[Carl_7977]

We are new to DTF. Just got the machine hooked up last week. STS VJ628D which is a Mutoh, and 24 inch DSP 600 ProMax dryer shaker.

The printer prints like a dream. Using a heat press, and tried from 300 degrees to 35o degrees, from 15 seconds to 25 seconds. Cold peel. In every instance, the color print did not adhere 100%. The solid blacks are perfect, perfectly filled. The colors are spotty as you can see from the image. Any ideas? I am certain this is user error, any tips are welcome.

 

[TeedUp]

My first suspects would be bad film and/or ink.

 

[Carl_7977]

My first suspects would be bad film and/or ink.

Brand new machine with supplies that came with it. The ink has expiration well into 2023. I have been in contact with our dealer and they checked lot numbers on the ink. They supplied the film, brand new when I unwrapped it and installed it. I have new supplies n order, so will check that.

Dealer was pointing me to improper settings on dryer, so downloaded manual and setting up to specs. Only two parameters were different from manual, the belt speed being the most suspect (it was 300, and manual says 150).

One person told me that I needed to do white under even when printing color to a white tee. I was trying to avoid that for obvious reasons. They also said there were no tried and true settings for the heat press, to experiment until we found the best for our equipment.

 

[into the T]

You do not want to use none, as we need white ink to adhere our powders for the direct to film process.

 

[Carl_7977]

That is what I was told by one person. But AA Print Supply in Philly that sold us the STS equip says that you do not need white under to adhere.

 

[Carl_7977]

Okay, just did several successful transfers, CMYK with no white under. They came out perfectly. It seems the issue lays with the powder coater/shaker, or the file print set up.

 

[Carl_7977]

Here it is - CMYK, no white under. The second image had powder issues since I diud it by hand... but still good.

 

[splathead]

A DFT without white, who woulda thought? So what's stopping me from buying DFT transfer paper and powder and print these on my pigment ink based eco-tank for light garments?

 

[Carl_7977]

A DFT without white, who woulda thought? So what's stopping me from buying DFT transfer paper and powder and print these on my pigment ink based eco-tank for light garments?

This system cost around $15K. The printer is a Mutoh, which IMO has been a leader in dye-sub printing for years, so this is a natural direction for them to go.

In doing tests, some white under is giving me more consistent adhesion. On larger prints I will likely use white under just for peace of mind, but for smaller prints, no white under is working very well, and has more of a screen feel rather than the vinyl feel you get with DTF.

 

[TABOB]

The solid blacks are perfect, perfectly filled. The colors are spotty as you can see from the image. Any ideas?

Because ink density for black is 100% or more.
Grey or sky blue colors however, with maybe just 5% ink density, will not hold enough powder adhesive and will not transfer well.
White ink is used to compensate for this.

The same apply to white toner printer transfers.
If the design has enough toner density, you can use a regular CMYK printer.
If not, then you need white toner to compensate.

This system cost around $15K.

Overpriced, but works out of the box.

 

[Carl_7977]

Because ink density for black is 100% or more.
Grey or sky blue colors however, with maybe just 5% ink density, will not hold enough powder adhesive and will not transfer well.
White ink is used to compensate for this.

The same apply to white toner printer transfers.
If the design has enough toner density, you can use a regular CMYK printer.
If not, then you need white toner to compensate.


Overpriced, but works out of the box.

We have been running the heck out of this thing for a month now. I has resolved to do white under out of simplicity and consistency. Most of our runs are for 50 shirts or so, on various color shirts. I am happy with the results, not plastic like after second heat press. You'd be hard pressed (see what I did there?) to tell the difference from screen print.