The BestCode QuantumX is a stainless steel, IP65-rated continuous inkjet printer built for the wettest and harshest coding environments. It prints best-before dates, lot codes, sell-by dates, expiration codes, barcodes and graphics onto virtually any substrate, at up to 1,500 feet per minute.

Quantum or QuantumX? The difference nobody explains

BestCode sells both, the names are one letter apart, and the distinction decides whether the machine survives your environment.

• Quantum has a painted control cabinet and is not IP rated. It is the lower-cost option, built for dry, clean lines.
• QuantumX has a stainless steel enclosure rated IP65. Dust-tight, and sealed against water jets from any direction.

If your line gets washed down, if you run in a chiller, a bottling hall, a meat plant or anywhere with airborne dust or moisture, the X is the one that lasts. If your environment is genuinely dry and clean, the Quantum saves money. We will tell you honestly which one your application needs.

AutoClean: no daily or weekly printhead cleaning

Printhead cleaning is the job operators skip, and skipped cleaning is the single most common route to a blocked nozzle and a stopped line. AutoClean performs the routine automatically, which removes daily and weekly manual cleaning from the job list entirely.

Combined with the AutoOff go-home button, which automates end-of-day shutdown, the practical effect is that the printer looks after itself between shifts rather than depending on whoever is on shift remembering to look after it.

Print capability

• Lines of print: 1, 2, 3, 4 or 5 lines of text, graphics and barcodes
• Image height: 0.10in (2mm) to 0.70in (18mm)
• Print fonts: 5, 7, 9, 12, 16, 19, 25 and 32 pixel
• Throw distance: true non-contact printing from 0.5in (12mm) up to 2in (50mm)

Print speeds

• 1 line: up to 1,500 ft/min (470 m/min)
• 2 lines: up to 345 ft/min (108 m/min)
• 3 lines: up to 173 ft/min (54 m/min)
• 4 lines: up to 114 ft/min (35 m/min)

Worth understanding when you size a machine: CIJ print speed falls as line count rises, because the printhead fires the same drops across more rows. A single-line date code runs at full speed. A four-line block with a barcode does not. Size the printer against the code you actually print, not the headline figure.

Built to run continuously

Typical QuantumX installations run one, two or three shifts a day, or 24/7 across five to seven days a week, averaging 4,000 to 8,760 operating hours a year. This is a machine specified for constant duty rather than occasional batches.

Full specifications

• Technology: continuous inkjet, single printhead control
• User interface: 10.4in (264mm) colour LCD touchscreen, icon-based GUI, always on
• Enclosure: stainless steel
• Ingress protection: IP65
• Processor: 32-bit ARM 9, 208 MHz
• Storage: 4GB solid state drive, 16MB flash, 128MB RAM, USB thumb drive interface
• Inputs: 2 photocells, 1 shaft encoder
• Outputs: 4 programmable alarm outputs (open collector, 150mA sink), 1 relay output
• Machine interface: RS232, Ethernet
• Electrical: auto-ranging 100-240 VAC (3A), 50-60Hz, 50W consumption
• Operating environment: 32-122 F (0-50 C), 10-90% relative humidity, non-condensing
• SmartFilter life: 2,000 operating hours, 5,000 hour option
• Ink capacity: 32 oz (1 litre). Makeup capacity: 32 oz (1 litre)
• Printhead umbilical: 10ft (3m), 15ft (4.5m) or 20ft (6m)
• Printhead options: right angle printhead available
• Weight: 45 lbs (20 kg)
• Compliance: CE certified, RoHS compliant
• Warranty: 2 year limited manufacturer's warranty

Auto-ranging power, which matters more than it sounds

The QuantumX accepts anything from 100 to 240 VAC at 50 or 60Hz, automatically. Much industrial coding equipment is specified to a single voltage, and getting it wrong means either an electrician or a transformer. This one plugs into whatever you have.

Inks and fluids

SmartFill ink and makeup bottles, 32 oz each, with on-the-fly external filling completed in under a minute with no waste. That means you top up without stopping the print.

• Ink types: quick-dry to immediate-dry. MEK, acetone, ethanol and blends
• Colours: black, red, blue, green, yellow and orange
• Specialist inks: thermo colour change, wet bottle, caustic washable, plastic, eco-friendly, alcohol resistant and military specification

The specialist range is worth knowing about. Caustic washable ink survives bottle washing but comes off in the caustic bath at the reclaim plant. Wet bottle ink adheres to condensation-covered surfaces straight out of a chiller. Those are problems that stop other coders working at all.

Message and code creation

• Dynamic message storage, over 100 messages
• WYSIWYG message editing with drag-and-drop field formatting
• Multi-national Unicode character printing, plus downloadable fonts and an integrated font editor
• Real and expiration time and date, shift and rollover functions
• Product and batch counting
• Downloadable graphics with integrated editor
• Continuous and repeat print
• Barcodes and cable stripping

Operator features

• Icon-based operation with single-button start and single-button stop
• OneTouch single-step operator functions
• Password security and supervisor control
• Automatic diagnostics, error and activity logs, service reminders
• Backup and restore
• Downloadable software updates
• Multiple operator languages

Optional accessories

Alarm beacon, photocells, mountings, shaft encoder, printhead wash station, and the AirFlow positive air kit for high-dust environments. A factory air kit is available for machine and printhead dust control.

No service contracts required

BestCode designs the QuantumX to be owned rather than subscribed to. There is no mandatory service contract, which for a lot of operations is the difference between a predictable capital purchase and an open-ended annual cost.

Made in Texas

The QuantumX is designed and manufactured by BestCode in Texas. For anyone working to domestic sourcing preferences, or who has waited months on parts from overseas, that shortens the supply chain considerably.

Replacing a Linx 10?

The Linx 10 has been discontinued. We still stock its fluids and service parts, and we have set out the full comparison on our Linx 10 parts and replacement page.

Other coding options

If continuous inkjet is not the right technology for your substrate, see our thermal inkjet printers, case coders for corrugated, or the full coding and marking range.

Request a quote

Tell us your substrate, line speed, the number of lines you need to print, and what the environment is like. We will confirm whether the QuantumX is right, or whether the Quantum or another model in the BestCode range fits better. Email info@uptimepackaging.com.