[TahoeTomahawk]

The Kiosk may be older and outdated, but it's still capable of producing great prints on dark shirts. We print shirts like these all day long with no starvation or clogging problems due to the Belquette Closed Ink system.

 

[Justin Walker]

Those are some impressive pictures!! Thanks for sharing. Now, if only there was a similar system for the 48xx machines.....

 

[TahoeTomahawk]

Thanks Justin! We are super happy with the simplicity of the closed bag system. It's nice not worrying about starvation part way through the print like we did when it had the old ink delivery system.

Does the 48xx series use cartridges?

 

[Justin Walker]

The machine I have (as well as other 48xx machines) do indeed use cartridges; right now, I am running bulk ink carts, but I plan to switch over to a closed system SOON (one way or another) - I have heard a lot of positive feedback about Belquette's bagged system, but I don't have the time or patience to wait for a "possible" 48xx system from them "sometime in the future".... I really need a solution, in the very near future.

Right now, I am looking at all the options out there, and now that things are not quite as precarious as they were for a long time, I feel I have more room to experiment, again. Once again, it is inspiring to see those kind of results (and glowing reviews) from not only yourself, but other Kiosk owners who are running the Printsrite system from Belquette; it confirms how critical the ink delivery system can be, on ANY printer! With some minor changes, I think a lot of the existing printers out there could be made to work much more reliably......

 

[MHD]

Adam,
Is the bag system more forgiving than the bulk system when it comes to humidity levels?

I got good nozzle checks yesterday and crappy ones today. The humidity was between 35 & 40% for a day and now I'm doing countless head cleanings with cleaning solution... I'm am so tired of filling the waste bottle with ink and cleaning solution.

Mark

 

[TahoeTomahawk]

Mark, sounds like you are where we were before we made the switch.

Humidity plays a big factor with DTG machines no matter what the delivery system is. But our humidity is usually between 35% - 50%. When it gets low, we try to increase it a bit and keep it at least in the low 40's.

Today it was an average 42% and both our Kiosks and our MOD1 ran great with no problems. All 3 machines are on the bag system.

 

[Justin Walker]

Maybe you've already posted them, somewhere, but do you have pictures of your setup, with the Belquette system installed?

 

[sewexclusive]

Great looking whites. Is this a result of the bag system? I can not get good whites like in your pics. I am using bulk system from EZ.
Thanks
Ray

 

[zoom_monster]

Justin, enlighten me here... do the 48xx machines have a different size damper/tube size that prevents you from running the closed system? The nipples on the head different?

Ian

 

[TahoeTomahawk]

Justin,
a setup like mine might work for you. Before the Belquette system I had the EquipmentZone Bulk Ink System. That came with 3/32" tubing and a cable / energy chain.
So to convert to Belquette, they just gave me the quick-connectors for free, I think they come with the bags, you might want to check with them.

The other end of the Tygon tubing plugs directly into your cartridges if a barbed fitting is already there. If not, just add a 3/32" barbed fitting to your carts.

I also purchased a Lab Jack on ebay, for $60 I got 2 of them. That way I can raise and lower the bags by turning a handle.

Here are some pics from a previous post of mine back in December.
http://www.t-shirtforums.com/direct-garment-dtg-inkjet-printing/t105041-2.html#post618717

 

[Justin Walker]

Justin, enlighten me here... do the 48xx machines have a different size damper/tube size that prevents you from running the closed system? The nipples on the head different?

Ian

Ya know, that is a good question! I will leave it to someone with slightly more technical expertise, to enlighten us both. haha. I was half considering buying the bags, and figuring out how to adapt them to my machine.... Seems simple enough, right? Famous last words...

We did replace our dampers, a few months ago, but it was my production supervisor who handled the whole ordeal; I should take a look, since I hear they should be removed and "purged" on a regular basis, anyways! Should probably do the same thing to my ink cartridges, soon, although I don't think I'll be using them in the long run - time for a closed ink system! I'm convinced.

 

[TahoeTomahawk]

The EquipmentZone system uses cartridges and has a 3/32" barb glued on to it. From there, the larger tubes plug in and you can use bottles or bags on the other end.

The only thing about the carts is that we had to take them out every once in awhile and shake them due to the ink separation. But had no problem with starvation or clogging.

 

[zoom_monster]

Ya know, that is a good question! I will leave it to someone with slightly more technical expertise, to enlighten us both. haha. I was half considering buying the bags, and figuring out how to adapt them to my machine.... Seems simple enough, right? Famous last words...

How does your system currently handle the ink chips? On my system, they're all mounted in a single block that when the dampers are in place (in the carrage)the chips a held in contact with the electronics.

 

[TahoeTomahawk]

For the Kiosk they made a bypass board that is mounted on the chassis. The MOD has a chip block that is held in place by 2 screws.

 

[FatKat Printz]

Maybe you've already posted them, somewhere, but do you have pictures of your setup, with the Belquette system installed?

Here are some pictures of our setup.. we didn't have the room for the lab jacks so we just mounted a metal shelf on left hand side of the printer.

we recently switched to the "enhanced dampers" from dtginks.com (first pic)

 

[Justin Walker]

How does your system currently handle the ink chips? On my system, they're all mounted in a single block that when the dampers are in place (in the carrage)the chips a held in contact with the electronics.

This might sound silly, but I don't think I know which chips you're referring to? The only chips I deal with on my current printer, are the chips on the actual bulk ink carts, as well as the single chip for the waste tank. If there are chips by the head, or on the dampers, I was unaware of this! I guess I'll have to look.

 

[IYFGraphics]

Here are some pictures of our setup.. we didn't have the room for the lab jacks so we just mounted a metal shelf on left hand side of the printer.

we recently switched to the "enhanced dampers" from dtginks.com (first pic)

Pat/Carla,

On the enhanced dampers what holds them in place, looks like they just sit in the carriage? also is that a filter I see looking at the side or just a baffle to keep the ink from sloshing around.

 

[FatKat Printz]

they snap into place (just like the original dampers) on top of the print head.
the bottom part of the damper fits directly onto the printhead.


but unlike the original dampers these have an extra large filter..

[media]https://dtginks.com/components/com_virtuemart/shop_image/product/Damper_for_the_K_4b7942c6edabe.png[/media]


we originally had the dampers from Belquette (one of the pics you can see) (that snapped in place similar to cartridges) but under the advice from Adam who has the same set up we started using the enhanced dampers..

 

[TahoeTomahawk]

We like those dampers too.

Those are really only needed for White ink, the small filters seem to work fine for CMYK. Won't hurt to swap all your dampers like Carla / Pat though.

 

[MHD]

Just so I am clear, what is the best set-up for dampers? I understand DTG INKS enhanced cartridges for the white ink, but for the CMYK should I also use the DTG INKS enhanced carts? I do have the Equip Zone bulk cartridges as well as my original Kiosk dampers that came with my machine. I'm not looking to scrimp, if you suggest the enhanced carts all the way around then that's what I'll get.


Mark