Problem with Epson T3270

[Maxie]

I have a Epson T3270 that is about 2 years old, I have changed the pump twice.    I was now quoted $1,200 to change it, there is a leak behind the cassettes.
I am in Israel and our agent says he works on European prices that are higher than US prices but to change a part for half the cost of a new machine in the USA.   Sounds crazy.
Has anyone else had problems with this printer, I have it set up with sublimation and black for film.     I don't use Epson inks, could this be the cause of this problem?
What is the cheapest printer I can get as a backup for my CTS

[Sbrem]

We use this, but have not had that problem. We continue to use the Epson inks, pigment color and both blacks. Photo Black for film, and we use Jet Soft Pro for transfers on white shirts. We've twice had registration issues, but got them straightened out. A pretty good printer so far...

Steve

[Dottonedan]

I have a Epson T3270 that is about 2 years old, I have changed the pump twice.    I was now quoted $1,200 to change it, there is a leak behind the cassettes.
I am in Israel and our agent says he works on European prices that are higher than US prices but to change a part for half the cost of a new machine in the USA.   Sounds crazy.
Has anyone else had problems with this printer, I have it set up with sublimation and black for film.     I don't use Epson inks, could this be the cause of this problem?
What is the cheapest printer I can get as a backup for my CTS

I don’t know much about helping with your issue there. But I can say that I used to tell everyone that it’s good business to have a back up plan (film printer) in case your CTS goes down for any reason. I knew it would be a rare time if it did go down, but in theory, it makes good business sense to have that back up. In reality, It’s been my experience, that nobody (maybe 1 out of all of the WET INK machine users) I’ve expereinced ever really pulley’s dot their film printer to use while their machine is down and getting worked out. Reason being,


A, they don’t really “go down” that often.  Like once or twice in the life of you having it.


B, In those (once or twice) times of the life of you having it go down, it’s only down for either a few hrs  or a day or two at most. Techs are either fixing it remotely, assisting you in repairing it yourself remotely, or will be in to see you soon.


When people don’t use their “film printers”for a year or 6, they neglect running them or keeping them going/primed for use. This then causes time to be invested into getting that film printer up and running. By that time, the CTS is fixed. So, there’s that to consider also.


Your specific situation is a bit different.
You use your printer for sublimation so as long as that is going on, I don’t see a potential problem there. Just change it over for black ink.
The thing going against you on time for CTS repair (if ever needed), is the distance for a TECH to get there and work on it (if need be).  You may want to search out someone in your area that can potentially work on it (if ever need be). I’m sure Mark from Douthit can guide most people who are semi familiar with CTS or printers in general.


My point is, (if it were me), I’d now not bother with a back up. Most schedules in most cases or done so with some buffer for things happening in the process to slow them down. Maybe you can handle a buffer in the schedule for being down on screen output for a day. Some can’t, due to how they do things (orders in, and out) in a very tight window, but that’s a scheduling thing.

[Maxie]

Thanks for the feedback.     I contacted Mark at Douthitt and he said that most of CTS users don’t have a backup but they are in North America, I’m in Israel.     I’ve had my unit close to two years and I’ve had no major problems.
We often do one color orders that are same day delivery, I’d like to have a back up for these.    I dont want another inkjet, keeping the jets open when you don’t use the printer is a pain.      I’d like to get a A3 later printer. Does anyone have experience with a laser?
What do you print on that exposes well?
Is there a film available for use in a lazer printer?
I assume it’ll be ok with one color jobs but doesn’t the heat shrink the paper/film and cause registration problems?

[Sbrem]

When we used laser printers for this, it was printed onto vellum. They aren't always quite dark enough, but a run through the dryer usually helps darken them up, and then there are sprays that would also darken them up. Check out Casey's Translucencies for the paper and accessories.

Steve

Multicolor seps will have registration issues, but for simple one color jobs, it should work for you.

[Atownsend]

Dang.. it’s been so long but I started with a laser printer, tried to figure out which one it was but I think it was GCC maybe?! Used the vellum / darkening spray & everything. The spray will run, geez those were the days. I do remember that Casey’s vellum is the best. We did blame a lot of registration issues, which were def related to the printer. Very sporadic, just depends how hot it gets running through. Now that we’ve gone wax, we’re keeping one of our 7600’s & I’m having the office manager run a cleaning / test print every Monday. 3 rolls of film left so I figure it should last a few years.

[cbjamel]

I have a Epson T3270 that is about 2 years old, I have changed the pump twice.    I was now quoted $1,200 to change it, there is a leak behind the cassettes.
I am in Israel and our agent says he works on European prices that are higher than US prices but to change a part for half the cost of a new machine in the USA.   Sounds crazy.
Has anyone else had problems with this printer, I have it set up with sublimation and black for film.     I don't use Epson inks, could this be the cause of this problem?
What is the cheapest printer I can get as a backup for my CTS

I have the t3270 and use 2 black for my seps and cleaning carts no problem for 4 yrs aprox. I would bet its the inks to abrasive. I use filmdirectonline.com inks for seps.

My thoughts.
Shane