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CSL DuraUV 1600

A tweaked Roland opens up new UV LED-based possibilities, says Barney Cox

an eco-solvent machine,” he says.
However, focusing on the print speed
misses the biggest advantage of UV inks
– the elimination of time needed for out
gassing before shipping or laminating,
which makes same-day turnaround a
practical option.
What is the USP?
CSL is not alone in bringing UV technol-
ogy to the main stream in the wide-for-
mat market with Mimaki and Mutoh also
recently launching machines. However,
according to Davies brand loyalty in this
sector of the market is strong, and there
is a large base of Roland DG customers
who would like the benefits of UV on a
familiar machine.
What does it do? UV technology.”
How easy is it to use?
CSL’s DuraUV 1600 makes UV LED
printing affordable and easy to use for the How does it work? Anyone who has used a Roland DG
bulk of the wide-format market that pre- CSL takes the standard RF-640 and modi- printer and its VersaWorks software will
viously only had the choice of eco-solvent Specifications fies it, adding LED UV lamp modules to be familiar with the controls on the
or latex inks. The firm claims that the Ink type UV the print carriage and making further DuraUV. Aside from usability of the
biggest benefit of UV over the rival tech- changes to the electronics and ink supply printer itself CSL says that UV inks are
nologies is that it makes it possible to Print width 1.6m to be able to use its DuraUV inks. Aside much less sensitive to different sub-
print onto a wider range of media, in par- from those modifications, for which CSL strates, eliminating the need for lots of
ticular heat-sensitive substrates while Throughput ban- offers its own one-year warranty, the tweaking the colour, print mode and dry-
lowering running costs and enabling ners: 16-18m2/hr; machine is a standard Roland DG unit ing settings to get good prints out. The
instant turnaround. self-adhesive vinyl: and uses the supplied VersaWorks RIP. output is also more robust during finish-
11-13m2/hr ing.
When was it launched and what is the How does it differ from previous prod-
market? Colours CMYK ucts? What training and support is on offer?
Following a period of development and Price £15,895; inks Compared to other LED UV machines CSL provides on-site training with every
beta testing that began at the start of this cost £79/500ml car- the DuraUV 1600 is significantly less install and users can get additional train-
year DuraUV was launched in June. tridge money, while similar width and speed ing on the VersaWorks software if needed
“We’ve done a lot of work with Fujifilm machines using eco-solvent and latex ink from Roland DG. A one year warranty
with the Acuity 1600 series, which has technologies cannot handle heat-sensi- from CSL covers the hardware and after
proved very popular in extending the tive materials, including some specialist that it offers phone and online support
take-up of UV down into the market for plastics and textiles, due to the heat gen- and an on site breakdown service.
printers costing £25,000-£40,000 but erated by their dryers. At the moment
we identified that there was an opportu- DuraUV is only available fitted to new How much does it cost?
nity for a machine costing £10,000- machines, however, Davies says that a Compared to a standard eco-sol RF-640
£20,000, which represents the majority number of printers have asked about a with a list price of £9,995 the cost of the
of the market,” says CSL marketing retrofittable version (an option for its DuraUV is £15,895. While that may look
director Huw Davies. “We identified an earlier LightBar product). like a lot more money it covers the cost of
opportunity to do something with Roland the curing lamps and the modification by
DG using UV ink, so we took one of the How fast is it? CSL and is still substantially lower than
most popular Roland DG printers in “On self-adhesive vinyl: 11-13m²/hr; and comparable UV machines. Ink costs £79
terms of performance and price point, on banners: around 16-18m²/hr at salea- per 500ml cartridge, which is signifi-
the VersaExpress RF-640, and applied ble quality, which is little different from cantly less the the £85 per 440ml.

“Compared to a standard eco-sol RF-640, with a list price of £9,995 the cost of the DuraUV is £15,895.”

30 PrintWeek MENA March 2023 www.printweekmena.com