goltzp

sublimation printer

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I am looking to get a sublimation printer. I have been reading about sawgrass SG400 and the cobra ink with WF7110. Any ideas or thoughts on which is better? I have been working with vinyl and HTV and want to add to it, especially mugs. 

 

Any advice, pros / cons would be nice

 

 

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the ricoh is very forgiving if not used for a few weeks or even months - I'll let your research take it from there

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I have been reading and reading about them for a couple of months, seems like I am more confused.I like the price from cobra inks for $350 on the WF7110. Then i will probably go with a cactus wrap for mugs. Then I can also do dog tags, car tags and light colored poly shirts on my heat press. Just hoping there is not something out there that I have not found out about yet. 

 

The ricoh is the SG400?

 

Thanks

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The main thing you have to consider is what size item will you be focusing on....If I were going to stay under 8.5 x 11 I would go with the Sawgrass hands down.....That being said I own 2 of the WF7110 printers and love them....I print larger format stuff mostly so the 13 x 19 was a necessity for me....one is set up for sublimation and the other is set up for pigment ink which is the standard epson ink...I got both of them for less than half what the comparable Sawgrass would have cost....But like mentioned above you CAN NOT let it just sit around....I do test prints daily and so far they have been trouble free

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If you're gonna use it daily, any from Cobra will be great. If you're going to have lulls, you'd better go with the ricoh, or equivalent. I let mine set a month at a time during farm harvest season, connect usb cable, perform nozzle check and fire away.

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ok, how long is to long to sit around? If i print weekly is that going to be enough or do I need to print something every day? I like the size of the 7110, I don't want to be limited to 8.5 x 11, or buy it then want to get a bigger one in a couple of months. 

 

Thanks

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I use my epsons every few days at the most. They will occasionally clog but usually a head cleaning cycle or 2 clears it right up.

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I have used my WF-7710 very little of late and I forget to at least do a print test today I fired it up after a week and got a little issues with red but it cleared right up.

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I have the Cobra Epson wf7110 setup...works great..i do a head cleaning once a week, mainly for when its sitting and not getting used..but i try to make at lease one product a week with it. 

key is to also remember to load the paper in the correct way.

also i just upgraded from a 15x15 heat press to a 16x20, so now i gotta order larger paper to do larger items now'

 

some of my products.

12144767_1187817214568056_43778230951858

12011248_1175354285814349_74615356057996

11825848_1154714141211697_42301692670351

12417907_1242929715723472_44608592470130

12507107_1246439022039208_28305917592795

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I had a Cobra setup before and had clogging issues at times & a huge stack of wasted paper from daily purges, but my main problem was getting constant color reproduction. It was always a crap shoot on how close i could colors & i quit sublimation because of it.

I just recently purchased an SG800 from Sawgrass and the color output of this thing is spectacular, in all the time i run Cobra's i have never had a color output like this. Havnt had it long enough to give an in depth review of it, but so far i am very happy with it

Cobra's are way cheaper to buy and refill with ink, but way more of a hassle IMHO.

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I have a Ricoh. And I love it. I don't use it for a week or so at a time so I just do a head check if any are stopped up run it through a cleaning and in good to go. Only one time in 3 years did I have anything stopped up.

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just fired mine up since setting 3+ months and not a single dropped nozzle - the reason I love ricoh and the sawgrass gel ink

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I had a Cobra setup before and had clogging issues at times & a huge stack of wasted paper from daily purges, but my main problem was getting constant color reproduction. It was always a crap shoot on how close i could colors & i quit sublimation because of it.

I just recently purchased an SG800 from Sawgrass and the color output of this thing is spectacular, in all the time i run Cobra's i have never had a color output like this. Havnt had it long enough to give an in depth review of it, but so far i am very happy with it

Cobra's are way cheaper to buy and refill with ink, but way more of a hassle IMHO.

Why are u wasting paper for purges?

If your colors aren't coming out right, are u sure u were printing on the correct side of the paper?

Also Cobra has certain colorprofiles too, u gotta use them and the correct one for whatever ur pressing onto.

Theres alot of printer preferences and settings u gotta make sure are correct or it will print low quality.

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I remember someone talking about a utility that would automatically print out a page on a schedule you set. Don't remember who though.

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Is it the Cobra Inks that cause the nozzle clogs...

or will the Epson nozzles clog with the manufacturer recommended Epson inks too?

 

In other words is it the EPSON printer or the inks used.

 

Sue2

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Is it the Cobra Inks that cause the nozzle clogs...

or will the Epson nozzles clog with the manufacturer recommended Epson inks too?

 

In other words is it the EPSON printer or the inks used.

 

Sue2

big difference in the epson to the ricoh is the ricoh uses gel ink 

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Also with the cobra inks they will settle, and you"ll need to shake them up when they sit for a long time.

I shake mine up once a week and do a head cleaning too if i havent used it all week by Friday.

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big difference in the epson to the ricoh is the ricoh uses gel ink 

 

Yes, if I was to buy another small printer I would seriously look at the Ricoh.

I have 2 Epsons now and the 1100 has the Cobra CIS regular ink set-up...

(not sublimation) it is almost always clogged.....

 

But, I use the Epsons for printing odd stuff and small quantities

and I like the fact that the inks are pretty much waterproof....unlike most inkjets.  

I do small qty's of envelopes, forms, even business cards on the Epson.

 

Can I use the Ricoh with gel ink as a paper printer also or would that be too costly?

Or is this strictly ink for sublimation?

 

You have to realize, my needs here are a bit different than a sign shop....

I'm a print shop that does small signs etc. on the side.

 

Sue2

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Why are u wasting paper for purges?

If your colors aren't coming out right, are u sure u were printing on the correct side of the paper?

Also Cobra has certain colorprofiles too, u gotta use them and the correct one for whatever ur pressing onto.

Theres alot of printer preferences and settings u gotta make sure are correct or it will print low quality.

Had a software program that purged it daily to avoid clogged heads (which worked for the most part) but once they clogged a few times seems like it happened more often, really had more clogging issues with my pigment ink setup then sublimation setup but they was both from Cobra.

This was a few yrs ago & back then Cobra's ICC profiles was iffy at best, they might be better now i have no idea. As when i was using them they was an underground operation due to the Sawgrass patent.

For the money they work, but after getting this new SG800 i could never go back to small format Epson's

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Is it the Cobra Inks that cause the nozzle clogs...

or will the Epson nozzles clog with the manufacturer recommended Epson inks too?

 

In other words is it the EPSON printer or the inks used.

 

Sue2

It is the sublimation or pigment inks used, regular dye inks (that comes with them) work great & really never clog

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It is the sublimation or pigment inks used, regular dye inks (that comes with them) work great & really never clog

 

Ah, there's the problem...dye based inks are not water resistant....they will run.

But are the GEL inks water resistant?  I'm guessing not....or else too

expensive to use on paper in this way.

 

:rolleyes: Somebody print something out for me and toss a few drops of water on it!

 

Sue2

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I will always stick with Epson for anything but laser printers. I will admit my WF7110 had a nasty clog but that was fixed with 2 head cleanings and my pigment ink printer clogs but again 2 head cleanings and works and that wasn't used for a month. My dads WF 7510 not used since before thanksgiving got new ink printpayless head cleaner half bottle bam works perfect.

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