I have a t-jet 2 and have been using the FastInk Bright white ink from t-jet I order from Equipment Zone. I am sick of the clogged head problems. I hear there are several other out there to choose from but I would like some feedback on which is working best. PLEASE SUGGEST BRANDS AND SUPPLIERS that are compatable with the Fast T-jet2.
The dupont is the most proven white ink out there, and it the main one used for epson based machines. You need to make sure your environment has the right humidity and temp, and maintenance is done proper on the machine to print well. If you are having issues, changing ink is not going to help. What is going to help is to make sure that all of the factors I mentioned previously are learned well. It is difficult at first to get everything perfect, but once you learn all that needs to be done to print well, it does get easier. It definitely is a learning process.
I have not heard of any other ink then dupont that is consistent in the epson based machines. There are different suppliers selling it under their own names, but its all the same ink, made by dupont, with the exception of some random ink sellers that are trying to get into the market of white ink, but as of yet I have not seen any other then dupont be consist ant with the epson based machines. I myself have been printing with my machine for over 2 years (I have the HM1) and have not had any issues with the dupont white.
__________________
Always do right; this will gratify some people and astonish the rest. ~~~Mark Twain BobbieLee
BobbieLee,
Would you mind telling what your temp and humidity range usually is? I get by with my T2 and the white ink but I feel like I fight it costantly. I bought a good humidifier and a seperate window AC just to make this thing happy. It is usually about 75-78 degrees and 40-50% humidity. Just curious if getting even more humidity and lower temps. would make it less troublesome.
Thanks,
Kip
Your temp is good, but your humidity could be a little higher. I keep mine at around 50 to 55 %. Also what kind of humidifier are you using? I use the hot steam one and not the cool mist one. I found that the hot air one for some reason made humidity that my machine liked better. Dont ask me why haha, but it just works much better with the warm steam humidity then the cool one.
__________________
Always do right; this will gratify some people and astonish the rest. ~~~Mark Twain BobbieLee
you guys are awesome!! What is the deviced called for testig humitity, I'm being lazy and just asking instead of researching the easy question.
BobbieLee- How do know if I am getting Dupont Ink?? is the FastInk Bright White I get from EZ dupont? This stuff settles alot do they all? My daily duties are pretty consistant however I don't print everyday, sometimes I may go 3 days with nothing, is that too long????
Going three days with your white ink in your lines is too long. At least print a test print each day, to make sure that your ink is moving, and not just settling in the head. Yes the fast ink is dupont If you do not have a system on your machine for mixing your ink or circulating it, which I dont believe the tjet 2 has, you need to kind mix it each day by rolling it in the bottle. That will keep it from settling. The thing you need to get to gauge your humidity is called a hygrometer and can be bought at any place with a nursery such as home depot. They are only about $15 and well worth the money. I have one that has a magnet on the back and I just stick it right to the side of the machine, so its very accurate as to the humidity right where the machine is at Hope this helps.
What I do with my test prints, is just print a print that you know you can sell, and print one each day. My husband is a fire fighter, so I do fire fighters designs for his friends and they love them. That way I am not wasting ink, and it keeps my machine flowing well
__________________
Always do right; this will gratify some people and astonish the rest. ~~~Mark Twain BobbieLee
I'm wondering what bulk ink system you are using? The one that came with the machine? If so I would highly recommend getting Harry's Bulk ink system. It mad the difference in day and night with us. Before Hurricane Ike we had the Tjet 2 and numerous head changes and ect and then decided to upgrade to Harry's bulk ink. For the last 6 mos that we had the system we didn't change a single head. Now we have a refurbished T-jet 2 (thanks Ike) with Harry's bulk ink system in place now for over a year and haven't replaced a print head yet! We don't print every day either.
We have the EZ bulk system and this machine gets more attention than my family does And I still replace a head every two months or so. (I keep a spare) The machine still makes us money but that is a lot of my profit gone and I can't figure out why. Oh and we bought an Air-O-Swiss cold or hot ( which I run in hot mode) humidifier. Sometimes I can get 50-55% humidity but often it is only in the 40% range. If it would make a difference I would partition off a cubicle for the printer just to get the humidity up but that makes the work flow a hassle so I never did it.
Thanks again,
Kip
In our area we have to worry about to high of humidity. We purchased a hygrometer that monitors the temp and the humidity in the area. With running the a/c (yes it's October but we are still wear shorts around here). Typically the humidity stays around 35-40 maybe occassionally up to 50 but very rarely. The lower the humidity the better the print. We had the a/c go out during the summer and beside me wilting because of the heat and the humidity was up to about 60. The printer because of the humidity and the heat didn't print very well. Read the docs because unless I'm mistaken the humidity needs to be on the lower end. If your in Arizona you may want to add a little but not much. Hopefully I helped a little. Your more than welcome to give me a private post and maybe between me and my husband we talk you through some issues. We have had the printer for about 3 years now and yes we have had some ups and downs but now that we are a bit more than novices we do fairly well.
The humidity should always make the machine run better when it is higher. It is weird that you would get good results with low humidity, as the ink is water based, and with low humidity it makes the ink on the head lose moisture there for clogging the printhead. If you do a search here in the search box on the top and search humidity and dtg printing you will see that the majority of us require a higher humidity level to get good ink flow with our printheads. You will also find many posts for the distributors of most machines that also recommend a higher humidity level, and many many peoples issues solved with raising the humidity levels.
__________________
Always do right; this will gratify some people and astonish the rest. ~~~Mark Twain BobbieLee
Bobbie is quite correct. Humidity level is something that many printers ignore but proper humidity is crucial to all digital garment printer brands. You should keep your humidity level around 50% and your temperature around 65 to 80 degrees. Too dry or extremes of temperature will cause problems. You should have a hygrometer (humidity gauge) mounted near the printer so you can be easily check your humidity level. They are, as Bobbie pointed out, fairly inexpensive (digital ones start at $10). Winter time in many parts of the country greatly affects humidity levels since heating buildings dries out the air. Air conditioning also dries out the air by removing humidity.
To help insure problem free performance get a hygrometer. If needed, also purchase a humidifier. If you are in a very large space, and its hard to keep the humidity level constant, consider partitioning off the section you have your printer in.
Verify that the ink you are getting is "fresh". The distributor should be using a lot/batch number on their bottle - you can ask them what date of manufacture this cooresponds to. Dupont recommends that the white ink be agitated (usually by rolling) at set intervals to prevent settling of the ink - even for the distributor when the inks are in the 20 liter totes they come in. We roll our white ink here for at least 30 minutes prior to decanting it and generally sell the ink in less than a week. It is also a good idea to buy the ink in smaller bottles - half liter/ 16 oz are preferable, as the smaller bottles do not settle as much as larger ones. If you are convinced that you are not getting satuisfactory product from your current vendor, try another vendor and see if the situation improves, if it does, problem solved, if not, move on or determine if the problem lies within your process.
Don is quite correct that you should be sure you are getting fresh ink. One of the advantages we have in being one of the largest DuPont ink distributors is that, because of the volume we do, the ink goes out almost as quickly as we get it in from the DuPont factory, usually within a week. There are no issues in having larger bottles of ink such as liter size. The majority of white ink sold by distributors is the liter size. Just make sure to roll the bottles you keep on your shelf several times on a regular weekly basis to keep the ink agitated. This applies to any size bottle of white ink you get.
What about the Ink in the bulk system? Agitate it daily also? Is there any way around not printing everyday, say installing the cartridges with cleaning fluid in them? This has been a great help and I will be checking humitity ASAP and addressing that situation.
side note:
Anyone hear of this Resolute Ink? They advertise that their ink doe not settle nearly the same, any truth or expierence to/with this ink???????
The challenge with a bulk ink system is the issue you mention (along with ink standing in the lines as well).
In regards to the Resolute ink - I saw a shirt printed with it at SGIA - Wade showed it to me (good to see you again Wade!). It seemed to have the same rubbery properties on the shirt as some of the samples of white ink we tested previously from Europe. Since I did not see it print nor get a chance to print with it I can not attest to the coverage (how many passes to get a good white), the pre-treatment (virtually every white ink I have tested has worked better with DuPont white ink pre-treatment than their own pre-treatment), nor the long term characteristics of the ink. I can tell you that every single ink manufacturer I have ever spoken with has confirmed that their goal was to get ink as "good as" DuPont's white ink - never one better.
looking for new white ink, suggestions please 
If you do not have a system on your machine for mixing your ink or circulating it, which I dont believe the tjet 2 has, you need to kind mix it each day by rolling it in the bottle. That will keep it from settling. The thing you need to get to gauge your humidity is called a hygrometer and can be bought at any place with a nursery such as home depot. They are only about $15 and well worth the money. I have one that has a magnet on the back and I just stick it right to the side of the machine, so its very accurate as to the humidity right where the machine is at 
Re: looking for new white ink, suggestions please 
