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Looking for advice on buying a second user versacamm
I am thinking of buying a used versacamm sp-300 and I was looking for some advice. I currently work from a double garage and it can get pretty cold in there in the winter months, especially overnight and at weekends if i’m not working.
I was wondering if anybody ran one from a home set up similar to this and what do you do about heating in the room you keep it in. I have an electric radiator mounted on the wall and a gas heater. But what do you do about the temps when you’re not there? And how will the temp effect the machine?
Also what do you do about ventilation with a home set up?
Any advice about using one in a home set up would be appreciated, thanks.
Also, can anyone recommend a good place to source a used versacamm?
Thanks in advance
Liam
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10 Replies
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best I can suggest is a partition and a tube heater. These are used for greenhouses and are cheap to run, just keeps the chill off.
sample here
http://www.totalwarehouse.co.uk/product … tAodgyIA8gas for used, anyone who supplies them new will probably have trade ins.
Grapityp, signmaster etc or even Stafford who repairs them -
It’s advised to keep the temp at 20 deg and if your storing the media in the same place you will have problems with it when it hit the heaters on the printer you would be more advised to use a trade printer until you can get a better enviroment for the printer and you to work.
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Thanks both for the info.
Never seen one of those heaters Chris, looks like a good option. Will contact some of those suppliers and ask them to keep me updated with any machines they get in.
I agree that my set up isn’t ideal Lee, but I just wanted to get started with digital printing, and get some experience with it, thanks again for the advice!Liam
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Other thing you will need to think about is how much work you have for it, these aren’t like desktop inkjet printers where you can just switch them on as & when required. Inks will dry up & block nozzles very quickly if not used on a very regular basis, some printers have a maintenance cycle which pumps ink through to prevent it clogging heads when not printing but this requires the machine to be left on all the time & will waste ink as it goes straight into the waste ink tank.
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Thanks for the advice Martin, I have read loads on exactly that issue on this forum in the past and It has helped me. I have been reading about the things to consider when buying a printer for quite a while. I have been waiting for a year or two to buy one to make sure I have enough work, or could create enough work and products to keep it busy.
My main concern is having space for it and the correct environment, so as soon as I think I’ve got that sorted, I should be alright.thanks again
Liam
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Insulating the garage is an option to help retain the heat & cut down on fuel bills if moving somewhere else isn’t really an option. I know you say you have been looking into this for quite some time so I am guessing you have identified your markets. Reason I say that is because I have seen quite a few posts by people who regret buying a printer that size to start with & wish they had just got a wider machine from the word go. You will also need a laminator to go with it so maybe it’s a space problem you have.
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Thanks Martin, yes i had been looking at insulating the garage and that is something i am thinking of doing. Ive looked at the cost of insulating the roof. I had originaly thought of the bn20 to get me started because that would suit a lot of what i do, but a bigger model would do all i need and loads more that i want to offer and i wouldn’t be as limited. The things i want to be printing right now are signage, garment transfers, small stickers and canvases. They are the things i have needed to produce.
Yes the space is a big issue and one of my main concerns so im still, thinking about options. And to be honest i might go out and spend the money i have right now on a vehicle this week! But i will still always be thinking of a printer in the near future so i appreciate it when people discuss it with me on here, thanks.
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don’t spend the money on wheels buy a printer then you can buy a better set of wheels
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If you’ve only just got space for this then you certainly won’t have space for the laminator which you will need.
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Agree with Peter & Chris,
printer makes money now and keeps making money…van, well…it makes life easier to cart stuff around but that’s it.
We’d reached the point of spending about £1k a month buying in trade print….Bought a printer & laminator and that dropped that to £500 – £700 worth of materials but TRIPLED our printed signage output 🙂 = £££profit
Laminator is an absolute must if you have a printer. Sure, it’s an option to have one or not…but you’ll be cursing yourself.
Cheap cold laminators (set of powered rollers) can be had for around £600 – perfect for the work we do…had thousands of metres of print through them…all spot on.
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