roland sc 540

[cardudenc 151]

just had someone offer me a roland sc 540 on trade for 1 of my vehicles. can someone give me the scoop on this machine? common problems? what to look for? what i can expect cost wise to run it?

[Dakotagrafx 7,297]

there is a blast from the past - I had a fc for my first printer. spent a lot of money replacing parts on that one but it was a learning experience - first see if it has heaters on it and make sure it is ready for eco solvent ink as it came with either eco solvent or pigment and conversion will be expensive.   see a nozzle check from it - it is a 6 color ink with light magenta and light cyan along with the regular CMKY.   cant remember though how many heads it had but I know it was a bunch of them and that was my first learning experience at $750 per head.  it will NOT be comparable with versaworks so you will need a RIP program to use it - check with the owner on that.  they were lower resolution than current printers - do a lot of checking before committing and even at that I hope you don't have a lot invested in that car

[cardudenc 151]

well i mess with a lot of vehicles, so i trade around a lot. sounds like this might not b something i want to deal with. he says no issues with the heads, and does a daily test on them. says he bought it new and replaced the scan motor recently. and is throwing in a comp. with the rip program on it

[Dakotagrafx 7,297]

sounds good then - head test pattern should look like this but with 2 more colors - as all sellers say no problems with the heads.  then just keep it printing - never let them sit unused for more than a couple days

 

[cardudenc 151]

he says he does a test daily. when i told him i wasn't sure about getting a printer yet because of having enough work to justify running and heads stopping up, he said just to make sure to always a test daily.

so how much is it worth?

[Dakotagrafx 7,297]

looks like the only one you can verify selling price for went for $950 but needed heads - also looks like that printer uses 12 carts so probably 6 separate heads.  so heads are about $3600 if they do not print perfect or if they show as above then it is worth that much more - 

does that one have pre and post heaters - I don't remember mine having them from the factory

 

[Dakotagrafx 7,297]

here is a picture showing 3 colors bad and even black has deflections starting and will probably be not too long before it needed it too - pretty sure this was from printer number 2 that I thought didn't need heads when I got it and I had to replace both before using it - my last 2 printers only use 2 heads so much cheaper to replace them as needed that keeping up with 6 that my first one had

[Dakotagrafx 7,297]

only way you will know is to jump into the deep end and learn by doing.    we have watched many do it.   a few are even still around 

usually we see this a lot around tax time -watching them over 2 years or so tells the story on if they charged enough to keep up with maint cost and replacement as necessary - I have been thru 3 printers and will get out of the printing end within 28 months - then will just do cut vinyl again

[Dakotagrafx 7,297]

given your area have you considered a large 3d router set up?   marc-s was showing work from his and it was cool - and the plus side is they aren't around every corner competing with you

here is one from Sawatzky's imagination corporation to see the extreme of what they can do - I have considered it as around here lake houses would be a  good market

[cardudenc 151]

speaking of the router, i had a guy in that does that in Gatlinburg. now hes started with a lazer doing acrylics and such. so yep, that thought is in the back of my mind.

on the other, i try to learn from others mistakes. that's y i ask so many questions 1st now. like i ve posted in a couple post when new peeps are asking which cutter. I really believe if i had been on here 1st I would've started with a servo cutter. so i really appreciate all u guys on here help.