Do you leave your I-Image on?

[print3r]

Hi guys. At our shop there are two screen printers, myself and someone on the day shift, and we use an I-Image ST printer. Our manager has told me, and I suppose not the other printer, that the printer shouldn't be turned off at the end of the night in order to keep the negative pressure around -2. He told me this a while ago, and I can't remember his entire explanation for it, but I think it has to do with the fact that it will take a few nozzle checks and prints to get the ink flowing properly if that pressure isn't kept up.

I think the dayshift printer is turning it off at the end of the week, though (I don't work on Fridays) and keeping it off for the weekend. I was going to advise her against this, but then I wondered about how many commercial machines that are out there that are meant to be kept on perpetually.

Do you have any experience in this? My hunch is that a machine shouldn't be kept on all the time, and the stabilizing of the pressure is only a minor inconvenience if it means lengthening the lifespan of the printer. However, I'm definitely still a newbie with all this, I haven't been in the biz even a year yet.

[dirkdiggler]

Only turn it off if you are on vacation.

[ericheartsu]

We turn it off over the weekend, as well as make sure our heads are shut off and capped. It just helps to prevent any drying.

[Dottonedan]

Leave them on (all the time). Weekends and evenings.  If going out for long or on vacations, A week or more, Then should can cap first and shut down.

You want to keep the machine on all the time because of two main reasons.

1, Even while capped, the machine can be set to "spit while idle". This is a god thing. Very little ink is used while doing this. So little, it's not visible. It's a mist. Just enough to keep heads moist while sitting.  If it's off, it can't do this. How important is this?  Not extremely. It's just another beneficial step to maintaining good nozzle checks in the am.

2, The ink lines have a negative pressure setting. This number varies depending on ink type, elevation, environment and number of heads.This negative number retains ink in the lines and heads so that it does not drip and run free.  Too high (retaining ink in the lines too much) and you can have a harder time of laying down a good coverage of ink. It can also not print at all if one goes into adjusting that number on your own. (Don't touch it) unless instructed by a Tech.  Too low, and you can have your heads drip into the catch pan and gaskets and sometimes, even while printing, ink drops can be flung across the print area.

People may feel they are and have been doing ok shutting it down and having no drip issues, but it's not helping. There may be other areas that are suffering or needed adjusted/compensated for as a result that you may not be aware of.

That's not to say that things have't changed with software upgrades and changes. Things change, but I believe that it's still the case, if you call and ask M&R, they will tell you to leave it on like I stated above.


So says Dot-Tone.

[print3r]

Thank you very much Dot-Tone, that was helpful and informative I'll be sure to mention to the other printer that she should leave the I-IMG on over the weekend.

[TH Apparel]

We were told by the tech to leave it on all the time.

[GraphicDisorder]

Leave them on, always.

[Sbrem]

We never shut down our computers or printers, which I was led to believe was the way to go. In fact, one computer has been running since '94 (it runs our very old plotter)

Steve

[MZ]

We highly recommend that the computer, connected to the digital unit, and the digital unit stay on at all times.
To add to what has already been mentioned, the print heads needs to keep the ink at a certain temperature. This temperature is set in the PCS program. If you turn the machine off, the ink inside the print head will not stay at the desired temperature. If that does happen, you will run the risk of the ink starting to dry up and not give you a 100% nozzle check.
Also, you want to keep ink valves open, even when the printer is not in use. This helps keep ink ready to print at all times.

About the only time you want to turn the machine off is when you will not use it for 10 days or more. At that point you will want to speak with the M&R Digital Service Team to get instructions on properly shutting the machine down. This will include flushing the ink lines out that are right before the print head, properly cleaning all necessary items and getting it turned off properly.