sublimation printing with epson printer – some questions

[Mo Gillis-Coates]

Hi Sarah-Jayne, this will be brief, i’m just off to bed… I have been there and done that, I ended up throwing the printer in the bin after a year. It all works fine and was great in principle and I produced loads with it, CISS and everything. BUT if you don’t use it on a daily basis, and at the right working temperature, the ink dries on the heads and you end up constantly cleaning the print heads… So much so that eventually I overloaded my head cleaning pads, got the hump and threw the whole lot in the bin….

I invested a little more in a Ricoh printer fitted with sawgrass inks and get perfect results every time, the inks are gell and don’t dry up so you can use it as infrequently as you like (although I advise running a start up clean every few days, but remember that uses ink)

Cost are:

Printer: prices range from £120-£150 new and inks are £40 for small cart and £60 for large, you will need 4

The magic touch will sell you a printer and ink for £275 + vat…

Invest now, save later!

regards
BigMo

[Sarah-jayne]

thanks for that – appreciate it. Maybe try and get some income with what I have and leave this for a little later down the line – or perhaps try to find somebody to outsource to for now.

[Martin Pearson]

quick couple of points. Firstly you can change the ink back from sublimation to regular cartridges BUT it will cost you quite a lot of money everytime you do it because of the ink you waste. The machine would need to be flushed through and cleaned thoroughly each time you switched inks.
Secondly as Mo has said you need to be using the printer on a regular basis because the inks (sublimation) very quickly dry and clog the heads. If you don’t have regular work for this sort of thing then maybe best to leave it until you have. Don’t do any of this sort of work so don’t know how easy it is to sub out but with some things it is better to grow the business to a certain level using a trade supplier before you invest in your own equipment.
Lastly, it’s great to be able to buy stuff cheaply from places like china but just remember if your running a business then stuff has to work properly when you need it to and if it doesn’t then you need to sort things quickly which means having proper support.

[John Gregson]

Ad Mo said above, a Ricoh would be the way to go as the inks just don’t clog as much as the Epsons, even when left for long periods.

Cheers John

[Sarah-jayne]

quote Martin:

quick couple of points. Firstly you can change the ink back from sublimation to regular cartridges BUT it will cost you quite a lot of money everytime you do it because of the ink you waste. The machine would need to be flushed through and cleaned thoroughly each time you switched inks.
Secondly as Mo has said you need to be using the printer on a regular basis because the inks (sublimation) very quickly dry and clog the heads. If you don’t have regular work for this sort of thing then maybe best to leave it until you have. Don’t do any of this sort of work so don’t know how easy it is to sub out but with some things it is better to grow the business to a certain level using a trade supplier before you invest in your own equipment.
Lastly, it’s great to be able to buy stuff cheaply from places like china but just remember if your running a business then stuff has to work properly when you need it to and if it doesn’t then you need to sort things quickly which means having proper support.

thanks – something else for the wish list for now. although I think the other system Mo posted about seems much better and not as expensive as I thought – I’d looked at an Epson stylus 1400 and converting my £190 printer seemed a good idea compared with spending £500 for that. But it’s not what I need right now. (Focus woman, focus!)

[Sarah-jayne]

quote John Gregson:

Ad Mo said above, a Ricoh would be the way to go as the inks just don’t clog as much as the Epsons, even when left for long periods.

Cheers John

This crossed my post – thanks. I think I am going to go down that road in the future. Think perhaps if I actually know what I want to print and have the designs done and try and get a printer to earn its keep from day 1 might be a better idea. My enthusiasm is getting the better of me right now…

[Martin Pearson]

Do you have a heat press? If not then that’s another expense you have in setting up to do sublimation printing no matter what you do printer wise.
Your asking a lot of questions about different types of equipment, not a bad thing but just remember it is best to learn to walk before you run. Might be an idea to concentrate on just one area for now, make a bit of money and add other services as and when you have the money. What ever you do there are quite steep learning curves so may be best to tackle them one at a time.

[Alan Drury]

I wouldn’t consider Epson, I had sublimation set up with an Epson and spent more time cleaning and nursing the thing into life than I did working – total dead loss and binned it enventually. Ricoh sounds a good option though.
Alan D

[Graeme Harrold]

Poignant timing, just threw my 1400 in the bin today with a load of ink still in the bulk system. Just way too much trouble, yellow is the worst for clogging.

[Mo Gillis-Coates]

gotta admit guys, although the prints are quite expensive to produce, the Ricoh was recommended by someone on here and it’s fantastic, also it prints really really fast which is a bonus.

I’m considering getting another one just for printing my photos etc

[Sarah-jayne]

quote Graeme Harrold:

Poignant timing, just threw my 1400 in the bin today with a load of ink still in the bulk system. Just way too much trouble, yellow is the worst for clogging.

LOL – I was rather tempted to pay £117 for a second hand one on E-Bay but hey, I am learning!