What Printers can be used for DTF?

[TeedUp]

6 hours ago, johnson4 said:

If you want to test it, you can post a photo for me to print on it.  if you’d like. 

I assume you're referring to the XP600's color saturation issue, but no matter. I very much appreciate the gracious gesture, but trust you and other general reports that the quality is good (satisfactory is our bar at this point of our economics). 

The relative price of printheads to burnout rate you point out makes a lot of sense in the overall scheme.  You running fine on 110v converter is reassuring. XP600's have a convincing case.

So you are running Cadlink and EKprint on the XP600s?  Is that specific to the model you purchased, or do they work with similar clones? Which printer do you select at install?

[johnson4]

Cadlink. 
 

and yes, overall saturation and quality. I’m not sure where that comes from, but I haven’t had any issues at all. Prints just like my Epson’s. 
 

its a good printhead, shockingly good. 
 

I bought 4 new spare heads for under $700 delivered express from overseas. Time will tell how it goes overall but i have high hopes and prepared for the worst either way. 

 

good luck with your decision. 

[anum11]

Xp 600 is %30 slower than dx5 or 3200. That is the only diffirence that matters. 4 head xp600 could be better then anything if there is an option like that.

[johnson4]

5 hours ago, anum11 said:

Xp 600 is %30 slower than dx5 or 3200. That is the only diffirence that matters. 4 head xp600 could be better then anything if there is an option like that.

Interesting. 30 percent speed difference for 5X the cost. 
 

So the 24” printers running dual i3200’s do 38 square foot an hour? That would be 30 percent faster. Everything I find shows around 2.5 minutes per foot or 25ish square foot an hour for the dual i3200’s. 
 

38 square foot an hour would be worth investing in to if that is true though. 

Edited May 14, 2022 by johnson4

[johnson4]

What I get from the dual xp600’s on a 13” printer is 16.66 foot an hour. Given the head pass speed and length is where these 24” audleys get their square foot from, essentially doubling it for a split second in additional time per pass.
 

there isn’t much a speed difference from my reading, math and testing. For instance, use 13” film on a dual i3200 machine and it would print the same speed at the dual xp600 machine, with a small marginal difference if any. 
 

 

print speed is determined by the nozzles and head pass speed and of course the printing resolutions. 
 

360 nozzles is 360 nozzles. If the head pass is the same speed and printed at the same resolution the only difference you will encounter is the droplet size and overall print quality, and of course durability/lifespan.

 

Of course you know images are made of microscopic ink droplets that make up the dots per inch, which derive from the nozzles. The amount of nozzles and resolution determines the width that is printed per pass, creating the advancing speed. Both printheads would be capable of the exact same resolution and speed. 
 

the only variable between the two would be exterior in the design of the printer, unrelated to the printhead. 
 

if not, I would like to know how a machine running the same carriage speed, at the same resolution( DPI) with the same nozzle count would print 30 percent faster unless it were a limitation on the xp600 to prevent the head from overheating or something. 
 

The Dx5 machines are 180 nozzles, so it would require two passes on the carriage side to achieve the same resolution, but somehow is faster? 
 

 

im not arguing, I’m asking. I’ve looked a lot into this and do not mind to explain myself as briefly explained above. I have tested several heads, time carriage speed on multiple occasions to verify what I’m saying.  
 

to me the only difference is the i3200 looks to be a better build quality head and has more accurate dot placement. Not really something that matters when printing on film that can only hold so much detail. Longer lasting in theory, similar to those in the P5000 or Epson F2100. 
 

 

I’d love your thoughts or explanation as to how it prints 30 percent faster. 

Edited May 14, 2022 by johnson4

[anum11]

On 5/14/2022 at 4:13 AM, johnson4 said:

What I get from the dual xp600’s on a 13” printer is 16.66 foot an hour. Given the head pass speed and length is where these 24” audleys get their square foot from, essentially doubling it for a split second in additional time per pass.
 

there isn’t much a speed difference from my reading, math and testing. For instance, use 13” film on a dual i3200 machine and it would print the same speed at the dual xp600 machine, with a small marginal difference if any. 
 

 

print speed is determined by the nozzles and head pass speed and of course the printing resolutions. 
 

360 nozzles is 360 nozzles. If the head pass is the same speed and printed at the same resolution the only difference you will encounter is the droplet size and overall print quality, and of course durability/lifespan.

 

Of course you know images are made of microscopic ink droplets that make up the dots per inch, which derive from the nozzles. The amount of nozzles and resolution determines the width that is printed per pass, creating the advancing speed. Both printheads would be capable of the exact same resolution and speed. 
 

the only variable between the two would be exterior in the design of the printer, unrelated to the printhead. 
 

if not, I would like to know how a machine running the same carriage speed, at the same resolution( DPI) with the same nozzle count would print 30 percent faster unless it were a limitation on the xp600 to prevent the head from overheating or something. 
 

The Dx5 machines are 180 nozzles, so it would require two passes on the carriage side to achieve the same resolution, but somehow is faster? 
 

 

im not arguing, I’m asking. I’ve looked a lot into this and do not mind to explain myself as briefly explained above. I have tested several heads, time carriage speed on multiple occasions to verify what I’m saying.  
 

to me the only difference is the i3200 looks to be a better build quality head and has more accurate dot placement. Not really something that matters when printing on film that can only hold so much detail. Longer lasting in theory, similar to those in the P5000 or Epson F2100. 
 

 

I’d love your thoughts or explanation as to how it prints 30 percent faster. 

My numbers are based on epson printers. 
 

most likely then, carriage speed stays same with same mainboard nomatter what the printhead is capable.

[johnson4]

2 hours ago, anum11 said:

My numbers are based on epson printers. 
 

most likely then, carriage speed stays same with same mainboard nomatter what the printhead is capable.

The Chinese printers , at least the xp600 machine I use the carriage speed is very fast. Faster than the 24” printers, which is why I think 24” printers don’t do twice the square footage, but rather around 2/3 more. 
 

the p400/p800 are the same advancing speed as well, but the p400 is quite a bit slower than the p800, because the p800 carriage speed is like twice as fast per pass, and the p800 has less pause every 20 passes. 
 

making the p800 12 feet an hour while the p400 is around 10. 
 

overall the carriage speed plays a very important roll. That and the nozzle count determine how fast the printer will be. 
 

i am a little disappointed the carriage speed is slower in the p5000, but again, it’s about 2/3 the carriage speed as the p800 but twice the nozzles. This should still yield 2/3rd more printed material at 1440x1440 which would be 20 12”X12” prints an hour. 
 

 

[Saber]

Hey guys what larger format printers are best to use for dtf, I’m wanting to do a conversion and am really wanting a bigger printer I’m currently using a 1390/L1800 and  the max is 17” and it was slow until tinkering but I need to beable to do whole shirts in either dtf or sublimation any tips or hints on what kind of large formats can be converted older or newer I just need to get orders out! Thanks!

[johnson4]

2 hours ago, Saber said:

Hey guys what larger format printers are best to use for dtf, I’m wanting to do a conversion and am really wanting a bigger printer I’m currently using a 1390/L1800 and  the max is 17” and it was slow until tinkering but I need to beable to do whole shirts in either dtf or sublimation any tips or hints on what kind of large formats can be converted older or newer I just need to get orders out! Thanks!

The 1390/l1800 are 13”, 90 nozzle machines. The slowest available for DTF.

pick up a p400/p600/p800 and double your speed. 
 

pick up a p5000 and quadruple your speed. 
 

if you are using acro, then that’s also slowing you down further. 

Edited June 27, 2022 by johnson4

[AMartinez]

On 6/27/2022 at 8:48 AM, johnson4 said:

The 1390/l1800 are 13”, 90 nozzle machines. The slowest available for DTF.

pick up a p400/p600/p800 and double your speed. 
 

pick up a p5000 and quadruple your speed. 
 

if you are using acro, then that’s also slowing you down further.

 

Edited December 21, 2022 by AMartinez

[AMartinez]

On 6/27/2022 at 8:48 AM, johnson4 said:

The 1390/l1800 are 13”, 90 nozzle machines. The slowest available for DTF.

pick up a p400/p600/p800 and double your speed. 
 

pick up a p5000 and quadruple your speed. 
 

if you are using acro, then that’s also slowing you down further.

So what would you say is the deciding factor between the p400/600/800?  If crazy speed for roll printing isn't factoring into the decision? Besides the p800 being 17",  Is it just about initial cost and maintenance cost at that point?  Or is there a quality upgrade in sequence from 400 to 600 to 800? Or some other significant factor?

Edited December 21, 2022 by AMartinez

[johnson4]

9 hours ago, AMartinez said:

So what would you say is the deciding factor between the p400/600/800?  If crazy speed for roll printing isn't factoring into the decision? Besides the p800 being 17",  Is it just about initial cost and maintenance cost at that point?  Or is there a quality upgrade in sequence from 400 to 600 to 800? Or some other significant factor?

They are all about the same speed. The p800 being the fastest though minuscule. 
 

The p600 has a weak and prone to failure ink system. The p400 is great for low volume use while the P800 is ideal for roll printing and larger volume printing with a strong ink system.
 

 

[AMartinez]

7 hours ago, johnson4 said:

They are all about the same speed. The p800 being the fastest though minuscule. 
 

The p600 has a weak and prone to failure ink system. The p400 is great for low volume use while the P800 is ideal for roll printing and larger volume printing with a strong ink system.
 

 

Gotcha, that clears it up more.

[AMartinez]

So when it comes to those purpose built dtf printers, or whatever you want to label them, that are made and sold by companies, the best example I can think of is the knight 12 by kingdom dtf, which I don't believe is a conversion, it looks like a completely new printer, and I know there's plenty of others, what's the general consensus on them? Riskier than converting a p series, or could they potentially be a better option?

[AMartinez]

Or if anyone has actual experience with any of these that would be awesome to hear about.  And I'm really only referring to smaller desktop printers up to 17" or so, I realize the standalone wide format printers are a while different beast.

Edited December 22, 2022 by AMartinez

[johnson4]

38 minutes ago, AMartinez said:

So when it comes to those purpose built dtf printers, or whatever you want to label them, that are made and sold by companies, the best example I can think of is the knight 12 by kingdom dtf, which I don't believe is a conversion, it looks like a completely new printer, and I know there's plenty of others, what's the general consensus on them? Riskier than converting a p series, or could they potentially be a better option?

Apples to oranges. They build them using other companies parts and use Epson printheads generally. 
 

they generally use an i3200 printhead or an xp600. Both heads came from a cheap sub $200 home inkjet printer initially. Of course now many are direct from manufacturers, at a tune of $1,200 each and $600 each respectively. 
 

head replacement in the knight would be over $1200 each time- which is said to need done every 6-2 months. 
 

it’s a whole nother world with its own issues and learning curves with things your Epson will never experience. 
 

You’ll have to buy one to really understand. If you do, the support system is worth it from a supplier rather than direct. 
 

 

like I said OEMs will be coming out with their own DTF printers relatively soon. 

Edited December 22, 2022 by johnson4

[AMartinez]

1 hour ago, johnson4 said:

It's a whole nother world with its own issues and learning curves with things your Epson will never experience. 

 

Like I said OEMs will be coming out with their own DTF printers relatively soon. 

Oh I didn't catch that, that's good to hear! I'll most likely just hold out for an oem machine, I still have some business building to do before I'm ready anyways.

[cathy1026]

Can u use canon pixon ip8720 its 6 ink cartridge and wide format printer can i use 4 dtf ?if i can what do i need to do ?

[ottokhan]

Hi,

There are printers left over from the old workplace.

Epson 7880-7890-9700-9880-9900

We used them as plotters. My current job requires DTF printing. These prints must be of very high quality. Can I convert my printers to DTF printers? It's enough for me to convert one of them.

I think rip software is required. I'm not sure since they are large format. 

[SumerR23]

Hello, I recently bought a canon g620 to transfer to DFT, and I filled the ink up but nothing is printing, just magenta. I am so lost and defeated.

[nedlaidi26]

Epson printers with 6 colors like epson L1800 , L1300, epson stylus 1400

i suggest converting epson l8050 because it can print fast :)