Discuss the various aspects of heat press technology. Transfer paper, inks, plastisol transfers, vinyl cutters, printers, commercial usage, durability, suppliers, etc.
I did a lot of research on ChromaBlast Inks and Transfer paper. After reading hundreds of reviews I decided to purchase it, despite its high price tag. One down side is that it is printer specific you must have an Epson C88, 1800, or 4800 and it has a limited printing area.
After one wash it does have a soft hand and you can't really tell it was a transfer. So it looks much better than most transfer paper. And the Epson printers really do print great photo quality prints.
I have used it for almost a
year, now and I love it when every things working. You have to do a print about every other day to keep it from clogging your printer nozzles, and you have to keep your transfer paper sealed tight. It works great on white 100% cttn, on any other color you have to trim it. it prints good on 50/50 but sometimes washes out.( It doesnt bind to the 50% polyester.)
Roger hit on the big problem I had with Chromablast....constant clogging issues...so I have just thrown up my hands...and gone on to other things!..besides the sheets are .75 cents each in 100 packs
Same here with the clogging issues. I've used it for almost a year too and it does print nicely and I have no problems other than constant clogging. I've got the 4800 dual system and have wasted lots of expensive ink trying to keep it clean. I've told Sawgrass I'm about ready to give up on them too, especially since their support isn't very good. One last thing I'm going to try is Harvey's head cleaner which automatically runs a print through every day if you want. I think this system would be good if you did print every day, but embroidery is my main l
Same here with the clogging issues. I've used it for almost a year too and it does print nicely and I have no problems other than constant clogging. I've got the 4800 dual system and have wasted lots of expensive ink trying to keep it clean. I've told Sawgrass I'm about ready to give up on them too, especially since their support isn't very good. One last thing I'm going to try is Harvey's head cleaner which automatically runs a print through every day if you want. I think this system would be good if you did print every day, but embroidery is my main l
Jim
Embellishments in Thread
Okay, I give, what is this harvey's head cleaner... I purchased the chomablast set up and have had nothing but problems with clogging since i do not use it often enough.
I do not have a problem sith the sublime ink it cleans up just fine when it has set a while. I like the option of using it for small runs rather than starting up the ole beaste in the garage!
I have the same problem with the clogging. I have the R1800 dual system. Another problem I have is it saying it is out of ink before it is actually out. Love the product (when it works)
.. which isnt right now (Cyan is clogged)
I purchased the 4800. I ran chroma in oneside and sublime in the other and last time I wanted to use it i blew through nearly half my ink $$$$$$$ trying to get it to print out and ended up printing sublime and cutting around the image. Then using my roland, I cut out heat applied lettering and applyed those above the image. Thankfully I only had 9 shirt to do. I ended up breaking down and buying a 4 color expandable screen print station that i have set up in my garage. I don't even use that chromablast anymore. U really do need to print on a daily basis in order to keep it running correctly. What a bummer! They negelcted to metion that at the sales presentation!! Of course, my stupid butt never asked either!!
If you do not use chromasblast on regular basis you face getting clogs. I found that by prinitng something at least every few days it has prevented any clogs.
I have found that when I don't intend to print for a week or so, I just turn my printer off and I don't get the clogs. Otherwise I soak the pads in alcohol instead of simple green.
Another alternative is Printer Jockey (Printer Jockey). It has the same automatic test print feature that HHC has. However, you can control which colors you want to run the test print on (i.e. if you are running a hybrid and only want to print a test print from the ChromaBlast channels, you can do it. You also have the ability to adjust the strength of each individual channel flush if you have one channel that clogs more ofter. The big difference with Printer Jockey compared to HHC is that it also has a feature that will help you flush a single channel of ink once it is clogged. There are also other features as well. Here is a video that explains how to use the Test Timed Print feature - YouTube - How to schedule a Timed Print in Printer Jockey Software
I have found that when I don't intend to print for a week or so, I just turn my printer off and I don't get the clogs. Otherwise I soak the pads in alcohol instead of simple green.
I'm new to Chromablast, just got my printer a couple of days ago. I decided not to go with the bulk ink system initially, just the cartridges. I have so far only printed one print 8.5 x 11, possibly 40 % ink coverage, only black.
I was dismayed to find that the computer reports only 88% full ... after one print! 12% of the ink is gone after one page?
At this rate I will only get a handful of sheets for my $75 worth of ink ... does anyone have any specs on what kind of yield I should expect to get? Hopefully the ink reporting is not accurate.
chromablast ink 
