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TrackHawk707

Roland BN20

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Hey all!

So most of you know I work a full time job and do side work of shirts, decals and some sublimation. I taught myself pretty much everything from scratch and I feel I learned plenty to take on the next step and seeing the price is dropped on the Roland BN20 I think Id like to take that jump. Now I know its slow and and not a "production print and cut machine" but for what I will need it for is plenty for my in home shop and with the price drop really just puts the icing on the top lol. I been researching forever it feels but I still think I'm missing a few things. I see the Roland site claims you have to have Intel?? I'm curious if my computer will work even though its not intel based. I built a AMD (3600 processor) build, 16GB of ram and just curious if anyone knows if this is ok? 

Next is actual sticker. Now i know clearly laminating them makes it a hell of a lot more durable but is it truly necessary?  I don't want that to come off as I push crap out but I feel like depending on the situation you wouldn't need the laminate. (there is just so much printable vinyl out there and this will be my first time using these i didn't know if one is better then the other for certain jobs and so on.

All in all if anyone can guide me with thoughts and input printing and will this next chapter be extremely difficult for a first timer. I do learn fast but some users on a roland bn20 facebook group got me worried with some post I seen scrolling threw. lol 

Thank you and hope to hear from some of you guys!

(sorry if posted in wrong area I searched in the search area and no matter what I typed it said no results)

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used AMD based systems with all 3 of my roland printer.  main thing is have enough work to keep it printing every couple of days - even with the daily self cleanings they do not like to not be used -the reason I sold my last one is we are going on more and more 3 week vacations (wife retires in 4 months so those times could increase) and I got tired of replacing heads on my sp-300 series because of non use.  on the sp-300v and sp-300i the heads were $700 a piece with the black requiring changing the most - with a bn-20n the head is about $1850 - either you change it or pay a tech - if done incorrectly we have seen several people fry the mainboards that on other rolands have been $2500-$4000.
what you are diving into is not like your desktop printer - do your weekly swab cleanings and plan one once a year doing things like wipers  - as needed will be heads and cap tops.  personally I always  kept a spare head on hand so when I had a problem I could swap one out quickly and not have problems with ink drying in lines etc from setting.  another thing people don't consider is during those 3-4 times a day self cleaning you printer will be drawing ink that will go into a waste container to be disposed of.

Best advice is go to a trade show or to someone nearby that has a printer and learn from them.   Vinyl printers are sexy but they are not buy it and forget it till I am ready to use it type of thing.  We see a lot of people buy them with tax refunds and run them a year or two till a problem emerges and haven't planned on cost of upkeep  - then we don't see those people anymore

 

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8 minutes ago, Dakotagrafx said:

used AMD based systems with all 3 of my roland printer.  main thing is have enough work to keep it printing every couple of days - even with the daily self cleanings they do not like to not be used -the reason I sold my last one is we are going on more and more 3 week vacations (wife retires in 4 months so those times could increase) and I got tired of replacing heads on my sp-300 series because of non use.  on the sp-300v and sp-300i the heads were $700 a piece with the black requiring changing the most - with a bn-20n the head is about $1850 - either you change it or pay a tech - if done incorrectly we have seen several people fry the mainboards that on other rolands have been $2500-$4000.
what you are diving into is not like your desktop printer - do your weekly swab cleanings and plan one once a year doing things like wipers  - as needed will be heads and cap tops.  personally I always  kept a spare head on hand so when I had a problem I could swap one out quickly and not have problems with ink drying in lines etc from setting.  another thing people don't consider is during those 3-4 times a day self cleaning you printer will be drawing ink that will go into a waste container to be disposed of.

Best advice is go to a trade show or to someone nearby that has a printer and learn from them.   Vinyl printers are sexy but they are not buy it and forget it till I am ready to use it type of thing.  We see a lot of people buy them with tax refunds and run them a year or two till a problem emerges and haven't planned on cost of upkeep  - then we don't see those people anymore

 

Oh wow. Ok I was reading mixed things on pretty much everything you have mentioned. The inks I heard last "forever". which I promise I don't believe cause like you said the self cleaning waste a lot of ink and I learned first hand with my sawgrass printer lmao man that burnt me up when I jumped into that and realized it later. I did read the BN is very I guess well say forgivable when it comes to letting it sit. I wouldn't want to do that but again I do this in my home so getting jobs could slow up as I also have a full time job at nights. I agree accounting for everything like an extra head but inst this printer suppose to be a "tank" for your average in home use and thats why they say its not really for your production runs? guess I was reading in all the wrong areas cause now id be worried keeping multiple jobs coming in to use it? but I am smart so even if I had to run it for personal use promotion stickers or something thats an option i guess?

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All you can do is make the decision as best you can.   I can only offer an opinion from owning 3 eco solvent rolands, 2 of which used the sale inks as the bn20.   I worked from home and learned a ton from that first one.  I was naive and had to learn too.  If you make enough with it you can move up in a couple of years.  Keep in mind how much you have to sell to break even (the point you would be at doing nothing but watching tv).     It’s like gambling, pay your money and take your chance.   I am great full I got the first one back when we could sell for twice as much and didn’t have solvent printers everywhere competing.  
 

 

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It also made it easier that I made more money with my plotter the last 18 months than the printer, and it doesn’t care if I go on a transatlantic cruise for 3 weeks.  It is ready to rock and roll when I get back

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45 minutes ago, Dakotagrafx said:

All you can do is make the decision as best you can.   I can only offer an opinion from owning 3 eco solvent rolands, 2 of which used the sale inks as the bn20.   I worked from home and learned a ton from that first one.  I was naive and had to learn too.  If you make enough with it you can move up in a couple of years.  Keep in mind how much you have to sell to break even (the point you would be at doing nothing but watching tv).     It’s like gambling, pay your money and take your chance.   I am great full I got the first one back when we could sell for twice as much and didn’t have solvent printers everywhere competing.  
 

 

its funny cause I appreciate the input and opening my eyes more. I got excited when my girlfriends  father came to me looking for 8 dozen hoodies for his company hes a supervisor for and even though its only two colors on different style hoodies and zip ups the way I been making them on my graphtec ce6000 plus just seemed like it was super time consuming. Oh and little chest logos as well as right sleeve text. so I know the owner loved my work to ask for an order like this so I figured BN would pay close to itself in that one order but your right I need to keep in running and that might be hard to do around the times Im slow. Its hard to come to a conclusion cause besides this order I do get alot of can you do this and that and alot of the times I cant thats why i got into sublimation but the poly garments are hard to sell in my area i guess no one ever wants them. I didnt know about the cromablast till I had already started with the sublijet. got to really do even more research and maybe just jump on in cant get anywhere without taking a chance ... right ? lol 

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