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matuh · May 9th, 2009

Hi

I am just making my first steps with sublimation. I've got a combo heat press.

Making mugs with the settings described in the manual is going fine. But making plates with settings from the manual is not going well. The pictures are all fuzzy and not sharp.

Picture of the plate made with the following settings:
Initial temperature 330F, highest temperature 355F, time 150 sec, at first heat the press to initial temperature and then but the plate in.
Result: http://rouge.ee/tmp/plate.jpg picture not sharp and the edges wierd.

Then I got some information that someone with a different combo press is doing plates at 200C (392F) and 200 sec and without pre-heating. So I tried this approach.
Result: http://rouge.ee/tmp/plate2.jpg the paper went brown and the picture also and wasn't sharp.

Do I have to use some other material between the sublimation paper and heat press. There is nothing said about that in the manual. I just now realized that maybe this is the problem? Or should I change the temperatures or time or pressure?

A long story, but I hope that someone more experienced has the time to give some advice. I would really appreciate it. Thank you!

matuh · May 12th, 2009

Doesn't anybody have a guess what I'm doing wrong?

hi-nrg-joe · June 8th, 2009

I had the same issue and change some of my time/temp options. I've heard that 400F for 4 mins is correct, but it doesn't work for me.

The 365F-395F sounds right, but I had to shorten my time to like 1.5 - 2 mins and my picture was sharper than the 3-4 minute time. Are you using anything in between the press and the plate? Puck, green heat pad, etc? Anything in between the press and your plate will cause a difference in your time also.

I am by no means an expert in the category since I'm very new to it also. The results I posted about are from trial and error with my equipment.

conde tech · June 9th, 2009

Make sure the plates are designed for sublimation. Pre heat the plate puck for 5 mins. at 400. With image on plate, place plate puck with green heat conductive pad face down....med pressure......400 degrees....press for 6 min.

milney88 · January 12th, 2011

Did you end up sorting this problem? i'm having the same issue :-(

charles95405 · January 13th, 2011

If you are a Conde customer, they have a pdf document of 147 pages (I think) of instructions on the correct temp for sublimating their product. It is a super reference item. If you are doing sublimation, I think you need this by or near your press for quick reference...and it is free to down load

mrshill · January 15th, 2011

Can some one tell me where to get the melamine plates for dye sublimation and the trays not the wooden one but the melamine that are coated for dye sub

lben · January 15th, 2011

Conde also has an instructional video on their website for plate making.

I've never heard of melamine plates for sublimation so I have no idea where you would find those at. I've only used porcelain and ceramic plates.

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