# Best Sublimation printer in the market?



## naneky09 (Sep 16, 2012)

New Here. I am interested in sublimation. Would like for someone to recommend me to a reliable sublimation printer that can print on t shirts, mugs, & dog-tags. I appreciate any input from professionals in this field. Thanks! Nancy


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## jfisk3475 (Jan 28, 2011)

Cobraink.com. Out of tennessee. Love it. Beats recoh hands down.

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## royster13 (Aug 14, 2007)

Nancy without some qualifiers, you will get answers from 500.00 to 15,000.00....There is no doubt in my mind, one of the expensive wide format printers is the "best" but for most it is out of their price range......


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## naneky09 (Sep 16, 2012)

jfisk3475 said:


> Cobraink.com. Out of tennessee. Love it. Beats recoh hands down.
> 
> Sent from my SGH-T679 using T-Shirt Forums



Thanks for the quick reply.
I noticed that Ricoh sell Gel sublimation ink. I noticed cobra sells dye based sub ink, is that better than the gel sub ink?


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## royster13 (Aug 14, 2007)

naneky09 said:


> Thanks for the quick reply.
> I noticed that Ricoh sell Gel sublimation ink. I noticed cobra sells dye based sub ink, is that better than the gel sub ink?


Cobra does not have any sublimation ink showing on their website.....Dye ink is not for sublimation.....


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## naneky09 (Sep 16, 2012)

royster13 said:


> Cobra does not have any sublimation ink showing on their website.....Dye ink is not for sublimation.....



what is the dye ink from cobra used for if not for sublimation?


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## royster13 (Aug 14, 2007)

photo & general office printing....


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## naneky09 (Sep 16, 2012)

royster13 said:


> photo & general office printing....


Thanks for your help clarifying that. 
I still need a Sublimation printer for the things I want to do.
Would prefer to stay under $2000 for a nice reliable printer.


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## sben763 (May 17, 2009)

If you don't need anything over 13" the 1100, 1400 discontinued but still avalible. Current the 1430- replacement for 1400. The replacement for the 1100 is a bottom feed and can give issues. Bigger printers in the 3000 series and 4000 series due up to 17". These printers are considered small format and are Protected by sawgrass patents. You can get bulk ink for these much cheaper but will take a little homework. When using sublimation ink reliable can be a problem if you don't print often. The Ricoh has had issues with power supply's and other electronic issues some say that it is due to the head shorting from sublimation ink. The Epsons can have clogging issues but printing and shaking inks often help combat that. I have had an epson 1400 4 years and just a few clogs but have always been able to fix.


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## jfisk3475 (Jan 28, 2011)

Wrong. I use it for shirts mugs. Any poly. Read before you guess. 

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## jfisk3475 (Jan 28, 2011)

I have their WF7010. You call Richard Monday and it is on your front door by Friday. It does LARGE print. 13x19 is the biggest. 

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## jfisk3475 (Jan 28, 2011)

UV dye ink is. Pigment is for cotton. They list as high temp uv dye. 

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## sben763 (May 17, 2009)

Jim, cobra use to sell hi temp ink but was shut down due to the sawgrass patents. The dye ink currently on their web site is exactly for a suggested. Photos and everyday printing. Check PM.


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## jfisk3475 (Jan 28, 2011)

Funny i just got mine a couple weeks ago.

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## jfisk3475 (Jan 28, 2011)

They said they can not advertise it due to sawgrass. But still sell it.

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## naneky09 (Sep 16, 2012)

sben763 said:


> If you don't need anything over 13" the 1100, 1400 discontinued but still avalible. Current the 1430- replacement for 1400. The replacement for the 1100 is a bottom feed and can give issues. Bigger printers in the 3000 series and 4000 series due up to 17". These printers are considered small format and are Protected by sawgrass patents. You can get bulk ink for these much cheaper but will take a little homework. When using sublimation ink reliable can be a problem if you don't print often. The Ricoh has had issues with power supply's and other electronic issues some say that it is due to the head shorting from sublimation ink. The Epsons can have clogging issues but printing and shaking inks often help combat that. I have had an epson 1400 4 years and just a few clogs but have always been able to fix.



Is the Epson Stylus Photo 1400, same printer you are using?


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## sben763 (May 17, 2009)

Yes thats the 1400 I referring to.


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## texasjack49 (Aug 4, 2008)

jfisk3475 said:


> Wrong. I use it for shirts mugs. Any poly. Read before you guess.
> 
> Sent from my SGH-T679 using T-Shirt Forums


Dye ink is for photos and general printing
Pigment ink is for general printing but makes a pretty good T shirt ink, especially for mock ups.
Dye Sub ink is for Sublimation
Cobra sells all three but only Dye and Pigment are on the web site.
Not correcting, just clarifying an earlier point. Dye and Dye Sublimation are often confused as the same thing but are very different.


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## suzamac (Mar 18, 2008)

We had a great experience with the Ricoh 3300N gel printer after having 2 heads "go down" on our Epson 4800 ($500 each to replace!). The Epson had capability of 24" wide roll fed sub paper but what we were doing with sublimation could be accomplished without a problem with the Ricoh. Conde Systems in Mobile Alabama can give you real guidance. We really didn't do shirts using dyesub. We had a Xerox 242 production color copier for laser transfers which we used for the bulk of our t-shirt. But Conde has some MUCH cheaper alternatives. David can help you there.


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## sben763 (May 17, 2009)

How long have you been using your Ricoh. There are many threads about issues with them. How many pages have you printed.


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## suzamac (Mar 18, 2008)

We have sold our business and are retired but we had the printer a year and a half or so. I can't say how many pages total without having the machine here to check, but a lot. Rarely even had to run cleaning cycles. It just ran flawlessly whenever we needed it. Quite a contrast to the 4800. Of course it only ran 8.5 x 11 or 8.5 x 14.


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## texasjack49 (Aug 4, 2008)

sben763 said:


> How long have you been using your Ricoh. There are many threads about issues with them. How many pages have you printed.


The issue was not with them, it seemed to be with the 7000. I have seen very few threads about issues with the 3300. I'm sure there are issues with every printer but a large percentage of the time it may be the owner not the printer. The 7000 had issues but I don't even think the 7000 is being sold anymore. I haven't heard any bad reports about the Ricoh 7700. Anybody using one of the new 7700's?I bought a used Ricoh 3300 sub printer, used it for a while and sold it about 2 years ago, it is still in service as a sub printer. Since we do Chromaluxe, I prefer my Epson 4800 but for mugs and shirts I think the 3300 is a good printer to start with.


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## jemmyell (Jan 26, 2010)

Hi,

Then you are doing them a BIG favor by advertising it, don't you realize that???

-James


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