[Cocolroo]

Had a chance this weekend to do some printing on dark shirts this weekend with my Tjet 2.
It was ok but wasnt super thrilled.White seemed alittle grainy and reds over white seemed more orange.For white only I would do one underbase and 2 topcoat, and with red I would do one underbase and highlight and then the red.
I would set my tray height as high as I could but
just barely able to slide a business card beween the height adjustemnt bar and the shirt but didnt want to go too high risking touching my print head on the shirt.
I tried different setting from 320 to 1400 photo.
Im using Equipment Zone Dark Presparay with
the wagner yellow airsprayer I see many using in the videos and the roll into the shirt,and heat press for 15 sec.
Maybe my expectations are too high for a DTG on darks but when I see some dark shirts out there with white or color I noticed they ar much briter and vibrant.Will this only be able to be obtained through screenprinting or maybe Im notdoing something right.The whit ink I was given with this
machine is Max bright DTG ultra white from American Screen Supply.It looks like a dupont ink.
I also notice after the shirt is printed and dry this may sound stupid but I can barely scratch the ink off if I try really hard but not much.And its only been yesterday since I printed.In time would that ink set more?Maybe im makiing a bigger deal about it but I dont want this to wash or peel off soon.I cured it in the heat press for about 2 1/2 min.
I will include some pics of some of the prints as well as how my white print heads look.
There build up around the side but the miidle looks open.I dont know if this is norma or not.
Would this effect the print.
Thanks

 

[equipmentzone]

Had a chance this weekend to do some printing on dark shirts this weekend with my Tjet 2.
It was ok but wasnt super thrilled.White seemed alittle grainy and reds over white seemed more orange.For white only I would do one underbase and 2 topcoat, and with red I would do one underbase and highlight and then the red.
I would set my tray height as high as I could but
just barely able to slide a business card beween the height adjustemnt bar and the shirt but didnt want to go too high risking touching my print head on the shirt.
I tried different setting from 320 to 1400 photo.
Im using Equipment Zone Dark Presparay with
the wagner yellow airsprayer I see many using in the videos and the roll into the shirt,and heat press for 15 sec.
Maybe my expectations are too high for a DTG on darks but when I see some dark shirts out there with white or color I noticed they ar much briter and vibrant.Will this only be able to be obtained through screenprinting or maybe Im notdoing something right.The whit ink I was given with this
machine is Max bright DTG ultra white from American Screen Supply.It looks like a dupont ink.
I also notice after the shirt is printed and dry this may sound stupid but I can barely scratch the ink off if I try really hard but not much.And its only been yesterday since I printed.In time would that ink set more?Maybe im makiing a bigger deal about it but I dont want this to wash or peel off soon.I cured it in the heat press for about 2 1/2 min.
I will include some pics of some of the prints as well as how my white print heads look.
There build up around the side but the miidle looks open.I dont know if this is norma or not.
Would this effect the print.
Thanks

From Justin in our Support Department:

How do your nozzle checks look?
How old is your white ink?
Are you agitating the ink at all?
Does the white ink look like it has settled in the tubes?

What print modes are these photos printer?
For anything requring white in we generally recommend using the 1440 underbase prints modes as anything else requires multiple passes and is far more time consuming.

It looks like it can be a mix of pretreatment needing to be more even and more pretreatment itself (hence the shirt fibers sticking up). And not enough pressure when curing the pretreatments. When curing the pretreatment you will want to user firm pressure and to get the shirt fibers to lay really flat.
This should help out getting the whites to be nice and vibrant.



Harry
Equipment Zone

 

[Cocolroo]

I did the nozzle check in the beginning
butI couldnt see the white ink because it was on a white piece of paper.The colored looked fine.
Should I try a black shirt or black piece of paper
for the whit ink nozzle check.
Also is that build up around the nozzle ok and is there any reason to clean around it or is that normal.
Again if DTG printing is not going to be as quality printing as screenprinting then thats one thing but just want to make sure im doing everything I can.
Thanks

 

[equipmentzone]

I did the nozzle check in the beginning
butI couldnt see the white ink because it was on a white piece of paper.The colored looked fine.
Should I try a black shirt or black piece of paper
for the whit ink nozzle check.
Also is that build up around the nozzle ok and is there any reason to clean around it or is that normal.
Again if DTG printing is not going to be as quality printing as screenprinting then thats one thing but just want to make sure im doing everything I can.
Thanks

From Justin in our Support Department:

You will want to print the nozzle check onto something you can see the white ink on. Colored paper, a piece of transparent film, a piece of acrylic, or even the stainless steel of the print bed itself.

This will help establish if the print head is firing correctly or not on the white channels.

Some build up of ink around the nozzle is normal. However cleaning any build up on the posts that go into the cartridges will help reduce clogs. Just use a slightly dampend swab to clean off any residue and ink.



Harry
Equipment Zone

_

 

[apipromo]

I did the nozzle check in the beginning
butI couldnt see the white ink because it was on a white piece of paper.The colored looked fine.
Should I try a black shirt or black piece of paper
for the whit ink nozzle check.
Also is that build up around the nozzle ok and is there any reason to clean around it or is that normal.
Again if DTG printing is not going to be as quality printing as screenprinting then thats one thing but just want to make sure im doing everything I can.
Thanks

For white nozzle checks you will want something clear or reflective to see the white. Either a piece of glass, plexi-glass, clear transparency film, mirror, or a chrome piece of vinyl will work.

 

[Cocolroo]

I will give that a try..
Thanks

 

[bjparker]

just put your print bed up all the way and test nozzles on that.