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HP Latex L26500 or something else?
Hello,
We’re looking to invest in a new printer and have been looking at the HP Latex L26500. The things we want to produce on the machine are PVC banners, prints on Dibond / Foamex etc, roller banners, window graphics, floor graphics, some vehicle stuff (although this isn’t a big part of our business), cut decals, stickers etc. Ideally we’d prefer not to have to laminate the majority of these products.
Our main concerns with the latex are…
The durability of the ink: Will we be able to produce PVC banners that are durable enough with this machine or will the ink scratch too easily? Will we be able to mount prints to Foamex without lamination?
The range of media available: Are there suitable roller banner banner films that we can use that don’t get cooked by the heat?
Does anyone have an opinion on the above? Would sticking with an eco solvent offer more durable prints and be better for what we’re looking for?
Any advice would be gratefully received.
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6 Replies
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Hi Jon D,
We have been using the L26500 since March this year. No complaint until now. All the guys here prefer to use the Latex printer instead of the Eco solvent printers.
Most of the media you have listed prints very well on the L26500 except PVC banners that we are not too pleased with the quality. We have to lower the temperature which makes the overall print quality lighter. As an alternative instead normal PVC banners we use the HP scrim banner. Nowadays you can get quite a range 3rd party media that prints better than HP’s own branded ones. On the other printers we are using Jetbest and Lyson Nazdar inks. The Latex inks is more scratch resistance than the other 2 inks. Yes we mount lots of our prints without lamination on boards, thats no problems.Regards
Andre
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Thanks for the response Andre, very helpful, I was starting to think I was the only one here.
When you say that the print quality of the PVC banners is lighter, what do you mean? Lighter in colour? Less saturated? Not as well cured?
Also are there any products you still choose to print on your eco solvent machines? And if so, why?
Thanks again.
Anyone else have any input (200 hits and 1 response)?
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Hi Jon
My experience with the Latex machines has been nothing but positive.
We print everything that you mention on ours and send out prints on Paper, Roller Banners, Correx, Foamex and Di bond without lamination unless the client demands it.
We also print quite a few PVC banners without any problems at all. In my experience the print is more durable than anything I have used before.
Having said that we are selling our L25500 as we are going into a different area. If you want any more info please call me on 07846 195819
Cheers Nick
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Jon D. The print on PVC we are using is less saturated. Since we first installed the L26500 we have been using the icc profile that came with Onyx postershop rip and the colours are excellent on all medias we use on the other eco solvent printers. Maybe we need to install or create new profile for PVC banners.
Just like nick says, I also have positive feedback after using the L26500 for over six months now.
With latex inks, unlike solvent inks, The prints comes out of the printer dry, ready to laminate or apply.
The heads on the l26500 are user replaceable. and the media is front loaded so you can save valuable a lot of space in your shop.
The only drawback is that you need separate 16amps power source for the printer alone.Cheers
Andre
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I beleive the L26500 has better formula, I cant be sure but our L25500 on Banner is not the best but quality is most certainly there.
The vinyl/paper is perfect on the latex ! I love it and no failures to date for fading etc.
The L26500 also comes with Double sided banner feature and is smarter with heat and take up.
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Thanks for the input guys.
We’re trying to decide between this and an Epson S30600. We had a demo of the Epson Yesterday and I must say the quality of the print was really impressive. More than that though, it was so durable. We took the sample prints with us and today you literally cannot scratch the ink off. Very impressive for ink that needs no ventilation. The latex sample prints we have seem much more delicate in comparison and can be scratched quite easily with a finger nail.
We’re just trying to decide on whether having better scratch resistance outweighs having to wait for the prints to gas off and also having to clean the machine more regularly.
Just not sure.
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