johnson4

different RIP can mean different cure regimen. Lower your temp, increase your time. That or use a preheater to slightly remove moisture before powdering. It’s a sign of overloading the transfer with ink. You could very easily be putting down more CMYK without noticing it which limits how much white you can put down for your overall total ink makeup, which is one example that could happen in this scenario. Aside from user interface, this is literally the only other aspect that makes switching RIPS hard. not really, custom page sizes and some other things like that- but nothing that would be be official in that aspect. Thanks, I did my best with it. For years I’ve seen comparison after comparison, wondering and just not able to “know” with data. I finally was able to just buy them all and do a test so I can make the best decision for us.

It's tough switching RIPS, and this is a good example. nothing in EK crosses over to acro. I used I think 38 percent CMYK in acro, but 80 in EK. The same for the white, it was less than half in Acro. It's all a learning experience and figuring out why that issue is occurring and not coming to conclusions based on assumptions. It's part of the reason why I had so many hours in testing for color reproduction and profiling the RIPS. It took me forever to figure out how to get a profile in EK. Cadlinks is built in. Acro was the easiest when made externally. Beyond that- I had to learn how to proficiently use them which takes quite a bit of time- for me anyway. You won't find a perfect RIP. You are either going to sacrifice quality, speed, color accuracy, or convenience. None of them offer all of the above. After you have spent 4-6 weeks with Acro, and have EK under your belt, you should then try another RIP and spend the same time with it. Cadlink for example, but you are limited to 15 days free trial. It becomes apparent after you figure out how simple they are to use, but the downfalls of each one. I have reached out to all of them. Literally. Pick your poison, because most of them just are what they are with the exception of added supported devices and small changes for those devices- if you are lucky. All of them can and do work great- it just depends on how much effort you put in and which "downfall" and " perk" you want. I dislike Acro, but the next guy has made a million bucks with it this year. It's all preferences. When it boils down to it, it's trial and error and part of the DIY learning curve. I'm going on 2 years and 3 months doing this for my only income. I still learn something new daily which may or may not change something I have previously said.

They have supported 6 channel printers for awhile, the Epson 1430 is one example.

I don’t believe there have been any updates to EK. my reference to running without a profile yielding more solid/bold colors have been with Cadlink. I’ve been out of the acro/ek scene for a few months now. My main point was it isn’t worth wasting your time profiling, even with spending a ton of money and time you likely won’t get the results you are after. I know I didn’t. I think I know what you are looking for, but to this day I haven’t found a RIP do that. They all have their own downfalls that others excel in.

Pretty cool, glad you were able to achieve such a high color accuracy. I used self made graphics with set color values before and after printing for my comparison based on their color readings most of the time to check accuracy. Spot checking I guess. Anytime I profiled, while slightly more accurate( hardly noticeable if at all different), visually they were disappointing. Acro did do a much better job than the others. the overall transfers coming out didn’t match what customers expected or have the rich colors I wanted. It’s one of the most heard feedback I get is how vivid the prints are. I spent a lot of time fiddling with and ultimately with sending customers both, not one preferred the profiled prints- except ones with real life photos. So I just use the profiles for those. Back to the conversation, I think most people are expecting RGB colors and vibrancy out of a CMYK device when they ask for profiles. I’ve talked to so many printers and suppliers who get a ton of complaints on that. Hats off to you for figuring it out though, it’s not easy, free, or cheap. Definitely doesn’t come from a profile you find on the internet and/or cross compatible with different machines.

ICC profiles are printer/setup specific. you would need to buy the tools needed to create your own with your film, ink, and printer. It would need done for every different setup. in general if your colors are off, It’s not the ICC. ICC will only “ fine tune” shades and colors. If blue is coming out purple, or dark blue, you need to adjust your ink percentages. been there done that. Spent over $2,000 and I still ended up running without a profile. While it’s a bit less color accurate, it makes colors more bold/vivid/solid unless it’s a photograph. The easiest example I can give is red. It always comes one a tinge orange with a profile. Without, it comes out an accurate red. That’s with 2 low end spectrophotometers and one high end giving the same result across Cadlink, acro, and EKprint with over 200 hours of testing.

That is if you can return it, if it was ordered overseas- good luck with that. if you can find out what mainboard it uses that would be the first step I’d think. Crossing any numbers on the board or taking photos of the board and asking overseas sellers if they sell it will also help. Asking directly they’ll usually ignore you. i spent 12 months and three separate claims over one transaction before I was refunded- on an item not received due to improper labeling. for not as described- I’ve never seen anything come from that positively towards me. Personally I’d stick to a reseller in your country, much easier to deal with and hold accountable - anything I bought on my own overseas has turned out crap on my dime except small parts and such. hopefully you get it figured out.

They have powderless DTF. The adhesive is printed on the design like the ink. Cmyk then white then adhesive. It’s just heated afterwards to cure without TPU powder.

The IP is usually found in the software they include with the printer. Just connect the cable and open the software, it automatically finds it. Then relay that IP to your RIP, or print directly from the software they included with the printer. That is how I did it anyway. That looks close to the knight 12, could look up instructions on that machine. It's much more reliable, faster, and can be ran over longer distances than USB so I prefer the printers to be networked to be honest.

https://dtfsuperstore.com/collections/ink-cartridges/products/80ml-refillable-cartridge-set-for-epson-p600-empty https://dtfsuperstore.com/collections/ink-cartridges/products/epson-p600-refillable-ink-cartridge-set

Not a problem at all, Glad it helped some.

it does make a difference, my suggestions imply they are properly cured with a shaker. The 300-320F pressing temperature is just my preference. It doesn’t alter the colors and allows me to peel immediately. I also use blends and don’t want to scorch the garment. it’s all preference and testing based, so wherever works for you works for you. the powder/ink doesn’t start to cure until around 350F, shakers set to 200-220F can easily reach 800F every few seconds to maintain that “ 220F” setting. I have made my own shaker with a curing portion heated from the bottom and from a consistent heat instead of the bulbs typically used. The printer runs at 510 inches an hour or 8.5” a minute. With a 28” curing portion the transfers are in there a little over 3 minutes at that speed. Similar to your heat press settings. I run it at 360F and it cures perfectly. 340-350 and I get about an 80 percent cure. the film is also in direct contact with the 360F heat for the 2 out of 3 minutes it is in there, instead of radiant or “hovering”. id say somewhere around February I’ll have the kits up for sale in various forms for easy DIY shakers that will ship UPS ground. 13”/17”/24” full cure width shakers that run on a standard 120V 15A outlet. anyway, If it works it works ;). Good luck!

You can disable auto nozzle checks, it’ll still do it after power cleans. Mine didn’t do this for months, the one with the Epson software installed started doing it more frequently as well as the cartridge error. I have never gotten an error code like that, even with bad auto checks. You will ALWAYS get bad auto checks with DTF ink. it just recommends to me replacing the white pad which I ignore. It’s expected, since it no longer has OEM inks. you just open/close the cartridge bay when it does that cartridge error. Don’t mess with the carts and don’t install the Epson software. as with any Epson you go through the motions until you figure it out. I can’t say I would have purchased a used machine for various reasons unless it was a super great deal. I ran three of them, one has died now, as I expected would happen. Each model I go through I have to learn it’s requirements, which usually ends up with a learning lesson at the expense of a machine around the 4-6 month mark. I will say this model Is resilient and through my mistakes with it, it was recovered 3 times easily over my own mistakes where any other model I have used has outright failed. Those TFP heads are bad-ass, as they should be. It’s the same head they use in there 20K+ DTG machines. with what I learned from The first failure, I was able to run the 2nd machine beyond that point and repair it before it destroyed it like the first machine. You can’t know what’s wrong or needs done differently until you see the point of failure, at least for me. a bit of advice, stick to ALL OEM on everything you replace on this machine. Period. Obviously except the cartridges. the alternative for me was a $10,000 machine from China with $2,000 heads so these are well Worth the cost to me.

It’s a beta, I don’t see any Chipless firmware for it and the cartridges are small. I haven’t. The P5000 is well worth the upgrade over it, being over twice as fast and a ton more reliable- basically made for DTF.

A properly tuned shaker will NOT do that and should not do that. it should be able to sit for 15-60 minutes without moving. One of mine runs at 69C, another at 112C, it just depends on your setup.

Nice, that’s a lot of film. Are you using the aftermarket carts with inline damper on this one?

Makes sense, figured I’d ask if there was a reason for not sealing it physically. I agree, it’s time consuming and this looks like an easy solution.

Is placing a bead of silicone not an option to protect head cable?

I buy them from China, they are like $0.20 cents each before shipping. Just look for in line dampers.

Some of mine are at 2 years without issue. If it’s cured, it’ll be fine.

No worries I hope it helps some, if you have anymore questions don’t hesitate to shoot ‘em over. I tend to rant a bit sometimes when it’s something that I care about, like this stuff. color accuracy and vibrancy- man oh man it’s a whole slew of things, very unlikely related to what you offer. Kind of goes hand in hand with my previous point though, it’s never their own fault so they don’t look for internal answers, rather pawn that off on someone/something else. quite possibly, who knows what the future holds for us, I appreciate the gesture. To those who try, to those who do, to those with curious minds and only look for a guided hand at times instead of simple answers will prevail.

There are suppliers who will help and truly give you all the answers and literally walk you through it without needing next to any knowledge on it, but they are much more expensive for that reason. Usually these people are rarely seen because they are always receiving the help they need. the people who try to skimp on cost or time…

Why is so much more important than how to me, because each scenario will truly have a variable outside of a typical procedure. Knowing why let’s you adjust to those variables in real time, instead of guessing or not knowing an outcome/reaction to each action you take. I think overall when you make a system more complicated, you are setting it up for more potential issues- no matter the benefit initially. While it could help, in the long run it comes down to maintenance. to me, the solution is rather simple in design if we are talking about ideas. most higher end machines utilize these design fixes. Low end machines, do not include them intentionally. when it comes to air in the lines, it’s easy to prevent that with nothing more than making sure all connections are sealed and set correctly. From here, just use a large syringe and suck from the damper until all air is removed. Push back a very small amount while holding the damper facing port up, just enough for the damper to close. Then wipe it with a paper towel and reinstall. No more air in this line unless there is a leak, or it’s ran out of ink. of course exterior issues like clogs, or poor ink flow can reintroduce air from the printhead. It’s unavoidable and simply a reaction to another issue caused by the user/ink. for the sediment, just install the ink port about 1” from the bottom. Install a mixer that runs in the bottom, like a magnetic mixer or some form of ultrasonic mixer. Then use a paddle in the main area above the bottom. or cover and shake daily manually. shaking will also introduce microscopic air bubbles into the ink but it’s minimal and unavoidable without using degassed cartridges. Just wait 10 minutes after shaking before proceeding. I do it end of day and beginning of day for all white ink. replace dampers regularly, once every 60-90 days- depending on ink maintenance and printer use to prevent the “sludge” from the white ink from getting into the printhead. it’s like owning a vehicle- knowing when to do basic maintenance is easy, beyond that, knowing when to clean it, rotate the tires, check the timing belt and change the differential fluid all come down to experience or following a well written owners guide- with variable options based on usage. it would also require people to be honest to themselves and to those who try to help and not be hard headed against ideas or being wrong- these people will keep running against the grain, until they go through the motions internally and find their own way at a much higher cost- if they make it. If you keep it clean, flush the lines/entire ink system on a regular basis BEFORE there is a problem, you’ll usually be fine. The longer it sits between heavy use, the more maintenance you’ll need sooner. it’s like any other thing really, experience is required. I can’t pick up a CNC machine and be perfect out of the gate, or become a wood worker. Running a 6 color screen-printing job and keeping alignment- etc. It takes skill and experience. 95 percent of people won’t even take the time to read a 4 minute post that is a response to their help request. If it’s a video, absolutely will. I don’t know how many times I get asked something I have already said multiple times in the same post/response- usually immediately after it’s said. With that, for those who do, a guide would be great. But it still boils down to the same issue and ultimately won’t end in success most of the time. even with a guide it takes time and money- most want to skimp on both. Long term, it’s not easy. Short term, peice of cake. you can lead a horse to water, but you can’t make it drink. first hand undeniable ( and non arguable) experience is required to truly move forward. Tips and hints are great for those who try, but it gets very muddled along the way. Those of us who do try, well we will figure it out one way or another. everything I know cost me something, mainly time and money. Fortunately that equates to my current experience which I would rate a 5/10, 10 being a guru. Without this cost, I wouldn’t know what I do, even if it was told to me, because I would take it lightly without my own personal investment.

I do want to point out, 5 head cleans in a week isn't that much. Generally I do about 3-4 a day. 2 to get going, and 1-2 throughout the day as needed. When I change dampers, I usually do 5-8 strong cleanings depending on to remove the air from the system. whatever it takes to fully remove the air from the system. That is after I prime the dampers. Your head cleans should be based from the nozzle checks you do, and printing with clogged/blocked nozzles can and does damage the head relatively quickly. Nozzle checks are the #1 way of determining the condition of the entire thing and helps break down where the problem is from one nozzle check to the next. I do not see any of that posted. So for example, if you changed the dampers, did 1-2 head cleans and that was that- you very likely didn't pull all the air out of the system, allowed air to remain in there and could potentially damage the new printhead again. running the WIMS doesn't do that for you entirely. When you have a shared capping station, like this machine likely has, it will pull from the easiest flowing location first. Air can act like a " block" and then that channel doesn't actually get flushed/purged as you would think, leaving an issue like this as well. with individual tanks it makes it obvious, with a shared ink tank it isn't and easily not noticed- which can make or break the whole situation. So for example, On my machine it shares 2 channels per " capping pad". If one channel is clogged, and the other isn't, it's going to pull from the easy channel more, if not entirely. However, if there is an issue, it will suck the one channel with no/poor flow from the other, when removed from vacuum it will suck air right back up into the head of the slower flowing/no flowing channel if the ink isn't flowing properly. If it sits at all, high potential for a damaged printhead. If any of air is getting in around the dampers, connections, or anywhere else at all, it will continue to do so without properly sucking the ink. Without a seal, there is not going to be a good flow of ink. I have on numerous occasions, especially with aftermarket dampers ran into this. Air is the enemy here and making sure it's entirely gone is the #1 thing to do all around to run and operate these machines effectively and efficiently. It's very likely something within the message, something that was looked over, because if it were all on point, it would work if the printhead is new and not a dud. on a side note, there is a white layer on the bottom of that ink tank, if it's there, it will also be in the ink lines. With a printer like this I had to physically shake the tank all the time or else this happened, and what you described. it can begin after one day. The #1 thing I have found to be the reason for someone having no issues, to a ton of issues that new parts don't fix is going to be the accumulation of the white ink because it's not properly taken care of.