# Do not buy ricoma



## EmBMomma (May 20, 2020)

I see so many people in here wanting to do embroidery and they love the price of the Ricoma, the financing, etc, but you sacrifice quality and the ability to do certain things. One thing you won't be able to do is a structured hat, because the machine eats them, breaks needles, and will tear up the hat itself. The tech support will have you up and running, but any issues will be defaulted to being your fault or you just don't know what you are doing. This machine is not what your salesman says it is and you wonder why they push so hard it's because the are on commission. There are more Ricoma's out there for sale than any other Embroidery Machine.... Other top brands won't even take them in on trade because they are horrible machines. You truly get what you pay for.

A woman also lost part of her house because the Ricoma caught on fire. The fire marshal ruled it was the machine's fault.

BUYER BEWARE!


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## djque (Feb 5, 2013)

I have a ricoma and have no issues with hats. I also work at a blace that has barudan. I can tell you from experience that its all operator error. the ladies that run the machines have nothing but thread and needle breaks. when I adjust the tension and set the machine up right I come back in the next day and they have the same issues again. I run a H test and instantly notice they just turn the knobs and dont understand what there doing.they use the same needle for everything from hats to leather. they use a ballpoint. I tell them and they get mad so I leave it be.as for the ricom wasnt you talking about this on the ricoma facebook group and Henry addressed it.


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## djque (Feb 5, 2013)

this was just posted and done on a ricoma. all this was done on a ricoma 1501-tc7s.


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## selzler (Apr 4, 2007)

Caps are one of the hardest to learn. I do wholesale embroidery for other people. They send the designs to other places because of the price I charge to setup the designs. Most of their designs go back 3 to 4 times to where they had them done because the person doing the setup doesn't now how to set up cap designs. I can tell by looking how the design will sew if it will work or not. I've been doing embroidery since 1992. Make sure that the design starts at the middle of the cap as close to the bill. Then the design needs to go up the center and work out to the sides. If the design doesn't sew that way that were your trouble will begin. also depending on the cap you may have to relax the center seem by bending and rolling the front seem.


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## into the T (Aug 22, 2015)

thanks for the other side of the story





djque said:


> I have a ricoma and have no issues with hats. I also work at a blace that has barudan. I can tell you from experience that its all operator error. the ladies that run the machines have nothing but thread and needle breaks. when I adjust the tension and set the machine up right I come back in the next day and they have the same issues again. I run a H test and instantly notice they just turn the knobs and dont understand what there doing.they use the same needle for everything from hats to leather. they use a ballpoint. I tell them and they get mad so I leave it be.as for the ricom wasnt you talking about this on the ricoma facebook group and Henry addressed it.


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## EmBMomma (May 20, 2020)

I can do caps and I do them all day long on the Barudan single heads that I have. No Henry did not address me and he and his little groups have banned me because he offered a refund, which I have in writing, but instead he's tried to bully me into being quiet. No worries, I will be more than happy to video it and post that machine all over the place because it's not what I was promised. I was promised Barudan Quality and Speed... I knew what to ask for when I dropped the money I did. User error is a cop out, people who have been in this industry for years can't get the quality out of the Ricoma that you can out of a Barudan, ZSK, or even a Tajami. They are trash machines.


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## EmBMomma (May 20, 2020)

There are always other sides to the story, but since one person say USER ERROR I am wrong and I must not be working this machine right? That's a bunch of crap. I have had this POS for a year and it will not get down to a 1/4" off the brim like my Barudan's, doens't always sense that the bobbin is gone, or if a needle breaks it won't stop and it tears it up... The stitching is not near as good as the Barudan... They sold me a Luxury car and I got a Geo Metro. Don't put this on people who know what they are doing, some people have success with their machine, but not everyone does... They don't manufacture the parts they buy them and slap these machines together, so I can have faulty parts, but everyone wants to say "USER ERROR"! Please I have had it long enough to know Facetime and empty emails are not fixing this machine. AND if they don't want to honor their word and take this POS back then I will surely let everyone know about it, along with the many others that are ready to sue with me.


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## EmBMomma (May 20, 2020)

Yes, Ricoma puts out such great hats on my MT-1506. I know how to hoop a hat, I know how put on my cap drivers and yet this machine still can't produce like my Barudan. 

The side by side comparison is enough for me and it's the SAME FILE... I don't even care about PLACEMENT, I did those purely for stitch out purposes. 

and the BLACK Yupoong hat.... That was a joke it didn't even know the bobbin was out of thread, yet 3 days ago the tech walked me through resetting it and said "ALL DONE"! 

The machine is a joke, those that have single heads can baby sit it and they probably work better, but this machine is crap.


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## jfwrrw (Jan 17, 2020)

Well, I have a 4 month old Ricoma SWD-1501 and when I got it was when I started doing embroidery. Never done it before in my life. Very user friendly. Programming is truly quite easy. Stitches out beautifully. No problem at all with hats from many different vendors. Have yet to break a needle. Rarely have a thread break. When I do have an issue, I look back and realize that almost all of the time it is my fault - "user error." I see myself in a learning curve. But love the machine and what it turns out. I am getting so much word of mouth business that I am thinking about getting 1 or 2 more machines. And the feedback on the quality of the embroidery is very, very positive.


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## djque (Feb 5, 2013)

2 more hats pictures someone did on the Ricoma.I know for a fact that most of the time it user error. just yesterdayat work on the barudan the same lady broke the 6 head again that I fixed last week.same issue but on another head.somehow she keep breaking the needle 3 times and when I open it I see the piece in the bobbin are that pushes the part that cut the bobbin is pushed out to far.she tried to say it was the same head. no I keep a history of what I fix. so I fix that.I'll post some hats from them when I get to work.

as for that lady and the fire.


Brad Phillips
Brad Phillips Bert Gordon, below is the reply posted by Henry Ma
Hi All, thanks for bringing this to our attention. I would like to formally address a few things and let everyone know of our next steps for this particular incident.
1. Our machines have low voltage electronics, which makes it highly improbable that it can combust internally and start a fire.
2. The control panel gets its power from the power switch and power supply. Our power supply and power switch has auto protection and shuts off when there’s a short, precisely to prevent further damage or even the possibility of a fire.
3. The control panel wires seem intact from the picture attached. And it only has a 5V power, which again is very low voltage to create a fire. If by chance it did combust internally, the wires would be completely burnt, but only the casing is burnt, which makes it more likely that the fire started externally from the machine.
We will be conducting an investigation and getting third party involved to do a thorough inspection for further analysis so we can properly address it. For everyone else that were concerned, I want to reassure you that this is the first time this type of incident was reported to us ever and we are confident in the protection mechanisms and safety features built in to the machines to prevent such incidents. That’s why the electronics are carefully designed to be low voltage.
But rest assured that we are taking this seriously and will be bringing on board experts to conduct a thorough review and reach a conclusion. Thank you.

from a retired electrician

Rick Lewis I read Henry Ma's response, and I am a retired Electrician/Electronics Technician. Henry Ma is absolutely spot on with his assessment. One fact that can't be disputed, it would be impossible for the electronics to combust, all the electronics are what are called "power limited", and will not under any circumstance draw the kind of current that would set a machine on fire or even melt the plastic..Even with a direct short. The power supply is incapable of generating low voltage current sufficient to bring any wires or electronics to a temperature that would cause combustion. The power supply itself has several layers of protection where it couldn't do what happened either. The power switch breaks both load wires so when the switch is off there is no way for current to be produced. I did read somebody's response about how they had a 30 amp dedicated circuit ran just for their machine that pulls maybe 300 watts max? To each his own I suppose but that 30 amp 120 volt outlet with a cord plugged into that is rated at 20 amps will create enough heat if there is a short circuit in the cord (and it does happen folks) by getting crushed by a roller, a table leg or a thousand other things and that 20 amp wire will turn into a little welding outfit because the 30 amp breaker only sees it as a load and the 20 amp wire will eventually melt (hopefully) but not before there is a fire if combustible material is available, as a matter of fact if an arc is started it will be sustained continuously and never trip the breaker. But if the circuit was properly sized for the equipment the breaker (20 amp) would have tripped. So IMHO (and the NEC) that 30 amp dedicated circuit is a hazard much worse than anything talked about here.


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## crwhite32 (May 15, 2020)

EmBMomma said:


> I see so many people in here wanting to do embroidery and they love the price of the Ricoma, the financing, etc, but you sacrifice quality and the ability to do certain things. One thing you won't be able to do is a structured hat, because the machine eats them, breaks needles, and will tear up the hat itself. The tech support will have you up and running, but any issues will be defaulted to being your fault or you just don't know what you are doing. This machine is not what your salesman says it is and you wonder why they push so hard it's because the are on commission. There are more Ricoma's out there for sale than any other Embroidery Machine.... Other top brands won't even take them in on trade because they are horrible machines. You truly get what you pay for.
> 
> A woman also lost part of her house because the Ricoma caught on fire. The fire marshal ruled it was the machine's fault.
> 
> BUYER BEWARE!


I have never heard of them but thanks for the heads up


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## edward1210 (Nov 7, 2009)

djque said:


> I have a ricoma and have no issues with hats. I also work at a blace that has barudan. I can tell you from experience that its all operator error. the ladies that run the machines have nothing but thread and needle breaks. when I adjust the tension and set the machine up right I come back in the next day and they have the same issues again. I run a H test and instantly notice they just turn the knobs and dont understand what there doing.they use the same needle for everything from hats to leather. they use a ballpoint. I tell them and they get mad so I leave it be.as for the ricom wasnt you talking about this on the ricoma facebook group and Henry addressed it.


Maybe barudan is better machne, I have 2 head ricoma machine, they work excellent, customer service much better than barudan, ricoma has free training, free installation a lot of video online. barudan, 0, just a few old video, i just got this week one barudan single head, i'm by my own, i'm stock dont know how to use it, not video, they sent me a dvd from 1970, nothing related to my machine, i have to called them to ask them to send me the manual for the machine i bough, is ridicules
I'm selling my ricoma 2head is not because problem, i want to buy a 4 heads machine.
I will say one more time, Ricoma has much better customer services


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## Emprint (Feb 2, 2020)

I just watched this video yesterday. This might help you regarding the structured cap issue. We have had that issue with Tajima machine and structured caps but it just took some understanding of the machine setup and digitizing.

RICHARDSON CAPS 3D Puff Embroidery Challenge at 1000 SPM

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V1M2_aLaNWc


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## EmBMomma (May 20, 2020)

The expectations that I had for this machine was nothing that they said it would be. 

"User Error"... That is such a cop out and I am tired of hearing people tell me that, when I can hoop a hat just fine on my Barudans and produce it a beautiful hat. 

It took 4 months for me to purchase and I kept asking will it run R112 just like my Barudan with quality and speed.... THE ANSWER IS NO! I've had a tech out and been on the phone for HOURS just to get this POS to work.
Mod edit: This post was edited because we don't allow self promotion, advertising, or offering your own products/services. Either in the open forum or in Private Messages. Please familiarize yourself with posting rules here: https://www.t-shirtforums.com/forum-information/t1173.html ​


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## jpat57 (Aug 18, 2018)

EmBMomma said:


> Yes, Ricoma puts out such great hats on my MT-1506. I know how to hoop a hat, I know how put on my cap drivers and yet this machine still can't produce like my Barudan.
> 
> The side by side comparison is enough for me and it's the SAME FILE... I don't even care about PLACEMENT, I did those purely for stitch out purposes.
> 
> ...




These photos definitely show some slipping. If you are stuck with that machine, hire a good experienced tech to work on it. There is no question that Barudan is easier to work with for caps. Its in the cap driver design. However, any machine including the Ricoma can be set up to do caps well. Its just not as easy to run hats as a Barudan. We purchased an older single head Barudan just to run the tougher hat designs and 3d puff. Our Toyota 9000's even have a harder time with hats than the Barudan. On any other brand machine, you have to take more care in hooping your hats. Barudan has been focused on hat embroidery since 1998. They are way ahead of the pack. It is unfortunate that you started with the Barudan first, then went with Ricoma. However, I think you would have had a similar disappointment going with any other brand. Barudans just are so easy to work with. They just need to change that horrible operating system. lol

There is a great cap hooping video on the Amaya Users Group front page. It is narrated by a cap sewing master. I highly recommend anyone that does not have a Barudan check it out.


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## EmBMomma (May 20, 2020)

JPAT I get that, but before I purchased the machine and it took me 6 months to purchase. I asked does it do hats as easy and with detail as my Barudan. Plus, the speed. They assured me that it was not an issues... I have no time to tweak my machine for 45 minutes everyday to work on the registration. I couldn't get that machine to work properly consistently .... It breaks needles and has thread breaks more than my 10 year old Barudans and it doesn't compare to the ZSK's I had to buy to keep my business a float.... I would have lost my embroidery business...


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## binki (Jul 16, 2006)

From my experience I would say the single head machines are not as good as the multi heads. My experience is all with SWF however that is the lowest on the food chain I would go. I would prefer a Tajima or other top end machine but I wouldn't buy one of the chinese machines because they appear to be cheaply made. Just my opinion from looking at them at the shows and examining how the run compared to the higher end machines. 

Price is a story. It tells you about what you are buying. The price point may be to get market share and it may allow them to get better over time. 

If the machine isn't working for you I would say to sell it and move up the food chain. Maybe you can trade it in.


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