Epson XP-15000 Setup

[JTS]

Hello, all!

New to the forum and had some questions...

I'm purchasing an Epson XP-15000 and I've pieced together the basics of what I need to do to get up and running.  somewhere during my travels on the internet I read that the XP-15000 has issues moving certain transfer films through the printer.  Can anyone verify this?  If this is true, is there a recommended transfer film to use with the XP-15000?

Looking for a CISS kit as well.  Found one for around $150.  Seems a bit high, but to be honest, I couldn't find much for the XP-15000 and I really don't know what the going rate is for these kits.  It's also shipping from the US, which is a plus since the other kits I found were out of country.  Was wondering if any of the universal kits on Amazon would work.  Any recommendations for CISS kit?

And one last thing.  As I mentioned, I've kind of pieced together what I need to do from YouTube and other forums.  I was wondering if there's a detailed or dare I say, "complete", DTF conversion guide for Epson XP-15000?

[uhim]

I understand that you are going to print on this DTF printer, but you did not take into account the main thing, this is software control (RIP). I think this will be your big problem. I could be wrong, of course.

 

[johnson4]

50 minutes ago, uhim said:

I understand that you are going to print on this DTF printer, but you did not take into account the main thing, this is software control (RIP). I think this will be your big problem. I could be wrong, of course.

 

Rip software is available for this printer, I just purchased 3 of the refurbs for short run sheet only use, for one of them anyway. 
 

as for the ciss, that’s a waste of money. Get some refillable carts from aliexpress for $20 and just swap them out every 15-20 prints. A ciss, with white ink is a major headache. However, if you insist on a CISS, just use those same $20 carts, with a cheap $10-15 6 color ciss ink tank. $150 is highway robbery. 
 

my intentions: 

remove rollers

make chipless

use 3 sets of refillable cartridges for ink, swap them when they come close to empty.

use EKprint

use my regular film ( they all use just about the same pickup method, I haven’t had any issues).

make an output tray

make a waste tank and install it. 
 

like this, I’ll have a quick, Disposable unit for short run( or mistakes in my prints from the roll printer) designs for under $350, I already own EKprint.

 

also, without a ciss, you just shake the ink carts every other day. Want to take a break? Throw in some carts with cleaner, do two head cleans and let it sit for months without issue. 
 

with a ciss, you deal with wasted separated ink/runny prints if it isn’t printed with daily. as well, ciss tanks on a printer like this have to be placed at a specific height, and maintain a specific ink level or they leak all the ink out, siphoning it from the ink tanks until it equalizes. Basically, a huge mess and wasted ink. 

 

some people use and love them, I do for pigmented ink printers. For this type of stuff, I HATE ciss systems, but that’s my opinion 

Edited April 5, 2021 by johnson4

[JTS]

uhim, tanks for the input!

Yes, I did take that into account and from my investigation, EKPRINT supports the XP-15000, so that does not look to be a problem.

My concerns still lie with the other questions in my original post.  Hopefully I can get some guidance on those points as well.  I've worked on projects like this before and going in blind always ends up spending money when I don't need to.

[johnson4]

1 minute ago, JTS said:

uhim, tanks for the input!

Yes, I did take that into account and from my investigation, EKPRINT supports the XP-15000, so that does not look to be a problem.

My concerns still lie with the other questions in my original post.  Hopefully I can get some guidance on those points as well.  I've worked on projects like this before and going in blind always ends up spending money when I don't need to.

I’ve posted some info above.

[johnson4]

If you had to use a ciss, taking the carts out and replacing them with cleaner carts after every use would probably work well and prevent any risk of siphoning.

Edited April 5, 2021 by johnson4

[JTS]

johnson4, you must have posted at the same time I did.

Thanks you, sir!  You filled in the grey area!

I grabbed the chipless firmware earlier today.  Once I have it installed I'll buy activation code, unless there's a free version I missed.  Will scrap the CISS idea.  Just thought that would be the way to go.  Is there any US based companies that sell the empties at reasonable price?  I don't want to wait weeks for aliexpress.

[JTS]

The empty cart swap seems like the way to go.  There's gonna be times I prob won't print for a while so the clean and store method is perfect.

Glad I joined this forum.  I figured I'd be researching the printer side for another day or so.

Now on to what ink, film and powder...

[JTS]

@johnson4 How do you like the quality of the XP-15000?  What ink do you recommend.  I'm going to be doing a lot of knockout black with tight lines.  Will the granular size of the powder matter?  I don't want any edge overflow.

[johnson4]

Well, as for the carts, ebay for like $60. Inkowl has them as well I think for $80. 
 

I buy multiple sets at a discount, just about every seller will work with you on price on aliexpress. 
 

generally, if I use 3 for ink and one for cleaning that’s four sets at probably $75 for all of them( that’s with the chips, probably half that without the chips). I’ll pay $25-$45 for express shipping, so 4 sets will cost me about $100-$125. If in a pinch I’ll buy a set in the US. 
 

fortunately, I bundle since I have the p400/p600/p800/ and now this one when it arrives in use, so I kinda do a “ bulk buy” for hardly any additional express shipping costs. 
 

using aliexpress, express shipping takes generally 5 days, depending on how long the seller takes to actually ship them. 
 

so if you need one set, USA, if you need multiple, Aliexpress will be cheaper at the same delivery speed basically. 

Edited April 5, 2021 by johnson4

[johnson4]

10 minutes ago, JTS said:

@johnson4 How do you like the quality of the XP-15000?  What ink do you recommend.  I'm going to be doing a lot of knockout black with tight lines.  Will the granular size of the powder matter?  I don't want any edge overflow.

I don’t have mine yet, but the concept of it is the same as the rest. It will print slower, but it’s a $200 printer.  I’ve been using DTG for four years, and dtf for about 6-7 months or so, seriously in the last 3 months or so. I’ve used the p400 and p800 so far for DTF.

I’ve helped two people with XP-15000 machines as well.
 

as for supplies, I 100% stand behind Andy’s ink, powder and film. Your not going to find the quality or cheaper price anywhere else. Seriously. I constantly question how he even makes a profit. 
 

 

Edited April 5, 2021 by johnson4

[johnson4]

Overall though, it’s the perfect entry level set-up in my opinion. 

[johnson4]

I hope that helps and good luck! 

[johnson4]

3 hours ago, JTS said:

@johnson4 How do you like the quality of the XP-15000?  What ink do you recommend.  I'm going to be doing a lot of knockout black with tight lines.  Will the granular size of the powder matter?  I don't want any edge overflow.

Medium is best for general use, fine will stick to it more and is harder to get it all of the sheet but would be better for small details. I haven’t had any issues with fine lines and only use medium. except for if it’s a hot peel film it tends to be rather fragile( comes off the film easily) if you accidentally rub it. But just be careful with the finished transfer and you’ll be fine. 
 

in my beginnings, I’d just order small amounts of all of it, cold/hot peel, fine/medium powder and see what I like best. 

Edited April 5, 2021 by johnson4

[johnson4]

1 hour ago, roni farias said:

HELLO BUDY, HOW ARE YOU? WHICH RIP IS COMPATIBLE WITH THIS MODEL?

Ekprint, Someone said Acro-rip, but I don't know about that. I know for sure, EK-print does.

[JTS]

Have the XP-15000 at the house now   Setting up so I can flash the firmware for chipless.  Once that's done going to do some print tests just to make sure it's working correctly out of the box.  Once that's done I'll do whatever conversion steps I can do until I get the rest of the supplies.

[johnson4]

38 minutes ago, JTS said:

Have the XP-15000 at the house now   Setting up so I can flash the firmware for chipless.  Once that's done going to do some print tests just to make sure it's working correctly out of the box.  Once that's done I'll do whatever conversion steps I can do until I get the rest of the supplies.

You can get the demo for it without purchasing EKprint just in-case you run into an issue. It's fully functional, no time limitation, just prints a small watermark ( which you can get around if you know what your doing). 

 

Keep us updated, I'm sure it'll be fine. I'm still waiting on epson to ship mine.

[uhim]

6 minutes ago, johnson4 said:

You can get the demo for it without purchasing EKprint just in-case you run into an issue. It's fully functional, no time limitation, just prints a small watermark ( which you can get around if you know what your doing). 

 

Keep us updated, I'm sure it'll be fine. I'm still waiting on epson to ship mine.

hesitate to ask how to bypass the watermark in EKprint?

[JTS]

I think got a bad printer...  I bought brand new, so not an issue with it being used.  I keep getting, "The print head may require maintenance because the printer was not turned off correctly.  It is recommended to perform a print head nozzle check before printing.  To turn off printer be sure to press the @ button."  If I try to run any maintenance tests, the print head just moves up and down a couple times then the screen says, "Turn on printer again, see your documentation for more details."  Don't see anything in documentation that addresses this behavior.  It's been doing this since I set it up.  For a short while it actually worked correctly.  The I printed a full page picture. The very last corner of the picture was all messed up and it went to the "Turn off printer error again."  It printed 99% of the picture perfect and crashed at the end.  Now it's back in the printer head/power on loop.  Guess I'll be taking it back tomorrow.  Sucks cause I think it was the last one....

[johnson4]

38 minutes ago, JTS said:

I think got a bad printer...  I bought brand new, so not an issue with it being used.  I keep getting, "The print head may require maintenance because the printer was not turned off correctly.  It is recommended to perform a print head nozzle check before printing.  To turn off printer be sure to press the @ button."  If I try to run any maintenance tests, the print head just moves up and down a couple times then the screen says, "Turn on printer again, see your documentation for more details."  Don't see anything in documentation that addresses this behavior.  It's been doing this since I set it up.  For a short while it actually worked correctly.  The I printed a full page picture. The very last corner of the picture was all messed up and it went to the "Turn off printer error again."  It printed 99% of the picture perfect and crashed at the end.  Now it's back in the printer head/power on loop.  Guess I'll be taking it back tomorrow.  Sucks cause I think it was the last one....

Contact Epson if you want, they sometimes overnight replacements/exchanges. They are usually refurbs though. 
 

Sorry for your luck, I’ve never had a new bad printer. 

[JTS]

After doing some tests, look like it has something to do with the chipless firmware.  If I install the original Epson firmware it works fine.

[JTS]

Okay.  I think I'm back in business.  The chipless firmware site I used (https://chiplesssolutions.com/) had the correct firmware on the main page, but also had a link to a different version on the instructions page.  I assumed the instruction page was the most recent, but I was wrong.  I used the firmware from the main page and it's printing fine.  I didn't do an extensive testing, but it would F-up pretty quick with the other firmware.  It also never prompted for auto tray close when powering off with the other firmware and now it's prompting all the bells and whistles.  Also before I ran the activation code, it showed the carts at half full (I was printing full page pics).  After running activation code and rebooting, it shows full carts.

Now on to ordering empties, ink, film and powder.  Almost there.

Oh, and I did download the EKPRINT demo.

[JTS]

On a side note, this thing prints full page pics in about 6 seconds.

[johnson4]

7 hours ago, JTS said:

Okay.  I think I'm back in business.  The chipless firmware site I used (https://chiplesssolutions.com/) had the correct firmware on the main page, but also had a link to a different version on the instructions page.  I assumed the instruction page was the most recent, but I was wrong.  I used the firmware from the main page and it's printing fine.  I didn't do an extensive testing, but it would F-up pretty quick with the other firmware.  It also never prompted for auto tray close when powering off with the other firmware and now it's prompting all the bells and whistles.  Also before I ran the activation code, it showed the carts at half full (I was printing full page pics).  After running activation code and rebooting, it shows full carts.

Now on to ordering empties, ink, film and powder.  Almost there.

Oh, and I did download the EKPRINT demo.

Glad you got it working, for some reason I thought it did that out of the box. 
 

i don’t think I’ve Ever used the “how to” page versions, it’s good stuff for the price though and what it does. Just the money you save on the carts without chips makes it worth it. 

[johnson4]

7 hours ago, JTS said:

On a side note, this thing prints full page pics in about 6 seconds.

It’s going to depend on the resolution and overall required settings. It might end up being faster than I thought though. The p400 on 1440x1440 resolution does about 2” a minute, or 35 prints an hour in roll mode. 
 

andy has the cheapest/best stuff around. Right now he’s out of the medium powder I use, but I’m sure what he does have will be fine. As for the film,  I generally use the 11 3/4 for sheet mode, but I’m coming over from DTG, where that’s the same size my platen was. 
 

the ink has never given me a problem, and again, about the cheapest you can find anywhere if you buy by the liter. I’ve ran several bottles already without an issue. 
 

His ink also sells quite a bit, so it’s probably good to order a bit more than you need so you have it when you need it, so it’s probably worth ordering the larger bottle. 
 

Being the best and best priced supplier around, major peak periods for the industry is going to make it hard to keep stuff on hand, so I always keep a little extra. Good side is it usually ships same/next day. 
 

good luck, in case you didn’t know, it’s

Www.DTFsuperstore.com