Need all the discharge info I can get.

[Fluid]

What type of dryer are you using and how long is the shirt being introduced to the heat?

On our auto we would use a second quartz at the last station for one last pounding of intense heat before pulling and running through the dryer. We also bumped up the temp on the dryer to 400+ for optimum heat and discharging.

[mk162]

were you worried about baking out the water before the discharge was complete?

[mjrprint]

Dryer is an M&R mini sprint 2000 and I set it so the shirt was in there for 2.5 minutes at 350 degrees. I was printing manually and the screen was drying up a little bit which makes sense that I didnt get the ink into the shirt.

[ebscreen]

Printing waterbased manually is tougher than I would have thought. Hard to get heavy pressure and a low
angle. For me at least, but maybe it's that learning something on an auto/manual and then switching to the other phenomenon.

[mjrprint]

I was surprised at how hard I had to put pressure on the squeegee. You would think it would require minimal effort.

[Evo]

I was surprised at how hard I had to put pressure on the squeegee. You would think it would require minimal effort.

Not with discharge.

For manual printing you need to perfect your stencil making so you can squeeze max detail from lower mesh counts. This will allow better ink penetration AND save your wrists.

Also, adding Printgen C softener and a little water always helps.

[mjrprint]

I will def have to try the water addition.

[Homer]

what is the best way to mix the components together? - start with base, then add dye, mix, add agent, mix, then water? or mix agent and water together then add to dye base mix?

[mjrprint]

I have been mixing the base and color first, then adding the activator, some penetrant, and water and power mixing that with a drill.

[DanK]

We mix the agent at the end.  We always mix the agent with warm water rather than cold water, we keep one of those little electric tea kettle water heaters in the ink room, hot, all day long just for this purpose.  It really helps.  For larger ink mixes, also try mixing in the activator in two parts.  So, once you've added your dyes to the base, mix a little, then dump in half your warm activator solution, mix thoroughly, dump the other half in and mix thoroughly again.

[RICK STEFANICK]

we use the sericol texcharge system with great results.all the inks are standard colors and 5 florecents. with this you can mix any pms color or run them straight out of the container. sericol also has a downloadable formula guide for mixing. also the dirasol 916 emulsion works great without using hardner.these guys have been making waterbase/discharge inks and emulsion for many years and the results are really nice.

[Gabe]

Don`t mean to break the topic.
I am not a discharge expert
but before you dive into discharge work getting to know the ins and outs
of the process
I would make sure BOTH BOSSES ARE IN THE SAME PAGE
otherwise things can go sour before you know it
you are puting a lot of work
best wishes Gabe

[mooseman]

you are going about this completely the wrong way...........
get you azz in front of both bosses at the same time and try this approach..

No 1 you are each my boss and I am getting mixed messages you say go and  you say no it is not up to me to figure it out. decide and advise . I need to know 3 things in a unified voice ...WHAT DO YOU WANT.......
WHEN DO YOU WANT IT..............
HOW MUCH DO YOU WANT TO BE INVOLVED........
If you don't do at least this you are the fall guy dead man, doesn't matter which one kills you as you will be just as dead!!!!!

No 2
Tell them you are a smart guy, you have made some very good progress on the  discharge thing guessing and experiomenting your way through but you are not a god who can pull new magic out of your AZZ.
If they want to implement a new process to you and them tell them you are the guy AFTER THEY GET YOU SOME TECHNICAL, AND ENVIRONMENTAL TRAINING.
F-THEM what if they need a simple operation like a tooth pulled do they come to you and say you better figure it out because you need to pull my tooth by noon tommorow...F no they go to a skilled trained professional.

NO 3 ANY BUSINESS THAT WOULD PUT AN EMPLOYEE IN THIS POSITION IS RUN BY DICKWEEDS......learn the discharge process let them pay for it then go get another job or a freaking raise because it sounde like these clowns could not wipe thie ass let alone run a business. Training advancement and progress come top down....they are simply whipping a good horse to death...this is not your problem.

No4  I quote you..."I am crapping my pants right now because if anything were to happen or go wrong guess who would be to blame and who should have known everything about discharge in two months". Did you ever hear of a guy called  HITLER I thing he is your a-hole boss and his personality is overpowering you and the OTHER BOSS leaving your nuts up for grabs

if what you say is really true and you get your nuts handed to you because can't master a difficult process that no one else in the joint can manage including the owners take these freaking loosers to the damn labor board and F them if you have the skills and wits you seem to have with the discharge work you did for these clowns you have excellent skills get your self another job working for a boss(s) who at least treat you like a human being...............if what you say is true run and run like hell sweat shops are illeagal.
mooseman

[mjrprint]

you are going about this completely the wrong way...........
get you azz in front of both bosses at the same time and try this approach..

No 1 you are each my boss and I am getting mixed messages you say go and  you say no it is not up to me to figure it out. decide and advise . I need to know 3 things in a unified voice ...WHAT DO YOU WANT.......
WHEN DO YOU WANT IT..............
HOW MUCH DO YOU WANT TO BE INVOLVED........
If you don't do at least this you are the fall guy dead man, doesn't matter which one kills you as you will be just as dead!!!!!

No 2
Tell them you are a smart guy, you have made some very good progress on the  discharge thing guessing and experiomenting your way through but you are not a god who can pull new magic out of your AZZ.
If they want to implement a new process to you and them tell them you are the guy AFTER THEY GET YOU SOME TECHNICAL, AND ENVIRONMENTAL TRAINING.
F-THEM what if they need a simple operation like a tooth pulled do they come to you and say you better figure it out because you need to pull my tooth by noon tommorow...F no they go to a skilled trained professional.

NO 3 ANY BUSINESS THAT WOULD PUT AN EMPLOYEE IN THIS POSITION IS RUN BY DICKWEEDS......learn the discharge process let them pay for it then go get another job or a freaking raise because it sounde like these clowns could not wipe thie ass let alone run a business. Training advancement and progress come top down....they are simply whipping a good horse to death...this is not your problem.

No4  I quote you..."I am crapping my pants right now because if anything were to happen or go wrong guess who would be to blame and who should have known everything about discharge in two months". Did you ever hear of a guy called  HITLER I thing he is your a-hole boss and his personality is overpowering you and the OTHER BOSS leaving your nuts up for grabs

if what you say is really true and you get your nuts handed to you because can't master a difficult process that no one else in the joint can manage including the owners take these freaking loosers to the damn labor board and F them if you have the skills and wits you seem to have with the discharge work you did for these clowns you have excellent skills get your self another job working for a boss(s) who at least treat you like a human being...............if what you say is true run and run like hell sweat shops are illeagal.
mooseman

Mooseman, you made my day with that reply. So here is an update.....

I have figured out everything through massive amounts of testing and experimentation. I figured out all the color garments that we make which will not discharge properly (which took a lot of work to prove to boss #1) Nailed the additive down to 5% for best results, dryer speed, set discharge mixing area. I am now able to print 2-6 color jobs easily. They have both backed off after I lost my crap on them one day which was a gamble but I was pushed to my breaking point. It gets a bit stressful when I have to run the production floor, (50 employees) take care of all the equipment repair and maintenance,  break down and crate up an auto for shipment, and print show samples and figure out how to print all new designs. Hell last week I cut out a wall, framed it out, installed jack posts for support, reframed and drywalled the whole thing. I feel like a swiss army knife at times lol. At least the pressure is off and I can relax a bit. Thanks for all the advise everyone. It helped greatly!

[mk162]

matt....start your own shop.  your swiss army knife comment is exactly what a lot of us are.  you have to be able to do it all when you own your shop.  it sounds like you are already doing that and not getting the recognition you deserve.

or partner with somebody and bring their shop to outstanding levels.