xpress screens GoCopro

So are you saying that the performance is good, but the price is the problem? I find that hard to believe. Is it really cheap to coat a screen and expose it, wash it out, and re-claim it? How much time (labor) does that take? (I'm asking honestly - this is all new to me) Labor savings makes it attractive, and if Obama gets his way and increases the minimum wage, it becomes even better.

I assume there must be some performance issues, I just don't know what they are. I'd like to hear some specifics from someone who owns, or has used the GocoPro system, (not the print/flash unit).

Do the screens stretch, or break down quickly?
How quickly? 10 prints? 100 prints? 1,000 prints? If the screen is only good for 100-150 prints, it's no big deal to someone looking to do 72 pieces or less. But it's a HUGE deal to someone looking to do 500 piece orders. And the subjective evaluation from each of these people would be completely different.

The screen mesh comes in rolls, and feeds through some sort of exposure unit (printer type device) that produces the finished screen stencil. Is this device unreliable? Does it spit out pin holes?

Does the roll of screen material have to be used within a certain time frame after it's opened? Does it break down, get brittle, or deteriorate quickly?

These are the type of things the sales people won't tell you until after the purchase. I'd like to know what the "gotchas" are. If you've ever tried sublimation, you know exactly what I mean. They don't tell you about print head maintenance, life expectancy, or replacement cost, ink cost, waste, etc. It's never as easy as the sales people make it look, and there's always associated costs they don't mention.

Advice like "stay away" isn't really helpful. I'd like to know "stay away because ..." Mainstream printers don't seem to use it or embrace it. I'm trying to find out what their reasons are so I can make an informed decision.

I haven't gotten any additional information. Only what's posted here, which isn't really helpful (yet).

I'm in a similar spot as you. We have a retail store, and offer lots of decorating options, including screen printing, which we outsource. Almost everything else is done in-house, mostly to control quality and timeliness. I have a contract printer that does wonderful work on my orders that are either large, or complicated. But he's about 1 hour away, and a little expensive for small runs. I have a local guy who's good for small 1-color jobs, or multi-colors that don't require tight registration. But scheduling and quality is unpredictable. That's why I'm looking to bring the simple jobs in-house.

The GocoPro looks like a reasonable solution. It addresses the things that I don't want to mess with, like screen coating, cleaning, reclaiming, chemicals, wash-out, ... all the messy stuff. But it looks too good to be true. If it's really as great as the sales demo looks, I would think production printers would be all over it for the cost savings, especially labor. But they're NOT, and I'm trying to understand WHY. Certainly they know much more about the whole process than I do. I would think they would have at least given it a look. But something is keeping them back. I just don't know what it is.

If it's because the screen won't last for 500 prints, that's not an issue for me. But if they stretch out of shape, or break after 10 prints, or the machine creates lots of pin holes that have to be found and fixed, that's a big deal, even to a little guy like me. I can see where registration could be an issue, especially with the 100 machine.

The sales rep was talking me out of the 200 machine. He said the only difference was the available print area. But it looked to me like the 200 exposes the screen after it's on the frame, where the 100 exposes the screen before it's put on the frame. I would think this would make a big difference in registration for multi-color jobs. But if you're only looking to do single color prints, and don't need the larger print area, it's a lot of extra money.

Good luck with whatever you decide. I'm going to sit tight until I get more information. There's a lot of people out there who are smarter than me on screen printing, who have passed on this, and I assume for good reasons. I would just like to know what their reasons are. But so far, no specifics.

I have both goccopro100 and the screen maker, we also make traditinal screens goccopro 100 is perfect for half tones one color, so far the most i have made with it are 100 transfers in black it has done a wonderfull job have not tried two color yet. we bought it for doing half tones. It also will do solid scrr
eens as well, pin holes are not there only if you graphic has a pixel that neede cleand off before printing do you get pin holes, the screen maker is like the 913 but only build in the us and you can get parts if you need, the 913 is out of production and parts are not avalible. we make transfers with the screen maker and direct to shirt as well and have done up to six color, registration changes a lot in small graphics if its a big run of more than 50 or so, i did a two color back logo direct to shirt and made 230 and could have made more, so i have had this system for about 7 years, it has a learning curve but after working with it, fast less cost, on short runs no problem, long runs with white and yellow is hard but can be done, so if its a large order in white or yellow we make a regular screen with pc701 and use that, then reclaim it, here are video of some of the uses. here is a post from another post that we have:
Re: xpress screen We use the system all the time, short runs long runs foil two color up to six colors, expreiance with the exsposure unit and your printer, we tape our frames just like traditional screens, we do both. if i have a pin hole i use tape just like tradtional screens, i do add tape to the back top, botton and each side where the edge if squgee runs, i have made 200 shirts before over 500 transfers so when people say its not a good system they are wrong and have no real experiance with it. i have attached video and we are not affiliated with exprescreen, transfers we us the rhino powder from ryonet or richardson supply, be sure to hold the transfer and tap against the power box or flick it with your finger several times to remove the extra powder around the edges, we also cut around a transfer before using it, direct to shirt as well with white ink from preformance screen ink, other colors work well and we use 70 duo on white athletic yellow and 60 on other colors. this makes the screen last longer. i have calculated the cost per screen and find the 70 mesh is about 2.50 per screen and the 100 count is about 3.00 high detail can be achived. small logos can be done in multi color but you have to pay attention to registration, heat from the platen can break down the screen so cool it down to 90 degrees works best. we do this every all the time and make a profit with it, stamps can be made too and we have them but dont realy promote them
here are some video we made ourself and plan to make more
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Te9LR4hfDBk
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=em0zdejEQ1E
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=__ig-G02RtE
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QuYIn1IOH-0

decorator said:

tusa,
If you don't already have screen printing equipment, you'll have to get the press and dryer, maybe the flash, plus some frames and probably some other misc things. The QS200 with all those additional items is probably getting up in the $20K price range. That's getting into the white ink DTG price range. Since you already have experience with DTG, is there a reason you would prefer traditional screen print over white ink DTG?

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One of the main reason why I am looking into adding screen printing is because of the new technology. In the past, preparing screens, coating emulsion, printing negative on a film, burning image on the screen, washing out emulsion, printing t-shirts, and then finally washing out emulsion using chemicals is not possible in a retail setting. With the goccopro, I can skip all that just print and then toss the screen and make new screen with the frame.

DTG is good for multi colored images but I don't think it will replace screen printing. We get good amount of one color, usually white, screen printing on dark shirt orders. That's not something I want to do with DTG and most of my customers are not willing to pay the premium of DTG. We do white vinyl for simple artwork or names and numbers, but it would be nice if we can do screen printing.

Another reason why I've been wanting to add screen printing is because of the dryer. I've been wanting to add a forced air dryer for the DTG printing, but couldn't justify the cost. But if we add screen printing, we will most likely add the air version.

I'm still not certain if goccopro is worth the cost and I need to do some more research.

The screen mesh that used for the gocco pro is the same thing that is used for the screenmaker 2000. I don't believe for a minute that you can print up to 500 prints before they start breaking down. We, I am embarrased to say, unfortunately got duped into purchasing the xpresscreen system. We tried to make it work for three years and finally threw in the towel. After about 6 or 7 prints the pinholes would start. I spent more time taping and painting blockout on the screens just to get through a job. Butt registartion..... couldn't do it. The reason is you can't register something that you tension after exposure. The image will pull in different ways for each color. If you use the woodframe with the double sided tape it will loosen up and become very sloppy. I know there will be people telling me I am wrong and it works for them, and that I should have taken the classes that xpresscreen offers, or call Bobby and talk to him. Been there done that and it never worked for us. As far as the people that say it works for them, I am happy for you. I am glad someone can make this turd shine, I know I couldn't. I did try my best to make it work.

Fortunately I was able to sell the system and go the old fashioned route. This works best for us. If I do get a pinhole, which is extremely rare, it is because I didn't clean the glass well on my exposure unit. On the plus side, starting out with xpresscreen made me a much better printer once I converted over. What I am printing now I could never have dreamed of printing with the xpresscreen system. Do your research before you buy.

One last thing, don't let the no chemicals scare you into purchasing this system. This is what drove us in this direction. We were afraid of dangerous chemicals only to find out about Franmar products. Our shop is 100% Franmar.

There are a large number of problems with systems like this. They are typically MORE expensive to purchase than entry level screen printing equipment. They use proprietary supplies which are also expensive. They do not allow you to control MANY variables, which you will want to control as you become a better printer. They are not faster, more efficient when it comes to labor, or less expensive than standard screen printing UNLESS you are printing very small runs of one color designs which you never plan on printing again in a dorm room or something.

There is a reason no production oriented shops use this equipment, it is not more efficient or less expensive. If it was, people in the business of printing would see it as a good business move to use it. It is also a red flag that much of their sales pitch is misleading or inflammatory, such as calling their process more eco friendly due to not needing "harmful chemicals" to clean up with, while at the end of a run you are throwing away the mesh and ink etc, which is a lot more waste and harmful than reusing screens and using eco friendly chemicals like you would in traditional screen printing. This has the added benefit to them of you needing to buy more of their proprietary mesh etc. They also claim things like reclaiming screens will give you nose bleeds or make you sick, which simply isnt true. I know a lot of screen printers with decades of experience who have never been sick as a result of screen printing. I'd also consider it a red flag that I see TONS of people selling these system used but basically brand new, including even in this thread, because people buy them and realize they suck and want to recoup some of their investment.

There are plenty of threads on here about how to start up screen printing using traditional equipment and supplies. Follow those threads and ignore these "new and improved" proprietary systems that you will regret after using for a few jobs and end up going the traditional route in the end anyway.

terrydolin said:

We use this system all the time, we are production oriented, so if you have owned one in the passed, maybe you have some of your info right, I was never told that anything made would make me sick, i was even told of the pin holes and how to over come them. If you have pin holes your are not doing it right, you can produce multiple shirts and multiple colors with the screens, and yes clean up is fast, there are a lot of advantages to the screen maker 1000. now that was all said to also say if you have the room and experiences and knowledge of regular screen printing then this may not be for you, we use both and love the advantage of being able to do quick small runs and it is cost effective. Just my 2 cents worth.

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I hate to flat out disagree with you, but your videos are pretty telling...

There are visible registration issues in the 4 color print in the video you linked earlier, which is super simple. You cannot do detailed multicolored prints with this system because you are stretching the mesh for each screen after the stencil is made. The tension of the mesh will differ between screens and this difference will result in elongation and skewing of the image. You may be able to do simple multicolored designs where colors do not touch, or you have large overlaps to compensate for this distortion, but it simply does not compare to the precision of traditional screen printing.

I see two pinholes visible in the video you linked with the foil transfer as well, and that is without a clear high resolution view.

The part about traditional screen printing making you sick is repeated in their official literature over and over and is a claim repeated by their forum shills as well.

Cleanup may be fast because you are throwing away your screen each time with uncured plastisol on it, which is absolutely terrible for the environment and may even be a fine-able offense in many places if a code enforcement officer was to stop in and see it (not likely though). If you are indeed setup for traditional screen printing, there is no advantage to making a screen using this system vs your traditional method, especially when you factor in the cost of the proprietary materials and the waste.

Honestly, for the price you could just buy a DTG and produce far superior full color work if you are doing enough small orders to justify this kind of investment.