Residue post pressing

[SilverSwan]

OK so I'm newish to the DTF print world in terms of doing it myself previously we where paying for a company to do this and had noticed we occasionally got this issue with them also.

we where using a shaker/oven attached to our printer and we have moved to using our heat press to cure while the shaker is getting tweaked, with both methods we find post press onto garment there is an oily residue almost looks like water marks on the print and when this is rubbed/washed fading occurs.

From the outlook it seems the transfers are cured correctly they are rubbery to the touch but I have looked at every avenue and come up short so really hoping someone can help me with why this maybe happening 

[kcinnick]

How long between printing and powdering?  Do you know your humidity?  Lots of people have been having similar issues with humidity and it also happens when you don't let the ink dry before curing.  

[johnson4]

4 hours ago, SilverSwan said:

OK so I'm newish to the DTF print world in terms of doing it myself previously we where paying for a company to do this and had noticed we occasionally got this issue with them also.

we where using a shaker/oven attached to our printer and we have moved to using our heat press to cure while the shaker is getting tweaked, with both methods we find post press onto garment there is an oily residue almost looks like water marks on the print and when this is rubbed/washed fading occurs.

From the outlook it seems the transfers are cured correctly they are rubbery to the touch but I have looked at every avenue and come up short so really hoping someone can help me with why this maybe happening 

It’s too hot, not cured long enough time. Ink needs time to evaporate and cure before powder layer melts and seals it all in. Too hot too fast, this doesn’t happen. Only place it can go is to the surface of the film or the edges of its bad enough.  You can cure straight from the printer- if you are dialed in to do so with proper temps and times.

 

i have never seen humidity affect curing, here it ranges from 40 to 80 percent all the time. 

Edited April 15, 2022 by johnson4

[SilverSwan]

we have a heat plate that heats the print as it comes out the printer and we wait atleast 60 seconds between print/powder at this point we cure it. What should I be doing if not this way? When we use the shaker it takes around 6 minutes from print to completely cure 

I have ordered a humidity monitor but we are in the UK and ita not even a little humid here, regardless what should this be at?

[SilverSwan]

9 hours ago, kcinnick said:

How long between printing and powdering?  Do you know your humidity?  Lots of people have been having similar issues with humidity and it also happens when you don't let the ink dry before curing.  

how dry should the ink be? we print and it rests on a hot plate which is attached to the printer

[SilverSwan]

6 hours ago, johnson4 said:

It’s too hot, not cured long enough time. Ink needs time to evaporate and cure before powder layer melts and seals it all in. Too hot too fast, this doesn’t happen. Only place it can go is to the surface of the film or the edges of its bad enough.  You can cure straight from the printer- if you are dialed in to do so with proper temps and times.

 

i have never seen humidity affect curing, here it ranges from 40 to 80 percent all the time. 

we have a heat plate that heats the print as it comes out the printer and we wait atleast 60 seconds between print/powder at this point we cure it. What should I be doing if not this way? When we use the shaker it takes around 6 minutes from print to completely cure 

I have ordered a humidity monitor but we are in the UK and ita not even a little humid here, regardless what should this be at?

[johnson4]

1 hour ago, SilverSwan said:

we have a heat plate that heats the print as it comes out the printer and we wait atleast 60 seconds between print/powder at this point we cure it. What should I be doing if not this way? When we use the shaker it takes around 6 minutes from print to completely cure 

I have ordered a humidity monitor but we are in the UK and ita not even a little humid here, regardless what should this be at?

Humidity is fine around 40 percent. 
 

What’s the actual temperature in the center of the curing plate? 
 

It’s the only thing I have ever seen cause that. Uneven/improper cure.  The ink has glycol in it, which is what the residue is. If it was heated and extracted correctly it wouldn’t be on the film. 
 

you can store transfers for months in humid area- they don’t reabsorb water. They just suck out the glycol from improperly cured inks. 

It just needs testing on your end. 

[SilverSwan]

3 hours ago, johnson4 said:

Humidity is fine around 40 percent. 
 

What’s the actual temperature in the center of the curing plate? 
 

It’s the only thing I have ever seen cause that. Uneven/improper cure.  The ink has glycol in it, which is what the residue is. If it was heated and extracted correctly it wouldn’t be on the film. 
 

you can store transfers for months in humid area- they don’t reabsorb water. They just suck out the glycol from improperly cured inks. 

It just needs testing on your end. 

Thank you for replying i truly appreciate your help

the plate at the end of the print out warms to 50°c and the curing temp on my shaker oven combo is 150° this has a 4 minute pass through, the heat press we have found anything lower then 200°C won't cure and it sits there for 2 minutes comes out set and shiny

[johnson4]

1 hour ago, SilverSwan said:

Thank you for replying i truly appreciate your help

the plate at the end of the print out warms to 50°c and the curing temp on my shaker oven combo is 150° this has a 4 minute pass through, the heat press we have found anything lower then 200°C won't cure and it sits there for 2 minutes comes out set and shiny

is that Celsius? 

 

Something doesn't sound right. I run mine at 100C and it works perfectly. The machine in F runs at 226 and works perfectly- regardless of the humidity. If its really cold in here, I bump up the temp a couple degrees. 

 

Are you using a converter for your shaker, and have you taken actual temps in the center of the plate after it has heated up? 

[SilverSwan]

2 hours ago, johnson4 said:

is that Celsius? 

 

Something doesn't sound right. I run mine at 100C and it works perfectly. The machine in F runs at 226 and works perfectly- regardless of the humidity. If its really cold in here, I bump up the temp a couple degrees. 

 

Are you using a converter for your shaker, and have you taken actual temps in the center of the plate after it has heated up? 

I haven't as the shaker is a dudd after a week of use it needs repairing so using my heat press, my heat press is a freesub 16 x 20 I've attached a photo of my printer, the black part at the front is set to 55°C  after 60ish seconds i powder then place on the hot press in the centre and set it to 2 mins if its too low powder just doesn't set at all stays bitty, I've got my temp gun out now so I'll do some tests 

 

We our working from our home and the room maintains a decent temp throughout the day except when all the equipment is on then it warms a degree or two so we open a window to balance this out 

Edited April 15, 2022 by SilverSwan

[SilverSwan]

tempreture at 150 on the heat press hits 145 and at 200 it hits around 175 the bottom plate stays consistent around 80°c

I have attached a picture of the marks on a finished piece i just can't nail down why I've slowed the curing process down slightly but it has cured to the point that the whole design is shiny and rubber to feel 

4 hours ago, johnson4 said:

is that Celsius? 

 

Something doesn't sound right. I run mine at 100C and it works perfectly. The machine in F runs at 226 and works perfectly- regardless of the humidity. If its really cold in here, I bump up the temp a couple degrees. 

 

Are you using a converter for your shaker, and have you taken actual temps in the center of the plate after it has heated up? 

 

[johnson4]

You can’t use a heat press and get a proper cure. 
 

the reason shakers work isn’t because they stay at a constant temperature. They use carbon heating elements that get up over 300-700 F every few seconds. The “temperature” cycles this so it cures the ink and melts the powder without being too hot because of the cut off temperature. The set temperature just controls how much they cycle and at what cut off temperature to prevent burning. 
 

a heat press is a constant non-radiant heat source. The bottom plate likely isn’t heated. So- powder may melt, ink isn’t curing properly because the ink temperature is likely very low on the silicone mat- for sure not the same temperature you are getting above unless you preheat the bottom plate really well. 
 

Now, if you removed the heat press heat plate, turned it upside down and put the film directly on it so the backside of the film is touching- it will cure fine. I made my own mini shaker with an upside down heat press, cured from the bottom. It was set to about 280-300F and cured them perfectly as fast as the printer would run. 
 

be aware, the fumes are toxic and you likely aren’t collecting and venting them from your press. I’ve seen people end up in the hospital over it with respiratory issues. The stuff that evaporated from the ink, well it’s poisonous if consumed. The powder fumes aren’t healthy Eaither

. 
 

shakers can be repaired fairly easily. I can help if you tell me what’s going on. 

Edited April 16, 2022 by johnson4

[SilverSwan]

5 hours ago, johnson4 said:

You can’t use a heat press and get a proper cure. 
 

the reason shakers work isn’t because they stay at a constant temperature. They use carbon heating elements that get up over 300-700 F every few seconds. The “temperature” cycles this so it cures the ink and melts the powder without being too hot because of the cut off temperature. The set temperature just controls how much they cycle and at what cut off temperature to prevent burning. 
 

a heat press is a constant non-radiant heat source. The bottom plate likely isn’t heated. So- powder may melt, ink isn’t curing properly because the ink temperature is likely very low on the silicone mat- for sure not the same temperature you are getting above unless you preheat the bottom plate really well. 
 

Now, if you removed the heat press heat plate, turned it upside down and put the film directly on it so the backside of the film is touching- it will cure fine. I made my own mini shaker with an upside down heat press, cured from the bottom. It was set to about 280-300F and cured them perfectly as fast as the printer would run. 
 

be aware, the fumes are toxic and you likely aren’t collecting and venting them from your press. I’ve seen people end up in the hospital over it with respiratory issues. The stuff that evaporated from the ink, well it’s poisonous if consumed. The powder fumes aren’t healthy Eaither

. 
 

shakers can be repaired fairly easily. I can help if you tell me what’s going on. 

Thank you, I read so many places online that it can be cured via the heat press hence why we where doing it, although this residue we are also getting from the ones done via the shaker system too

So the Shaker arrived just over a week ago and we got it up and running fairly smoothly and then I could smell burning, the machine was smoking coming from internal and then some sparking/fizzing happened a pop and it powered down, my husband opened it up to look instead from the side panel and can't outwardly see what going on, he changed the fuse to get it going again and to see if he could see the issue and the same thing happened again with no idea where from and now it won't turn on at all

Edited April 16, 2022 by SilverSwan

[johnson4]

5 hours ago, SilverSwan said:

Thank you, I read so many places online that it can be cured via the heat press hence why we where doing it, although this residue we are also getting from the ones done via the shaker system too

So the Shaker arrived just over a week ago and we got it up and running fairly smoothly and then I could smell burning, the machine was smoking coming from internal and then some sparking/fizzing happened a pop and it powered down, my husband opened it up to look instead from the side panel and can't outwardly see what going on, he changed the fuse to get it going again and to see if he could see the issue and the same thing happened again with no idea where from and now it won't turn on at all

Yea, I mean it's possible but usually takes 5+ minutes and being very close to the transfer. It's not ideal and this is just something that happens when you do.

 

As for the shaker not curing well, it takes alot of testing to find the right temperature and settings. I have 3 mini shaker and the temperature and settings on each one vary wildly. Overall, knowing it's a symptom of under curing should help you moving forward with what you need to do to test and try to cure them better. overall it takes me a solid few days of testing, maybe 10-20 hours to get each one dialed in correctly. Then they just work with minor adjustments here and there.

 

I am not discounting what the internet says, but in general following the " crowd" is usually just a wave of bad information. You can make it work, you can do anything once and that information then spreads. When it comes to working well, or consistently- they won't answer you or will assume usually. I am not saying you can't get a good cure with a heat press, I am saying it takes alot of time and this method is prone to this type of issue until you really test it and get your setup where it needs to be. It will literally be different for everyone. 

 

Generally speaking, those cheap black shakers don't have a fuse if that is what you have. It could be a multitude of things. Do you have photo's?

 

 

Edited April 16, 2022 by johnson4

[SilverSwan]

5 hours ago, johnson4 said:

Yea, I mean it's possible but usually takes 5+ minutes and being very close to the transfer. It's not ideal and this is just something that happens when you do.

 

As for the shaker not curing well, it takes alot of testing to find the right temperature and settings. I have 3 mini shaker and the temperature and settings on each one vary wildly. Overall, knowing it's a symptom of under curing should help you moving forward with what you need to do to test and try to cure them better. overall it takes me a solid few days of testing, maybe 10-20 hours to get each one dialed in correctly. Then they just work with minor adjustments here and there.

 

I am not discounting what the internet says, but in general following the " crowd" is usually just a wave of bad information. You can make it work, you can do anything once and that information then spreads. When it comes to working well, or consistently- they won't answer you or will assume usually. I am not saying you can't get a good cure with a heat press, I am saying it takes alot of time and this method is prone to this type of issue until you really test it and get your setup where it needs to be. It will literally be different for everyone. 

 

Generally speaking, those cheap black shakers don't have a fuse if that is what you have. It could be a multitude of things. Do you have photo's?

 

 

thank you,

The shaker we have came with the printer and the duo cost us $6500 it had a fuse which we changed it came back on then popped off 

[johnson4]

Yea, I see what you mean. I’d assume it was the PID/relay or the wiring for the bulb got knicked. 

Edited April 16, 2022 by johnson4

[SilverSwan]

On 4/16/2022 at 10:57 PM, johnson4 said:

Yea, I see what you mean. I’d assume it was the PID/relay or the wiring for the bulb got knicked. 

OK so we are working out our kinks i have removed a plate from my older heat press, how long and at what temp for it to cure using this method?

can we recure the older dtfs we gave done?

[johnson4]

4 hours ago, SilverSwan said:

OK so we are working out our kinks i have removed a plate from my older heat press, how long and at what temp for it to cure using this method?

can we recure the older dtfs we gave done?

Mine had a hood around it with a fan sucking the fumes away and always maintained the heat better that way. If I remember correctly I ran it at around 290F. The printer was printing roughly 30 12x10 prints an hour, so roughly 2-2:30 minutes curing on a 15x15 heat press with direct contact. The tension from the take up wheel on one side and the powder on the other held the film flat against the heat plate nicely. 
 

as for curing under cured prints again, I have no idea, sorry. 

Edited April 19, 2022 by johnson4