Does mixing harm?
That is, a few words about topping up INK-JET printers with consumables from different suppliers.
Customers who only have one printer supplier will not experience this, but those who have several will probably have been faced more than once with the situation that the dedicated solvent has run out - someone forgot to place an order, the courier didn't arrive on time, the distributor just didn't have it in stock - and marking is necessary. Whatever the reason, it doesn't matter. Something has to be done, and time is running out. And this is the moment of decision. Either you flood the printer with solvent from a competitor or risk production line downtime.
The most reticent customers would rub their eyes in amazement for a long time if they saw how different consumables some people can pour into their printers.
Last year, for example, I was with a customer from the Silesian region who has dozens of printers from: Videojet, Leibinger and KBA-Metronic (Koenig & Bauer). The most interesting thing is that he buys solvent for all of them from whichever supplier gives him the lower price at any given time! The kindly production manager told me that the owner recommended buying dedicated materials only for those printers that are still under warranty, but as soon as the warranty expires, he added with a smile on his face, the market mechanism kicks in. So whoever is cheaper is better!
Here I give the numbers of the materials that this customer mixes: Leibinger: solvent SSN 1830 / ink ASN 1030, KBA-Metronic: solvent 1006.8306 / ink 1006.8226 (inks are black).
Another customer I know very well, from the Świętokrzyskie voivodeship, which manufactures cable harnesses, has Wiedenbach and Metronic printers for marking them (the 80% is manned by these two companies). As the lady in the procurement department takes her job very seriously and likes to negotiate at the same time, the suppliers do not have it easy with her. The former quickly rethought his situation and extended payment terms and lowered prices. As a result, Wiedenbach's MK22 solvent is now flowing into the hydraulics compartments of Metronic's printers instead of solvent 1006.8306.
What if I only have printers from one manufacturer, and different solvents for them?
It is often the case that we have older and newer models of printers from one manufacturer in our fleet. They usually differ in the way they refill consumables and have different markings.
What then?
Solvent is not the same as solvent, but some differ primarily... in name. For example, the same or almost identical solvents are sold under different symbols for the already mentioned Leibinger printers.
Solvent: 77001-00030 / RDN 1801 / SJN 1700 - they are so similar that it makes little difference to the printer which one we use.
We can pour 77001-00030 first, come in a few days later and correct with RDN 1801, and apply SJN 1700 on top of that, and so on and so forth. As one prefers and as one feels like.
Someone will ask: "Isn't it better, then, to simplify the offer? After all, it will be a big convenience for customers..."
Of course not! The aim of printer manufacturers and the distributors who work with them is to create an offering in such a way that customers need their support every step of the way. It doesn't work like a shop where you go in with a shopping basket and pull the goods off the shelf after reading the label. However, that is another topic. But we will write about why this is done a little later.
So does mixing harm? As you can see from the examples above, there is no harm done, but it is important to remember that there is a plethora of consumables, and in mixing them, one should beware of extremes above all. That is, we do not mix:
- butanone-based solvents with alcohol-based solvents
- inks of various colours
- pigmented inks with non-pigmented inks
The topic raised is just the tip of the iceberg. Want to know more about consumables? Go to Contact and call or write!
Date added: 18 January 2021.
Author of entry: Andrew
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