Is this bad ink?

[Shanarchy]

I'm on my third batch of ICC Legacy ink. So far I have been loving it, prints nice, flashes fast, low bleed, and priced right.

I've been struggling since opening my latest pail. It is not clearing the screen, I've tried altering my settings a little figuring this batch may be a little off. But the only way it's clearing is with a 70/90/70 blade at 5 degrees, set low and with a crazy amount of pressure, and double stroking. I even added a little Synergy magic to it and it doesn't seem to help. It does not perform even close to the last two pails I used.

The ink is sticking together and climbing the squeegee like nothing I've ever seen before. These pictures attached are after I removed the flood bar and cleared all the ink out and then did two prints (4 print strokes). I have a feeling this is bad ink. Can I do anything to make this usable? Curable reducer? Soft hand clear? Call and complain this is defective?

[mimosatexas]

Have Temps in your shop dropped recently? I'm having to mix and warm my whites a little more starting this week, and it's still in the 80s midday, but those colder nights are definitely affecting the ink.

Otherwise, and I hate to straight up bash a company, I would just say my experience with ICC inks has never been great compared to the other major players. I wasn't impressed at all with the sample of legacy white I tried a while back, and I know I have seen others discuss consistency issues with it on the boards.

[Rob Coleman]

Definitely contact International Coatings.  They will need the lot number.

800-423-4103
562-926-9486

[jsheridan]

summer time.. livins easy.

it got hot in a truck or warehouse and the plasticizer swelled.

Return it and ask for a new one.

[Shanarchy]

summer time.. livins easy.

it got hot in a truck or warehouse and the plasticizer swelled.

Return it and ask for a new one.

This was my guess. I was hoping for confirmation before calling and sounding crazy. Should I call the distributor I bought it from, or ICC direct?

[blue moon]

summer time.. livins easy.

it got hot in a truck or warehouse and the plasticizer swelled.

Return it and ask for a new one.

This was my guess. I was hoping for confirmation before calling and sounding crazy. Should I call the distributor I bought it from, or ICC direct?

call the distributor first

pierre

[Shanarchy]

Next question, is there a way to modify this to make it at all usable until I get new ink here? I'm guessing no.

Is this bad to print with? I'm sure it will properly cure, but will this cause any adhesion problems to the garment?

[blue moon]

Next question, is there a way to modify this to make it at all usable until I get new ink here? I'm guessing no.

Is this bad to print with? I'm sure it will properly cure, but will this cause any adhesion problems to the garment?

issues you encounter will depend on the cause of the problem. If you really need to use it, test it (washing).

pierre

[3Deep]

Some cureable reducer might help

[jsheridan]

It's best to just put it aside.

When the plasticizer starts to swell, it absorbs some of the pigment and this is what makes it's gummy and climb the squeegee.

It's also best to take white ink from a base screen and toss it rather than but it back in a 'virgin' bucket of white when the run is done.

[ZooCity]

FYI, we tried Legacy and thought is was garbage.  Turns out it's either inconsistently produced or like others mentioned it doesn't store well.   After seeing that half of the printers in another thread on here were seeing "good" characteristics and half were seeing "bad" we had our distro send another bucket and it was fantastic.  The first sample we got had all the terrible characteristics you are describing.   Were it not for this consistency problem we would probably run this ink in our shop much more often. 

[Colin]

The plasticisers are being swallowed up by the resins.

Think of a desert.  The resins are thirsty when it gets hot and they drink the plasticisers.

When this occurs.  There is no GOOD way to fix the ink.  You can add a lot of curable reducer and maybe some plasticiser.... but you will loose opacity - you will loose flash parameters - you will only gain SOME printability.

Truthfully, your best step is to set the ink aside and wait for a replacement bucket.

[DannyGruninger]

FYI, we tried Legacy and thought is was garbage.  Turns out it's either inconsistently produced or like others mentioned it doesn't store well.   After seeing that half of the printers in another thread on here were seeing "good" characteristics and half were seeing "bad" we had our distro send another bucket and it was fantastic.  The first sample we got had all the terrible characteristics you are describing.   Were it not for this consistency problem we would probably run this ink in our shop much more often.

Chris, have Mark send you a gallon of the low bleed lava. We helped tweak on this formula for a couple months prior to them finalizing it. We used to run quick white, then switched to legacy as most of the time it performed really well until we had batch issues. But the low bleed lava I feel is a better version of the best batches of legacy with the consistency that wilflex is known for. We've gone through about 40 gallons of low bleed in the last few weeks and its been working really good here. We can run the stroke speed from 8-10(full speed) and the ink drops through the mesh nicely. If you like the good batches of legacy and have had good luck with quick white then the low bleed lava should be a great option for you. I have been getting lots of emails/texts from shops that are really digging it.

[ZooCity]

Hey Danny and sorry for thread derail Shanarchy:

Do you think the Lava Lo has more/less/same bleed resist as the quick?  That's our only current issue with quick, from that other thread I posted on a "beefier" lo bleed white.

[Shanarchy]

Not a thread derail at all. I was actually wondering what Danny was running. I just checked the pricing up the Lava, pretty much the same as the ICC Legacy. My next question was going to be how the bleed resistance was. 

I spoke to the distributor today, they were really good about it and asked for the batch number and if I could send a picture of the issue. They will be contacted ICC and getting back to me. I'll keep everyone posted.