ASPE - RapidTag Printer. Opinions?

[kingscreen]

I've read a couple threads on these but wanted to get some up to date opinions from those who may have been running one for a bit now. We do a lot of relabeling and it only seems to be increasing in popularity so we are considering getting one. I looked it over very thoroughly at last year's ISS in Atlanta but wanted to get some real-life production opinions.

Who has one? Likes? Dislikes? Is it worth the investment? Are they reliable? Common issues or problems?

[TCT]

Does not print white very well on a single color machine. We had to REALLY tweak things to get an acceptable white print. You get what you pay for, it is a cheep tagging machine, but can knock 1 colors out with the quickness, so ya it is worth it. If you are considering anything but the 1 color model I would look at the deal Workhorse has, the "Chariot" I believe. That thing would be what I would go with for multiple colors without hesitation!

[ericheartsu]

yeah we have found the same thing. White, discharge, and waterbase prints are not that great. But it knocks out tags like nobody's business.  We usually use gray or black for tags, and it works well.

If you have to p/f/p anything on this press, it usually knocks out of registration, as the garment tends to move. We've also had alot of issues printing blends with this press, as they don't stick as well with our WB adhesive.

[Underbase37]

We have a LP2 with around 40k prints on it. As above, it will knock some tags out. If you have any bottleneck on press because of tags it might be what you are looking for. No multi color, so no input there.

If you don't mess with the index or half the press while running we have found good luck with p/f/p, if your looking for that. We never do this. If you slow the pulse down it won't index as hard & helps with shirt movement. But will slow down the press a bit too. We just reactivate the glue a bit more on troublesome garment. We have not done hoodies on it , but they have pallets for this. 

 We have only had one problem with the press running  & a quick call to Alex at ASPE & he gave us a quick work around until the part got here, we were back up & running before production got here.

A few things I would change are, the flood-bar is not adjustable with a dial, I'm not so fond of the squeegee mount either but not a big deal, also I wish it had front & back proxy sensors to set the depth on the print stroke. We have had some problems with tri-blends & scorching under the flash, but I think this was operator error & could be fixed with moving the flash up a bit more. I'm sure I could pick it apart a bit more but having a lot of blue in our shop that's easy to do.

All in all we dig it. It's kind of nice to put new trainees on, to get some loading in & go over some basics. If you are wanting to get the tagging off the regular production presses & have a decent amount to do I would think it would pay for itself pretty quick.

Murphy37

[Prosperi-Tees]

What does a 1 color machine run? They have been steadily sending videos but I really don't want to contact them for fear that they will be like Anatol and call all the time. BTW doesn't Anatol have one of these as well?

[Underbase37]

What does a 1 color machine run? They have been steadily sending videos but I really don't want to contact them for fear that they will be like Anatol and call all the time. BTW doesn't Anatol have one of these as well?

I think they start at around 8k.

Murphy37

[TCT]

What does a 1 color machine run? They have been steadily sending videos but I really don't want to contact them for fear that they will be like Anatol and call all the time. BTW doesn't Anatol have one of these as well?

They don't call all the time. They are nice people. Our 1 color with screens, shipping, extra flash bulbs, extra squeegee and flood bar was like $8K- 8500 I want to say. They are nice people and they probably have the most economical tag printer out there, but it does leave quite a bit to be desired. We have all said it, basic dark ink, ya these things rock. I wouldn't buy anything "fancier" from them though. Honestly and I have spent some time looking at tag printers/mini printer for a while, I think the best total combination of quality, capability, and price is the one Workhorse has. 

[scott316]

Check out the workhorse cutlass.

http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=gCQouBKkgGM

[Underbase37]

That looks like it has some of the bells and whistles I wish ours had.

What's the starting price ?

Murphy37

[sqslabs]

Wow, that Workhorse machine is slick.  Thanks for sharing the link..

[tancehughes]

That is a nice machine!


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[TCT]

That looks like it has some of the bells and whistles I wish ours had.

What's the starting price ?

Murphy37

My thoughts exactly. RapidTag is nice and has it's uses, but is somewhat limited. When I saw that thing at ISS Nashville, I was impressed!

I could be TOTALLY wrong, some activities in highschool effected my memory.... But I want to say the number was $14K for the 2 color. I could be way off so don't quote me on that. Where is Paul when you need him!

[Underbase37]

That's not bad. I think the the LP2 was around $12k. For the extra $2k it might be worth it to get some of the added bells & whistles.

Murphy37

[TCT]

That's not bad. I think the the LP2 was around $12k. For the extra $2k it might be worth it to get some of the added bells & whistles.

Murphy37

Agreed. But again I could be off on that price. The Workhorse one just seems so much "sturdier". The print head and squeegee adjustments are much nicer. I would venture a guess that a 1 hit white tag on this one would not be a issue.

[Underbase37]

That's not bad. I think the the LP2 was around $12k. For the extra $2k it might be worth it to get some of the added bells & whistles.

Murphy37

Agreed. But again I could be off on that price. The Workhorse one just seems so much "sturdier". The print head and squeegee adjustments are much nicer. I would venture a guess that a 1 hit white tag on this one would not be a issue.

I definitely like the squeegee and floodbar mount better form the looks of it.

I have been asking are blue Rep. for a few years now if they were going to get in on this & keep getting a "probably not". bummer because I would buy one. Oh well

Murphy37