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Wilflex Epic - PC or Equalizers?

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ZooCity:
What's everyone like?  I read up and asked around a bit and got the gist of it.  I like that the Equalizers are, well, equalized and somewhat idiot proof.  But what I can't get a handle on is:


* why bother even having the PC system then?
* what are the EQ bases "equalized" with?  Do you lose some versatility having this component in the color bases?
* is there an advantage to speed of mixing or how many different bases you can use with PCs?
* can you really print EQ bases direct if you need a super pigment charged color or are they just fail-safe in regular mixes?
Also just wanted to hear anyone's experiences with it.  I'd reckon the pthalate versions perform in a similar capacity so please chime in if that's a system you use.

GSG stocks both so I have the choice.  Leaning hard toward Equalizers right now.  What I really want is various bases on my shelf- performance, fashion, "regular", stretch, etc. and be able to get anything from an extended ink with lower opacity and lower cost of sales to highly pigmented super color when the job calls for it, all mixed with the appropriate base for what I'm printing on.  I'm not afraid of over-pigmenting the ink with the right protocols in place for mixing and I'm still the main operator of this print shop so the formulation error isn't really much a factor in the decision making.  Knowing you practically can't screw it up is certainly nice though.

I am not happy with having a sea change on my ink rack during the effing busy season so I want this to be the last plastisol system we get into for a looooong time.

blue moon:
what are the eq systems? Judging from your post, it sounds like it is a base that you add the colors . . .

I have a Matsui system like that and there is no way I could do the Pantone match with it. The colors are so concentrated that it has to be measured to the 1/100th of a gram. I have no idea how to accomplish that. 

ZooCity:

--- Quote from: blue moon on June 01, 2011, 03:53:06 PM ---what are the eq systems? Judging from your post, it sounds like it is a base that you add the colors . . .

I have a Matsui system like that and there is no way I could do the Pantone match with it. The colors are so concentrated that it has to be measured to the 1/100th of a gram. I have no idea how to accomplish that.

--- End quote ---

ah, I was afraid of that. I have a smaller scale that "estimates", basically shows a 5 or 0 in the hundredths but that ain't good enough for highly concentrated pigments and small batches.  we mix a lot of qts and pints here for pms matching jobs.  And where on earth can you find a gallon scale that displays hundredths of a gram?  If it exists it probably costs a small fortune.

Got a little more info on the two systems and they both use the same bases.  Trouble is, the Performance Base (low cure temp for athletic gear) is only mixable with the PC system.  It seems that whatever's in the Equalizer pigments throws off the properties of that base.  The ability to mix up small batches of athletic ink would be most excellent.  But again, can I even mix quarts with the PCs? 

This is a major concern because, while we don't take on a lot of athletic gear, nobody seems to have Performance base in qts save for white and grey and wants a 5gal minimum to mix other colors so the ability to mix in-house is a must.  We're also a 4 day ship from Houston which makes it even more necessary to be able to mix anything we need in a pinch. 

A tech person at Wilflex informed me that you cannot print Equalizers straight but I thought I read of someone on the boards doing this.  Maybe it's just not recommended?

The "non-migrating" versions of the yellow and red sound like they're only necessary when going over discharge underbase.

ZooCity:
Oh and Pierre, the difference is the Equalizers are "balanced" so that if you decided to boost up your ink mix on the fly, or made an error in mixing, the ink will still cure properly.  With PCs you could potentially add too much pigment to your ink and screw up its crocking or it's ability to cure.   MX is a ready mixed system like QCMs QMX with the pigments already mixed with base ink, you could print those direct if you liked and mixing those is more akin to just combining ink colors. Truly idiot proof but much less versatile if you ask me.   

PC sounds like the most versatile of the bunch but I'm concerned about mixing small quantities, especially with those transparent inks that are mostly clear base.

ErinAllenLamb:
•why bother even having the PC system then? The PC System is the most versitile system that is out there. You can use every base that is available, including Epic Performance Base, which you cannot use Equalizers with.  It is the simpliest chemistry of a mixing system.
•what are the EQ bases "equalized" with?  Do you lose some versatility having this component in the color bases? The EQs are basically a highly saturated ink.  The way to think of them as they will print and cure, but they will not have great of a printability or cure as a balanced optimized ink will.  You do not loose much versatility, but you have slightly more with PCs.  For example to keep the stretch at the highest level with SSVFF-E you should pigment with PCs, however, you can pigment with EQs and not see too much of a difference.
•is there an advantage to speed of mixing or how many different bases you can use with PCs? You can use more bases with PC then EQ, but very few
•can you really print EQ bases direct if you need a super pigment charged color or are they just fail-safe in regular mixes?They are completely cureable on their own, so you can print them on their own. However, I would recommend mixing with a base.

The Equalizers are very popular right now.  The only area I would look at as a downside would be not being able to use the Equalizers to make colors with Wilflex Epic Peformance Base. 

Feel free to contact our tech services via techserviceswilflex@polyone.com or your sales rep at jerry.hall@polyone.com with any questions. As always, feel free to email me as well erin.lamb@polyone.com.

The PC System does not require matching to the 100th.  We recommend that you match to the 10th of a gram. You can also integrate your PMA7500 Scale with our free of cost IMS software and it will help you autocorrect anything you may have measure wrong or will let you know if you are in tolerance.

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