Do you turn your proofing plotter off at night and for weekends?

Started by andyfest, October 12, 2012, 12:15:20 PM

Previous topic - Next topic

0 Members and 1 Guest are viewing this topic.

andyfest

A few colleagues have told me that they leave their Epson plotters on 24/7, but some (like us) turn them off at night and for the weekend. I'm just checking with everyone here. The plotter went out of whack by a delta E 6.0 this week - the biggest turn I've seen since we bought it, and now I'm wondering if turning it off and on isn't such a good idea. 
Retired - CS6 on my 2012 gen MacBook Pro

Joe

Back when we had them we turned them off for the weekend and left them on through the week. It's cheaper on ink to leave them on as ours did a full on cleaning every time you turned it on. We figured a once a week cleaning was good enough.
Mac OS Sonoma 14.2.1 (c) | (retired)

The seven ages of man: spills, drills, thrills, bills, ills, pills and wills.

t-pat

we leave it on, and we have it print a small G7 test sheet at like 3am daily just to keep it flowing. There are times when we don't use it for a day or 3 and we all know how that goes.
vdp donkey
gmc inspire • sarcasm while you wait

pspdfppdfxhd


andyfest

Thanks guys. I guess the plotter is just getting old. I've been hounding the big-wigs for a new Oris or EFI solution, but nothing yet. I swear that it takes something to break before anything gets done around here. Oh well, have a good weekend folks - I'm outta here!
Retired - CS6 on my 2012 gen MacBook Pro

DigiCorn

We leave our EPSONs on 24/7. When you shut them off and then on, they do an ink cartridge "charge," which dumps ink into your waste container. Turning it off and on just wastes ink. Every morning I do a nozzle check just to make sure the ink doesn't clot, and clog the head.
"There's been a lot of research recently on how hard it is to dislodge an impression once it's been implanted in someone's mind. (This is why political attack ads don't have to be true to be effective. The other side can point out their inaccuracies, but the voter's mind privileges the memory of the original accusation, which was juicier than any counterargument ever could be.)"
― Johnny Carson

"Selling my soul would be a lot easier if I could just find it."
– Nikki Sixx

"Always do sober what you said you'd do drunk. That will teach you to keep your mouth shut."
― Ernest Hemingway

frailer

For our Epson 7900, (1 year in), our tech told us to leave on 24/7. They are programmed to do set maintenance by schedule + usage. Leave it to the micro-chips. As Joe says, trying to be 'economical' is a self-defeating exercise.
They are complex and delicate beasts.
Forgotten good guys: Dennis Ritchie, Burrell Smith, Bill Atkinson, Richard Stallman
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Now just an honorary member.

Ear

Yep... I leave the Epson, HP, Screen CTP, Processor and all computers on 24/7.

Turned off the HP 5500 plotter a few months ago for some ceiling work being done above it. Turned it back on and it immediately blew the power source. NOT cheap nor easy to change out.  :angry:
"... profile says he's a seven-foot tall ex-basketball pro, Hindu guru drag queen alien." ~Jet Black

MCpwr

Quote from: frailer on October 12, 2012, 04:14:29 PMFor our Epson 7900, (1 year in), our tech told us to leave on 24/7. They are programmed to do set maintenance by schedule + usage. Leave it to the micro-chips. As Joe says, trying to be 'economical' is a self-defeating exercise.
They are complex and delicate beasts.

We were told the same with our EFI driven Epson 7900. . . it may cause more problems than it's worth.

 
Having more fun then you can shake a stick at since 1987!

Ear

"... profile says he's a seven-foot tall ex-basketball pro, Hindu guru drag queen alien." ~Jet Black

born2print

How will I laugh tomorrow...
when I can't even smile today?

Rabid

We leave ours on.
Back about 20 years ago we had a Tektronix that ran solid ink. Someone was turning it off every night during the first month, turns out it would dump the loaded wax ink every power up. The production manager hit the roof when they saw the $ 800 ink bill. It only got shut down if there was a power outage after that!

johnny_jay

We leave ours on all the time as well. We have an Epson 9800 for layouts and an Epson 9890 for color. Sometimes turning them off messes with the Kodak software that runs them.
Kodak Prinergy and InSite
Preps
Epson P7000 driven by Fiery XF
Screen 16000N
Screen R36000ZX
3 web presses, 1 sheetfed press
G7 Expert

Farabomb

Yea, my KPS is about as stable as a hooker on meth. Kodak can't figure it out but I know what service likes to crap out so i just start it manually.

Only time my Epson 9800 is turned off is a power outage.
Speed doesn't kill, rapidly becoming stationary is the problem

I'd rather have stories told than be telling stories of what I could have done.

Quote from: Ear on April 06, 2016, 11:54:16 AM
Quote from: Farabomb on April 06, 2016, 11:39:41 AMIt's more like grip, grip, grip, noise, then spin and 2 feet in and feel shame.
I once knew a plus-sized girl and this pretty much describes teh secks. :rotf:
They who can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety, deserve neither liberty nor safety.
         —Benjamin Franklin

My other job

prepressDog

we have an HP DesignJet 5500ps... HP told me its better to just leave on 24/7. Less issues with printheads clogging.
Last machine we would replace printheads several times a year... Turning off at nights and weekends.
Ever since we starting leaving on 24/7. Might replace printheads Once a year...(Knock on Wood)

We just got another HP DesignJet from our new store (came with the place)... Been sitting for months.
Surely the printheads are trash & clogged. We'll see...