At last week's Japanese-themed Epson event, launching several new technologies; Starleaton directors Ben and Josh Eaton nominated the SureColor R5000 as the most interesting product. The R5000 is Epson's first foray into the 'latex-type ink' market currently dominated by HP. The R stands for 'Resin' to differentiate what is essentially a similar aqueous fluid with strong environmental credentials.
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| 'Designed to compete against latex' - the new R5000 with Ben Eaton(L) Josh Eaton(C) and Ryan Warby of Epson (R) |
Last week, we reported on Epson's launch of several new wide-format techonologies covering Flatbed UV, DTG, Dye-sub Roll-to-roll 'latex' and production management software. While there, we ran into Starleaton directors and brothers Ben and Josh Eaton, who were mightily impressed with the potential of Epson's new R5000.
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| Epson MD, Craig Heckenberg, smashes the Sake barrel to celebrate the opening |
Starleaton is a long-time Epson dealer with branches across Australia and New Zealand and one of the broadest ranges of inkjet media - roll and rigid - of any supplier. Ben Eaton told Wideformatonline the colour quality and scratch-resistance of the Epson R5000 immediately impressed him, as did the much lower power consumption due to the 3-stage warming system.
With the launch of the SureColor R5000 Series Epson Australia has expanded its signage printer line up to include resin ink solutions. These two new R-Series models offer print service providers and creative design agencies ability to produce a wide range of signage and display products. Sitting beside the existing Epson solvent range, they offer potential for faster job turnaround with reduced OH&S and environmental concerns. Designed to compete against latex, these printers offer production speeds up to 27 m2/hr with numerous advantages.
Key features of the SureColor R5000 versus latex
- Enhanced media support
- Superior colour gamut and gradation
- Superior colour and sisal accuracy/consistency
- Long lasting printheads for a reduced running cost
- Higher durability with CoverPlus extendable up to five years.
- Simple and flexible operation with easy loading and reduced maintenance
Epson says that the new R-Series addresses existing industry challenges of working with latex inks, and draws from Epson’s years of experience in delivering predictable and consistent output with superior colour and image quality.
The new 64-inch SC-R5000 and SC-R5000L deliver exceptional print performance and colour control thanks to dual PrecisionCore Micro TFP printheads and Epson Precision Dot Technoloy. Curing temperatures have been reduced over traditional latex to enable enhanced media support. Precision media tracking and temperature control ensures colour, image sizing and positioning is consistent from edge to edge, top to bottom, and print to print.
Epson resin ink produces minimal odour and does not require the out-gassing time of solvent. Printers can be installed and operated in a wider range of environments with reduced OH&S concerns. The efficient drying and curing process enables prints to be produced and laminated quickly for faster job turnaround.
Long-life piezo printheads are user-replaceable
Long-life PrecisionCore Micro TFP printheads support variable sized dots with a smaller minimum drop size for an enhanced gamut and finer gradation. As Piezo printheads are not subjected to thermal degradations, they last a lot longer while producing droplets that are more accurate and consistent. When printheads do need replacing, Epson has implemented a program that enables operator replaceme, thereby boosting uptime and productivity.
Advanced Auto Tension Control (Ad-ATC) and integrated high-precision Auto Take-Up systems enable efficient production with extremely accurate dimensional and sisal stability. Product quality is maximised while the potential for material and labour wastage is reduced. Quality levels have been designed to suit the most demanding applications including window displays and tiled wall coverings.
A new 6-colour UltraChrome RS inkset with a water-based formulation cures at temperatures up to 20% less than traditional latex for enhanced media support. The ink produces durable images that suit indoor and outdoor applications in a wide variety of environments including schools, hospitals, hotels, shops and homes. The ink ships in compact and cost-effective 1.5 litre pouches. The SC-R5000 has a delivery system that holds up to 8 pouches including an optimiser and maintenance liquid. The maintenance liquid works in conjunction with self-cleaning print heads to ensure reliable operation with minimal manual maintenance. The SC-R5000L features a dual supply that holds 16 pouches with auto hot-swap for extended unattended operation.
Both models are supported by Epson Cloud Solution PORT. This new service provides customers with enhanced management and monitoring tools. Performance and status information can be accessed directly or remotely. It also facilitates enhanced backup and support with Epson engineers able to directly work with customers to rapidly resolve issues and action repairs when required.
Features of the SC-R5000 include:
- Print speeds up to 116.5 m2/hr
- Prints offer an enhanced level of scratch resistance
- GreenGuard Gold, AgBB and French-VOC certification
- 4.3 inch touch control panel and see-through platen cover
- User adjustable multi-stage multi-element heating system
- Adjustable optimiser application for enhanced image quality
- Ultra-sonic media status monitoring and heavy duty crash guards
- Ships with Epson Edge Print RIP and Accounting cost-control software
The SureColor R5000 Series will be available in Australia from November 2020 at RRPs expected to start from AUD $49,495 excluding GST and in New Zealand from NZD $53,495 excluding GST.
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| Epson's new 'latex' printer comes in single or dual-pouch ink feed configuration, with hot-swapping |
