just ordered the Rocket Launcher!

[blue moon]

In the end, the deal was too good to pass up and we snagged the last unit they had. It will be the second piece of M&R equipment in the shop joining the MSP3140 (which will not get much use as the I-Image is put into play).

I realize they are based on EPSON technology and that we will have to keep up with the maintenance, but are there any other thoughts on what we should and should not do?

also, did anybody modify these or other M&R DTS units to work with MHM?

thanx,

pierre

[GKitson]

Up-size your dumpster and start throwing away films.   

[BorisB]

also, did anybody modify these or other M&R DTS units to work with MHM?

thanx,

pierre

We did pimp ours. It's not M&R, however we took the FPU cylinder and mounted it onto the base of DTS unit.  I can post photo when in shop tomorrow.

[blue moon]

and I am very much so looking forward to the MAD savings in tape use! 

pierre

[jvanick]

welcome to the club

how many "last" units do they have?  I thought I got one of the "last" ones... LOL.

suggestions for keeping it running nicely (ours is still perfect after a year of running 20+ screens daily on it)

- keep it clean
- run it every day
- run a nozzle check at least once every few days
- try to change your ink channels up as often as possible (we use 1&2 on monday, 3&4 on tuesday, 5&6 on wednesday, etc)
- halftone calibration is a pita, but once you get it in, it works really nicely.
- be prepared to have 'fun' resetting the ink cartridges when they fall below 60% -- as in get yourself a few beers fun...  <-- this is the ONLY thing I TRULY hate about our unit.

- reading files created in any current illustrator can have issues. (sometimes the software gets 'error reading file' -- try again (sometimes a few times and it will finally open).
- one color work has to have it's output setting changed from "Error Diffusion" to "Traditional Dot"
- get yourself an extra wiper assembly and capping station..

- make sure you don't have any big drips or lumps on your screens, or any tape sticking up... you don't want to have the print head hit it... (the laser SHOULD detect it, but you really want to be sure) (I know you guys are experts at coating, but just thought I'd point it out)

- not sure what emulsion you're using, but some emulsions work better than others to receive the ink.
And Greg's right on about upsizing your dumpster and throwing away films


oh, and get an extra capping station and wiper assembly.

[bimmridder]

I like Greg's idea also, but instead of paying for a larger dumpster, we just waited for a flood to sweep it all away. Much less labor intensive.

[GraphicDisorder]

Huge improvement over films for sure. You will rip up any ROI you did within couple days of it running I bet. 

[Alex M]

This really was the LAST one. Left over in the R&D room and will not be joining us in Roselle.
Jason you may have had the 3rd-4th to last. Everything Jason said is correct. They can be a bit finicky bc of the Epson side which is why we ultimately left the project, but they are still a very accurate and useful CTS system.
Enjoy!!!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Doug S]

Jason hit it on the nail in his post.  I think I must have it backwards though because I've been using error diffusion on anything that doesn't have halftones.  In the winter months when we slow down, I load an old static frame I have and print a small block every other day making sure I use all of the channels so that it doesn't set idle too long.  Also once a month, I'll pull the wiper out and use a swab with the M&R cleaning solution and gently clean it but you have to do that in service mode.  I've had mine for almost 2 years and other than the occasionally aggravating epson part of it, I haven't had any trouble with it. 

Congratulations!

[TCT]

Congrats Pierre!! So, does that mean you now you aren't going to be reading peoples films for calibration? 
When do they have you scheduled out for install?

- be prepared to have 'fun' resetting the ink cartridges when they fall below 60% -- as in get yourself a few beers fun...  <-- this is the ONLY thing I TRULY hate about our unit.

If this happens, does the machine continuously tell you that there is no cartridge installed?  This is what I am experiencing now. It says ALL the cartridges in the right side are not inserted.

[jvanick]

If this happens, does the machine continuously tell you that there is no cartridge installed?  This is what I am experiencing now. It says ALL the cartridges in the right side are not inserted.

yup.

pretty much it's:
remove cartridge, re-insert, close door... drink sip of beer.. wait...  (you really don't need to 'reset' the cartridge again)
hopefully it sees it...
if not..
remove cardridge, re-insert, close door... drink sip of beer... wait...

(sometimes it takes me 30-45 minutes of messing with it)...

I'm about to get a set of 3rd party 'extra-life' cartridges for the machine rather than the 'initial-fill' ones that M&R supplies... those cartridges are supposed to last 4-5x as long... so at least then I can go maybe 500-600 screens or more before needing to reset...

right now it's about every 200 screens that I pull them and reset them.  ALWAYS at the end of the day... never during the day.

[TCT]

If this happens, does the machine continuously tell you that there is no cartridge installed?  This is what I am experiencing now. It says ALL the cartridges in the right side are not inserted.

yup.

pretty much it's:
remove cartridge, re-insert, close door... drink sip of beer.. wait...  (you really don't need to 'reset' the cartridge again)
hopefully it sees it...
if not..
remove cardridge, re-insert, close door... drink sip of beer... wait...

(sometimes it takes me 30-45 minutes of messing with it)...

I'm about to get a set of 3rd party 'extra-life' cartridges for the machine rather than the 'initial-fill' ones that M&R supplies... those cartridges are supposed to last 4-5x as long... so at least then I can go maybe 500-600 screens or more before needing to reset...

right now it's about every 200 screens that I pull them and reset them.  ALWAYS at the end of the day... never during the day.

Interesting....  I have yet to even be able to try a nozzle check because it isn't reading those. I lucked out and was able to use 2 of them working from a 7900 I bought off CL, ya, that's right, I got a perfectly working 7900 off CL for $300    Dude thought a head clog meant the printer was bad!

[Doug S]

Yup, I've had mine give me the error message that no cartridge in installed once while it had been sitting idle for about 4 hrs.  I'll reset mine everytime they get down to 70%.  After resetting them you need to handle them like you are handling a nuclear bomb while re-inserting them.  I mean gently/slowly re-insert them to get them detected.  The only other deal I've had with it is that while I was getting ready to image another screen it popped up the message "automatic motor adjust please wait 3 minutes" it freaked me but after the 3 minutes it was back to business as usual.  I baby this machine but it has been well worth it. 

If/when the epson craps out I will get it back up an running as quick as possible because it has been life changing as far as the work part of my life.  I have so much more time to tend to other things around the shop than before.

Pierre, if you have any questions that aren't too extremely technical don't hesitate to pm anyone of us that have them and I'm sure we can help most of the time. 

[jvanick]

something that many that have used this unit don't know.. is that the M&R 'parts' only really interact with the printer...

so you can actually attach the printer to another computer and use FilmMaker or Accurip with it... I played with it a bit when I was getting frustrated with the IBlock rip... (went back to iblock tho as I do like the workflow better, even if there's a bit of hassle)

[TCT]

Cool! I'm really looking forward to getting ours up and running!