xstar

VP540 Thinking of buying one used?

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Hey all, theres a local shop near me selling him vp540 and im interested,

I see that roland doesnt have this model any more should that concern me? Also

what should i look for when going to see it, it will be my first printer. oh ya and whats it worth?

Thanks Guys..

XSTAR

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I am not real familiar with printers but I would be real curious about the amount of usage on the machine. I don't know it it would be counted in hours or area printed or ink used but I would look at that. See if there are any included manuals and or software. ( I would bet they are easy enough to find online.) Find out about service records. See if they regularly maintained the machine or had it serviced on a regular basis. Looks from what I see to be a printer/cutter which in my eyes is the way to go. Looks like the ink is reasonably priced. As far as price goes I am not real sure. I see one used one on eBay which has really low hours. I goes that answers the question on how they measure usage... I guess with the price you have to look at what kind of budget you have and how much the machine is worth to you in the condition it is in. If it has a ton of hours on it and hasn't been serviced you have to figure in that fact that it may be needing that in the near future.

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No you dont need to worry about it not being made anymore. The next model SP-540i is basically the same except for 2 less heads and I think the VP is faster.

Have him do a test print and look for dropped nozzles or fuzziness in the print. Look to see if he is using Roland ink in it too. Look for ink stains, or how clean it is can tell you how careful he was with it.

Is he including any ink or vinyl?

I'm like you, I just bought the SP-540i two weeks ago and its my first.

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ok thanks guys, i also just found a guy with a laminator and an sp54 for 10000$,

I gotta say im really nervous to buy either....

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I own a SP-540v and a VP-540i. The VP is a 4 head setup, the SP is a 2 head setup. The VP is substantially faster.

-Logan

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Find out when the last time the printer was used and how often. If it sat for any amount of time, especially if it was unplugged, you'll have nothing but trouble with getting high quality prints. Find out how often it was cleaned and what all they did when they cleaned it. Since it would be your first print/cut machine, I would highly recommend using ink from roland. You will pull your hair out trying to find the right color profiles with the cheaper, after-market inks. Make sure you actually see the machine run and don't let them hand you "something they printed with it in the past". Good Luck!

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I just bought a vp540. I spoke to the Roland technician who maintained the machine and he said its in good condition. It's running good and I paid $7500.

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I just bought a vp540. I spoke to the Roland technician who maintained the machine and he said its in good condition. It's running good and I paid $7500.

sounds like a score as long as ALL the nozzles are firing - remember that one is $850 per head to replace them - it doesn't take long to add up.  Keep it plugged in and doing the maint cleanings also

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anyone want to share their experience with cleaning solvent heads  >:D 

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I have refurbed 3 older JV3's. Patience is the key with cleaning and clearing clogged heads. Soak and syringe, rinse and repeat. I had 2 heads out of one machine that took me almost 5 weeks to get cleared. First thing I always do and same on the aqueous printers is replace all the ink lines. Working on refurbing a MIMAKI JV3 250S right now. Think I will sell off the last 160S and keep this one for banners. I just cant keep myself to only having the 1324 as 54" limits some jobs. 

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