I used the P600 for about 5 years for DTG purposes. I ran 4 of them most of that time. The problems I encountered are with the ink manifold. It's absolutely crap for white ink. Springs, microscopic holes, rubber valves, all kinds of crap. The reason, They call the p600 " pressurized" ink system. When in reality its not, it's rather like a diaphragm. It gets gunked up with white ink in as little as 24 hours of sitting. White ink settles- period. If you have normal paths for the ink, this hardly matters unless it's severe which takes months/years of use. they use Ti02 for the white pigment, which is heavier than the carrier. As time passes, small amounts of this Ti02 will slowly drop due to gravity out of the suspension. The longer it sits, the more it does it. It coagulates. Lighter ink will flow around it, kind of like cholesterol in the human body. Eventually, a "chunk" can break off and hit the dampers or head. If you know anything about engines, imagine a Weedeater Carb, or 2 cycle engine carburetor. Even those old briggs push mowers. They use diaphragm pumps to feed the carb instead of a bowl ( needle/float). Thicker fluids, smaller holes, always gunking up- always finding them on the side of the road when a $2 part will fix it.
Now on to the p600. The manifold doesn't function well with this thicker ink, then add the ink settling. I would print 20-40 shirts a day per printer, every single day. just sitting for 24 hours would require me at least an hour a day to get my inks good again. I found out, If I flush the manifold and ink lines at least once every 3 months, this didn't happen. Basically, It worked fine if you manually flushed it every 2-3 months. If you didn't, You had one hell of a time keeping it going without wasting a ton of ink- let alone the " soft clogs" caused by this phenomenon requiring a head clean every 5-8 prints.
The p800 I used right beside these ( it was a harder conversion for DTG and I did it all myself, unlike the kits for the p600's) didn't experience this- ever. It could sit for 2 days and print fine. It could sit for 6 months. As long as I shook the carts and did a heavy ink charge to get the separated ink out of the lines ( which is simple and literally requires one heavy cleaning). Still working. It's been over a year and the p800 has been rather dormant with white ink installed, the same white ink the P600's failed to work with after sitting for 2 days, except the p800 has gone over 30 days without a single print- works perfect.
Actually, as we speak, I have a P800 that has been sitting unattended for 4 weeks with DTF inks in it, without a single issue.
The reason- the thing doesn't have a crappy manifold. It literally has a "straight path" ink system and is actually pressurized at the cartridges, instead of within the manifold. If you take both manifolds apart ( one p600, one p800) you will understand. If you take one each apart after letting them sit for 2-3 days with white ink in them, you'll understand more.
So If the P700 is anything like the P600, No thanks. The p800's have just worked- Not one single failure- letting them sit for months unused- expecting it to never work- without an issue.
I actually had about 8 new P800's here when DTF took off, because I was getting rid of my P600's and changing them to p800's. Fortunately for me, I never did. I sold 7 of them and hanging on to the others until I find a trustworthy buyer, because they just work. One p800 I'm using now, Not one single issue. At all. It's roll printed thousands of 12x12 prints, not a single part changed without a single issue.
The main reason I want a P900- I'm bored with how well the P800 works. I want something I can show others how it works, as well as secure newer technology. One day the P800 will die. Sometimes I want a challenge and like to switch things up. I know this sounds stupid, but I love working on things- so in essence we run a business just so I CAN work on printers. Lol.
How did you go about flushing everything? I think I am starting to run into this issue.
DTF conversion for P700 and P900
in General Direct to Film Discussion
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How did you go about flushing everything? I think I am starting to run into this issue.