# Our next DTG printer, what should it be. ?



## brixen (Jun 27, 2013)

Hello everyone.. ! 

Thanks for this great forum, where I get a lot of info for DTG printing.

We made our first decision for our first DTG printer partly from a lot of input form this forum, and part, visiting the companies who sold them.. We decided back then on a Anajet Mpower10i. I have posted some of the work we have done underneath here. We bought the printer back in august 2013, so we are soon to hit 2 years with it. So we are also on the look out for what should be the next one.. We have been very happy with our Mpower, and think it has been a good machine,. Of course we did deal with some problems. changed a few boards, the engine for the head, and 3 printheads.. but we print around 50-100pcs a day on it so for the last 18 month its been around 20.000 prints.. so I don't think we have had to many problems..

Our customers are private and business. our orders are comming through mails and our webshop. so we do a lot of one pcs. for customers but also 100 and 200pcs for bigger customers.

Our setup is: one Viper XT XPT, one 2-plate hydraulic press, for curing the pretreat, one tunnel dryer for curing the prints. so its all working very well together. I have one employe to run it all.

I'm thinking our next printer should be one more mpower, so we have 2 of the same. or else we want to go with 2 new ones of another brand.. Since i think their must be something that is better, since the mpower is from 2011 i think.

We are running on 1L bulk ink, and are refilling our cartridges, so we use around 5L a month. So ink cost are low, and they should stay that way.

here are some of the critics that we are looking for in the new one.
1. We need a printer with at least the same print speed.
2. We need a printer with same low ink cost. We don't want to run on small original cartridge.
3. Quality is important, but speed and reliability is far more important.
4. Would like if printing on white shirts were a bit darker, (now black is dark grey and red is light red) we don't have a lot of customers who mention it, but would be great with a thicker layer of ink.

We though about Brother, NeoFlex and Kornit. but would really like to hear what you people have to say.

The price is not that important.

This is some of our latest work..

Looking forward to hear what your big brains can suggest.. 

Thanks. 
John



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## lvprinting (Sep 23, 2014)

What is your budget? 

That will determine your options. 

Sent from my SM-N900T using T-Shirt Forums


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## brixen (Jun 27, 2013)

Budget is around 60k$ I think..


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## DiscoveryJet (Apr 3, 2014)

Buy couples of epson based DTG Printers. So if one machine goes down you still have many backup machines


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## brixen (Jun 27, 2013)

Yes i thought about Epson, they sounds like really good machines, but they are slow, and can you get ink for them. ? Its very important for us that you can get 1L bulk for the machine.. for jobs when you do 200pcs you are often competing with screen printers.. so 500$ a L like anajet wants is not going to compete on the begger jobs.. Epson is 333$ pr L.. with is better, but need so be more like 200$.

do you know of bulk ink for Epson. ?


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## dragonknight (May 30, 2009)

You can buy bulk ink for many kind of epson printer on aliexpress.com


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## DiscoveryJet (Apr 3, 2014)

Yes you can get it on ebay or aliexpress
here is the link Shop epson 1430 ciss online - Buy epson 1430 ciss for unbeatable low prices on AliExpress.com


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## jgabby (Mar 29, 2007)

If you are looking for a faster printer then have a look to the new Genesis


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## brixen (Jun 27, 2013)

I have been looking on that printer on their website a week ago, but thought it isn't out yet.. Do know which is better / faster of the Genesis and MOD1. ? Do you know of any of them are quicker than the Mpower10i. ?


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## brixen (Jun 27, 2013)

jgabby said:


> If you are looking for a faster printer then have a look to the new Genesis


Jgabby, which printer are you using . ?


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## jgabby (Mar 29, 2007)

Epson based 48xx, but I would like to replaced them
but with 60k, you can have a nice setup !


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## lvprinting (Sep 23, 2014)

For 60k, you can have a couple good printers with money to spare!

Personally, I would want two printers so I have a backup in case of downtime.

Sent from my SM-G900T using T-Shirt Forums


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## RobP614 (Jun 26, 2011)

Wait for the Genesis! Saw it ISS...going to be $29K or so, and is absolutely amazing!


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## brixen (Jun 27, 2013)

I have emailed belqutte asking about the Genesis, that one sounds very interesting.. Yes we would rather want two printers, than one big.. Now when our mpower is down we are usually in very big trouble.. But only happened 3 times... Any one knows the ink price for Genesis.? What's the ink price on mod1.. It's probably the same... Any of you running a mod1? Is It stable...?


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## jgabby (Mar 29, 2007)

They do not use the same ink, mod1 is dx5 head, when genesis have the new ricoh gen 5 head with new Dupont ink (better color)


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## JeridHill (Feb 8, 2006)

If anyone wants to know anything about the Genesis, we encourage you to contact us direct. We drive the Ricoh Gen5 print head using 100% our technology. Since we avoid using an integrator for this process we do not have to pay a third party and is why we can sell the product for less than $30,000. It also allows us to control the print head specifically for direct to garment.

We looked at the Gen4 head and although it is a good print head we felt it wasn't the right fit for us. The Gen5 is the first Ricoh head we see that is built for consistent results with these types of ink. Nozzle count isn't the only thing to consider, the Gen5 head is larger and can print a larger droplet size range with twice the firing frequency as the previous generation (G4).

This is the newest technology for this series of Ricoh heads, they are not moving backwards. And of course, a direct to garment printer is much more than just a print head.


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## DTGPRINTERPARTS (Jul 13, 2012)

JeridHill said:


> If anyone wants to know anything about the Genesis, we encourage you to contact us direct. We drive the Ricoh Gen5 print head using 100% our technology. Since we avoid using an integrator for this process we do not have to pay a third party and is why we can sell the product for less than $30,000. It also allows us to control the print head specifically for direct to garment.
> 
> We looked at the Gen4 head and although it is a good print head we felt it wasn't the right fit for us. The Gen5 is the first Ricoh head we see that is built for consistent results with these types of ink. Nozzle count isn't the only thing to consider, the Gen5 head is larger and can print a larger droplet size range with twice the firing frequency as the previous generation (G4).
> 
> This is the newest technology for this series of Ricoh heads, they are not moving backwards. And of course, a direct to garment printer is much more than just a print head.


I saw the Genesis at the end of the show and it works and looks fantastic. BelQuette makes a great machine. It has a lot of work behind it and looks like it is a reliable workhorse. I did talk with the owners and after being in the market and watching them I believe these guys are the real deal.


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## swazey (Sep 20, 2013)

brixen said:


> Hello everyone.. !
> 
> Thanks for this great forum, where I get a lot of info for DTG printing.
> 
> ...


Great post John and glad to hear your success with the AnaJet. We switched to a brother machine and love it. If you're interested in a other AnaJet for a steal, send me a PM.


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## DTGPRINTERPARTS (Jul 13, 2012)

Matter of fact I sent some people to BelQuette at the show. I will say out in the open if I would refer anyone that wants a Ricoh Gen5 head machine directly to BQ or if they want a machine other than mine


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## jgabby (Mar 29, 2007)

I may have missed something, or maybe I am too curious, Is Eric Dekay317 working for BQ now ?

Sorry fo asking 

Cheers


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## DTGPRINTERPARTS (Jul 13, 2012)

jgabby said:


> I may have missed something, or maybe I am too curious, Is Eric Dekay317 working for BQ now ?
> 
> Sorry fo asking
> 
> Cheers


Lol yup. Met him at the show


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## EricDeem (May 7, 2011)

jgabby said:


> I may have missed something, or maybe I am too curious, Is Eric Dekay317 working for BQ now ?
> 
> Sorry fo asking
> 
> Cheers


Yep. I moved down to Florida and have now started working with Jerid and the other staff here to take DTG printers to the next level!


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## DTGPRINTERPARTS (Jul 13, 2012)

Dekay317 said:


> Yep. I moved down to Florida and have now started working with Jerid and the other staff here to take DTG printers to the next level!


Lol next level? Genesis is like 10 levels ahead lol


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## MZDEELO (Oct 14, 2006)

i feel like i missed out on some fun in AC. next time


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## DTGPRINTERPARTS (Jul 13, 2012)

MZDEELO said:


> i feel like i missed out on some fun in AC. next time


We had such a good time but I will see you in the LBC for sure. We did great and will hopefully do more now


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## MZDEELO (Oct 14, 2006)

DTGPRINTERPARTS said:


> We had such a good time but I will see you in the LBC for sure. We did great and will hopefully do more now


for NBM or ASI later this month?


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## DTGPRINTERPARTS (Jul 13, 2012)

Not sure but will let you know.


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## brixen (Jun 27, 2013)

Still haven't heard from Belquette, after sending them a request 5 weeks ago, so thats really a good start, if they want to sell a printer.. 

We have been looking a bit more, and are now also taking the Storm II in to considering.. now we are talking 180K printer, and we can't really fit that one in to our current production, and we also need a new dryer then, since i think the one we use now is two small for a Storm II, so would really like something in between. 

if we want a faster printer than the Mpower 10i which we currently print around 25-35 pcs of whits on an hour, and about 15-20 colored and hour, is there no printer between Mpower and Kornit. ? If we are not interested in getting a printer that are only 10-15 % faster..

is the New Genesis suppose to be faster. ? 

Would really like one fast mean printer and rather than two slower.


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## DTGPRINTERPARTS (Jul 13, 2012)

They may have been busy. I know they have done lots of trade shows this year. I don't know if they are doing International sales right now. I think they focus more on domestics. I really think a good biz model is having a lot of printers as opposed to one so if there's a problem you have the other 3 or 4


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## CanarianDrifter (Sep 12, 2012)

If you like the Anajet stick with it. You'll have two printers printing the same images, same inks, same process. However, before doing that I would talk to them and have them give you a longer warranty, parts and labor included. I don't see a point going with something else unless you are getting rid of the MP10i.

You already know the ins and outs of your machine and it shouldn't be much of an issue since "supposedly" Anajet have worked some of the earlier problems out. 

I don't own an Anajet, I have the GT381

CD


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## JeridHill (Feb 8, 2006)

Sorry if we did not respond, my guess is our email got lost in the shuffle. Feel free to email me direct. [email protected]


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## DTGPRINTERPARTS (Jul 13, 2012)

CanarianDrifter said:


> If you like the Anajet stick with it. You'll have two printers printing the same images, same inks, same process. However, before doing that I would talk to them and have them give you a longer warranty, parts and labor included. I don't see a point going with something else unless you are getting rid of the MP10i.
> 
> You already know the ins and outs of your machine and it shouldn't be much of an issue since "supposedly" Anajet have worked some of the earlier problems out.
> 
> ...


Completely agree


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## brixen (Jun 27, 2013)

Any of you running a Storm II. ? we are thinking about that direction.. any one knows the print speed. ? i know i can read them on kornits webpage, but i don't really think those numbers are correct.. 150 whites and 80 black..

we are currently doing around 30 whites / 15 black on our mpower 10.. thats a 20x30cm A4 print. 

I have tried reading in the forum, is the kornit II only twice that speed in real production. ? I need to be able to do around 4 x the volume of today, to be able to quit buying all the transfers we are currently using from our supplier.. to be able to do that, we need to print with about 4 times the speed. , so around 120 / 60 an hour.. is that possible with the Storm II. ? with the price of about 150K US, it should do 4 x speed. of the mpower..

Thanks..


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