can any cadet user give me some feedback on machine?

[Ian Higgins]

Hi Joe,

I have the 54" Cadet and think that for the money it is a great machine.

The cost of £2 is bull!!! I am no expert but I would say you are looking nearer to £10 per mtr..

If you are in a large room and only using the machine for short runs ventillation is not a problem.

If you are in a small room or doing large prints you will need an extractor.

The more you run the machines the better they are… You have far less problems if they run regularly. Maintainance only takes about 10 minutes ,
I do not do it as often as you should but because the machine runs regular I do not have any problems. The company I bought it from have been great and only yesterday I had the engineer out for the first time in 18 months.. I broke a manifold on the machine while replacing a damper so it was my fault but the engineer was here within 2 days and he said the machine was in excellent condition as far as the heads etc.. were concerned and he put it down to regular use. Dont get me wrong the macine looks terrible inside as I once had a waste pipe come off and it has prayed ink all over the inside… The newer ones can not do that because they have a new type of connecter.

He said the biggest problem is people not using them enough.. I would say get one Joe.. they are an excellent machine for the money .. As far as back up goes … that could be the problem with wher you are based!!

Cheers
Ian

[Chris Wool]

joe be prepared to trash big prints learning larger printing is not that straight forward and not always the press of a button and yes build a laminator in to the deal having seen the type of work you do on vans etc you will need one for the rap stuff.

as a clue the verrsa with max inks is a nats wisker behind the full solvent inks but i feel a safer bet as slightly less problems and yes you will need to be prepared for heartake aswell so many people go in a bit blind to this as i did 10 years ago with a big machine i have a sc540 on max inks and would not change its nearly 4 years old and required very little maintenance.

chris

[Phil Halling]

Hi Joe,

We run a 54" version printing anything from 60mm x 40mm labels to full double decker bus wraps – its a bit slower than the grenadier and like but results are lovely and maintenace easy.

Would definately reccomend it and given the choice of upgrading to a grenadier etc. I would choose another cadet plus to run alongside this one instead.

Phil

[Stephen Morriss]

My real running costs are £4.20 sqr M, that includes ending up with half of my first set of inks in the waste bottle, I think they can get down to £2m IF every thing is perfect and your not putting to much ink down, costs go up if your doing a full coverage print obviously.

I would look at the Roland machine running MAX inks if I were you, there does seem to be less issues with the heads and if your laminating anyway there is no difference in the end product, even without lamination it’s only a fraction less durable like Chris said.

Max inks are cheaper as well so you will have a chance to get to that £2/M cost 🙂

Mines a 30inch Cadet and like Ian I’m not super conscientious about doing the cleaning, mine doesn’t seem to get that dirty so it’s not a problem, I think some of them get dirtier than others.

Steve

[David McPhillips]

I agree totally with Ian unless you are using the machine on a regular basis you do come across problems, I was doing alot of vinyl work there for a few weeks as no printing jobs had come in and it did cause problems I had to replace two dampers and do head cleans once a day to purge the heads which means your ink cartridges are emptying into your waste bottle.

I was told by my supplier here in Belfast that there was no maintenance involved in these machines, but coming from a print background I new that was a load of bull, all machines need abit of maintenance regularly.

The most important thing in my opinion when buying one of these printers is the after sales service that you will get, I was promised the earth and that any problems I would have an engineer out with me within 24hrs, now when a problem arises the engineer wont answer his mobile and the manager of the company I bought the machine and who promised the earth wont even return your calls "This is when uksignboards becomes a god send"

I’m more than happy with the our 54" cadet plus but just make sure they answer all your questions in full and if they are making promises get it all in writing.

Cheers

Dave

[Graeme Speirs]

just got mine yesterday and saved £2k by going to sign uk :), Ill be reading these posts with interest as well Joe. Early stages but am very very impressed with the print quality and speed. Also is very simple to use indeed. Training was first class too. (dont think I can mention the company?)

Printed a 20ft x 3ft banner (albeit low coverage) in 10 mins last night which I was amazed at.

cheers
graeme

[Robert Lambie]

we have a grenadier, had it over 2 years, no real problems, maintenance is so light its not worth mentioning. (in my view anyway) however "we do" run prints each day apart from weekends. we are still on our first head too…
we are considering another machine, so far its the grenadier GFX much wider…

ink costs for running production on banner material i was told £2.40 per square metre (i would have said about £3ish, that was 2 years ago, ink has come down by a third since then, so the £2 mark is probably about right. you still have labour, running time, media etc ontop of that though… but ink usage £2 could be right depending on who you source it from.
there are so many jumping on the ink band wagon, cheaper inks coming out every day… (and i dont mean inferior ones to get cheaper)
then there is the bulk ink way to go, cheaper inks yet again…

the golden ticket on a cadet or any full solvent machine i recon is…
If you buy a cadet and you think full solvent isnt the way to go, you pop in the flush, and the machine automatically cleans the system. then you pop in your eco-maxx inks or whatever and away you go, you have just moved to eco-sol….
however, buy a versacamm or the like, and decide you want a bit more durability…. then its £1000 more for the coversion, before you can use other inks.

[Stephen Morriss]

Got your reply in the right thread this time Eh Rob :lol1:

Not that I like taking the piss or out 🙂

Steve

[Martin Oxenham]

Hi Joe…Martin here at Vizual Impact Had ours 1 1/2 Years.
Please ring me or pop in.

[Joe McNamara]

Thanks for the replies lads.

I’ll drop in next week sometime Martin!

Cheers
Joe

[Phill Fenton]

Hi Joe

I would thoroughly reccomend one of these machines. You are right to be concerned and all the questions you have raised concern me as well. However, print quality is superb on the cadet and maintenance is very quick and easy. Ventilation is not a problem if you’re working in a large industrial unit with a typical large open space and high roof. Technicaly I suppose I should really plumb in an extraxtor ventilation system but the truth is I get more fumes given off using autoglym tar remover to clean panels on a van than I get from the Cadet. As Rob has already pointed out – this machine will run just as well on ecosol inks if you decide to go down that route instead. I reckon my machine is easily paying for itself in the extra work it brings in and the time it saves me. I would buy another one today if I didn’t have this one.

[Peter Normington]

Phill, would you consider trading for a wider print format? Reason I ask is whatever you have, never seems big enough…

Peter

[Marcella Ross]

quote Peter Normington:

Reason I ask is whatever you have, never seems big enough…

Peter

:rofl:

[Gordon Forbes]

double barrel Peter????