Thoughts on Auto, Dryer, etc.

[skent]

 Hello world, I am looking for a new automatic machine, dryer, chiller, air compressor, flash. What does everyone recommend? I want to get a M&R Sportsman, and I know how much it costs as well as the dryer. Though I do not know how much to spend on the rest. Can someone give me an idea on how much more $ it will be for the flash, compressor & chiller. I am currently at $40k for auto press & $10k for dryer.

[ZooCity]

Others will be more help than I but, get a big ass dryer.  Bigger than you think you'll ever need.  Just get it now and get a gas one. 

In prep for doing the same, possibly next Spring for us, I simply walked through the shop, measuring and taking notes onto a spreadsheet of estimated costs.  Sometimes you miss the big structural stuff like moving support posts out of the way, etc. 

And then tune up your other areas before the machine arrives, like staging area, screen imaging, ink mixing and the like to make sure you don't bottleneck somewhere else once that snappy new auto is cranking out shirts 5x faster than you were manually printing.  Most of those bottlenecks can be solved with a better layout and fairly affordable improvements like carts and racks and drying boxes and whatnot. 

The dryer is one area where, if it bottlenecks on you, there's nothing that can be done until you get one with more throughput and that's a pain and also expensive to upgrade the dryer.  This is extra true if you are into wb or discharge where a 3 min chamber time is recommended.  You'll notice this is an extremely slow belt speed to hit 3 min of dwell at the given temp, even on a 10ft chamber dryer.  You can pull some tricks to shorten that dwell but better to just plan for it.   

Hope that's helpful but it's also coming from a newbie to this.

[blue moon]

Hello world, I am looking for a new automatic machine, dryer, chiller, air compressor, flash. What does everyone recommend? I want to get a M&R Sportsman, and I know how much it costs as well as the dryer. Though I do not know how much to spend on the rest. Can someone give me an idea on how much more $ it will be for the flash, compressor & chiller. I am currently at $40k for auto press & $10k for dryer.

our flash units are $4k, compressor and chiller can be had for $1k but you should probably spend more. We spent about $6k on stuff other than press and flash units. Electrical, gas, shipping, first payment, screens . . . My guess at $6k you'll be pinching pennies, at $10k you'll have some breathing room!

pierre

[tonypep]

And a used dryer is an excellent consideration. That saved money can be better used elsewhere.
Right Pierre?

[whitewater]

For my auto i got  Quincy compressor with their chiller...it was $5500.00  good compressor..

Rotary screw....pretty quiet....in same room as press, can still talk...

[Binkspot]

Do not overlook install expenses including but not limited to labor, expenses and materials for set up, electrical, air, dryer vent, etc. This stuff will nickel and dime you if not careful.



 

[blue moon]

And a used dryer is an excellent consideration. That saved money can be better used elsewhere.
Right Pierre?

the new dryer should be shipping on thursday. Well . . . "new" to us; 2004 Interchange MD-8, about half price from new. The small dryer we started with has served us well. It's been over four years now and has supported the auto for three and a half. One can probably be had for about $1500, maybe few hundred more if in mint condition. We've run as fast as 1000 pieces per hour of left chests through it.

Not knowing your situation I might be talking out of my behind, but I would make sure I have the money for everything else and upgrade the dryer last. You might be limping for while, but as you will just be getting used to the press anyways, it will not be hindering you significantly (at least that was our experience). Dryers should be easy to finance and you should be able to get a decent dryer for not a lot of money. And as mentioned before, you'll be able to gt something nice and big!

pierre

[Screened Gear]

What size belt did you get?

[blue moon]

What size belt did you get?

 me? 60"

pierre

[Screened Gear]

What size belt did you get?

 me? 60"

pierre

Your going to love the 60 inch belt. You can do 2 two wide or even 3 if you want to fold them over. Make sure to take some photos and clean it out as soon as you get it. I took about 10 pounds of lint and what I think was flock out of my dryer when I got it.

[ScreenPrinter123]

Or 4 shirts wide if you're really that bored...

[Screened Gear]

I can only do 3 wide but its enough.