[Print1Shirt]

Just want to share my experience and thoughts so far.

I went to training third week of April 2014 and received my Neoflex on Friday, May 2, 2014. We are ecstatic because we have a few projects lined up to deliver.

We assembled it on Sunday, May 4th by using video and paper instructions a and it was really simple. Although I was hoping AA sent the machine with the 3 Allen wrenches it needed to build it. It would have been much easier. The only thing at this point that was wrong is one of the garment pallet was missing a screw.

Monday, May 5th, we are running after the tech support call for the initial set-up for a production run of 33 shirts. We printed 9 shirts successfully until all of a sudden, the white and color misaligned by at lease 1 inch or more. I email and called tech support and found out that they have to replace a daughter board that is used for alignment. Unfortunately by this time we already trashed a dozen shirts. Running black or dark shirts will always ruin 3 shirt right away because you won't know something is wrong until the white ink is already printed and it is only visible some thing is wrong when the color ink goes down. I guess that is one of the drawback of Neoflex or any other similar type of DTG.

So I hope this is not one of those things that will keep happening because you end up wasting lots of shirts which ends up eating into your profit. For this project, I already trashed a third of the total shirt order.

I am however still excited to get this machine going and I'm sure there will be many learning curves as long as the machine do not brake down all the time.

By the way, manual pre-treating using the hand spray is not the business. I need to get a lot of sale right away so that we can pick up a pre-treating machine.

 

[NeoBud]

We have had that same issue, just been to busy to call tigers, so I wonder if we also need to replace daughter board thing also. We were told here on forum might be USB cable bought new gold plated one still no fix.

What we have done is print 1 black shirt at a time and have the other 2 platens ready to replace after print is done, than just hit print again and repeat. We also print on the middle spot so white ink dries proper.

By doing this we usually don't have many mistakes and don't lose that much production time.

Hope this helps. Post back about that daughter board if it fixes the issue.

 

[23spiderman]

first of all, welcome to the NeoFamily! we are here to help as best we can.

sorry for your struggles. however, with any new venture, you should always allow a testing time before jobs are due. even with a properly working printer, having jobs due right away, without a "break-in" period, is just asking for trouble. i, too, jumped right in to printing, but i held off on white ink for a few months until i was comfortable with the printer. in your case, you wouldn't have caught the issue with the daughter board, but at least you would have had some experience under your belt.

with regards to manually pretreating, there are several of us who us this method, and i think it is necessary to know how to manually pretreat in case you even have a problem with your auto. i've been manually preatreating since 2008. it's easy, and i know whether or not i have enough pretreat on the shirt PRIOR to wasting ink on it. the autos can be a great addition to your business, but you need a decent amount of white ink volume to justify the price.

 

[Print1Shirt]

Hi 23spiderman,

You are right but in my case, I'm out the full amount of the machine and I need to get it up and running ASAP to recap my investment. I agree with allowing time to learn but that is learning how to use the machine and pretreating but not machine breaking down right away. I know there are a lot to learn on DTG which I understand and willing to accept. Would you buy a car but the dealer tells you can can only drive around your house for a month to make sure the wheels don't fall off? You would be OK to learn how to drive but the wheel should not fall off after buying a brand new car.

In regards to pre - treating, it's just my preference because I do not have a good area set-up yet and I have to do it outside which makes it difficult for me. So I rather try to sell more and reinvest.

I'm still excited to use the machine though and can't wait what I can do with it. So far I've been able to do white shirt, black single and double sided, optimum production is single sided which allow a good rhythm.

 

[Print1Shirt]

Now is another set of problems. both white and black media background are now printing halfway and then would go back on the top about 2 inches above where the print started and would print the bottom half of the print. What gives?.... But before this happened, the other problem that was happening was when i do a nozzle check, the black verbiage the prints on the bottom of the lines are now printing on top of the lines. What did i get myself into? Am i going to do more fixing than printing? Maybe DTG is still too early for its own good. It printed well when it was working fine and i am very happy with it but it seem to do more troubleshooting on the machine than printing jobs. is this the way it is going to be? When i decided to purchase the machine, my biggest fear and which i thought was going to take most of my time was the learning curve of the software, pre-treating, running the machine, standard cleaning maintenance and of course the inks, but not constantly trying to fix the machine.

Again, this is not a bash to the machine or the company, it is what i am experiencing so far. It has only been 2 weeks and my biggest fears is not the one taking much of my time but issues that should not be on a new machine.

 

[joey1320]

I don't own a DTG but your comparison to the vehicle made perfect sense.

I'm sorry but for a brand new machine to be giving you these types of headaches, seems unacceptable.

Going back to your vehicle comparison, I actually work for a major car brand and we have paid customers' monthly payment when their vehicles are still under warranty and in the shop for an unreasonable amount of time. That's even with providing them a loaner vehicle.



Sent from my HTC One X using T-Shirt Forums

 

[Stitch-Up]

I can fully understand your disappointment Fred - I'd feel the same. BUT, sh*t happens sometimes and often beyond the control of the manufacturer/distributor. Some major car manufacturers have recalled millions of cars to rectify faults! I am aware of circumstances when AA have provided a loaner printer however, in the circumstances Fred finds himself in, AA seem to have identified the fault and are shipping a daughter board. This must be a far better solution than asking Fred to dismantle, pack and return his Neoflex.

What I can say is, you'll be glad that you purchased from All American as they'll deal with this with some urgency.

When I purchased my NeoFlex I too had orders waiting to be completed and, as Sean says, it's the wrong way to do things as you've discovered and even if your shiny new NeoFlex worked properly straight out of the box. At first, we trashed dozens of shirts.

Just my personal take of course

I hope you're sorted soon Fred and we all look forward to seeing pictures of your first creations.

Please keep us informed of progress.

John

 

[EricDeem]

I tell every newbie in the DTG business to be prepared to waste a lot of ink and few dozen shirts getting your process down. I probably wasted around $1000 in ink and shirts before I felt like I could produce a consistent and sell-able product.

 

[charley howard]

I tell every newbie in the DTG business to be prepared to waste a lot of ink and few dozen shirts getting your process down. I probably wasted around $1000 in ink and shirts before I felt like I could produce a consistent and sell-able product.

I don't remember you telling me that in Long Beach

 

[printer631]

Sounds Like a Computer or USB cable issue to me. Whenever our machine has printed half an image it was either because the file was huge or the usb cable needed to be replaced. Try making your files .png as this format makes the file as small as possible while keeping the quality integrity. Make sure that your usb cable is not more than 10 feet. We suggest the gold end high quality cables and have had good success with them. Make sure your usb is plugged directly to the back of the printer and not into the base unit. the daisy chain in the base unit does not work properly. Make sure you are running a dual core and preferably a quad core processor on your computer that is driving the neorip. As for ruining shirts we always do a test print on scrap shirts before running any job. One test print will save tons of money in the long run as you will be able to see what your print looks like before wasting good blanks.

 

[CanarianDrifter]

I don't own a Neoflex, I have the GT381. I don't know about you but that statement about being prepared to waste ink and a lot of t-shirts when you start with a new printer is BS. If you have a working printer and the proper training you should be able to start selling you shirts from day 1. Hopefully the OP will replace the part that will fix his issues and start printing so he can pay for his investment.

There will always a lemon on any piece of equipment and hopefully this is not one of them. I follow many threads even if I don't own any of the equipment talked about, I just learn about them and the experiences users have with them.

By the way... where is "neofather" in this thread? No cheers and beer for the OP? Hummm.

CD

 

[Print1Shirt]

Hi Eric,

Thanks. Yes I understand I will be using test shirts and time learning the machine but not wasting lots of shirts in between production run due to constant machine issues. Restarted everything again from computer to machine and was able to finish the job but printing one shirt at a time. I glad I bought the machine but I will see as time goes.

 

[Print1Shirt]

I don't own a Neoflex, I have the GT381. I don't know about you but that statement about being prepared to waste ink and a lot of t-shirts when you start with a new printer is BS. If you have a working printer and the proper training you should be able to start selling you shirts from day 1. Hopefully the OP will replace the part that will fix his issues and start printing so he can pay for his investment.

There will always a lemon on any piece of equipment and hopefully this is not one of them. I follow many threads even if I don't own any of the equipment talked about, I just learn about them and the experiences users have with them.

By the way... where is "neofather" in this thread? No cheers and beer for the OP? Hummm.
CD

Hi CD,
I agree. So hopefully once the daughter board is replaced, machine goes back to normal.

 

[allamerican-aeoon]

By the way... where is "neofather" in this thread? No cheers and beer for the OP? Hummm.
CD

I am here always. I am observing situation
He is in best hand. He have best equipment and service in Dtg world.
He may can produce on any shirts 1/2 of the cost you are spending with less investment.
Print quality? You name it I won't.
Fred will be a happy NeoFamily. This is my job which I enjoy most and ever. Thank you but Leave your kind worry behind and concentrate how to make yourself a decent profit please.
Cheers! Inks are on me always.

 

[CanarianDrifter]

LOL. Hello Peter, glad you are around. I believe your machines are great, I saw it running before I purchased the GT381 althought I wasn't convinced yours was meant for me and my operation. I have no worries whatsoever. Can't said anything bad about any machine since having a good working machine and a properly trained operator makes a world of difference. You have stated before that it is not as much as the cost to print but the profit you generate with your machine, but the machine can't have too many issues with its mechanical performance since that will cost downtime time, money on parts, repairs and wasted blanks and ink. GT381 purchased new in 2012 "Cero Issues".

I mentioned you on my post because I noticed when there is a positive mention of your machines you are right there after the original post but in this case it took two days for you to show up, I was just curious and wanted to push your buttons. I know you are a responsible vendor and will do anything to keep your "family" happy.

CD

 

[allamerican-aeoon]

LOL,
If you had NeoFlex by now you own multiple machine with extra profit or stacks of cash in your account. However, I am happy for you.
Cheers! Inks are on me always.
FYI

In Our slow period now.
Using $1,000.00 in white ink every 2-3 weeks.
Busy period I estimate $1,000.00 every 3-4 days. = $10,000.00 per month In a real busy month with One machine.
So.. I am always growing my business.
When we have 2-3-4 machines.. then what ?
$30,000.00 per month in white ink ?

I study machine build.
I study labour cost (fast cure time/print time)
I study the sales market here in my area.

I Did NOT study Ink costs / comparisons , and feel foolish. Failed.

I am happy with the machine, but feel a fool for being surprised at ink cost.. If I study correctly, I should not have surprises.
But.. I learn every day.. this is why I spent so much time research , because I was worried I would make a business mistake and feel a fool.
But really in the big picture $30,000 mistake is not life changing, I just do not like to have regrets.

Lot's to learn, and takes time to get perfect , but their is a open market for better quality to step in and take a % of market.

 

[jmcgurren]

Ah ha! I remember Steve Gamble asking questions here in the neoflex forum. So he went with Brother? Our consumable cost is way lower, definitely something to regret. I had an issue when I first got my flex too where the drive screw coupling was loose and it was having some strange and very off mis-registration issues. Might be something to look into if it is not the motherboard. Keep humidity at 50%, daily maintenance, learn pretreat and how to run your printer inside and out, etc and I am sure you will be happy with the printer after this issue is fixed and those are accomplished. It takes time/money and some people dont have the time, or any more money after the purchase... that seems to be the main issue with DTG for new users - I know it was my issue in the beginning.

 

[whimdolls]

Hi. Wanted to give my opinions on this thread. I too am a relative newbie...have had my neo since November, but have not had a tremendous amount of time to use it as I am constantly busy with the other part of my business.

While I have also had many issues with printing, 99% of these issues are due to my lack on expertise on the neo. Anytime I've ever had technical difficulties, the tigers and/or the members on this forum were right there to help. They have gone over and above to get my issues resolved & get me back up and running. Do I waste shirts? Constantly. But what I find is that when I do, it's normally because I didn't set something up correctly, didn't pretreat correctly, etc. It is seldom that my neo screwed up. Not to say that it hasn't happened, just that more often than not, it's user error.

There have been times when I've regretted making this purchase, not because I don't love the machine (which I do), but because there are only 24 hours in a day, and I already work 25. I have no doubts that I will make money with my neo, and become an expert. it will just take time. Like any new venture, there is absolutely a learning curve. The more time you have to devote to that learning, the quicker you'll get there. Give it time & know that you are not alone here. The amazing forum members, tigers and Peter are always around to lend a hand.

 

[Print1Shirt]

Hi. Wanted to give my opinions on this thread. I too am a relative newbie...have had my neo since November, but have not had a tremendous amount of time to use it as I am constantly busy with the other part of my business.

While I have also had many issues with printing, 99% of these issues are due to my lack on expertise on the neo. Anytime I've ever had technical difficulties, the tigers and/or the members on this forum were right there to help. They have gone over and above to get my issues resolved & get me back up and running. Do I waste shirts? Constantly. But what I find is that when I do, it's normally because I didn't set something up correctly, didn't pretreat correctly, etc. It is seldom that my neo screwed up. Not to say that it hasn't happened, just that more often than not, it's user error.

There have been times when I've regretted making this purchase, not because I don't love the machine (which I do), but because there are only 24 hours in a day, and I already work 25. I have no doubts that I will make money with my neo, and become an expert. it will just take time. Like any new venture, there is absolutely a learning curve. The more time you have to devote to that learning, the quicker you'll get there. Give it time & know that you are not alone here. The amazing forum members, tigers and Peter are always around to lend a hand.

Hi Deb,

I definitely agree. There will be lots of learning to do such as pre-treating, profiles to use, correct artwork usage, environment control, pallet use, and many more. in my case, there is something wrong with the machine which AA is replacing the daughter board. The issue is the white and color inks are not aligning properly. It is about 1 inch or more off and it happens in between production run (can ruin 3 shirts at a time). I am all for learning and the cost of the learning but if the cost is due to machine malfunction, that is different. Unfortunately, i cannot let the machine sit idle until i get a replacement daughter board since i have to keep the machine running as much as i can to recoup my investment. The faster i can get back my ROI, then i can re-invest back to get more equipment that would allow a better production flow such as pre-treat machine, heat press that slides to the side (keep from burning arms from clam shell heat press).

I have been able to print jobs since i got the machine set-up in the last two weeks, but still waste shirts and ink due the machine misalignment. I am still waiting for the daughter board to be replaced. Thanks to on training in PA and Tigers in helping me get it set-up on the phone. (my projects are not complicated artwork)

So any learning in regards to operating the machine regardless of any machine that will coast me time and money, yes i am all for it.

Time and money costing me due to a malfunctioning machine, not for it. Specially if the machine is brand new.

As a matter of fact, i have 1 shirt to do this morning and after running a test, it printed well, but when i did the actual production shirt, it misaligned again. So there goes 100% good to bad production ratio. I cannot be running 1 bad shirt for every 1 good shirt.

I wish i was only talking about my opinion but unfortunately it is my fact at the moment.