[aessportswear]

Hi, I am preparing to buy a new DTG printer. I have done a lot of research nailing down facts, specs, demos, samples, etc. I have not yet heard from people who own the machines, however.

The two machines I am considering are:
1. EPSON SureColor F2100 (avail. March 2018) (happy to have comments about the F2000 until the F2100 is released)
2. Ricoh Anajet Ri 3000

I am not currently considering the Brother GTX but am not closed to the idea.

Seems to me that when the dust settles, Anajet is marketing as "industrial quality" and with "cheaper inks." Seems Epson has better distribution and warranty, and Epson seems to reply that Anajet will use the same (or even more) ink, with all the maintenance and head cleanings, etc. So it looks like "6 in one, half-dozen the other" on ink. As for "customer care," I feel inclined to say that Epson will hold your hand as long as you have a solid distributor to rely on, which I do in my case.

Epson on their part seems to present itself as "trouble-free" and with the new F2100 "quasi-maintenance free," and add fast to that with the same speed as the GTX now. Anajet seems to say Epson costs more and the printheads are plastic vs. Anajet stainless steel printheads... "Epson is consumer quality. We're industrial." I'm being told by Anajet.

In the end, my gut tells me ink may be slightly less for Anajet if at all, but there is a lot of maintenance, whereas the Epson will just print for me, and the fact that they don't have stainless steel printheads is irrelevant. Seems like "up-time" is most important. What I don't know is how fast the Ricoh Anajet Ri 3000 prints in the real world. I've seen the Brother GTX and the new F2100 from Epson and they are nearly identical.

I am interested in any advice and wisdom anyone would like to share, and I'm grateful for your time.

Thanks!

 

[gatorGRAFIX]

I am not currently considering the Brother GTX but am not closed to the idea.

If so, be sure to compare price and more importantly compare the warranties. Be sure to read the fine print on this one. Epson leads the way with a full warranty for one year with the option to buy two more years of pretty much the same full coverage warranty. Big Deal - Epson will send an Epson F2100 trained tech TO YOUR PLACE to repair your F2100 if you should ever require warranty work. Think about how much hassle (not to mention how expensive) this would be to box up that heavy a$$ printer and ship it back for repairs.

Seems to me that when the dust settles, Anajet is marketing as "industrial quality" and with "cheaper inks."

Ha ha. "Industrial Quality", now that's a big claim (what ever that really means). I would recommend finding and talking to some Anajet owners past and present. Anajet was recently bought up by Ricoh (just saying) which sounds like a good thing but they seemed to have only added their own name to the DTG and not done any internal redesign at all. IMHO the Ricoh/Anajajet isn't even in the same league as the Epson or the Brother machines. You have to remember that the Brother and the Epson companies are heavy hitters with deep pockets with much invested in R&D as well as high quality manufacturing. I hate to bash on the Anajet but it is a machine that was just picked up by someone else and they don't seem to have done anything to it to make it better.

Seems Epson has better distribution and warranty, and Epson seems to reply that Anajet will use the same (or even more) ink, with all the maintenance and head cleanings, etc. So it looks like "6 in one, half-dozen the other" on ink. As for "customer care," I feel inclined to say that Epson will hold your hand as long as you have a solid distributor to rely on, which I do in my case.

WARRANTY WARRANTY WARRANTY. See the first reply above. Best to buy from a good reputable dealer (such as Equipment Zone, the only dealer that I have bought from myself). Do a search in this forum to see that they are the best in customer service. They are also the #1 Epson reseller in the world and everyone knows that the Epson DTG is the #1 selling machine globally also.

Epson on their part seems to present itself as "trouble-free" and with the new F2100 "quasi-maintenance free," and add fast to that with the same speed as the GTX now. Anajet seems to say Epson costs more and the printheads are plastic vs. Anajet stainless steel printheads... "Epson is consumer quality. We're industrial." I'm being told by Anajet.

Refer to my first reply above. I would FOR SURE talk to Anajet owners. Anyone can say anything (including me...ha ha). I seriously doubt that "stainless steel" head is just that. Probably stainless steel encased at best. The Epson machine is designed from the ground up, head and all. Hard for most DTG suppliers to make that claim honestly.

Google Search and a phone will be your best friend and remember that most forums such as this draw mostly people that need help or are disgruntled for one reason or another. Most happy printers are usually printing happily and not worried about taking the time to post the good stuff.

ASK YOUR DEALER FOR REFERRALS AND DON'T RELY ON JUST ONE FROM EACH!

I don't know if I would say that it would be smart to just turn off any DTG (that you paid good money for) and just walk away from it at the end of the day. All manufacturers want their machine to look the best and be the easiest to use no doubt but proper maintenance is key to a healthy printer, no matter which one that you have. I ALWAYS do a head cap clean at the end of every print day (Epson says that 1 a week is fine) and I never miss out on the tube wash squirts that keep the white ink tubes clean and slick. Laziness here can be a bad thing I think. Then again, that's just me.

In the end, my gut tells me ink may be slightly less for Anajet if at all, but there is a lot of maintenance, whereas the Epson will just print for me, and the fact that they don't have stainless steel printheads is irrelevant. Seems like "up-time" is most important.

Up Time is very important. Another reason to stay away from the Ananajet. Let me repeat myslef if you didn't understand that one...stay away from Anajet if up time is truly important to you. Just ask around on this one. If you do wind up with an Anajet DTG I am sure that EVERYONE that reads this thread will interested in hearing from you over your first couple of months of ownership.

I've seen the Brother GTX and the new F2100 from Epson and they are nearly identical.

I would say that is probably pretty close to the truth. The Brother prints it's color pass on the same pass as the base white. This can speed up print times for sure but printing this way can (or may) come at a cost. The white ink must start it's curing process very very quickly to have the wet color coat lay down smoothly and still keep great detail (which DTG's are famously known for). I haven't printed on one myself, just theorizing.

The Epson F2100 print head now moves faster than before and with the new more powerful processor and the ability to use a variable drop size it can quickly print in wide bands with better overlap for color blending. This means that with a fast printed white base print (that will easily be gelled enough by the time the color pass starts to print on top of it) you get very fast overall print times that are handled much differently than the Brother printer's way fo doing things.

Note - You might want to check out a couple of the hazard warning labels found on each Brother GTX ink cartridge box ( and understand what they mean). The Epson has no hazardous warning labels on their DTG ink at all. This could be a big deal to some.

I am interested in any advice and wisdom anyone would like to share, and I'm grateful for your time.

Thanks!

I am sorry for being so long winded. I don't claim to be a DTG expert and I am for sure bias towards the Epson machine since I have been a happy F2000 owner for almost 3 years now and I have printed many many awesome looking jobs on it. Epson has stepped up it's game on the F2000 during it's run by updating it's free garment Creator print driver software and firmware revisions (remember the $120 a month tube washings from the early days or the NO "knock out black" printing with GC?).

The dealer EquipmentZone has always gone far and above the call of duty when it comes to customer service for me. Top notch.

You are in the same position that I was before I bought my DTG.

Advice - call DTG owners and talk with them.

Know the warranty - nothing sucks more than having a (fairly) new machine that breaks and you are stuck with no help and maybe a big repair and/or shipping bill.

What ever DTG you do wind up with I wish you luck and welcome to the forum!!!

 

[aessportswear]

Well if that wasn't a phenomenal reply, then I don't know what it is! VERY VERY grateful and HAPPY as well. I am working with Equipment Zone and they seem great so far. Thank you for the genuine and insightful responses. I believe the picture is clearing up here and while you recommend (advice which I'm taking) to talk to some DTG owners, thank you for being the first!

I think the warranty says a lot. I don't like that I cannot get an extended warranty from Ricoh/Anajet even if I wanted to purchase one. They said "I won't need one," but what then would be the harm in selling me one anyway for my peace of mind? Also, on-site service is another key. I am a computer technician and computers (and printers) go down. Stuff happens. That's part of the reason I am employed! Can't say either of these printers will go down but I would pay for the peace of mind if I could.

I also am grateful to hear about the warning on the Brother inks. That IS important to me. I learned that the Epson ink is certified in some manner for children's clothing, which is something I will also be doing. With that, and the Brother only warranting the first 15,000 prints, I really feel like the Epson is the winner between those two as well. It doesn't mean the other printers don't have their niche--they may be awesome, but I feel like the Epson is the best match for me. Just need to hear from a couple more people as you mention and I'll be ready to make my decision.

Thanks gatorGRAFIX!

 

[gatorGRAFIX]

Glad I could help.

If you do purchase an F21000 there are a lot of folks in here (including me) that will give you a hand if you need it.

 

[aessportswear]

Glad I could help.

If you do purchase an F2100 there are a lot of folks in here (including me) that will give you a hand if you need it.

Thank you!

 

[DrivingZiggy]

Have you already decided against the Omniprint 330TX? I wasn't sure if you'd considered it or not. If you have considered it and decided against it, I'd be very interested in your reasoning as I am new and researching. And I thought that the 330TX was pretty comparable to the "big 3."

 

[aessportswear]

Thank you. I actually was unaware of it. I did just take a look at the website, however. One thing I noticed right away is that the speed is very slow. It says 4 minutes for a 8x10 image on dark at 720 dpi. The Epson F2100 prints 11x11 image on dark in 69 seconds. I think if my math is correct, the less expensive Epson F2000 would print the same image in 93 seconds. That said, I am personally interested in the speed. The F2000 is also a printer you can turn off and the F2100 now has the maintenance cycle actually built into the printer to run automatically for you. It looks like that's the one I am going to go for.

 

[gatorGRAFIX]

The "wet capping station" is old school technology that is in fact truly out dated when it comes to the longevity of a DTG printer. These were used even in the days of the very first DTG's if I remember correctly when the old Frezner T-Jets ruled the roost. When ever you see this phrase associated with a DTG printer it means a couple of things.

1.) You can (in reality) never turn the DTG printer off because it is ALWAYS in the need to "spit" liquid through the head assembly wether that be (expensive) ink or cleaning solution.

Even the new Brother GTX (as does the OmniJet) has a "wet capping station" that they tout as a good thing. If you dig deep into their warranty they will tell you that if your power goes down for any reason for 20 minutes or more and your GTX machine suffers damage from this your warranty is null and void.

The Brother people also want to push you into buying some sort of "backup" system for your shop/home/printer at an added expense to you for this very reason when you buy their printer.

I would say that because of the way that the GTX prints the wet color layer on top of the white base in the same pass it would never be able to sustain any type of short or long term power down times no matter what the configuration of the head assembly system because of the formulation of the new GTX inks. Specifically the white inks.
The white needs to dry very very quickly so it can hold the detail and consistency of the color ink. Just my thoughts on it.

2.) The need for a power backup backup system wether this would be a battery backup or perhaps even a mobile power generator.

The constant need for a DTG to be spitting fluid comes at a monthly cost also. I see where the Brother dealers will tell you that it is all recycled but from the GTX owners that I have talked with the actual cost of this fluid spitting is about $80 a month in cleaning solution.

3.) Although probably minimal there is the extra cost tacked on to your electric bill every month to keep the contraption powered up.

Let's face it, anything that is plugged into a wall socket and powered up costs money.

 

[Glopear]

Have you already decided against the Omniprint 330TX? I wasn't sure if you'd considered it or not. If you have considered it and decided against it, I'd be very interested in your reasoning as I am new and researching. And I thought that the 330TX was pretty comparable to the "big 3."

Omniprint are way overpriced for what they are. They are repurposed Epson printers and pretty dated nowadays. Think they are around 18k which is about 8k too much for what it is. The advantage is you can use your own ink, but you can on many other converted DTG's for a lot less.

 

[gatorGRAFIX]

That is correct. Their Omniprint machine is built around a head that was made for an Epson paper printer from a few years back. Epson is obligated by law to produce heads for these printers for 7 years (of which probably 4 or 5 have already gone by). After that unless there are a bunch of Chinese knock off heads floating around there will be no heads available for those printers any more. That is the way that I understand it from some pretty high up folks in the industry.

Most DTG's printers are built and sold this way and have been for years. There are only a couple of brands that I know of that are built from the ground up around a DTG head made by the DTG manufacturer. Not sure but I think Anajets have Ricoh heads in them (not sure if that is good or bad) and then there is Epson and Brother and that's about it.

Ever wonder why Epson won't sell one of their F2000 print heads straight out to the GP? Now you know.

 

[allamerican-aeoon]

"Ever wonder why Epson won't sell one of their F2000 print heads straight out to the GP? Now you know."
I heard by my worker that Dealer could buy this head since few months ago. Big guys are self repair now and Dealer could buy parts.
Cheers! beers are on me always.

 

[gatorGRAFIX]

I hope that is correct for sure.

 

[ssmedia7]

Update: Epson is no longer supplying Omni with Print heads. They, and others, are in a tailspin right now. I’ve been told (don’t know this for a fact) that they are now pulling them out of consumer Epson model printers.


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[bradyboyy88]

This thread should get more attention imo. I can give some advice on the RI 6000/3000. So far the maintenance has been pretty low. It does its print head cleans and you do the typical wipe downs after each use (recommended to do after everytime you use to ensure good air seal for capping station). I will say I have to do a print head cleaning before everytime i print, if not 2 cleanings. Ink is fairly cheap and I would say probably cheaper than epson and brother when going with the new Ricoh ink series. I have not see any prints from the gtx or f2100 but I would be curious to find out if anyone has seen prints from all three. I am curious to see if there is solid ink coverage throughout the print? I will say I did a vector image that looked like the addidas logo but some of the strips were teal and man those prints looked dull. Did not look screenprinted like some colors I have done previously done on a white underbase (ie, athletic gold on black shirts basically looks screenprinted on the Ri 6000).

 

[LVdesignsinc2016]

This thread should get more attention imo. I can give some advice on the RI 6000/3000. So far the maintenance has been pretty low. It does its print head cleans and you do the typical wipe downs after each use (recommended to do after everytime you use to ensure good air seal for capping station). I will say I have to do a print head cleaning before everytime i print, if not 2 cleanings. Ink is fairly cheap and I would say probably cheaper than epson and brother when going with the new Ricoh ink series. I have not see any prints from the gtx or f2100 but I would be curious to find out if anyone has seen prints from all three. I am curious to see if there is solid ink coverage throughout the print? I will say I did a vector image that looked like the addidas logo but some of the strips were teal and man those prints looked dull. Did not look screenprinted like some colors I have done previously done on a white underbase (ie, athletic gold on black shirts basically looks screenprinted on the Ri 6000).

I am interested in visiting with you about ink for the 6000

 

[bradyboyy88]

Prices are in the anajet store. For 400cc you pay about 86 a cartridge and 110 for white ink. Id say it sips .5 percent a day in maintenance from the white ink cartridges.

 

[ssmedia7]

I agree with everything said except that Equipment Zone is the best. I give the nod to IT Supplies. They are the only company that will come out, install, setup your computer and profiles for free. They also have a color management team that will work with you to zero your color profiles in. I know EQ has great people, but since IT Supplies does also, I buy from the company who saves me $1000+.


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[momo1991]

This thread should get more attention imo. I can give some advice on the RI 6000/3000. So far the maintenance has been pretty low. It does its print head cleans and you do the typical wipe downs after each use (recommended to do after everytime you use to ensure good air seal for capping station). I will say I have to do a print head cleaning before everytime i print, if not 2 cleanings. Ink is fairly cheap and I would say probably cheaper than epson and brother when going with the new Ricoh ink series. I have not see any prints from the gtx or f2100 but I would be curious to find out if anyone has seen prints from all three. I am curious to see if there is solid ink coverage throughout the print? I will say I did a vector image that looked like the addidas logo but some of the strips were teal and man those prints looked dull. Did not look screenprinted like some colors I have done previously done on a white underbase (ie, athletic gold on black shirts basically looks screenprinted on the Ri 6000).

Hi there

Hope you are doing well. I have seen that you have got the ri6000 from ricoh and I was wondering if you will be able to give us some advise and guidance for the machine.

We are more concerned about the ink curing and color fastness of the end product. Can a Tunnel dryer be used to cure the garment. What setting for the heat press or the Tunnel dryer are needed. Is there anything in specific one needs to do to ensure print won't fade away.

do you use the anajet powerbright as white ink and ricoh cmyk?

I am sorry if it is a lot to ask but I haven't come across anyone on the forum who has these printers other than yourself.

Thanks

 

[sylvan]

Hi,
Having both F2100 and Ri6000 (along with GTXs) in our facilities, I can tell you that Ricoh's products are by far a less professional and production oriented devices.

 

[bradyboyy88]

Can you expand on that? There are definitely things I hate about the machine such as the platen but id love to know more about how it compares to the other machines.