancer bar and then hold down with the blue magnets 7
3. Format UV Printer for Flexible Substrates amp FLAAR Reports EFI VUTEk GS5000r 255 What is shelf life of the ink CMYK Self life of ink is one year The expiration date is written in the box and also encoded in the RFID tag in the box The printer reads this tag and detects expired ink dates and does not allow the use of the ink Shelf life of the ink depends on storage temperature plus on how honest the company was that delivered the ink If the company bought too much ink and could not sell it fast enough they might be tempted to back date the shelf life ELpL iah Pea Coe wth Code C10 FT E ENA f 4 s gt iad re Pz zw m bet sae all es m re Ss As explained earlier the GS5000r comes with eight colors 256 What company makes the inks Choices include DuPont who could be considered as cheating by claiming the ink is theirs it probably comes from Triangle Jetrion now InkWare VUTEk Hexion now owned by Collins Sericol Sun Triangle KonicaMinolta Toyo AT Inks and several others Inkware is the manufacturer but it is engineered and designed by VUTEk Both Inkware and VUTEk are divisions owned by EFI However there is an official EFl website where you find a brochure about the VUTEk GS series where 3M inks are featured Apparently you have two options 257 Does the printer manufacturer have its own ink chemists on staff Yes EFI has PhD s in the ink formulating staff Grapo being
4. How is roll media fed Pinch roller against grit roller The GS5000r uses a set of two continuous rollers One is the drive roller the other is the pinch roller At the factory some people also called Ez them nip rollers ees Ti Once media is loaded tension can be applied with the drive rollers by clicking on the tension icon This tool makes front and rear drive rollers rotate in op posite directions tensing media before printing 34 Or does the printer use tension rollers in stead of grit rollers The drive rollers are used as tension rollers Grit rollers tend to be used for hybrid style UV printers under 2 x meters in width tension rollers tend to be used for printers of 3 meters and wider Plus grit rollers are rarely used on a combo style printer because the transport belt is what moves the materials On a com bo printer there is not really a place to put grit rollers since the conveyor belt occupies most of the available space Grit rollers at the bottom working in conjunction with pinch rollers at the top with a basic vacuum in the mid dle under the platen is to provide you with the lowest possible cost for entry level But the grit against pinch roller system work best on certain materials and are not perfect with other materials Grit rollers are never used in a dedicated flatbed and seldom employed on a combo transport belt system Rear view of the EFI VUTEk GS5000r The drive roller rotates clock So
5. and now Roland and others have copied 329 Does this printer have a gradient mask or other interweaving system What do they call this system How does it work The system is called smoothing In general terms it consists of a blend of the ink being laid down Mutoh was the first company to publicize this Then Roland copied with a similar but slightly different technique Gandinnovations also followed this trend Now many companies use this clever trick It does not get rid of the banding it merely makes the banding harder to notice SUMMARY Image Quality Issues General 330 What about satellite drops which cause edge splatter Splatter of ink means droplets outside the intended area Learning about satellite drops gets technical quickly The ink the ink delivery system the printhead and the selected printing mode may all affect whether or not you have satelliate drops 331 Is text sharp or fuzzy What is the smallest text that you can easily read You can print 4pt text 332 What about the dot pattern Is the image grainy like sand or is the image smooth as you would expect of a photo graph Five years ago the dot pattern was like sand This is because each ink droplet is cured as a physical bit of ink on top of the substrate UV ink is not supposed to sink into the substrate water based ink goes deep into the media to interact with the chemicals in the coating that are made specifically for water based ink Today i
6. bottom of the hood to prevent light leakage The printer uses rubber flaps 171 Is there a skirt at the back as well as at the front No there is a skirt only at the front Although you can see a bit of reflection of the UV light at the back it doesn t hit you directly in the eyes 172 What system of ventilation or exhaust system is built into the printer Or if not required what would common sense dictate Is it adequate to clear the work area of gasses and fumes The printer has 3 outings above to install the exhaust system Si m m The printer has three exhaust outings n to get rid of heat and UV ink odor The skirt o at the end of the hood shields UV light 173 What is the noise level primarily of the fans for the vacuum Although the printer is not noisy the only perceptible noise is the hum of the vacuum Normally the vacuum pump is the nosiest part of any UV curable flatbed or combo style printer Roll to roll UV printers do not need as much vacuum table area so are not as noisy in this respect N Super Wide Format UV Printer for Flexible Substrates amp FLAAR Reports EFI VUTEk GS5000r 174 Do the printer specs list the noise level There is no mention of the noise level in the Basic Operations Guide document 175 What moving parts might hit a person if they are standing near the printer The printer is very safe in terms of moving parts An external part moving is the drive roller and the pinch
7. one type of ink for the GS5000r which is manufactured by EFI 159 How much time media and ink are used during regular cleaning calibration and maintenance Ink that is purged is the only thing consumed during cleaning 160 What is the average number of maintenance calls per printer per year One infamous UV printer reportedly had an average of 52 ser vice calls per year 161 Is there a sleep mode Should the machine ever be turned off At night how much do you turn off Does this entail having a UPS unit to guarantee it is on all the time There are three modes of printer inactivity and each one im plies different printer preparation procedures Sleep Mode ideal when the printer will be idle for periods dur ing the day It turns off lamps without purging printheads This mode reduces startup times and reduces ink purges Although it is easy to use the unwinder unit is indeed a complex structure that requires a trained operator Standby Mode used if the printer will be idle overnight or for periods of up to three days This mode turns off lamps and moves the vacuum purge tray under the printheads without purging solvent through them reducing startup times and the amount of ink used during ink purge Shutdown Mode is used if the printer will sit unused for more than three days The following procedures need to be performed e Clean the vacuum purge blocks using head conditioning fluid and a clean printhead wipe e P
8. tank 218 If this piezo head fails who is responsible for paying for replacement heads Depends on the nature of the purchase the responsible depends on whether the machine was sold through a distributor or it was a direct sale 219 How can head strikes be avoided Head strikes can be avoided simply by the adequate loading of media 220 What are the most common causes of printhead failure Lack of maintenance Maintenance of parts tells a lot about a sign shop s culture and self perception We have visited print businesses that resemble an im provised auto mechanic shop and print businesses that are as shiny and neat as a Mercedes Benz demo room 221 What does each printhead cost to replace Each printhead cost US 5 000 If you consider that the printer uses 20 printheads you have US 100 000 worth of printheads This is around 17 of the total price The point is to emphasize the importance of adequate printhead maintenance 222 Is the printhead user installable Yes But these procedures are part of the reason why training is necessary PRINTHEAD CARRIAGE and GANTRY 223 Describe the carriage box that carries the printheads The printhead carriage looks much more simple in a good sense in the GS series than in the QS series As for the appearance it is an assemblage of planks Not that it needs a trendy design but it looks too industrial as if it needed a cap to be completed Super Wide Format UV Printer for
9. tension rollers to pull the media may be employed wise to move media into the printer a Pinch roller rotates counter in addition to the transport belt clockwise b and also exerts pressure by moving upwards c 35 Can you raise an individual pinch roller on only the entire row There are continuous pinch rolls instead of rollers A Super Wide Format UV Printer for Flexible Substrates F LAAR Reports EFI VUTEk GS5000r 36 Can the pinch of the pinch rollers be varied Yes through the pneumatic regulators An important and practical feature is the pinch delay which you can set up via software It works like the auto shutter in your digital camera it is a gap of time that lets you make sure there are no feeding issues such as skewing or media bubbles in the printing area etc 37 Is there one row of pinch rollers normal or two complete sets of pinch rollers about 20 to 25 cm parallel to the other set Rare but double parallel rows do exist Zund 250 and Teckwin TeckSmart among others 38 Can the grit rollers move the material only forward or also backwards The Teckwin Tecksmart and the Sun NEO UV LED Evolution can move the material backwards as well as forwards this helps when you wish to overprint to create Braille and when you wish to print first white ink and then regular colors But this is not a recommendation for these printers since each has issues in other aspects this comment is only a listing of whic
10. to open one of these while printing the printer will automatically stop FULFIL Go w w a i we E ee s Left cabinet doors and front hood and are interlocked If opened the printer stops Besides preventing any accident caused by moving parts this system prevents operators from looking straight to UV light Super Wide Format UV Printer for Flexible Substrates amp FLAAR Reports EFI VUTEk GS5000r 63 Which materials are pre established in the software or do you have to create the settings for each class of material yourself Training is troubleshooting There are no robotic formulas you have to memorize or a specific profile for each material Instead you are taught how to create your own profiles for each material This approach is useful especially because media properties tend to vary from manufacturer to manufacturer The printer s Media Database takes four features to establish a new media type e Media tension covers front and rear tension as substrate goes through the printer e Dancer bar moves according to the tension needed for each substrate e Platen Vacuum the amount of vacuum strength to keep media tight and smooth on the print area e Brake Pressure The proper quantity of pressure of the brakes prevents media rolls from unwinding too much or not enough 64 In the main area for operation is the machine software based touch screen or with physical buttons Or both Operation is carried out in the traditio
11. used up by each strike by each time you turn the lamps on GCC is one of the few companies that clearly specifically and openly mentions how many hours are wasted by each strike namely three hours 299 Is the lamp fan filter a user replaceable item How often should this be cleaned or replaced If the filter gets clogged with dust then it is less efficient in keeping down heat Heat build up is not good for the overall carriage area 300 How do you keep track of lamp hours There is a counter in the software that shows the hours used up 301 How much does each replacement lamp cost It is 400 to replace each lamp which is considered a consumable 302 What brand of lamp is used Lamps are designed by EFI VUTEk but the bulb is manufactured by another company The NUR Expedio Inspiration uses Nordson microwave technology Gandinnovations uses Dr Honle but these are traditional mercury arc not microwave Mid range and entry level UV curable printers tend to use UV mercury arc UV lamps from Integration Technology 303 Can you get a replacement lamp easily in your country or are you stuck with ordering one from China EFI has stocked divisions in several regions of the world so that parts such as a lamp can be delivered in a short time 304 Is the UV curing assembly lamp included user replaceable If so how easily or difficult is self replacement Yes but procedures like lamp replacement are part of the reason why training i
12. 4 Is there a pole with beacon lights No there are no beacon lights because most of the movements happen inside the enclosed area In other words there is no need of a warning because there are no moving parts that might hit a person if the doors are all closed as they should be during operation Dilli was among the first to use a vertical pole with beacon lights One person said that DuPont s UV printer from RTZ Flora was the first of all Most other printers do not have such a beacon Presence of a beacon is not a major plus point absence of a beacon is not a significant minus point The GCC StellarJET 183UVK also has a pole with beacon lights CONSTRUCTION BUILD QUALITY 75 When designed what is the life span that each part is tested for For many manufacturers parts life span is a new concept especially when the cost of the printer needs to be kept down But if the EU requires a guaranteed parts life span this will impact Chinese printer manufacturers in particular 76 What kind of testing is done in the factory of the incoming parts Each part is tested before it gets to the factory Each part passes a quality control that is a 2 week process 77 Whatis the solid ness of the construc tion of the outer body Is it plastic Metal Heavy gauge The printer is built to be a robust industrial machine You get an idea of the sturdiness of the printer when you close the heavy hoods 78 Is there a hood Yes there is
13. 6 Can support technicians talk users through how to achieve the color of a corporate logo or do you have to take an expensive course to learn ICC profiles and color management Yes there is application tech support personnel who can assist you in such a case 127 What happens if the tech support from your local distributor is uninspired or inadequate Can you telephone the manufacturer directly If so willbe manufacturer actively assist you or only begrudgingly MacDermid ColorSpan was good at providing direct manufacturer s tech support Whether this will continue under HP ownership is not yet known Dilli also can provide manufacturer s tech support if absolutely needed Some other manufacturers simply don t provide tech support themselves or only begrudgingly they expect their dealers to provide support We have received information of several instances in Australia of poor tech support for various brands of printers probably because of the time and expense of sending tech support people to a factory in Japan Europe or the USA for training on each model An inadequate dealer or distributor is a good recipe for endless headaches Choosing a distributor is as important as selecting a brand and model of printer 128 Can the manufacturer remotely diagnose the printer Yes as long as the printer is networked it is possible Remote diagnosis is rare and not available on any mid range UV curable inkjet printer 129 What is the native lang
14. 99 000 For Europe 460 000 was the price in June 2010 For any printer there is no one set price because each part of the world has different costs to get the printer to that location 12 What accessories are extra charge Are these same accessories included with other printers at no extra cost Everything is included 13 What other costs are involved There are no other major costs involved other than installation costs explained further on 14 Does a complete set of full sized ink cartridges come with the new printer or merely a starter set that is not as full as aregular set The printer comes with a starter set of inks 15 What other equipment is needed to operate this printer For example does this printer include its own power line conditioner Air pressure system will need to be installed near the printer An exhaust system is suggested although not totally required 16 Do you need to provide air pressure for negative pressure for ink in printheads Do you need to provide compressed air for any other purpose Yes all VUTEk printers need air pressure i D Super Wide Format UV Printer for Flexible Substrates y F LAAR Reports EFI VUTEk GS5000r 17 Is an air suction system needed to be installed as a separate item or is all the vacuum table or other vacuum re quirements already included in the printer itself Vacuum system is already integrated into the chassis of the printer The only cases where have se
15. E FLAAR Reports Nicholas Hellmuth and Jose Melgar November 2010 EFI VUTEk GS 5000r FLAAR Reports Super Wide Format UV a ER ead Contents THE BASICS 1 PRINTHEAD CARRIAGE and GANTRY PURCHASING DISTRIBUTORS amp DEALERS 5 ELECTRONICS amp FIRMWARE Software FEATURES OF THE PRINTER Vacuum 6 SUBSTRATES STRUCTURE OF THE PRINTER Media Transport Mechanism 7 LOADING MEDIA ROLL FED 8 SUBSTRATES Materials Applications and Issues STRUCTURE Miscellaneous 12 SUBSTRATES Cleaning Priming Preparation UPGRADES Future Improvements 14 SUBSTRATES General Concerns Miscellaneous 14 INTENDED MARKET FOR THIS PRINTER OPERATING THE PRINTER 15 APPLICATIONS CONSTRUCTION BUILD QUALITY 18 INK AESTHETICS 19 INK White amp Varnish SET UP OF THE PRINTER PRACTICAL CONSIDERATIONS 20 INK Cost INSTALLATION OF THE PRINTER 21 INK Supply System Tubing Filters etc INSTALLATION OF THE PRINTER MANUALS 22 INK Longevity TRAINING 23 THE UV CURING LAMPS TECH SUPPORT amp WARRANTY 24 UV LAMPS Cooling CLEANING amp MAINTENANCE NEEDS 26 RIP SOFTWARE amp Printer Software MAINTENANCE 27 COLOR MANAGEMENT FEATURES SAFETY amp HEALTH CONCERNS 30 PRODUCTIVITY amp ROI Return on Investment PRINTHEAD TECHNOLOGY 34 GENERAL CONSIDERATIONS PRINTHEAD DPI amp Features a COMPARISONS WITH OTHER PRINTERS Bi DIRECTIONAL VS Uni DIRECTIONAL PRINTING 37 SUMMARY Image Quality Issues Banding PRINTHEAD Positioning 37 SUMMARY Image Quality Issues Gen
16. EANING amp MAINTENANCE NEEDS 134 How easy is it to access the area where you have to clean the heads You open the cabinet and you are right in front of the printhead carriage The EFI VUTEk printers are designed so that the red covers at both ends can be removed so that internal parts are more easily accessible 135 How is head cleaning accomplished purge suction manual other Heads are cleaned by suction 136 To what degree is purging automatic once you press a button and to what degree is it manual There is an auto purge system but it can also be done manual 137 To initiate a purge where is the control or button Is it software generated or do you have to press a button Is the button on the outside of the printer or inside on the carriage It is software generated 138 How many levels strengths of printhead cleaning purging and or sucking can be accomplished via the firmware software The levels of purging are not measured in terms of strength but in terms of time You can vary the purging time from 1 to 10 seconds 139 How often should you purge Does the User s Manual honestly indicate how often you should purge The printer is configured to purge automatically every 3 print jobs In other terms you need to purge 2 or 3 times a day 140 Is purging done with ink or with a flush solution It is done with ink but you could solvent flush 141 If done with a flush solution how do you add the flush to the p
17. EFI VUTEk GS5000r Over operation Under operation O Loading Area Rear i Unloading Area Front Rear Drive Roller Front Drive Roller Front Pinch Roller 4 Rear Pinch i a follef isese 4 0 Dancer bar Cradle or saddle b D The new roll is laid Media is passed behind Media goes up in the cradle a set the dancer roll which between the pinch of two rotating rolls creates tension roller and the drive driven by a motor roller Because the GS5000r handles media up to 5 meters rolls are put on a cradle Otherwise a 5 meter spindle will tend to sag 4 Then it is moved to 6 Once printed it is O After passing behind the platen where moved forwards into the front pinch roller 48 How much media is wasted during load media is printed on a similar set of drive it goes to the cradle ing and feeding and pinch rolls About 3 feet A simple path is neither a major benefit nor a defect A simple path means that With some brands of printers you suspect that they are deliberately designed to waste ink and media since this is how those companies get their profits Media is moved too far out before you can cut it resulting in media being wasted before and after cutting etc its easier to load and there is less to go wrong A more sophisticated system may have advantages for feeding some kinds of media l Super Wide Format UV Printer for Flexible Substrates amp FLAAR Reports EF
18. Features 189 What is the drop size in picoliters 24pl in a 600dpi print mode or 12pl in a 1000 dpi print mode The printhead s own literature explains that the drop size can be varied in multiples of 12pl up to 7 drops but a drop size bigger than 48 pl 12pl x 4 would tend to decrease the print quality 190 Is there variable droplet capability The drop size can be defined through the RIP 191 What is the advertised DPI and is it true dpi or apparent dpi How is dpi presented with what adjectives How is this dpi calculated The brochure lists the two possible resolutions 600dpi and 100dpi as true 192 How many passes can this printer achieve The GS5000r can print at 2 4 and 8 passes The lower the number of passes the faster the printer prints but the lower the quality At a printer s fastest rated speed the output is usually unusable for most applications other than distant viewing for a billboard or banner To achieve viewing quality for Point of Pur chase or an honest photo quality you generally need to set the number of passes at the highest number which results in the slowest speed 193 Does the software use passes or modes to describe quality levels Quality levels are described in terms of smoothing which is the technology used to get rid of print issues such as banding A Super Wide Format UV Printer for Flexible Substrates F LAAR Reports EFI VUTEk GS5000r FLAAR prefers to use consiste
19. Flexible Substrates amp T LAAR Reports EFI VUTEk GS5000r JE ELECTRONICS amp FIRMWARE Software 224 Where are the electronics made circuit boards that control various functions Japan Korea Taiwan Mainland China Europe or USA The electronics are designed by EFI but as sembled elsewhere 225 Where is the firmware developed the software that controls the printer Japan Korea Taiwan Mainland China Europe or USA In the USA 226 Is the dot pattern affected by the brand of circuit board or firmware that is used in this printer It is essential in the future to check to see whether the dot pattern laydown pattern of the inkjet droplets on the material is adverse ly affected by the circuit board and firmware that is used in the printer If the ink laydown has mottle or a splotchy mottle like pattern then this is a minor concern not visible at billboard or banner viewing distances but no ticeable on POS signage especially if backlit Electronics are located in the rear cabinet behind the main operation area SUBSTRATES 227 Can this printer handle printer rigid material only or roll to roll only or both interchangeably No Although the printer accepts media up to 0 25 thick there is no system to move a rigid board into the printer nor a structure to receive such a board In other words this printer is designed to the ground up to be 100 roll to roll printer Consider that the best p
20. I VUTEk GS5000r The amount of waste also depends on whether you need to attach the leading edge of the media to the take up spool or whether you can simply leave the leading edge up on the platen or up on the conveyor transport belt as is possible on the Grapo Octopus II and some other combo printers There is less waste on a dedicated flatbed because there is no material used in loading or feeding up to the point it is printed upon 49 Can you print on more than one roll of substrate simultaneously Yes you can print up to three rolls simultaneously This is one of the advantages between the GS5000r and the previous dedicated roll to roll model the QS3250r which handles up to two rolls Being able to print on several different rolls of material simultaneously is common on grand format solvent based printers but almost unknown and unavailable on printers less than 104 inches The Durst Rho 351R offers an option to allow printing on two different rolls simultaneously STRUCTURE Miscellaneous 50 For handling ink that passes through the weave of fabrics or mesh is there a trough Or other mechanism to catch the ink Yes there is a trough and a mesh kit the platen is lifted and you put a piece of paper under it cap the trough and the paper captures the ink that passes through the media You can then dispose the piece of paper on which the ink has been cured In other designs the trough has an outing below in the center through w
21. With the GS5000r EFI VUTEk enters the super wide format printer segment print width is 5 meters i E A Super Wide Format UV Printer for Flexible Substrates y F LAAR Reports EFI VUTEk GS5000r 8 What is the philosophy behind the development of this printer What did the manufacturer seek to achieve The purpose of this machine was to enter the super wide format segment of roll to roll printers with UV ink and especially to provide alternatives to the HP Scitex 5 meter roll to roll printers which date back to 2004 9 When and where was this model first introduced This printer was first shown at FESPA Amsterdam 2009 The initial print quality shown at FESPA 2009 had improved considerably by ISA 2010 The printer was officially launched at FESPA Amsterdam 2009 However the GS5000r had been shown months earlier at ISA 2009 in Las Vegas below i F Super Wide Format UV Printer for Flexible Substrates amp I LAAR Reports EFI VUTEk GS5000r I i f i k d l aa T i k _ 3 i j a li j a i Px A 1 3 a s r h s b r a i tR The EFI VUTEk GS5000r had another release this time for the China market Here the printer at APPPEXPO Shanghai 2010 10 Is this printer mature or still in alpha stage or beta stage The printer was totally out of beta stage a month before FESPA Munich 2010 which was held in June It is currently being commercial ized 11 List price The official price is US 5
22. a hood at the front and another at the back A hood protects you from most UV lamp light leak A hood protects you to some degree from misting UV ink With a hood it is easier to exhaust ozone and misting UV ink if you attach a ventilation system to a vent opening When closed the hood encloses the printing area almost totally The windows of in the top of the hood the hood are tinted to block UV light But since it is expensive for a printer manufacturer to add a hood most cheaper UV printers have no hoods An exception is ColorSpan they sell so many UV printers and many go to relatively family operated companies that not to have a hood would be too risky for possible future lawsuits Yet in the real world most printshops run their printers with the hoods completely off or opened Super Wide Format UV Printer for Flexible Substrates amp T LAAR Reports EFI VUTEk GS5000r 79 Is there both a front opening for the hood and a back opening There is only a front opening 80 The hood opening is it strong or cheap plastic It is solid In fact it requires more strength than I thought to be either opened or closed 81 How would you describe the overall workmanship of visible parts Clean Swiss made or flimsy and uneven several Chinese made printers The workmanship is clean The printer is professionally assembled 82 Does the printer wobble back and forth when printing There is no vibration at all The printer weig
23. a printshop uses UV cured ink on a regular basis So their printshop for billboards banners POP thermo formable and other applications gives them daily experience In some aspects this counts more than having an ink testing laboratory per se which they do not have A Super Wide Format UV Printer for Flexible Substrates y TLAAR Reports EFI VUTEk GS5000r JE Durst HP and comparable large printer manufacturers have their own ink chemists even when they don t necessarily manufacture their own ink But even when a company owns their own ink factory sometimes they also rebrand the ink from completely different ink companies when they need an ink that they themselves do not yet make 258 How often do ink formulas change What are the implications for color management EFI tries to avoid change in ink formulas This is said in a good sense The aim is ink consistency to avoid incompatibilities with print heads and curing system However during the lifespan of the printer it is possible that the ink changes at least once INK White amp Varnish 259 Is white ink available Currently there is no white It would be easy to incorporate white to the system although in reality because of the width it would be difficult to find an application that requires white In other words white tends to be used more often in POP signage and backlit ap plications that are seen at a closer distance and therefore are printed with a machine no longer
24. achine s fastest output speed or is the quality at that speed not acceptable to most client standards At EFl s demo room there was a matrix displayed of the different print modes Although the quality of the slowest print mode was noticeably better than the quality of the fastest output speed the latter was in fact more than acceptable considering that this mode can be perfectly used for long range view applications such as billboards and external building graphics i Super Wide Format UV Printer for Flexible Substrates amp F LAAR Reports EFI VUTEk GS5000r 90 of the different brands of printers can t produce usable output at their fastest claimed speed So call these speeds junk mode It is false advertising in probably half the spec sheets 319 What is the level of productivity high medium low This printer is designed to run 24 hours a day so the productivity is high 320 Does this printer have to be turned off to rest between shifts No It is not recommended to shut down the printer between shifts GENERAL CONSIDERATIONS 321 How many printers of this model are in use in the USA in the rest of the world There are 7 in the USA 12 installed in other parts of the world and 3 more on their way By FESPA 2010 there were 2 GS5000r installed in Germany and at least 5 in other parts of Europe It is crucial for a printshop owner who is making their short list of which printers to consider buying to know how m
25. ain a high humidity They admit that the static electricity situation var ies depending on each site s situation Nonetheless some UV printers already have anti static systems carefully built into their printers When these work it documents that the invest The static bars are located between the UV lamp and ment is well spent However if the low price of your printer is in part the printhead carriage assembly A Super Wide Format UV Printer for Flexible Substrates y F LAAR Reports EFI VUTEk GS5000r because there is no on board static system and if you indeed have a static issue the natural question is why since this is such a well known issue did your brand not have an anti static system or if so why does it not work satisfactorily One economical way to get rid of some static is to use a fabric softener Downy for example which you can get from the supermarket But be sure to learn which materials need anti static treatment No sense wasting time with those materials which do not have a static issue And be aware that the amount of cleaning liquid you put onto a material can cause after effects when that same material is heated by the UV lamps 244 What happens in very dry weather low humidity especially in winter with central heating During dry periods with low humidity static problems may increase With a high static charge such as with PVC materials the ink is attracted to charged areas of the material Thi
26. all curing not for pinning The Luscher JetPrint due to its Uber dimensional size may also have needed more than two lamps whatever it had did not function fully adequately 295 How long can the lamps stay on before they automatically shut off The sleep mode is user definable EFI VUTEk GS5000r at 296 What shuts the lamps off For APPPEXPO Shanghai example after so many minutes of 2010 The UV lamps use not being used or if they overheat mercury arc technology Lamps will go off if they overheat E This is a crucial question and one seldom asked elsewhere if your UV lamps need to be turned off after the printer being un used for 5 to 10 minutes then your lamps life gets used up quickly if they are mer cury arc Each strike turning the lamp off and on one time can lower the life of the lamp by one or two hours So ideally you want a kind of UV lamp system where the lamps can stay on as long as possible to avoid having to turn them off and on all day long i Super Wide Format UV Printer for Flexible Substrates amp FLAAR Reports EFI VUTEk GS5000r Another downside of having to turn the lamps off is that you then have to let them cool down and then have to let them heat up again Most of these issues are with mercury arc lamps due to their intense heat You don t have these problems with LED lamps 297 How long does the lamp last in terms of hours of operation 1000 hours 298 How many hours are
27. any Igus 287 Where and in how many locations is the ink heated Ink is heated only in the secondary tanks and in the printheads In over 80 of the UV curing printers that have inspected ink tends to be heated in two locations in a sub tank and on the printhead Most UV printheads have special features in or on the printhead to facilitate heating the ink This is to prepare the viscosity so the ink is liquid enough to jet out the nozzles this ink heating has nothing to do with the ink needing to be cured So far the only printer whose ink does not get heated at the printheads is the new Roland LEC 300 This is also the only UV printer so far which successfully uses an Epson printhead 288 Can the end user vary the printhead temperature or is the temperature fixed It is not advised to change the printhead ink temperature arbitrarily However in certain situations a sophisticated end user with a high level of knowledge of the overall ink chemistry UV curing situation and experience in the ramifications of varying the factory set temperature then changing the temperature could be considered 289 Has any misting or spray been reported What about ink inside the machine parts Just ask any ink chemist about ink misting then ask most sales reps Most people in a typical booth are in a state of denial or do not fully understand the concept of misting Most safety instructions do not mention the potential of the UV ink misting duri
28. any printers of each brand have been sold 322 What will the resale value of your printer be in three to five years The resale value will be about 50 of the current list price This estimation is based on the current price of the VUTEk solvent model compared to its original list price a few years ago This solvent printer has been already discontinued COMPARISONS WITH OTHER PRINTERS 323 When people are considering buying this printer what other printer s are they also looking at The Durst Rho 500r and the HP Scitex XP5300 are the most mentioned printers when potential costumers talk about other options EFI VUTEk sales personnel have not detected a strong interest on the other 5 meter roll to roll UV printers in the market 324 What features on the other printers may be issues There have been comments about the print quality of the Durst Rho 500r described by some potential buyers as too matte color and unsaturated 325 What aspects of the selected printer help decide in its favor The main advantage of the GS5000r is the image quality and the media handling If a printer manufacturer is weak about to go out of business or has an iffy reputation the resale is close to zero Most printers from Chinese manufacturers have a low resale value So a DuPont Cromaprint 22UV printer would have a low to poor resale value But a Durst Rho 205 or even earlier Rho 160 has an accept able resale value considering most printshop
29. any special cleaning tools There is no need for cleaning tools because the printer itself does the cleaning of heads MAINTENANCE 150 What daily procedure is required at start up in the morning Clean the heads and oil the rails 151 What daily maintenance is required at night There is no special cleaning procedure you would have to perform on a daily basis at the end of the shift Super Wide Format UV Printer for Flexible Substrates amp FLAAR Reports EFI VUTEk GS5000r 152 What other periodic maintenance is required by the operator You need to clean the pinch rollers and drive rollers every two days to avoid accumulation of particles and substrate remains L i EFI VUTEK GS5000r at SGIA 2010 Cleaning the rolls ensures media will move smoothly through the printer This needs to be done especially if you have printed on textiles 153 How often do filters have to be checked Cleaned Changed There is a schedule to check replace every filter ink line etc There is a software tool called Timers and Counters which keeps track of e UV Lamps e Lamp filters e Rail Lubrication e Primary Ink Filter e Secondary Ink Filter 154 What part s of this printer need the most attention to avoid breakdown Printheads and rails 155 What maintenance do the UV lamps require such as cleaning the quartz You have to change the lamp filters every month but it depends on the usage 156 What self maintenance does the printer do
30. ared for sitting unused for a long time You need to flush ink out and leave the printheads in solvent Solvent printers need to be used every day Otherwise the ink dries in the nozzles and nozzle plate of the printheads It was an early mantra that UV ink escaped all the problems of solvent printers that you never had to weep spit at the end of every pass that you never had to purge etc But in reality UV curable ink has comparable issues plus the added problem of curing inside the nozzles Cationic ink can cure sponta neously once initiated all the way back into the ink tubes Fortunately most printers don t use cationic ink they use free radical curing chemistry But reflected light can cure the ink inside the nozzles heat can cause gellation which can clog the heads So in some printers the heads are capped at night in some printers you have to fill the ink lines with flush if you don t print frequently Indeed a UV printer is intended to be used every day We just received an e mail from an end user whose printer had endless issues He said they used it seldom be cause of other issues My first question was whether the infrequent use was a cause of at least some of the issues As expected from an printer this size the EFI VUTEk GS5000r was built for industrial production and it is not recommended to have it turned off for long periods of time SAFETY amp HEALTH CONCERNS 164 How is safety treated in the printed literat
31. ask a chemist since most people in the trade show booth may not know the answers And merely reading the MSDS which is usually a challenge to obtain in any event is not much help unless the pros and cons of each chemical are clearly expressed x i The UV light is adequately shielded by the front hood In fact should you try to open it while printing the GS5000r will stop Super Wide Format UV Printer for Flexible Substrates amp FLAAR Reports EFI VUTEk GS5000r PRINTHEAD TECHNOLOGY 179 Which brand printhead is used Seiko 508 heads Most UV printers made in the US Japan and Europe use Spectra Ricoh or KonicaMinolta heads VUTEk is one of the few that uses Seiko printheads It is reported that one downside of Seiko heads is that they must spit which waste expensive ink Most Rho printers do not have to spit except for white ink 180 Is the printhead identified in the spec sheet brochure by brand or also by model or not at all Printhead specifications are not commonly published However it is open knowledge that this model uses Seiko printheads 181 Is only the printhead used by itself or is an entire electronic assembly also from the printhead manufacturer The electronic assembly related to printheads is designed by EFI VUTEk but assembled by another company 182 How many other printers utilize the same printhead Have they shown any problems The only other wide format inkjet printers can think of tha
32. ated into the structure of the printer are the UV curable printers of Dilli 53 Does the printer have leveling supports How many and how strong Yes The printer was designed with leveling supports rather than with casters The printer is brought in and leveled where it will be installed As for the quantity only the take up mechanism at the front has 7 leveling supports 3 at each side and one at the front in the middle Leveling any UV printer is crucial Indeed at the NUR factory once the structure is leveled in the assembly room rather than roll it from stage to stage all construction stages take place with the printer not moving from stall to stall 54 Does the printer have wheels How many and how strong There are no wheels This printer is not intended to be moved once it has been installed 55 Do the wheels have a lock on them For any printer weighing over one ton it is assumed that no locks or brakes are needed on the wheels because a tank will not roll any where if parked on a level floor The printer has plenty of leveling supports There are no wheels because the printer is not designed to be moved A Super Wide Format UV Printer for Flexible Substrates y F LAAR Reports EFI VUTEk GS5000r UPGRADES Future Improvements 56 What do end users ask for what improvements do owners of this printer wish they had Experienced end users have asked for minor software options Some wished the printer had a cutter Mi
33. ckness is 0 125 Although the VUTEk GS5000r is a dedicated roll to roll printer certain thickness is allowed for special applications such as carpets 237 Can you measure the height of the material with a sensor or is it manual Measuring media thickness is manual What you really want to measure is the printhead gap height the space gap between the top of the material and the nozzle plate the orinthead 238 Is roll fed media loaded from the rear top or front Media is loaded at the back 239 If you have to load a really long roll are their clamps or any other system to allow you to secure the first portion so the first portion won t undo itself while you are several meters away trying to load the other end In case there is only one person available to load media into the printer the operator can hold media to the metal roller guard with the blue magnets These magnets are strong enough to hold any material yet they are easy to move _ wr s T The magnets help you hold the end of a substrate as you handle the opposite end This is especially useful when there is only one person operating the printer The Durst Rho 351R has clamps so if only one person is available to load a long roll he can clamp down the first portions that he feeds up and over into the platen area while he is still working on the other end of the roll to get that up and into the roll feeding system Super Wide Format UV Printer for Flexib
34. compared to the QS series 5 Is this same model s rebranded and sold under other names EFI VUTEk printers are not being rebranded 6 What other printers of other brands are comparable There are not many other dedicated roll to roll printers this wide but we can mention the mention the HP Scitex versions of the former NUR Expedio Durst Rho 500r the Matan Barak5 and its Fujifilm version the UVIStar and the WP Digital RR50 These would be the only comparable models However at APPPEXPO Shanghai 2010 JHF launched their 5 meter wide roll to roll printer A year before APPPEXPO 2009 Zhongye also introduced a 5 meter roll to roll UV printer So the interest in grand format printers is beginning to grow among Chinese printer manufacturers However we do not yet recommend any large and really complex such printer made outside the brands whose factories we have inspected For a grand format printer it is best to stick with the international brands who have experience with engineering and manufacturing to high standards VUTEK Q 3250r 7 How does this model compare with com parable previous printers The following chart describes some of the differences between the VUTEk QS3250r and the Up to 1080dpi Up to 1000dpi VUTEk GS5000r Up to 172 sqm h Up to 288 sqm h 0 125 EFI VUTEK QS 3200r at SGIA 2009 This and the QS3250r are EFI s previous dedicated roll to roll models but these printers handle rolls up to 3 2 m
35. core system because the feeding system is not based on a spindle Instead the printer uses two mechanisms in the feeding cradle or saddle called Media Brakes one at each side of a media roll which consist of pneumatically controlled disk brakes that control the feeding of media from the media roll Super Wide Format UV Printer for Flexible Substrates amp T LAAR Reports EFI VUTEk GS5000r At the front there are other devices called media rewinder assemblies which is a bracket you knob down to tighten Air core spindles tend to be used only on grand format printers costing over a quarter of a million dollars 41 How is the roll media handled at feeding position For example is there a dancer bar If there is no dancer bar is there at least a tension bar Yes there is a movable dancer bar more a roll than a bar that creates tension in the media as it is being fed into the printer A tension bar goes up and down A dancer bar tends to move diagonally Each one changes position as tension is needed 42 At the front is there an extra roller bar s near the platen or transport belt Is it a bar to roll under the media or over the media or are there both in addition to pinch roller grit roller arrangement After leaving the platen area media is pulled by a pair of rolls at the front 43 How is the roll media handled at take up position For example is there a dancer bar If there is no dancer bar is there at least a ten
36. d operators will know how to service Spectra Toshiba Tec or KonicaMinolta printheads But Seiko heads are not com mon in UV printers In fact the only other printer know that uses Seiko printheads is the 3 meter Challenger solvent printer Things to check before you make your decision We always recommend that you visit at least one and possibly two print shops that have the printer you wish to consider We also suggest you should visit the Meredith demo room or demo room nearest to your country First Posted November 2010 These are some of the most Recent FLAAR Reports ELANA Rape Wide Format UV Printer amp Related TRENDS TRENDs Part I Analysis of UV Printers Exhibited at FESPA 2010 ah aaua UV Printers Manufactured in List of UV Printers Manufactured in taiwan ll amp TLAAR Reports UV Cured Printer TRENDS Viscom Germany 2010 Wide Format Inkjet in eve Printers air opie 0 TRENDs Part Il Commentary on Marketing Reality Wide Format UV Inkjet Printers at Guangzhou 2010 UV Printers Latex Printers FESPA Mexico 2010 e aF a Wide Format Inkjet in Textile Printers SGIA 2010 Wide Format UV Printer RENGS o pa N APPPEX PO Shanghai 2010 LAAR Reports Wide Format UV inkjet Printer TRENDS a Dongguan China In 2010 ie DLA A legen Wide Format Inkjet 2a SGIA 2010 Th
37. dge printing borderless Yes it is possible 231 Can you adjust the rate of media feed No Feeding speed is constant Media movement is tracked by a device called Media Encoder Wheel located at the back The information read by this encoder wheel is sent to the printer computer for more synchronized media movement You need to adjust the rate of feed to remove banding lines caused by media feed that is slightly off This is not entirely the fault of the printer but a result of the fact that each different kind of material feeds slightly differently 232 Can you adjust carriage speed The speed of the carriage depends on the resolution selected e At 1000 dpi speed is 58 inches second e At 600 dpi speed is 68 inches second A Super Wide Format UV Printer for Flexible Substrates y F LAAR Reports EFI VUTEk GS5000r JE LOADING MEDIA 233 If roll to roll what core diameter s will this printer accept Any size because the roll is laid on a cradle so the core diameter is not a limiting factor 234 How about maximum roll diameter or weight Maximum roll diameter is 14 Maximum roll weight is 1000 pounds 235 What about minimum size that can either be loaded or handled by the system Anything smaller than 36 is not recommended 236 What thickness can this printer handle At the demo room was told the printer handles media up to a quarter of an inch thick The brochure handed out at FESPA 2010 reads maximum thi
38. e Substrates amp LAAR Reports EFI VUTEk GS5000r STRUCTURE OF THE PRINTER Media Transport Mechanism amp Media Path 30 Is this a dedicated flatbed with no roll to roll capability Or is this a true flatbed or just add on feeder platforms at front and back This is a dedicated roll to roll printer Although the printer does have the capacity to print media of a certain thickness it was not designed to handle rigid boards Just realize that the best machine to print on flat material is a dedicated flatbed and the best printer to print on roll fed is a dedicated roll to roll The advantage of a combo printer is that it can print on both flat and rigid and roll fed material But no joint use printer can print on all materials perfectly irrespective whether it is a 80 000 entry level or 300 000 VUTEk or other brand 31 Describe the platen The platen is composed by a number of heavy planks with perforations for the vacuum system Each plank can be removed to install the mesh kit to print on textiles mesh and similar substrates The platen is formed by three solid planks that can be lifted individually Super Wide Format UV Printer for Flexible Substrates amp FLAAR Reports EFI VUTEk GS5000r ROLL FED 32 How is media held flat Vacuum table Pinch rollers Media is held flat by tension which is controlled by a Tension Media button in the user s interface In the print area vacuum also helps to keep media flat 33
39. e weave and ends up on the table or transport belt or platen Second the fibers from fabrics or mats can get onto the printhead nozzle plate and sometimes up into the nozzles 252 What other kinds of applications can you print The biggest problem with UV cured inks on vehicle graphics is when the material has to stretch or conform to the shape of the vehicle especially over rivets decorative trim or anything that is not flat Most UV printers are not recommended for vehicle wrap unless they use a special ink made to be flexible Also be careful by making sure that adhesion and cleanser resistance is adequate That said today 2010 the inks are a lot better and you can consider experimenting with UV curable vehicle wrap especially since 3M inks are specifically directed towards allowing vehicle wrap Actually have seen vehicles being wrapped with prints from GRAPO Oc topus using their normal UV ink Mesh is one of the applications listed for this printer 253 Is there a special ink for flexible material and another ink for rigid material What other inksets are available Is there any choice in inks There is only one type of ink for the VUTEk GS5000r flexible inks 254 How many colors are used to produce output four six or eight There are two options either four CMYK or eight colors CMYK Ic Im ly Ik With 4 colors the advantage is a higher print speed With eight colors the color gamut is wider Super Wide
40. e year printer warranty also covers the printheads for the same amount of time On another dedicated roll to roll UV printer the WP Digital now Polytype RR5O printheads are cov ered only for 6 months In general EFl VUTEk personnel have been very accessible at trade shows and although there are pieces of information that are only discussed privately with potential buyers most ques tions are easily answered by operators sales reps and managers There are financial and leasing options available Cons Loading requires 3 feet of media for proper webbing through the printer s rolls If you think of a 16 4 feet 5 meter roll you get 49 2 square feet 4 57 square meters of your substrate unused A cutting system would be ideal at the front Slitting vertical and cutting horizontal would accelerate the time to have a finished product If this printer is available used should you consider it The average resale value of the GS5000r in five years would be around half the current price This is based on the current resale value of previous VUTEk models compared to their original price Tech support is offered for as long as you have the printer And Spare parts are maintained in stock for as long as 10 years even after the printer has been officially phased out So yes you should consider it The used printer market is more active than you think Potential issues not serious enough to be a fully negative point Experience
41. ecause the ink is flying through the air a longer distance while the material is moving away from it You can also set the printhead carriage to move further away from the printing area at the end of each pass in those cases that the media is less than the maximum and in those cases where these settings are facilitated by the printer design and firmware One way to dissipate heat is to have good ventilation drawing the hot air up and out of the enclosed printer not only to remove some of the heat but to suck out the odor and ink mist too 243 What about build up of static electricity What kind of materials cause this Do some materials generate static elec tricity which cause the media to attract ink in areas not sup posed to be printed on How is it manifested The printer is equipped with two static bars one at each side of the printhead carriage between the UV lamp and carriage assembly These bars are static dissipaters You do need to be aware of how to prevent static electricity build up e No carpets or rugs on the floor Indeed you should consider anti Static tiles or carpet e Use a humidifier during winter months to avoid dryness e Learn which media are susceptible to gathering a static charge e Consider a printer that has specific anti static features Grounding Static bar s Most printer reps suggest this is more an environmental issue than a printer or ink issue They say you can t have carpet and you must main t
42. econdary ink containers have a heater controller q in the upper right side of the print head carriage coe es Y E H T 210 Does any other part of the printer have heat such as the platen No with the Seiko 508 heads ink is heated externally 211 What is the firing frequency voltage of the printheads in KHz 18 kHz 212 Ils negative pressure required to maintain the ink without the ink dripping out the printhead when the machine is turned off Yes negative pressure is needed j Super Wide Format UV Printer for Flexible Substrates amp F LAAR Reports EFI VUTEk GS5000r 213 Is the negative pressure user variable Yes depending on the environmental conditions negative pressure can be AS increased or decreased bal J mS 214 How is air eliminated from the ink lines or from the print heads You purge with solvent PRINTHEAD Life Expectancy 215 What is true life expectancy of this print head The life of the printhead depends on usage and maintenance Customers are encouraged to follow cleaning schedules and not to use after market ink to guarantee the best performance of the printhead 216 Is the printhead considered a consumable No 217 How many nozzles have to be out before the manufacturer will replace the head under warranty If there are more than 6 nozzles failing the printhead will be replaced The solvent container is located in the rear cabinet next to the waste ink
43. en vacuum equipment not included in the printer is on some entry level Chinese flatbed printers 18 Is it recommended or required to buy a spare parts kit Or extra printheads Yes it is recommended Besides the standard training EFI has an advanced level training for those individuals who wish or need to do more complex repairs by themselves Most end users don t wish to buy a spare parts kit up front in part because they don t yet have the experience to do their own repairs when they are first buying this printer 19 Or do the dealers prefer that customers not try to make their own repairs Every printer manufacturer and distributor has their own policy on whether they wish the end users to make their own repairs The philosophy of ColorSpan was to keep the end user from fiddling with anything inside the printer This was logical because many were first time users of this kind of printer The downside was that once you became experienced or if your printshop was already advanced the lack of access to the innards of the printer was self defeating and undesired But there is no right or wrong policy ColorSpan is not wrong they are simply trying to protect newbie s from making a mess of the inside of the printer In general the end user is usually not encouraged to take the printer apart and do repairs on their own Only later on when you have considerable experience and have taken advanced tech support training would doing your own
44. eral PRINTHEAD Associated Features 38 Conclusions PRINTHEAD Life Expectancy 39 Please Note This report has not been licensed to any printer manufacturer distributor dealer sales rep RIP company media or ink company to distribute So if you obtained this from any company you have a pirated copy Also since this report is frequently updated if you got your version from somewhere else it may be an obsolete edition FLAAR reports are being updated all year long and our comment on that product may have been revised positively or negatively as we learned more about the product from end users To obtain a legitimate copy which you know is the complete report with nothing erased or changed and hence a report with all the original description of pros and cons please obtain your original and full report straight from www large format printers org Your only assurance that you have a com plete and authentic evaluation which describes all aspects of the product under consideration benefits as well as deficien cies is to obtain these reports directly from FLAAR via www wide format printers NET 39 40 40 42 43 45 45 45 45 46 48 48 50 52 53 54 ye 55 55 56 56 56 57 58 E EFI VUTEk GS 5000r Super Wide Format Dedicated Roll to Roll UV Printer THE BASICS 1 Brand name model EFI VUTEk GS5000r The R in the name of model of a printer usually refers to the ability to print roll ma
45. erform a 60 second solvent purge on each printhead e Perform a 30 second solvent purge on each printhead twice e Clean surface of printheads using head conditioning fluid and saturated wipe e Shutdown via software 162 How long can the printer sit unused Heavyweight printers like the GS5000r are built to print It was not designed to be unused but in any case 3 to 4 days are the maxi mum A Super Wide Format UV Printer for Flexible Substrates y F LAAR Reports EFI VUTEk GS5000r If idle for more than several days it is recommended to flush ink from print heads completely and replace with print head flush solution Actually it is best to use your UV printer every day If you are not going to use it every day fill the system with flush solution and cap the heads please note this procedure varies considerably from one printer to another some have no capping station others you have to inject flush with a syringe Check with an experienced tech support person but merely turning your UV printer on for a test print every few days is NOT what is meant by using your printer every day It may be better to fill it with flush and not use it at all But this depends on the plumbing system of your specific printer so check with tech support we are not a medical doctor for specific individual printing problems just trying to get the message out UV and solvent printers are designed to print not to sit unused 163 How should a printer be prep
46. es INTENDED MARKET FOR THIS PRINTER 247 What is the market that the manufacturer has designed this printer for High quality billboards signage interior POP mu seum exhibits 248 What markets that printshops aim for might be prospective buyers of prints from this printer Advertising for large buildings such as airports stadi ums race tracks 249 What kinds of companies have bought this printer models in the last two years Sign shops art reproduction and general signage APPLICATIONS 250 What are the applications listed by the manufacturer e Billboards e POP e Pressure sensitives e Staging for construction work 251 Can you print on textiles or fabrics How URES m zz do you handle the ink that gets through the a Eea a M e news weave T Yes digital textiles are among the materials listed To print on textiles mesh or similar substrates of open weave you lift the plank s of the platen and place a Super wide format outdoor signage is one of the main target markets of the EFI VUTEk GS5000r TI ER a mern E ToO E i Super Wide Format UV Printer for Flexible Substrates amp FLAAR Reports EFI VUTEk GS5000r piece of paper this mesh kit comes with the printer that will receive the ink that passes through the substrate s weave You can then remove the piece of paper and dispose it There are two issues with printing on fabrics first the ink goes through th
47. ese are some of the most Recent FLAAR Reports amp FLAAR Reports TLAAR Reports TFLAAR Reports Entry Level Hybrid UV Roll to Roll E SF major printer Replace Packaging cl ai de n agaz i ies Eco Solvent Ink the new atex Ink FLAAR Re FLAAR Reports G FLAAR Reperti PAST PRESENT J EEE If High End Combo Grand Format iis mn ations TO EXPECTIN THE FUTURE i UV Printer Applications Wide format inkjet 3 pl eo ene ay eC Polytype Virtu By visiting the RS25 amp RS35 Polytype Virtu RR5O Ee inicital DEMO ROOM a PT Sees Consulting A _ UV Cured Flatbed Printers One Pass per S ena i Color Speed together ley ALG ee Factory Visits __with high quality ff Durst Rho 800 Presto fl for Manufacturers iB Preview of New UV Printer Grapo Shark
48. et of distributors D gen has switched distribu tors in the US as well Teckwin has lost their US distributors and had to set up their own distribution company But Durst tends to work mainly through their own company s US office so no one single setup is auto matically bad or good EFI has Master Distributors in most major cities in the world TSG the Mexican Master Distributor at FESPA Mexico The company itself has branches in 4 Mexican cities Super Wide Format UV Printer for Flexible Substrates y F LAAR Reports EFI VUTEk GS5000r 21 Are there issues between the distributors and the manufacturer Can you rely on the distributor today being willing to stay together with the manufacturer or jump ship and potentially leave an end user somewhat abandoned when there may not be a new distributor The only recent movement in dealership is Pitman This distributor company was recently acquired by Agfa so no more VUTEk printers will be distributed by them But EFI has already contacted another dis tributor to cover the area Pitman is going to leave Only in the United States there are other 6 to 10 dis tributors There are several manufacturers who are well known in the industry for having issues with dis tributors This is no reason that their printers are faulty as a result but if the distributor abandons the manufacturer because of squabbles with the owner of the manufacturing company then an end user may be stuck with no o
49. ey have issues with ink starvation 285 Are ink tubes black opaque but white another color transparent All of the ink tubes are black The first year s production of the hybrid UV printer of In finiti used ink tubing so flimsy that the tubes split dis solved or became disconnected on a regular basis This is what happens when you take a solvent printer and try to retrofit it to take UV cured ink But something similar happened when Roland and other companies tried to run the first generation eco solvent ink through their printers which previously were made only for water based ink the fittings and other parts of the original ink delivery system were made to handle water not solvents There were end less tech support issues for more than a year as a result At least Roland and Splash of Color finally fixed these issues and two different eco solvent ink chemistries were devel oped in subsequent years as well From the ink containers to the printheads all ink tubes are totally black f Super Wide Format UV Printer for Flexible Substrates y I LAAR Reports EFI VUTEk GS5000r 286 What kind of e chain is used Igus brand Yes all EFI VUTEk printers use Igus e chains The energy chain is the plastic linked system that holds all the cables and ink tubing so that it does not get rubbed while being moved back and forth to feed the carriage Most mid range and almost all high end UV printers have an energy chain from the comp
50. h printers can print backwards as well as forwards Each printer model usually has some positive features but then other features that you have to know in advance For a grand format roll to roll printer there would not be a reason for reprinting over the same area a second time Only on a dedicated flatbed and only to create raised relief would you want to print multiple times by sending the material backwards so it can start over again 39 How is the roll held at the feeding position On a spindle On a saddle Because of the width rolls are laid in a saddle or cradle system which rotates to help media feeding This rotation is generated by a motor A saddle is formed of two rolls with a slight space between them You rest your roll of substrate on the saddle created by the two adjacent rolls You don t need to run a spindle through the roll You don t need to fumble loading the end of the spindle into two holders one at each end Loading a saddle is quicker as aresult But a saddle is primarily used on heavy duty aD Ay AN t 4 industrial printers 3 2 meters or wider where the weight of a roll may cause a spindle to sag Plus it s a headache to thread a spindle through a 5 meter long core Media is held by a saddle or cradle d which is a system of two rotat ing rolls The dancer bar moves diagonally e according to the tension 40 Is there an air pressure core system needed There is no air
51. have been in the demo room with at least 4 printers running at the same time and there was no disgusting odor at least not per ceptible All ink emits odor even water based but if you ventilate the printer and the work area the smell is manageable for most UV inks However one or two UV inks have a reputation for a smelly chemistry So be sure that the printer you have on your short list has an ink that passes the sniff test 169 Does the hood close down completely to seal the system or are there a few inches open at the bottom The hood is closed almost completely The small gap between the hood and the printer is covered by the skirt But this gap is particu larly narrow because there is no need to leave space for thick materials since the maximum thickness is 0 25 There is no light leakage at front The hood on any hybrid or combo system must allow space for boards to pass through so it s hood can never close down tightly onto the platen area The design must allow space this space should be closed off with a skirt Some printers use flaps or rubber like material other printers use skirts of brush like material Most large dedicated flatbed printers have no hood at all Oce Arizona 250 is the worst offender Some gantry structures are enclosed Teckwin TeckStorm for example AT Super Wide Format UV Printer for Flexible Substrates amp T LAAR Reports EFI VUTEk GS5000r 170 What kind of skirt exists along the
52. he printer Most sophisticated UV printers of most brands have rectangular brackets built into the underside of the printer usually both front and back so you can use a forklift truck Super Wide Format UV Printer for Flexible Substrates y I LAAR Reports EFI VUTEk GS5000r 100 Can you install this printer yourself No Installation must be done by a certified field engineer 101 Is installation included in the purchase price Yes 102 How many people come for the installation One person INSTALLATION OF THE PRINTER INSTRUCTIONS amp MANUALS 103 How many manuals are available There is User s Manual and a Maintenance Manual 104 Which manuals are hard copy Which manuals are only on CD Basic Operations Guide Manuals are hard copy but they also exist in PDF version GS5000r 105 Is there a Site Preparation Guide If so is it helpful Yes 106 Is there a glossary in the User s Manual Yes In the Basic Operations Guide there is an alphabetical index of themes in addi tion to the table of contents at the beginning 107 Is there a Service Manual Yes that would be the Maintenance Manual 108 Is the Service Manual for the end user or only for tech support The Maintenance Manual is for the end user Certified field engineers are provided with more complex documentation The Basic Operations Guide is a full color 105 pages document illustrated with photos 3d renders and diagrams 109 Is any par
53. hich ink is conducted to the waste tank A trough is possible most easily on a printer with a fixed platen A trough for mesh or fabrics tends to be present only on a printer cost ing a quarter of a million dollars or more There is no easy way to put a trough on a combo style printer If you need to print on fabric or mesh with a UV combo printer you need a liner or you need to put an intermediate sheet onto the surface of the conveyor belt or clean up the ink that passes through the weave Once the platen planks are removed the platen surface is covered with a piece of paper which will capture ink that passes through the weave of media such as fabrics or mesh This roll of paper is provided by EFI Super Wide Format UV Printer for Flexible Substrates amp FLAAR Reports EFI VUTEk GS5000r 51 Is there a cutter Is it manual or automatic Not at the moment but is a possibility for the future Currently cutting media is manual Most combo style printers have no on board cutters The Durst Rho 351R has a manual cutter since this is a dedicated roll to roll printer meaning it has no moving conveyor belt So roll to roll systems are more likely to have an appropriate location for a cutting element and even potentially a cutting slot 52 Does the printer have levels built into the structure of the printer No visible levels The only entry level or mid range hybrid or combo printer where have noticed levels actually incorpor
54. hing options the highest position relative to its light color the smoothing level the slowest the ma chine prints and vice versa 200 Which materials can be printed fast at 2 pass or 4 pass modes The number of passes needed may also depend on how worn the printheads are If the printheads are old you may need more passes than when the printheads are new PRINTHEAD Positioning 201 What is the position of the printheads relative to the media Above jetting down the common position or along side jetting horizontally rare Above jetting down 202 Are the printheads at an angle to the movement of the carriage or at 90 degrees Printheads are at 90 degrees relative to the movement of carriage 203 Are the printheads in a straight row or staggered Printheads are staggered as shown in the diagram above The normal position for printheads is parallel to each other in a row But there are exceptions and staggered the positions may have other benefits Each pattern for positioning the printheads has a reason but most printheads are simply parallel to each other in one row Super Wide Format UV Printer for Flexible Substrates y F LAAR Reports EFI VUTEk GS5000r 204 How complex is the procedure to align the printheads When you add a new head how long does it take to align it There is a set procedure explained in a 3 page document The HP spec sheet is helpful in alerting you to the reality of aligning their X2 MEMS
55. hts 5000Kg around 5 tons so there is not much chance of wobbling AESTHETICS 83 How would you describe the design of the printer The printer is characterized by its industrial heavy duty design 84 Can you easily distinguish which is the front and which is the back The design of the printer is somewhat square and if it weren t for the operation area which is basically monitor keyboard and mouse it would be difficult to tell which is the front call the front the area where the LCD and operator panel s are situated This usually means that the other side is where you feed the material in call that the back But many printer companies call the feeding area the front It makes no difference as long as you define what you mean in advance Some UV curable printers have a moveable control computer that can be situated at one end or at the feeding area whichever location the operator prefers But the standard arrangement is that the LCD and keyboard are on the output side call this the front There is no significant difference between front and back other than the monitor area and the hood with tinted windows A Super Wide Format UV Printer for Flexible Substrates y F LAAR Reports EFI VUTEk GS5000r SET UP OF THE PRINTER PRACTICAL CONSIDERATIONS 85 What is the delivery time between the time I order the printer and it is delivered 8 to 12 weeks is the delivery time for all the GS printers The QS p
56. i or 1000dpi You get options in speed and quality too because you can print with 4 or 8 colors The printer is very user friendly even with 5 meter long rolls The media loading procedure is very simple In case of the longest media rolls it needs no more than two operators but there are mechanisms in the printer such as the pinch delay which is a window of time between you set the pinch roller and the pinch roller actually moving or the magnets to hold media at one side these type of options make it possible for just one operator to run the printer The VUTEk GS printers are the result of years of experience build ing wide format printers and knowledge from the demands of print businesses would also point out how much improved the GS5000r is today compared to its debut as a prototype about two years ago The quality is much better since early 2010 Company s Business Style EFI has branches practically all over the world and tech support is not centralized in the main buildings therefore a customer can have assistance in his own language and within his local time zone On this aspect spare parts are delivered in short time because EFI has stocked branches near major cities in the world EFI has been conservative in terms of the applications possible with the VUTEk GS series In other words EFI is not trying to persuade potential customers with applications that would turn to be not viable in the real world The on
57. is it realistic to achieve full productivity The estimated time to be in full production is one week If a printer is mature and out of beta stage you can achieve full productivity within a week or month But many owners have told me quite frankly that it took them several months to achieve full productivity especially owners of the Luscher JetPrint The longest time before a printer is really productive is when a printer is still in beta stage when you buy it It takes a while for the firmware and hardware to be improved and updated After speaking with many different printshop owners what am learning is that if the printer is cheap and junky you will have constant down time due to the printer breaking down reports from owners of Infiniti UV printer If the printer is expensive and complex it takes longer to understand everything and achieve full productivity And when an expensive and complex printer does break down it takes longer to repair TECH SUPPORT amp WARRANTY 120 What is the original warranty period At FESPA Munich 2010 was told the warranty was for 13 months The normal original warranty period is one year but Gerber has had a special offer of second year free if you buy before such and such a date 121 How does this warranty period compare to warranties of comparable printers Most UV inkjet printers are covered for 12 months In the case of the WP Digital the company is now Polytype Virtu RR50 the warran
58. is means you at least have closed a purchase contract Super Wide Format UV Printer for Flexible Substrates amp FLAAR Reports EFI VUTEk GS5000r Some printer manufacturers hide their manuals because they don t want anyone to see them Yet MacDermid ColorSpan offered their manuals openly on line on their web site So the policy varies by manufacturer We do a full report only on those printers where the manual is available to us TRAINING 113 Is training included in the purchase price If so what kind of training is offered Yes it is included EFI offers training for up to two operators 114 Is training necessary Yes In spite of being very user friendly training is necessary Training is essential for any UV printer whether an entry level machine or high end Lack of training incomplete training and lack or of experience are a factor in about a third of the problems that people have with UV printers Another third is often inadequate cleaning and maintenance of the ink and printhead system The other third cause of problems would naturally be weak parts that wear out before they should wear and tear happens even to the strongest parts made in Switzerland and features that need improvement etc 115 Is classroom training available Yes classroom training is available and there is also a hands on practice z pid Pi re h i F AT a 1 16 Is factory training available Yes it is available tog me oo
59. is the printer operating at to show the results Half of the print samples are produced at 8 passes and the other half at 4 But this depends on what the potential customers want to see Super Wide Format UV Printer for Flexible Substrates y F LAAR Reports EFI VUTEk GS5000r Bi DIRECTIONAL VS Uni DIRECTIONAL PRINTING 196 What is the direction of uni directional printing From right to left or left to right or both The print system was designed to print bidirectional mainly It is possible to print unidirectional but that would be in rare cases 197 Is the sequence of ink color lay is the sequence of colors bi direction Light Yellow amp Yellow ally a different sequence than uni Cyan amp Light Cyan directional the usual way Light Magenta amp Magenta Yes and no Printheads are placed in a mir Black and Light Black rored disposition but the colors are alternat ed so that each full color CMY is followed by a light color Ic Im ly In the resulting arrangement printheads at the opposite side are each full color s corresponding light color This is better explained in the follow ing diagram 198 Is printing bi directional or uni directional Bidirectional 199 What are the different results in speed in quality Uni directional printing decreases the speed in about 50 As you can see in this diagram printheads are staggered and each printhead is placed in a mirrored As for the Smoot
60. l i oe P aa eee wad Dey i pe a e oe es ae a La x z 1 Taa e es War ee pea A ey i E AGA my Factory training takes place in EFI VUTEk building in Meredith New Hampshire bes m mit Tost Ee aati i es E ean Lai 117 What on line training is available The end user is provided with a web access for software questions As mentioned earlier there is also a complete documentation and instructional DVDs online The website superwideformatprinting com offers tips and suggestions on e Curing levels for proper adhesion e Adhesion testing e Media storage use and handling There is also a list of media and media distributors Fewer than 5 of the UV printer manufacturers offer on line training 1 Note by the time this report was being laid out the web site mentioned had apparently been discontinued However similar information can be found at http w3 efi com VUTEk Support j Super Wide Format UV Printer for Flexible Substrates amp FLAAR Reports EFI VUTEk GS5000r 118 What expenses do you have to pay relative to training Is training at your site so you have no transportation costs or do you have to send your people to be trained at the manufacturer you have to pay airfare hotel and meals As mentioned at the beginning of this section training is included Should the buyer choose on site training there is a charge of 1600 119 Between the day the printer arrives how soon
61. le Substrates y F LAAR Reports EFI VUTEk GS5000r 240 Can you manually sheet feed media Does it feed easily No The system was not designed to sheet feed media SUBSTRATES Materials Applications and Issues 241 What materials can this printer print on okay It helps if the material is a clean homogeneous surface and should all be the same thickness 242 Heat concerns will the heat generated by the UV curing lamps cause adverse effects to some delicate forms of heat sensitive media Which materials might curl distort or discolor from the heat Heat sensitive materials for mercury arc UV lamps would include polyethylene polypropylene shrink wrap very thin and thermal sen sitive papers plastic coated cartons PVC and aluminum foil www dotprint com fgen prod1297 htm Oce lists several other common signage materials as sensitive to the heat of UV lamps For these reasons we have a separate FLAAR Report on applications and materials Heat can build up when the printhead carriage hovers over a small area to print a narrow job Heat can build up inside the printer as materials especially metal absorb heat and hold it and then radiate it out for a long time So heat is not only an issue from the obvious and immediate heat of the UV lamps Residual heat can be an issue as well You can in effect lower the heat that reaches the material by raising the entire printhead carriage However this results in noticeably less quality b
62. mps have 5 settings e Low 40 e Medium 60 e High 80 e Maximum 100 e Custom operator enters percentage 95 of UV curable printers have only curing UV lamps Only the Inca Spyder 150 and a few other innovative machines have a pinning lamp before the curing lamp 293 What technology is used in curing lamps microwave continuous mercury arc LED or flash pulsed Xenon Mercury arc Virtually all UV printers use mercury arc UV lamps Only NUR and a few others use microwave UV lamps Pulsed Xenon lamps have failed the few times they were tried an early VUTEk UV printer circa 2000 2001 a cheap Oce Arizona 60uv printer LED lamps are now being tried in several UV printers such as by Sun LLC in Russia Mimaki and Roland The Gerber Solara ion uses a rare type of long relatively cool UV lamp that is not used by any other wide format inkjet printer manufacturer 294 How many lamps does the printer use Two lamps Most normal UV printers have two lamps one for each direction of printing Some cheap Chinese printers use only one lamp Mimaki uses one lamp on several of their narrow format UV printers to avoid the lawnmower effect that is caused by bi directional printing bi directional print requires two lamps one for each direction of ink laydown by the printer carriage The Agfa Anapurna 100 a printer that was never finished due to being too complex and its recent replacement the Anapurna XLS have three sets of lamps
63. n 2010 the better UV cured printers have a texture that is not as sandy or textured as in past years But the printing mode speed and other factors may influence what the surface texture is really like 333 Do you need Pantone markers to do touch ups No That technique has been left in the past If you use Pantone markers or other markers for touch ups you run the risk that these areas will fade faster than the original UV ink 334 When the media flexes does the ink hold on Stretch Break with stretch marks To what degree can we expect cracking of the resultant image if on a flexible substrate Whether this issue exists depends on what kind of ink is used There are many kinds of ink e Only for rigid materials will crack if used on roll fed material e Only for roll fed materials not ideal for thick rigid material e Half and half ink not perfect for any material but not unusable either This is the most common ink for hybrid and combo printers Speciality UV ink for 3 dimensional heat molding for example amp FLAAR Reports Super Wide Format UV Printer for Flexible Substrates EFI VUTEk GS5000r Conclusions Pros Printer Technology The EFI VUTEk GS5000r was designed to enter the grand format segment and although most applications will tend to be seen from along distance the print quality is very impressive This is a very versatile machine in the sense that you can print at two resolutions either 600dp
64. nal way via keyboard and mouse Most operations are done through the computer There are only a few physical buttons The Durst Rho printers are touch screen operated The Gandinnovations are keyboard operated The Fieldcenter Formosa UV printer has many cranks and manual switches So clearly there are several equally valid ways of operating a computer 65 Do you get an LCD screen in the printer or other real computer monitor How big is the screen or monitor You get a real computer monitor 66 Is the position of the LCD screen or monitor user adaptable It sits on its base but the position is not fixed which means you can do a minor rotation 67 Can the keyboard be moved or is it fixed into the structure of the printer The keyboard is not fixed into the printer 68 Is there a ledge or other space where the operator can park tools cleaning liquids iPod or other accessories Yes there is a space beneath the keyboard base to place tools Increasingly too many other UV printers have slick exterior skins They look like a designer style but are impractical because there are no ledges for storing cleaning fluid wipes Coca Cola cans or coffee mugs etc Most operations are controlled with keyboard and mouse although there are a few physical buttons Super Wide Format UV Printer for Flexible Substrates amp T LAAR Reports EFI VUTEk GS5000r 69 Where does the operator stand or sit The operation area is at the right
65. ne to provide warranty ser vice or after warranty service at a fair price 22 Are dealers national most companies or regional Roland allows a dealer to operate EFI VUTEk Q 3250r roll to roll printer at Pitman booth ISA 2010 perhaps the only within a limited regional area Does a last time the company exhibited EFI VUTEK printers before being bought by Agfa buyer have any choice in dealers Depends on the dealer but in the USA most dealers are national for the VUTEk printers such as Global Imaging Global Imaging is the VUTEk dealer that know the best As for the smaller Rastek some distributors are regional FEATURES OF THE PRINTER Vacuum 23 Is there a vacuum function Yes vacuum is used to hold media down and perfectly flat 24 Is the vacuum created by simple fans or by an air pump Vacuum is created by 2 pumps 25 In how many sections There are three vacuum sections which are fixed not user definable 26 Are the vacuum areas size and position user definable 27 Can you turn one or the other section s off and on Yes you turn the sections you need depending on the width of your material 28 Just Off and On Or variable The strength of the vacuum can be determined via software There is a field where you type in the value 29 Does setting a substrate profile activate a higher or lower vacuum automatically Yes each substrate profile has a vacuum value AT Super Wide Format UV Printer for Flexibl
66. ng printing Some chemists have told me that there is no way to totally prevent all misting since you are generating x million drops a second from a rapidly accelerating carriage Misting is inevitable The most misting that have seen so far was inside an Infiniti UV printer the entire surface of the inside platen rollers etc was totally covered with misted ink The second most amount of ink misting that have seen was in a ColorSpan 72UV X But many other printers mist as well You can check simply by putting a white swab or white cloth or white paper in a fixed location inside the printer under the hood Check it every week or so to see how much misted ink has settled on it This is the amount of ink that you may be breathing if the workplace is not adequately ventilated INK Longevity 290 To what degree can you expect cracking of the resultant image if on a flexible substrate EFI Inkware manufactures the ink especially for flexible applications so cracking is unlikely to occur although ink might crack on tex tiles 291 What is the longevity outdoors What about in the full sun in direct sunlight Three years is the average lifespan In some cases the ink may last longer than the material on which it is printed Super Wide Format UV Printer for Flexible Substrates a LAAR Reports EFI VUTEk GS5000r THE UV CURING LAMPS 292 How many different sets of lamps are there Is there pinning first and then curing later The la
67. nt terms that are standardized for all printers so that printshop owners managers and printer operators have a fair chance of comparing speed vs quality By not identifying the actual passes or by defining pass in an atypical manner this results in effect in hiding the reality of speed vs quality Thus we commend those companies that keep to or return to the traditional usage of the term pass es Increasingly most printer companies are not listing the passes that their printers run back and forth The definition of a pass is not consistent in any event FLAAR defines a single pass as the movement of the printer carriage while jetting ink from one side to the other There is a difference between single pass and one pass but that needs an entire article one pass means a page width row of non moving printheads Mutoh describes one pass as a complete back and forth movement FLAAR defines that as two passes Most printer manufacturers would rather avoid having to state clearly how many actual passes it takes to achieve specific quality levels So they create modes that are a combination of passes and possibly other features that result in a specific quality level 194 If modes what are the modes called e Heavy Smoothing 8 passes e Light Smoothing 4 passes e No Smoothing 2 passes The printing matrixes at the demo room specified the type of smoothing used in each print sample 195 At trade shows how many passes
68. nthetic fiber PET PVC etc container Super Wide Format UV Printer for Flexible Substrates AR AVAN A crecelar EFI VUTEk GS5000r 264 What is the cost in ink per square unit At FESPA Munich was told 18 per square foot At the demo room was told 8 per square foot 265 How many square units does 1 liter of ink print 600 to 1000 square feet per liter Ink Gost Parameters 266 Can the printer software estimate the cost per print job ink Cost Yes the software has an Ink Cost Parameters application where you enter Bo the cost per liter to determine the cost of a print job i Process Color 100 00 per liter 267 How many liters of ink does an average user of this printer use per month or per year At FESPA Munich 2010 I was given the estimate of 140 liters a month in a real full production environment 268 Where is waste ink collected Ina tray In a bottle In a waste tank The Ink Cost Parameters tool estimates the price 269 How much ink does the waste ink container hold based on the cost of the ink 5 liters 270 How often does the waste container need to be emptied Frequency depends on the usage 271 Where is the waste container situated Is it outside or inside a cabinet It is in the rear cabinet 272 How do you know when the waste container is full You get a visual alarm on the screen 273 How can you see the remaining ink level Do you have to ask to see the ink mode or is the ink s
69. o 150 psi 10 5 kgf cm2 at 4cf m 113 lpm dry air only 93 What space is needed to accommodate not only the printer but everything else to make the printer fit into your workflow Just realize that you would be handling 5 meter long rolls An initial estimate is 10 feet around the printer 94 Does the printer come in one piece Does this mean you have to remove a wall to get the printer this size into your office Yes it comes in one piece The only thing that needs as semblage is the unwinder and rewinder mechanisms 95 What is the size and weight of the printer Width Total Length Breadth Height Weight 8 69 m 2 5m 1 91m 11 023 lbs 28 53 ft 8 20 ft 6 26 ft 5000Kg 96 How many boxes arrive 2 boxes One is the crate with the printer plus the PC The other contains the unwinder and rewinder mech anisms The printer should have plenty space around to handle long media rolls INSTALLATION OF THE PRINTER 97 Realistically what expenses must you incur for the installation such as a fork lift truck or crane to lift the printer off the truck The major expenses would be to meet EFI VUTEk specifications for installation which imply power and ventilation needs 98 Does the printer have lifting hooks on the top or elsewhere There are no lifting hooks on the top but lift guides below 99 Does the printer have spaces for the forks of a forklift truck to get a balanced hold on the bottom of t
70. on its own As mentioned earlier every 3 print jobs the printer does a head cleaning cycle There is an application in the software called Autoclean Settings where you can define e Purge level measured in time e Wipe Time measured in number of passes e Cleaning interval measured in minutes to define frequency of cleaning cycle In this application you can also define the automatic cleaning procedure by job interval or by time interval Between these two options the best is the job interval setting because a time based setting will interrupt the print although the print will continue after cleaning process Super Wide Format UV Printer for Flexible Substrates amp FLAAR Reports EFI VUTEk GS5000r 157 What is the most delicate or complex or time consuming cleaning or maintenance chore You need training to handle the unwinder unit Printhead nozzle plates are fragile Some manufacturers say never to wipe the actual nozzle plate by touching it Other manufacturers requite that you physically wipe the nozzle plate with a swab A few manufacturers are unsure and change their recommendations But no matter that model printer or what model printhead would list printhead cleaning as delicate 158 If you change ink how much hands on work is required to set up the ink system Is hand priming or sucking the ink down the tubes required of the opera tor Is head priming automatic or operator initiated There is currently only
71. ould be much more feasible In addition each ink box has a RFID tag that is read and recognized by the printer INK Supply System Tubing Filters etc 279 Where are the printer s ink containers located Front back or end Up on top or lower down At the front left in the lower cabinet Superimposed image to show the location of ink containers 280 How much ink does the ink container in the printer hold Each box holds 5 liters 281 How is new ink added Pouring into the on board container Switching the container to the new ink container You totally replace the container Super Wide Format UV Printer for Flexible Substrates amp FLAAR Reports EFI VUTEk GS5000r 282 What is the situation with the ink gelling Ink gels from heat not only from UV light since in theory the inside of the printer will have black ink lines so no UV light can reach the ink But overall heat will cause UV ink to gel But if you have some circulation within the tank and if the ink is far from the heat gellation will not be as much an issue 283 How often do the ink filters have to be checked Cleaned Changed Filters need to be replaced every six months 284 Is there an issue with ink starvation Ink starvation means that not enough ink can get to the printheads in fast printing modes Ink starvation is a real issue that affects even some quarter million dollar printers So you need to check with end users to see if th
72. perator has to make Super Wide Format UV Printer for Flexible Substrates amp LAAR Reports EFI VUTEk GS5000r OPERATING THE PRINTER 59 Can the operator manage print jobs via the Internet with this printer No have not found any wide format printer that works with every single option via internet Although this option would be an interesting feature it is hard to think of a situation where internet could be used to send a file directly to the printer given that anyways you would need a person in the room to load media etc However reportedly the HP Scitex LX600 and LX800 can be operated via internet and there is a webcam to check on print job status left during the night for example 60 What is the level of ease of use Can anyone use this printer or do they have to be trained and certified What about daily and periodical routine maintenance The printer is relatively easy to use A person would need a day s training to run the printer However a formal certified training is necessary to know all the important procedures and safety aspects 61 Is the printer user friendly Yes the printer is user friendly The printer s software displays visual information with icons levels etc in a way that is understandable Although training is necessary there are no special skills hidden to operate the printer correctly 62 What sensors does the printer have Hoods and cabinet doors are interlocked so that should a person try
73. printhead when you need to replace a failed head with a new one 45 minutes Even if this honest estimate was not provided in the spec sheet it would be ascertainable sooner or later anyway commend HP for being ethical in listing this aspect of maintenance 205 Is there an alarm system to stop the head from hitting substrate if head is not high enough There is no alarm system but the printheads are recessed so chances of printhead damage are minimized 206 Can you vary the gap the distance from the printhead to the media which is the distance the ink droplets fly Yes the vertical position of the printhead carriage can be varied PRINTHEAD Associated Features 207 Is ink heated in a buffer or elsewhere before arriving near the printhead Ink is heated in the carriage 208 Is there a heater associated with each printhead Yes the temperature for each printhead can be adjusted if desired 209 Or is the entire plate heated and thereby some heat gets to the heads Heating the metal plate that holds the nozzle plate area of the printheads as a group the base of the printhead carriage so to speak is a cheap way that early Chinese printers did their heating Today GRAPO is one of the few serious UV curable inkjet printer manufacturers outside China that uses a heated plate to heat their ink but with 45 manufacturers there are always surprises Ink is heated in the second en ra ary ink containers p These i E N N iL ELA s
74. repairs be realis tic However have visited many printshops where the printer operator prefers to receive this training precisely so they can do their own repairs After all if the manufacturer can train their own tech support person surely a printer operator who also works with this printer every day all month all year can also learn how to maintain and repair it if they have the interest and inclination This policy varies by manufacturer Interest in doing their own repairs varies by the end user and by the printer operator A few operators like the opportunity to take service training at the factory and thereby to be able to do basic repairs on their own Some manufacturers discour age this but some manufacturers do allow end users to take advanced service training PURCHASING DISTRIBUTORS amp DEALERS 20 Does the manufacturer have distributors in all continents Or only a few dealers and missing key world areas There are distributors in nearly all Europe In the cases where there is no local distributor printers are sold through a neighbor country s dealer For example the distributor that covers Scandinavia Norway Sweden Denmark and Finland also covers Eastern European countries Sun LLC has no major recognized dealer in North America and none in Latin America that know of DYSS lost their master distributor each side tells a different story and lost their US dealer also Now DYSS has a completely different s
75. rge blocks m There is one per printhead Wipers are not recommended by KonicaMinolta for their printheads Mimaki made the mistake to feature wipers for their Toshiba Tec printheads These wipers and those heads in general are one of the causes for issues with the Mimaki JF 1631 flatbed UV printer 147 Where is the parking area home At the left 148 Does this printer spit or weep flash ink at regular intervals There is no need for the printers to be spitting ink at regular intervals Solvent models do Solvent inkjet printers spit ink at the end of every pass in order to keep all printhead nozzles open The reason is that if you are printing a banner with an area of pure cyan then the other printheads will not be jetting ink since their colors are not called for In theory these nozzles will clog while not being used So spitting allows all nozzles to eject ink occasionally Another way to allow all nozzles to squirt ink periodically is to have a band of CMYK or a band of six colors CMYK light Cyan light Ma genta at one or both edges of the image immediately outside the image area This pattern causes every color to jet even if these colors are not being printed in the image itself Although most UV printers do not require a band of printable colors along the edge many UV printer manufacturers do recommend spitting However some UV printers do not have a spitting capability 149 Does the manufacturer provide
76. rinter to print on rigid materials is a dedicated flatbed and the best printer to print on flexible materials is a dedicated roll to roll Printers that try to print other materials than what they were designed for tend not to be successful 228 What sizes of material can be printed on You can print up to 5 meters wide 229 What is the difference between media width and actual print width There GS5000r can print up to 1 8 larger at each side than the media width selected We have this entry because some printers are called 3 2 because they accept substrates that are 3 2 wide but the printer can actually Print Width i j print only 3 1 meters In such a case the model name is misleading Width Model is Named and incorrect in a sense I have even seen some model designations E006 metar Petar claiming 3 3 when they only hold media 3 2 meters So there is a bit of 16 42 feet 16 40 feet EFI VUTEk GS 5000r misleading advertising out there Material Claimed by how the Super Wide Format UV Printer for Flexible Substrates y TFLAAR Reports EFI VUTEk GS5000r The advantage of a 5 meter roll to roll UV printer is that you can print several images in the same print job which increases pro ductivity in the sense that production times are reduced as compared to a smaller printer For example the advertised print speed of the VUTEk GS5000r is 288m2 h whereas the print speed of the QS3250r is 172m7 h 230 What about edge to e
77. rinters were less complex therefore builtbuilt in a month or so 86 What are the electrical requirements of this printer This means will the building have to be rewired 3 phase 50 60 Hz 70 amps 4 or 5 wire Delta 220 10 50A Wye 400 10 50A 87 Do you need to budget installing a ventilation or room exhaust system Yes it is recommended by EFI All UV printers need room ventilation for everything from ozone to misting ink to general odor Increasingly ozone production is surprised this has led some companies to claim that no ventilation is needed Such a claim is dan gerous especially in a country like the US where litigation is so common Has Agfa never heard of misted ink Ink mist is what the printer operator could potentially breathe if the ink is misting many printers mist most notoriously the In finiti 1600 models the ColorSpan 72uvX also mists a great deal 88 Are there any special temperature or humid ity requirements or preferences of this printing system In addition to space consider the electrical installation of your Temperature range for optimal performance is between facilities Be aware that most wide format printers will need a more 68 F to 86 F 20 C to 30 C As for humidity the range is industrial type of electrical wiring 30 to 80 non condensing Temperature and humidity are indeed crucial especially humidity Even more important is that whatever temperature and humidit
78. rintheads With a syringe or a manual button or toggle switch or automatically with software command or other method There is a bottle at the back next to the waste ink tank With most mid range UV printers you manu ally turn a valve to open the ink lines so that the flush will flow into them In cheaper printers you have to inject the flush with a syringe by hand 142 Can you select which ink lines print heads to purge or can you only purge in clusters or all or nothing Yes purging is individual 143 The ink that is purged where does it go Into a drain waste bottle or into a drip tray Purged ink goes to a waste ink tank 144 Is there a capping station There is a vacuum purge tray at the left which cleans the printhead surfaces and covers the printheads when not printing Ink that is purged is collected in a 5 liter tank located below in the rear cabinet Super Wide Format UV Printer for Flexible Substrates amp I LAAR Reports EFI VUTEk GS5000r 145 Where is the service area at the left or at the right Service area is at the left 146 Are there wipers There is a suction system that cleans remaining ink in the surface of the printheads You need to decide if a wiper is as effective as a well trained operator doing a manual wipe with a special cloth Also if you don t clean and maintain an automatic wiper it can do as much harm as good Heads are cleaned by suction units called vacuum pu
79. roller but these rollers are covered by the finger guard So although it is not impossible the design makes it highly unlikely for a person to suffer any physical damage due to moving parts The winder and unwinder units are rotating systems that are not covered by such a guard 176 Are any other safety or health issues involved Does the operator need to be concerned with any other safety precautions Operator vulnerability to UV light propensity to allergies caused by contact with UV ink are aspects discussed in training 177 How easy is it to obtain the MSDS of the ink It can be obtained online Again it is easy but you need to create an account and to create an account you have to enter the serial number of your printer It is rare that the MSDS of the ink is easy to obtain If the MSDS is an auto download from the company website this is how it should be But most companies do not wish the end user to know which brand of ink is being used so hiding the MSDS is not necessarily an attempt to hide the dangers but may be to hide the source of the ink 178 Does the ink used in this printer contain chemicals suspected of causing cancer Does the ink in this printer con tain chemicals that may cause problems with genes And the other question for using UV ink in the EU is whether any chemicals in the UV ink in the printer that you have selected is prohib ited for certain uses such as for wallpaper These are questions you need to
80. s have paid for their printer already by the second or third year Just be aware that resale value varies tremendously WP Digital and Durst would have good resale value SUMMARY Image Quality Issues Banding 326 Is there banding in areas of solid black There is some banding in the fastest modes but EFI is trying to improve this aspect Super Wide Format UV Printer for Flexible Substrates y FLAAR Reports EFI VUTEk GS5000r Between 50 to 75 of all UV printers at a typical trade show exhibit at least bi directional handing Some printer booths cheat and set their printer on uni directional mode Normally this gets rid of bi directional banding But you may also have banding from a nozzle being out Or there may be banding from inaccurate feeding of the material or movement of the gantry between passes 327 What causes banding in this particular system According to a key staff member at EFI demo room it is caused because of the ink not being absorbed See above but there may be other causes 328 How can banding be avoided The higher quality modes on the EFI VUTEk GS5000r totally get rid of banding issues More passes tend to get rid of banding on almost any and all inkjet printers Of course it helps if the machine is precision engineered so you don t get much banding at four passes and above Banding at two passes is normal You can eliminate pass overlap banding by using an interweaving technique which Mutoh developed
81. s necessary 305 Can the lamp alone be replaced or does the whole assembly need replacement You can replace just the lamp UV LAMPS Cooling 306 Are there shutters Each lamp has a slider that blocks light Shutters help control light leak and save from having to turn the lamps off So the lamps last a bit longer and you can be more pro ductive not having to wait for the lamps to cool down and then warm up all over again But shutters are primarily for controlling the extreme heat of mercury arc UV curing lamps 307 What settings to the shutters have The sliders or shutters can be set at Single Double or Post settings e Single Cures with the trailing lamp only e Double Cures with both lamps e Post Cures with the leading lamp only 308 How many fans are there per lamp 2 fans per lamp Super Wide Format UV Printer for Flexible Substrates A LAAR Reports EFI VUTEk GS5000r RIP SOFTWARE amp Printer Software 309 Which RIPs are featured EFI Fiery XF RIP ColorBurst is also an option but at an additional US 2 400 Caldera and Onyx can also be featured but these are not EFl s first suggestions 310 Does the price of the printer include a RIP Yes the XF RIP is included The ColorBurst would be extra cost d iad 311 Ifa RIP is included or part of a package is it a lite RIP or a full featured RIP Can this RIP be updated Can it run any other printers The RIPs available are full versions oc
82. s results in overspray ink laydown in unintended areas Dust can be a problem in places and seasons with low humidity This is one of several reasons why you should have humidity control in your printshop to allow main taining proper humidity level for optimum performance of your printer Static control is as much an issue with your printshop environment as it is with the pros and cons of the individual printer though some machines handle static better than others ae i i a In general it helps if media is stored in a climate controlled environment You should also avoid stacking more than three rolls in a pile because the lower rolls would get damaged A Super Wide Format UV Printer for Flexible Substrates F LAAR Reports EFI VUTEk GS5000r SUBSTRATES Cleaning Priming Preparation 245 Do you have to brush off or otherwise clean each sheet of incoming material by hand before you print on it For flat rigid material generally yes The need to clean incoming materials is typical of any printer Some materials have more detritus or dust or issues than other materials And some suppliers offer better materials than others rarely see any printer operator attempting to clean roll fed materials SUBSTRATES General Concerns 246 What problems in feeding exist such as skew to one side Media skewing is not an issue because the take up roll uses roll stops so it doesn t move to the sides as it rotat
83. scellaneous 57 What moves e the flatbed platform the printhead area e only the material fed by roller table then gripped and fed by the printhead area mechanism as on a regular printer or both Being a dedicated roll to roll printer the movement is expectedly generated by the rolls For example on the Inca Columbia the flatbed itself moves in and out for every line of print The 3M Leggett amp Platt machine is unique in that it has two options for movement both the material and the head assembly in X Y directions Most traditional combo style UV printers move rigid materials with the transport belt and move roll fed materials through a combination of the transport belt and the roll feeding and take up rollers Movement of rolls is generated by Allen Bradley motors h in the drive rollers and Rossi Motoriduttori gearmotors i for the unwinder and rewinder units 58 If the objects you are printing are not as wide as the full width of the printer does the printing carriage still have to cross the entire space or can the printing assembly hover just over the area of what has to be printed and thereby be a bit faster Yes The right end of the printhead carriage stops at the left end of the substrate Most sophisticated printers can hover But this may cause too much heat build up over one part of the printer So your software also needs to be able to modify the hovering position if so desired This is a decision the o
84. sion bar There is no dancer bar because tension is created by the front rollers after which media goes to the take up core 44 How many rollers exist on the take up side between the top edge of the platen and the take up reel Two rolls plus the cradle or saddle which consists of two set of rotating rolls 45 How do you fasten roll fed media to the take up reel You tape media to the cardboard core A front view of the media path As you can see there is no dancer bar at the front Once media is passed through the pinch rolls it goes straight to the core Super Wide Format UV Printer for Flexible Substrates amp T LAAR Reports EFI VUTEk GS5000r 46 Is a heavy duty unwinder winder system available as an option to handle heavy rolls of materials Not at the moment 47 Describe the overall path of the media through the system The new roll is laid in the cradle a set of two rotating rolls driven by a motor Media is passed behind the dancer roll and goes up between the pinch rollers and the drive rollers Then it is moved to the platen and once printed on it is moved forwards into a similar set of drive and pinch rolls After passing behind the front pinch roller it goes to the cradle A simple path is neither a major benefit nor a defect A simple path means that its easier to load and there is less to go wrong A more sophisticated system may have advantages for feeding some kinds of media Media Path Diagram
85. t of the service maintenance routines available in video There are instructional DVDs 110 What is the native language of these guides Is the translation acceptable The native language is English The following statement is as valid for a 400 000 UV printer as it is for a 70 000 model No matter how well translated all translations done by a speaker for whom English is a second or third language should have the translation proof read by a native English speaker If a company is selling printers into the US the translation needs to be fully and completely comparable to spoken English not literal English 90 of the manuals whose native language is other than English use terms that are too literal they are translated terms not the actual terms that anyone in America would use This is a polite way to say that every manual should be read by a native English speaker who is familiar with the jargon of UV printers 111 What kind of cut away drawings or other drawings exist that show the various parts of the printer The Basic Operations Manual uses photographs 3d renders and charts to explain parts and procedures The best exploded views of any product in the world are those by Canon camera 112 How hard or easy are the manuals to obtain BEFORE you buy the printer Manuals and other documentation can be easily obtained online in EFl s website but you have to create an account where the serial number of your printer is requested Th
86. t use Seiko heads are solvent printers EFl VUTEk printers are perhaps the only wide format UV inkjet printers using this brand All components used to build the printer are evaluated and compared Seiko met the specifications of what VUTEk engineers conceived for this printer All options of components were evaluated Seiko was selected because it meets the standards of what EFI wants to offer in the GS5000r Super Wide Format UV Printer for Flexible Substrates y FLAAR Reports EFI VUTEk GS5000r 183 What are the benefits of this printhead The printhead s native resolution and number of nozzles were the aspects that inclined the balance towards Seiko 184 What are the downsides of this printhead A person mentioned he wished the printhead system allowed for more heads installed in the printer 185 How many nozzles per printhead 508 186 Can a sensor s detect clogged nozzles and can software provide backup nozzles to cover that missing area on the next pass Not currently You detect clogged nozzles by doing a nozzle test which is a printed pattern that shows the performance of each nozzle 187 How many printheads per color Two heads per color 188 How many total number of printheads My notes from the demo room read 20 heads The Basic AS A Operations Guide read 16 heads Nozzle test pattern Absent or interrupted lines in this pattern are the sign that a nozzle is blocked PRINTHEAD DPI amp
87. tatus available at all times Yes you can see the ink level through the software The Ink Details tool displays e Percentage of ink level e Date ink was installed e Field to define percentage of ink level at which the printer will warn you Ink level is also calculated based on the weight of each ink box 274 Is there an out of ink alarm Is there a warning before actually being out of ink Yes User sets the alarm The normal level is 5 of ink in the tanks 275 What if the operator is out of the room Does the printer stop In general it is not recommended to abandon the printer for a long time 276 Can you hot swap the ink refill with ink while the printer is running Yes you can refill without stopping the print job 277 Can this printer use after market ink If yes what are pros and cons If no why is no after market ink available or widely utilized No After market ink has so many complications that it is not worth a try EFI tries to keep the ink in a competitive price range so that print shops don t run into using after market ink Super Wide Format UV Printer for Flexible Substrates amp T LAAR Reports EFI VUTEk GS5000r 278 What kind of protective devices are on the ink system to keep you from using after market ink The box has a special spout that goes plugged to the printer s ink box couplers So any after market ink would need to match this de sign if ink was sold in bottles after market ink w
88. terials 2 If there are two or three or more widths of this printer what differences exist other than the width The other members of the VUTEk GS series are combo printers combo means with transport belt so there is no other smaller version of this machine 3 What is the nature of the company Is this company the manufacturer distributor or rebranding a machine made by someone else EFI is the designer and manufacturer of the VUTEk GS series The factory and demo room are located in Meredith New Hampshire Reportedly the smaller member of the EFI family Rastek will be moving to the Meredith plant in the near future Currently Rastek is located in San Jose California FLAAR has visited both the Meredith and San Jose facilities We have full evaluation reports on the Rastek H650 and H700 i EFI VUTEK GS5000r at EFI s demo room Meredith New Hampshire This report was written based on notes taken at several trade shows around the world but mainly from notes to our visit to EFI headquarters in August 2010 A Super Wide Format UV Printer for Flexible Substrates y F LAAR Reports EFI VUTEk GS5000r 4 What other printers are the same or similar chassis from this manufacturer or distributor As mentioned earlier the other VUTEk GS printers use a transport belt to move media The pervious series the VUTEk QS has a 3 meter wide dedicated roll to roll printer but the GS series is considerably improved
89. than 3 meters wide 260 Is spot varnish available Varnish is not available for this printer INK Cost 261 Does the refill container of ink come in cartridge bottles or bulk How large are the ink containers for this re placement ink Ink comes in bags in a cardboard box Ink tends to come either in bottles where you pour the ink into the ink container on the printer or con tainers that are themselves the ink container you take the old one out throw it away and place the new container in its place Cartridges tend to only be used in printers with Epson printheads No currently functioning UV printer other than the narrow format Roland LEC 300 uses Epson printheads one Eastech printer tried but it is not widely used 262 How many liters of ink does the on board ink container hold in the main tank The GS5000r uses 5 liter containers 263 What is the cost per container What is this cost translated to liters A liter of ink costs 69 Usually the larger the printer the lower the price of ink per liter For some smaller UV printers of other brands ink can cost up to 200 per liter or more Cost of ink varies depending on the dealer distributor and depends on what country you are in Usually the smaller and cheaper the printer the more the ink costs The larger the printer is and the more ink it uses the lower the ink is priced i A cardboard container is a much more environmentally friendly option than a any sy
90. ty is 12 months but printheads are covered for 6 months Roland also now offers a two year warranty but this is because they want to sell you Roland branded ink and Roland branded sub strates They can only sell you these higher priced consumables if they provide a free warranty If you do not use Roland ink the war ranty is voided anyway But there are not really any or many UV printer manufacturers who sell their own branded media so there is no reason for a UV printer manufacturer to offer more than a one year warranty In the past Grapo offered a two year warranty That is because their UV printers are relatively simple in a positive sense meaning less to break down 122 Does it include parts labor printheads The warranty includes one jet pack for free per color 123 Is there an extended hardware warranty What price Yes there is a program of warranty extension There are also in hands service programs for all VUTEk GS series 124 What training does my tech support person have Is he factory trained In what language How many tech support people are available to cover the US or Canada The Tech Support personnel is VUTEk certified 125 What are the hours of tech support If support is from eastern time zone hours should be at least 8 am through 8 pm to cover users on the West Coast Tech support is offered 24 7 j Super Wide Format UV Printer for Flexible Substrates amp FLAAR Reports EFI VUTEk GS5000r 12
91. uage of the tech support person Regional distributors also have their own technicians which means tech support is not centralized in EFI s main offices This decentralized service has two advantages e You get to speak with a tech support in your own language e Tech support is available within your time zone 130 Who does repairs Dealer manufac turer distributor or third party This depends on the country Dealers techni cians get trained but usually EFI handles tech support 131 Do spare parts come from another country If so what is the wait time There are regional distribution centers so that spare parts can be easily delivered regardless of your location 132 How far does tech support person have to travel to reach my printer There are field engineers if not within at least near most major cities in the world 133 How long are spare parts maintained as a for discontinued printers EFI has local tech support and management staff in several countries Here Jose Melgar Technical Writer for FLAAR and SungJin Kim Sales Development Manager Inkjet Printers EFI Asia Pacific in a visit to RGB Digital Wide Color a sign shop a few kilometers away from Seoul South Korea Spare parts are maintained for about 10 years EFI VUTEk has discontinued solvent printers and spare parts are still available Super Wide Format UV Printer for Flexible Substrates amp T LAAR Reports EFI VUTEk GS5000r CL
92. ure Safety is one of the first aspects covered in the Basic Operations Guide Throughout this document you will find a number of full color warning signs in the subjects that require caution GCC s StellarJet 250 UV manuals have among the best treatment of safety aspects in other words they tell you point blank some of the reality of UV ink and UV lamps If the warnings do not make you cringe they are not realistic Super Wide Format UV Printer for Flexible Substrates amp T LAAR Reports EFI VUTEk GS5000r 165 How many emergency stop buttons are there Where are they located There are four emergency stop buttons When pressed the button e Shuts off the UV lamps e Stops all printer mechanical movement e Stops the unwinder and rewinder e Displays an error message in the monitor aih The emergency stop buttons are located near each corner of the printer As mentioned earlier in addition to these buttons front hood and left cabinet doors are interlocked 166 Have you employed an emergency stop yet Emergency stop buttons are normally used in the factory for testing 167 Is there auto shut down If so what triggers it Service station door and main printer hood are interlocked If they are opened while printing the printer will stop 168 How much odor is emitted by the photoinitiators or other aspects of the UV ink or curing process How much subse quent outgassing is there and for how long does the stuff smell
93. y is present in the work area that it not vary during the day cool in morning hot by 11 am Hotter by 2 pm 89 What about altitude Some cities such as Guatemala City are at a high altitude Almost no spec sheet and not even many User Manuals mention anything about altitude But Guatemala City is about 1500 meters above sea level which is rather high there are four volcanoes visible out my window as write this and other parts of the world have even higher elevation 90 What about dust and cleanliness of the air Dust in the printing environment is an aspect that is often neglected It is crucial that if a sign shop that no sanding sawing routing sandblasting or grinding operations be nearby The dust and debris from sawing and comparable operations are extremely unhealthy for a UV printer In other words you need to ventilate away more than ozone and ink odors you need to ventilate away everything else that is already in the printshop environment Super Wide Format UV Printer for Flexible Substrates amp I LAAR Reports EFI VUTEk GS5000r 91 What is the connectivity Network SCSI FireWire USB or USB 2 or other Sending files can be done via Network USB and CD or DVD 1 i TEEL peat i pa t TELL i 92 What air pressure is required to be provided EI to the printer Is this for a vacuum table or ul J other purposes such as ventilation The compressed air can be in a range of 95 psi 6 7 kgf cm2 t

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