[Guest]

why does my ink look rough when it comes out of the dryer? its smooth when i put it in but looks like crap when it comes out. i use plastisol ink. need help asap!

 

[jayman2143]

Can you attach some pictures of the ink before and after drying?

 

[swannn32]

There are a ton of possibilities - a few that come to mind quickly ... the dryer is too hot or not hot enough, the ink isn't mixed properly (needs a good stir or maybe a bad batch), the ink is too old, you're printing on waterproof nylon or some other strange material?

What temperature is your dryer? What material are you printing on? Is the ink mixed well and is it new? Have you tried printing a different color of ink with the same results?

 

[out da box]

Plastisol ink should never "get old", it'll practically live forever. Dryer temp may be too high.

 

[Guest]

I don't have a pic at the moment. I'm curing at 350. It's new union maxopake neon pink. I does happen with every color so far. I called tex source and they said my dryer is too hot and I'm blistering the ink so I'm gonna lower the temp tomorrow. They said it should stay in the dryer for 1 min at 300-320. Hopefully that will work!!

 

[swannn32]

I had some ink that I bought with my equipment that was 15+ years old. Sealed up pretty good in a plastic container, but when I opened it, it was chalky and pretty dry. So eventually ink does go bad. Maybe I could have remixed it - but at that point why even try.
I ended up having to throw away about 12 gallons of ink because of this.

Back to the question at hand ... Be careful not to go to low on the temperature. Most inks cure at around 300 to 320, so you have to find your sweet spot.

Although I didn't think 350 would be too hot?

 

[out da box]

Dried plastisol ink just needs curable reducer or base. Again it's plastic, it'll last forever- practically. It's got to be really in bad shape to not work.
On the curing and bubbling issue, one other thing it could be is the ink layer too thick and screen tension not quite high enough.